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Happy 10 years, Kickstarter.
Since its launch on April 28, 2009, over 160,000 projects have successfully gone through the crowdfunding site, with 16 million backers and over $4.2 billion in total dollars pledged to different projects.
Below, our favorite and not-so-favorite projects, plus some fun facts from Kickstarter’s first decade.
The first project: Drawing for Dollars
Drawings of a half-dragon man with a pitchfork flying toward a city by “Darkpony” were successfully funded at $35 in 2009.
![Pebble Time](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PebbleTime-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C800)
Most successful campaign: Pebble Time
The smart watch featured a color e-paper display, microphone and an array of fitness apps and calendar options. The campaign raised a million bucks in under an hour and $20.3 million throughout the campaign duration; it’s actually one of three Pebble projects in Kickstarter’s all-time top 10 funded projects. Sadly, the company eventually went under and the assets were sold to Fitbit.
Strangest successful campaign: The World’s Largest Jockstrap
Artist Michael Barrett needed $850 to submit the world’s largest jockstrap to Guinness for a world record; backers received an 8×10 print or commemorative miniature strap.
![Coolest Cooler](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Coolest-inline.jpg?resize=1200%2C800)
Biggest controversy: Coolest Cooler
You’d think the tens of thousands of backers who pledged $13 million in funds for this cooler/blender/party machine would have received their product quickly, or at least before it went on sale to the general public. Turns out the company had to burn through a lot of $ to meet the original demand.
Lowest funding: $0
Over 55,000 projects never received a single dollar in funding. Most of those are film and video projects; it’s also very difficult (on purpose) to look up failed Kickstarter projects, which are de-indexed on search engines.
Most frustrating project: The Skarp Laser Razor
Launched in 2015, the laser-powered razor promised a close shave that was irritation free. They lied: Banned from Kickstarter after raising over $4 million for not having a working prototype, the project moved over to Indiegogo, raised another half million … after which the company began posting irregular updates regarding staffing, patents, their “new swanky digs” in San Jose and why they still don’t have a working demo (as of December 2018).
Biggest brand success story: Oculus
Oculus started as a Kickstarter campaign for the Rift VR headset in 2012; the company was acquired by Facebook for over $2 billion just two years later.
![Oru](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Oru-inline.jpg?resize=1200%2C800)
Our favorite Kickstarter campaign of yore: Oru
An origami kayak that folds down into the size of a suitcase. The original design was so revolutionary, it’s on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Kickstarter’s favorite campaign: Cards Against Humanity
The first project highlighted on Kickstarter at 10 page, the “party game for horrible people” was launched with just $15,570 in pledges. To the company’s credit, they’ve used their success to fund worthy causes and hilariously juvenile projects, like buying an island and naming it Hawaii 2.
![Tropicfeel](https://www.insidehook.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Tropicfeel.jpg?resize=1200%2C750)
Current favorite Kickstarter campaign: The Ultimate Travel Shoe 2.0
Last time Tropicfeel crowdfunded on Kickstarter, the Barcelona-based shoe brand racked up $1M in just 20 days. That was for the “Monsoon,” the first of their travel-focused sneaks. Now they’re back with the Canyon, which has already raised a million dollars on a $37K goal … with 40 days left to go.
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