After the Campaign: Outcomes of Crowdfunding
UNC Kenan-Flagler Research Paper No. 2376997
18 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2014
See all articles by Ethan R. Mollick
Ethan R. Mollick
Venkat Kuppuswamy
D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University
Date Written: January 9, 2014
We conducted a follow-up survey of large design, technology, and video games projects that attempted to raise money using crowdfunding before mid-2012. We found that reward-based crowdfunding appears to be able to lead to and support traditional entrepreneurship. A very high percentage (over 90%) of successful projects remained ongoing ventures 1-4 years after their campaign. We found that 32% of all these reported yearly revenues of over $100,000 a year since the Kickstarter campaign, and added an average of 2.2 employees per successful project. The survey also suggested that crowdfunding provided many potential benefits beyond the crowdfunded money itself to successful creators, including helping provide access to customers, press, employees, and outside funders. Consistent with other research, many projects were delayed for a variety of reasons, and 37% went over budget. We also analyze the factors that lead to longer-term crowdfunding success.
Keywords: crowdfunding, kickstarter, entrepreneurship, new ventures
Mollick, Ethan R. and Kuppuswamy, Venkat, After the Campaign: Outcomes of Crowdfunding (January 9, 2014). UNC Kenan-Flagler Research Paper No. 2376997. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2376997 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2376997
Ethan R. Mollick (Contact Author)
University of Pennsylvania - Wharton School ( email )
The Wharton School
D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University ( email )