Opinion
Chen: Pure shareholder profit maximization is unfit for humans
“If underneath the mandate is, at the end of the day, make the most money for shareholders, it's a really, it's not really a good fit for humans, and I don't think it's, It portends very well for society if this is what we accept as the only way to do it.”
Insight
Perry Chen: Many founders work years in misery just to avoid failing
“I think so many entrepreneurs just drive themselves to not fail their employees, not fail their investors, not fail, you know, success, and will add years and years and years onto businesses that they're running, 70, eighties hours a week that they really wish…”
Insight
Chen: Early-stage founders must be deluded and ignore the odds
“I think it's just that you do have to be deluded when you're in those stages. You have to not think about the odds. You know, you have to have just incredible belief that it is worth it.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Chen predicts corporate governance will become the primary differentiator for companies
“I mean, at the organizational governance level, the corporate governance level, I think that's a big thing that people are going to start paying more and more attention to. We've been running so much on this kind of totally profit-centric system in the U.S., a…”
Disclosure
Kickstarter's founders told early investors they would never sell or IPO
“Going into it, we knew that we weren't building this to sell this, and we weren't trying to create a public company. And when we went out for investment, this was, you know, one of the first things we discussed with people.”
Insight
Perry Chen: Maximizing shareholder profit is a poor fit for human society
“But really, if underneath the mandate is, at the end of the day, make the most money for shareholders, it's a really, it's not really a good fit for humans. And I don't think it's, It portends very well for society if this is what we accept as the only way to …”
What-if
Perry Chen: Future common sense might have stopped me founding Kickstarter
“The delusion that I had, and I think the delusion that we all have as entrepreneurs, if I cut through that delusion with some common sense from the future, to be honest, who knows if I would have gone through with it.”
Insight
Perry Chen: Founders are far more likely to succeed solving their own problems
“You're so much more likely to be successful if you're solving a problem that you have, so you know when you're really solving it. You don't have to focus group it.”
Opinion
Chen: Day traders provide no value beyond shuffling numbers
“The traders like to think that they're providing liquidity, like some great service, but, you know, it's, you're doing nothing. You're shuffling some numbers from one computer to another.”
Disclosure
Kickstarter explicitly told early investors it would not IPO or sell
“I think going into it, we knew that we weren't building this to sell this, and we weren't trying to create a public company. And when we went out for investment, this was, you know, one of the first things we discussed with people.”
Disclosure
Kickstarter rejects special promotional deals for big companies
“If you want, like, some special stuff from us or whatever, I mean, that's just not what we do. It's a relatively open door, but you're not any better than some young creator who's working on their first idea.”
Opinion
Perry Chen: Day trading provides no meaningful service despite liquidity claims
“At best, what I'm doing is neutral. I mean, I'm not selling somebody on anything, so the traders like to think that they're providing liquidity, like some great service, but you know, it's, you're doing nothing. You're shuffling some numbers from one computer …”
Insight
Perry Chen: Traditional funding models force creators to compromise their vision
“So many things don't have access to funds. There aren't industries or investors or whatever set up around to fund things because the market might not be sizable enough. And then even the things where the market might be sizable enough that the deal you have to…”
Disclosure
Kickstarter refuses to offer special promotional partnerships or perks to large companies
“I think a lot of times big companies, they want to do a partnership, they want to sign a contract. That's, you know, we're like, listen, if you want to go do it, go log on the site. But if you want, like, some special stuff from us or whatever, I mean, that's …”
Insight
Crowdfunding removes the social friction of directly asking friends for money
“There was this social friction before that existed, and the model has been able to eliminate that, or even put it in a way that's socially positive.”
Assertion Supported
Kickstarter reincorporated as a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015 to protect stakeholders
“And then two years ago, we became a public benefit corporation, which is still a for-profit company, but it means that the obligations of the board and the executives and the company is to balance the shareholder interest with greater stakeholders, including t…”
Disclosure
Kickstarter originated as an all-or-nothing funding model for concerts
“I thought, what if the people that, Would want to come to the show could have a say in that, and if enough people could do that before a certain point, then the show could happen, and if not, then it doesn't.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kickstarter founders wrote a 100-page spec before writing any code
“I think at the end we produced a document over a hundred pages about how the site would function, with zero code written, mind you.”
Assertion Supported
Comedian David Cross was Kickstarter's first angel investor
“I had a friend of mine, and her cousin is David Cross, the comedian from Arrested Development, and many other, Mr. Show, and great stuff. And so she connected us, and we went and had a drink at a bar, and I talked to him about the idea, and, ah, a few months l…”
Assertion Supported
Andy Baio screened early Kickstarter developers because founders couldn't review code
“One of the people we met was Andy Baio, who really helped us kind of figure out what kind of technology we should be using, and helped us interview the developers that we Would hire, and he eventually became our first CTO. That was tremendously helpful because…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kickstarter reached profitability within 18 months of launch
“I think, you know, the first six months, not at all, no revenue. I think within a year after that, so probably within the first 18 months, we got in the black.”
Assertion Supported
Kickstarter has surpassed $3 billion in total project pledges
“Recently, we passed the three billion dollar pledge mark.”
Disclosure
Kickstarter's core model originated from a canceled New Orleans concert
“I thought, what if the people that, Would want to come to the show could have a say in that. And if enough people could do that before a certain point, then the show could happen. And if not, then it doesn't. So that, that was it. That was the beginning.”
Opinion
Perry Chen preferred making music in New Orleans over 70-hour corporate weeks
“This is why people work for 35 years and retire, so they can move to New Orleans and work on music. So, am I jealous of my friend who works 70 hours a week? No.”
Perry Chen