This social capital generation platform has redefined how ideas are transformed into a real life product or service. Prior to Kickstarter, the methods of funds raising for a product or service generally took the form of a loan from a bank, investment from investors (resulting in transfer of company ownership) or personal savings. Those methods are not always viable for every business venture, especially untraditional and untested ventures. As my inforgraphic will show, Kickstarter allowing innovators to create amazing things. I have personally backed six projects on Kickstarter. I received my first reward just this last week (SIDEKICK, a charging stand for the Pebble Smartwatch).

1. Kick
Revolutionizing the
Materialization of Ideas
STARTER
By:Shawn
Nicholson
@shnicholson
howdoesanidea Bank
Angel Investors
Personal Savings
Family/Friends
Kick
STARTER
Thencamealong
get funded
and become a reality
Priorto2009
A Crowfunding
Platform
on average bringing
4 out of 10 projects to
life
* 43.44% success rate
$5,702,153
Veronicamars
movie
* USDasofJune6,2014* asofJune6,2014
1,152,235,008Pledged in total
$3,530,965* 34,000,000 Pledged to Live Projects
Bringback
ReadingRainbow
$10,266,845
63,104
Pebble
Smartwatch
ideas funded
SuccessStories

2. With KICKSTARTER
social media isthe catalyst for
success
more Facebook friends =
higher chances of success
1000
1000Facebook
friendsincreasesthe
chancesofsuccess
to40% Inc.com
keepingmoneyinthe handsof the
innnovators
Allowingaverage consumersto
become the financiers
notbigbanks
thecreativepossibilitiesareendless
Kickstarter isn’t just another channel to sell your new product –
it is essentially a new way to sell products to digital communities
in a more socially connected, conscious and responsible way.
-Asif Zahir,AnantaGroup

3. KICKSTARTERisarevolution
inprogress
Bringing
Creativity to Life
Sources:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1978854c-d4b5-11e3-bf4e-00144feabdc0.html#slide0
http://smartblogs.com/social-media/2013/05/03/what-successful-kickstarter-campaigns-have-
in-common/
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/9403-How-
Kickstarter-Will-Change-the-World
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/02/13/on-kickstarter-two-projects-pass-the-1-
million-mark-in-a-single-day/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/07/17/secrets-of-success-hidden-in-
kickstarters-numbers/
http://blog.hbs.edu/dighbs/kickstarter-and-the-future-of-creatively/
http://www.inc.com/jillian-donfro/kickstarter-project-analysis-how-to-raise-money-
successfully.html
Project images sourced from respective Kickstarter pages
Statistics current as of June 6, 2014: https://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats
Wordcloud generated on http://www.tagxedo.com/