Kickstarter data analytics. Data source from Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/kemical/kickstarter-projects/version/5

1. CASE
STUDY
KICKSTARTER
ANALYTICS
DYLANFRASER.COM
2018
Ting-Yu, KUO
oldiegoodie99@gmail.com

2. 02
Introduction
Data Summary & Description
The Winners Take it All
Cross-time Comparison
Modeling
Remarks
CONTENT
OUTLINE

3. 03
INTRO
Kickstarter launched in 2009 and has now become a
world famous online crowdfunding platform that
mainly focuses on creativity and merchandising.
Creators - propose their projects and provide
related information: ideas, pricing, schedule, etc.
Backers - back projects that interest them
Crowdfunding process:

4. 04
DATA
SUMMARY
Source: Kaggle - Kickstarter projects (Link)
Description
。378,661 rows
。15 columns
Data volume
The dataset contains public information on
Kickstarter since 2009/04 ~ 2018/01

5. 0
73,750
147,500
221,250
295,000
US GB CA AU DE
05
–– local market dominates
DATA DESCRIPTION
77%
Most of the projects
are from US (292,627),
followed by Great
Britain, Canada,
Australia, and Germany
REGION

6. DATA DESCRIPTION
–– half of the projects couldn't make it
Successful
36%
Others
10%
Failed
53%
06
36%
36% of the projects hit
their target (successful)
while 53% didn't (failed)
10% were canceled or
suspended
SUCCESS RATE

7. DATA DESCRIPTION
–– wisely set the goals
07
5.7X
Failed projects set their
goals 5.7x higher than
successful projects on
average
0
13,250
26,500
39,750
53,000
Successful Failed
GOAL COMPARISON

8. 3.4B
Over USD 3.4 billion
was invested in
Kickstarter
88.5% belongs to
successful projects
08
THE WINNERS
TAKE IT ALL
Successful
89%
Others
4%
Failed
8%
PLEDGED FUND

9. 17X
09
0
5,750
11,500
17,250
23,000
Successful Others Failed
THE WINNERS
TAKE IT ALL AVERAGE PLEDGED
The average pledge
fund of successful
projects was 17x
higher than failed
ones

10. 10
Top 5 categories
attract 80% of the
pledged fund
80%
THE WINNERS
TAKE IT ALL
Games (1)
22%
Design (2)
21%
Technology (3)
20%
Film & Video (4)
11%
Music (5)
6%
Others
20%
CATEGORIES

11. < 15% = 0 > 1% = 1500
11
THE WINNERS
TAKE IT ALL
1%
1% of the projects
attract > 1,500
backers
15% of the projects
attract 0 backers
BACKERS

12. 12
0
7,625,000
15,250,000
22,875,000
30,500,000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Kickstarter charges
5% for each
successful project
Revenue grew 221x
from 2009 ~ 2017
USD 30M
221X
REVENUE GROWTH
–– grew fast and hit a plateau
CROSS-TIME COMPARISON

13. 13
Overall pledged fund
Successful projects fund
USD 688M
688M
Over USD 687.5M
were invested into
Kickstarter in 2005
CROSS-TIME COMPARISON

14. 14
Project-counts
Success rate
77,300 projects were
proposed in 2015
while the success rate
decrease to 27%
(77300, 27%)
77K
CROSS-TIME COMPARISON

15. 15
Backers (log)
Pledged Fund (log)
BACKERS &
PLEDGED FUND
The scatter plot
illustrates data points
from 2009 ~ 2018
There is a linear-like
relationship between
Backers & Pledged
Fund
MODELING

16. 16
1. Region -
2. Goal setting -
77% of the projects on Kickstarter are from U.S. Find local
crowdfunding platform might be helpful for your project.
Failed projects often set their goals too high (5.7x higher
than successful ones). Referencing similar successful
projects might provide some clues for goal setting.
REMARKS

17. 17
3. Category -
4. Success Rate -
Games, Design, and Technology are the most eye-catching
categories on Kickstarter. These 3 categories account for
over 60% of the pledged fund on the platform. Make sure
you choose the right platform!
The overall success rate has risen by 10% since 2015. If you
would like to start a project on it, it's about time!
REMARKS

18. 18
–– Most successful projects by total funds pledged #1
APPENDIX
Pebble Time - Awesome Smartwatch, No
Compromises (Link)
Backers: 78,471
Pledged Fund: USD 20.3M (20,338,986.27)
Pledged Rate: 4068%
Creator: Pebble Technology
Category: Design - Product Design

19. 19
–– Most successful projects by total funds pledged #2
APPENDIX
Coolest Cooler: 21st Century Cooler that's
Actually Cooler (Link)
Backers: 62,642
Pledged Fund: USD 13.3M (13,285,226.36)
Pledged Rate: 26570%
Creator: Ryan Grepper
Category: Design - Product Design

20. 20
–– Most successful projects by total funds pledged #3
APPENDIX
Pebble 2, Time 2 + All-New Pebble Core (Link)
Backers: 66,673
Pledged Fund: USD 12.7M (12779843.49 )
Pledged Rate: 1280%
Creator: Pebble Technology
Category: Design - Product Design

21. THANK YOU
DYLANFRASER.COM