Crowdfunding Creative Ideas: The Dynamics of Project Backers in Kickstarter

ArXiv ID: ssrn-2234765 “View on arXiv”

Authors: Unknown

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are turning to crowdfunding as a way to finance their creative ideas. Crowdfunding involves relatively small contributions of many consumer-inves

Keywords: crowdfunding, consumer-investors, entrepreneurial finance, alternative financing, venture capital, Private Equity / Alternative Investments

Complexity vs Empirical Score

• Math Complexity: 1.5/10
• Empirical Rigor: 7.0/10
• Quadrant: Street Traders
• Why: The paper uses two years of Kickstarter panel data with fixed effects models to analyze backer dynamics over time, demonstrating strong empirical data usage and implementation. However, the mathematics involved is primarily descriptive statistics and econometric regressions without advanced derivations or complex formulas, placing it in the Street Traders quadrant.

  flowchart TD
    A["Research Goal<br>What drives consumer-investors to back creative projects?"]
    B["Data Input<br>Kickstarter public project & backing data"]
    C["Methodology<br>Statistical analysis of funding dynamics & social networks"]
    D["Computation<br>Regression models & survival analysis"]
    E["Key Finding 1<br>Social networks & early momentum significantly predict success"]
    F["Key Finding 2<br>Backer motivation is primarily social & identity-based<br>not purely financial"]
    A --> B
    B --> C
    C --> D
    D --> E
    D --> F