Kickstarter nurtures start-up ecosystem

LAS VEGAS ― Starting a business is not an easy job. Even if you have a great idea, you may not know where and with whom to start.

U.S.-based crowdfunding firm Kickstarter says it provides an ideal platform which anyone can use to launch a start-up and achieve innovation through sharing their ideas with others.

“Kickstarter is a much more democratic system,” Kickstarter representative David Gallagher told The Korea Herald at the International CES, held from Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas.

“If you want to make a device, you don’t have to convince Samsung to buy your idea. You can take your idea straight to people and ask them if they want to fund your idea (on Kickstarter),” he added.

On the crowdfunding website, people can launch a fund-raising project in almost any industry sector including film, music and information technology, and ask others for technical or financial support to get the ball rolling. In return, supporters are given rewards in any form, including final products.

First launched in 2009, so far around 8 million people have pledged over $1 billion, funding some 80,000 projects, according to Kickstarter.

All it takes to begin a start-up that could become the next Facebook or Google is to “have determination and find good collaborators,” according to John Dimatos, Kickstarter’s project specialist for design and technology.

“If we can help people find those who want the same thing that you want, that is the goal of Kickstarter.”

In contrast to the conservative and exclusive business environment of the past, members of the global start-up community, especially those partnering with Kickstarter, are more open-minded and respectful of others’ ideas, according to Dimatos.

“In contrast to the mentality of like, ‘I have this idea and I am going to keep it secret,’ now we think about a much more open approach to technology where people are like, ‘I have this idea and what do you think about it?’” he said.

Giving kudos to some Korean tech-savvy institutions such as KAIST, one of the most prominent tech universities in Korea, the two Kickstarter officials emphasized the importance of technological convergence with other fields.

“An artist who wants to be an engineer and an engineer who wants to be more like an artist. Those teams combining the two together are the ones that are going to do really well,” Dimatos said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)