Profile: Kickstarter

Authors

Rationale

There are so many subjects you could choose to profile, so why did you choose this one? What drew you into wanting to know more about the organization? How did you/your group decide on and agree?

TODO

Organizational Details

Is the subject of your profile a corporate entity?

Yes.

What type?

A privately held corporation.

When was it founded?

April 28, 2009.

By whom?

Perry Chen, Yanchey Strickler, and Charles Adler.

Original founder(s) still active?

Yes.

Publicly Traded? Since when? Initial Stock Price? Current stock price?

Not a publicly traded company.

Has the company made any acquisitions? If yes, which companies, and what were their core products?

No acquisitions that we are aware of.

Has the company made any investments in other companies? If yes, which ones.

No investments that we are aware of.

Number of Employees?

Approximately 112, according to their website.

Where is HQ?

58 Kent Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222

Does it have any other offices or locations?

No.

Website?

https://www.kickstarter.com/

Wikipedia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickstarter

Does your organization file any annual reports? Please include links to any relevant documents (i.e. 990, Annual Report, Year in Review, etc...)

Since this is a privately held company, they are not required to release these annual reports.

Communications

Social media for Kickstarter

Does your subject participate in social media? If yes, please list a URL for each account, and reach within that community.

Communications channels for Kickstarter

What communication channels does your subject use to reach their public? Briefly describe and include a URL for each.

Kickstarter Conference Participation

Does your subject organize or participate in any conferences? If so, list them here, and provide links to any relevant sessions, keynotes, or content.

Community Architecture

Because of the nature of crowdsourcing platforms, we chose to study one of the projects that came about thanks to Kickstarter. Here, we will cover Pebble Smartwatch.

The project's IRC Channel

#pebble on Freenode

Source Code repository

Github

Mail list archive

None.

Documentation

http://developer.getpebble.com

Other communication channels

http://developer.getpebble.com/community/

Project Website and/or Blog

https://developer.getpebble.com/blog

Describe the software project, its purpose and goals.

The Pebble Smartwatch was created to redefine the idea of a smartwatch. It was one of the first smartwatches to sync with a smartphone, and ended up being arguably the catalyst for interest in the smartwatch space.

Give brief history of the project. When was the Initial Commit? The latest commit?

The first Kickstarter campaign was launched on April 11, 2012, and the watch was first shipped to backers in January, 2013. The latest version, Pebble Time, began its Kickstarter campaign on February 24, 2015 (the watch has not shipped yet, as of May 17, 2015).

Who approves patches? How many people?

Eric Migicovsky, Founder and CEO of Pebble and inventor of the watch, has a large say, as well as the Head of Product, Itai Vonshak, and the Head of Industrial Design, Mork Solomon.

Who has commit access, or has had patches accepted? How many total?

Not applicable -- the watch is closed source.

Has there been any turnover in the Core Team? (i.e. has the top 20% of contributors stayed the same over time? If not, how has it changed?)

The original people are still at the helm.

Does the project have a BDFL, or Lead Developer? (BDFL == Benevolent Dictator for Life)

No, but it is unlikely that Migicovsky will step down anytime soon.

Are the front and back end developers the same people? What is the proportion of each?

Not applicable -- the watch is closed source.

What have been some of the major bugs/problems/issues that have arisen during development? Who is responsible for quality control and bug repair?

Not applicable -- the watch is closed source.

How is the project's participation trending and why?

Interest seems to only be increasing. The first Kickstarter pulled in $10.2M, while the second recieved $20.3M.

In your opinion, does the project pass "The Raptor Test?" (i.e. Would the project survive if the BDFL, or most active contributor were eaten by a Velociraptor?) Why or why not?

Considering the overwhelming success of the platform, and the interest in smartwatches overall, it is unlikely that any sort of disaster would leave the company unable to pick up the (time)pieces.

In your opinion, would the project survive if the core team, or most active 20% of contributors, were hit by a bus? Why or why not?

See above.

Does the project have an official "on-boarding" process in place? (new contributor guides, quickstarts, communication leads who focus specifically on newbies, etc...)

See the links to the developer resources above.

Does the project have Documentation available? Is it extensive? Does it include code examples?

See the links to the developer resources above.

If you were going to contribute to this project, but ran into trouble or hit blockers, who would you contact, and how?

Not applicable -- the only way to help would be to contribute to their next Kickstarter campaign.

Based on these answers, how would you describe the decision making structure/process of this group? Is it hierarchical, consensus building, ruled by a small group, barely contained chaos, or ruled by a single or pair of individuals?

Ruled by a small group.

Is this the kind of structure you would enjoy working in? Why, or why not?

Yes, the innovative mindsets of the Pebble team have given us a cool product which has inspired competition from very large names.

Technology/Product

Section adapted from EFF Worksheet

Who invented, created, or sponsored the technology?

Eric Migicovsky was the original creator of the Pebble watch.

What is the technology designed to do? How is it used?

It's designed to allow users to keep in touch with their online lives without taking out a device.

Who would benefit from using this technology?

This technology would benefit both people who want to be less connected to their phones (because they can stay connected without using their phone) as well as people who want to stay hyperconnected (because they can stay connected without using their phone).

What kinds of companies or organizations (stakeholders) might have been concerned about the development of this technology? Why?

I think only competing smartwatch producers would be concerned about the development of the Pebble, and being that it wasn't a huge space when the Pebble was first put on Kickstarter, I don't think any stakeholders would be particularly concerned.

Does/Did an aspect of copyright law play a role in controversies about the technology? How?

No.

Business and Revenue Model

How was this organization funded originally?

Venture firms and angel investors.

How does this organization make revenue?

Fees off of successful campaigns.

Which specific Open Source Revenue Models are utilized?

Not applicable -- Kickstarter is not open source.

What investments/acquisitions has the organization made?

None.