AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -- OF COURSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MONEY.
IT REALLY CAN FALL FROM THE SKY.
NOT EXACTLY, BUT IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR FUNDING FOR A NEW ARTS PROJECT OR BUSINESS, CHECK
OUT THIS STORY.
IT'S ABOUT A POPULAR WEBSITE CALLED KICKSTARTER THAT HELPS PEOPLE RAISE MONEY THROUGH CROWD-SOURCING.
YEAH MONEY IS ALWAYS A TOPIC THAT WE LIKE TO TALK ABOUT.
YES VERY INTERESTING...
VOA'S SUZANNE PRESTO COVERED THE EFFORTS OF A WASHINGTON WOMAN WHO IS USING THIS NON-TRADITIONAL
TOOL KICKSTARTER TO HELP START A BAKERY.
PHILIP ALEXIOU TALKED TO SUZANNE ABOUT KICKSTARTER.
BUT BEFORE WE GET TO THAT, LET'S CHECK OUT A PIECE OF SUZANNE'S REPORT.
YAEL KRIGMAN IS EQUAL-PARTS BAKER AND BUSINESSWOMAN.
SHE SELLS HER TREATS THROUGH HER COMPANY'S WEBSITE, BAKEDBYYAEL.COM.
SHE WAS A LAWYER BUT SHE KNEW SHE WAS ON TO SOMETHING WHEN HER HOMEMADE CAKE POPS, BALLS
OF CAKE AND FROSTING DIPPED IN CANDY-COATING, THRILLED COLLEAGUES AT WORK.
NOW, SHE WANTS TO OPEN A SHOP SPECIALIZING IN CAKE POPS.
"I WAS TALKING TO A FRIEND OF MINE, AND WE WERE DISCUSSING THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR
FINANCING MY STOREFRONT, AND WE TALKED ABOUT BANK LOANS AND INVESTORS AND HE TOLD ME ABOUT
KICKSTARTER."
SO, WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?
KICKSTARTER IS A COMPANY THAT IS BASED IN NEW YORK CITY.
KICKSTARTER IS A PLATFORM FOR CROWD-SOURCED FUNDING.
ENTREPRENEURS LIKE KRIGMAN POST THEIR PROJECTS AND FUNDING GOALS, AND PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD
PLEDGE MONEY.
BACKERS AND KICKSTARTER DON'T GET A SHARE OF THE BUSINESS.
BUT THERE ARE INCENTIVES, WHICH, IN KRIGMAN'S CASE, ARE MOSTLY CAKE POPS.
SO IF YOU DONATE, LET'S SAY 25 DOLLARS YOU WILL GET SIX CAKE POPS.
...A CLUB MEMBERSHIP...
IT'S THAT SORT OF THING, YOU'LL GET A DISCOUNT ONCE YOU ACTUALLY GO TO HER STORE.
DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH YOU PLEDGE YOU GET A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF CAKE POPS DELIVERED TO
YOU.
YOU'LL GET A CAKE POP PARTY...
NOW, WHAT ABOUT THE SUCCESS RATE BECAUSE I WOULD IMAGINE JUST ABOUT ANYBODY WOULD WANT
TO GO ON THERE AND START COLLECTING MONEY.
AS FAR AS FULLY LAUNCHED PROJECTS, SO PROJECTS THAT SET A FUNDING GOAL AND MET THEIR FUNDING
GOAL KICKSTARTER SAYS THAT'S A 44 PERCENT SUCCESS RATE, WHICH MEANS THERE ARE PLENTY
OF PEOPLE WHO POST PROJECTS WHO DO NOT GET SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED.
IF YOU DON'T GET ALL THE MONEY, IF YOU DON'T REACH THE GOAL THAT YOU SET, YOU GET NO MONEY
AT ALL.
NO MONEY CHANGES HANDS.
SO YAEL HAD SET A 70 THOUSAND GOAL.
EVEN IF SHE HAD RAISED 69 THOUSAND OF THAT 70 THOUSAND SHE WOULDN'T GET A PENNY UNLESS
SHE REACHED THE 70 THOUSAND.
"BANK LOANS ARE DIFFICULT TO GET, ESPECIALLY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES WITH NOT MANY ASSETS,
AND INVESTORS, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO GIVE AWAY PART OF YOUR COMPANY, AND I'M REALLY
PROUD OF WHAT I'VE BUILT AND I WANT TO CONTINUE TO GROW IT.
I DON'T JUST WANT TO BE A MANAGER AT A BAKERY."
HOW DID YOU COME UPON THIS STORY, WHAT LED YOU TO THIS?
WELL, THE AREA THAT I LIVE IN, WASHINGTON DC, HAS SOMETHING CALLED A LISTSERV SO PEOPLE
WILL POST VARIOUS INFORMATION AND I GET AN UPDATE EVERY DAY.
AND I KEPT SEEING ABOUT THIS BUSINESS CALLED BAKED BY YAEL AND PEOPLE SAYING, I ORDERED
HER CAKEPOPS AND THEY WERE AMAZING, OR I HAD HER BAGELS AND THEY WERE THE HIT OF THE BRUNCH
AND THINGS LIKE THAT SO I WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE BUSINESS BAKED BY YAEL AND THEN WHEN SHE
WAS GETTING READY TO LAUNCH HER KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN THEY PUT OUT A MESSAGE SAYING, YOU
KNOW, EVERYBODY GET READY, THERE'S GOING TO BE A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN AND I THOUGHT IT
WAS REALLY INTERESTING THAT THIS WOMAN WAS LOOKING TO EXPAND HER BUSINESS BUT IT WAS
GOING TO BE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND THAT I THOUGHT IT SORT OF EXPLAINED WHAT KICKSTARTER
WAS ALL ABOUT BECAUSE IT'S SUCH AN INTERESTING PHENOMENON.
ALSO IN YOUR REPORT YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE A, THERE WAS THIS TV SERIES THAT WAS CANCELED,
SO YOU HAVE SOME HOLLYWOOD FOLKS GETTING ONLINE AND TRYING TO RAISE MONEY AS WELL AND I THINK
I READ WHERE MAYBE SOME PEOPLE ARE SORT OF COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT SORT OF THING.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?
YOU KNOW, IF IT MEETS KICKSTARTERS GUIDELINES AND YOU POST YOUR PROJECT AND YOU DON'T AGREE
WITH THAT PROJECT THAT'S FINE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE THE MONEY.
IN THE CASE OF VERONICA MARS, THE SERIES WAS CANCELED AND ITS FANS WERE DISTRAUGHT AND
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A MOVIE.
"THIS IS IT.
THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO MAKE THE VERONICA MARS MOVIE HAPPEN.
IF WE MAKE OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL, WE'LL SHOOT THE MOVIE THIS SUMMER."
THE VERONICA MARS MOVIE PROJECT BROKE RECORDS, RAISING $5.7 MILLION.
THAT INSPIRED ZACH BRAFF, WHO USED KICKSTARTER TO RAISE $3 MILLION FOR HIS FILM, WISH I WAS
HERE.
"MAYBE THIS COULD BE A NEW PARADIGM FOR FILMMAKERS WHO WANT TO MAKE SMALLER PERSONAL FILMS WITHOUT
HAVING TO SIGN AWAY ANY OF THEIR ARTISTIC FREEDOM."
AS OF NOW, KICKSTARTER ALLOWS PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD TO PLEDGE AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A
MAJOR CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD, BUT IT'S ALSO LOOKING TO EXPAND TO OTHER COUNTRIES
SO PEOPLE CAN POST THEIR OWN PROJECTS AND START RAISING THEIR MONEY THAT WAY TOO.
MORE THAN 101 THOUSAND PROJECTS HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED ON KICKSTARTER, SO THAT MEANS MORE
THAN HALF A BILLION DOLLARS HAS TRADED HANDS.
AND MOST SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS, ACCORDING TO KICKSTARTER, RAISE LESS THAN 10 THOUSAND DOLLARS
BUT MORE AND MORE THEY ARE SAYING PROJECTS THAT ARE RAISING INTO THE SIX FIGURES AND
EVEN GOING INTO THE SEVEN FIGURES WITH THINGS LIKE VERONICA MARS.
VOA'S SUZANNE PRESTO WITH THAT INTERESTING BIT OF REPORTING THERE AND BY THE WAY, YAEL
KRIGMAN DID REACH HER 70-THOUSAND DOLLAR PROJECT GOAL.
AND SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN 2009, KICKSTARTER HAS RAISED MORE THAN HALF A BILLION DOLLARS
TO FUND MORE THAN 35,000 PROJECTS INCLUDING KRIGMAN'S.