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Molly White Mar 11, 2024

Kickstarter's bizarre blockchain announcement in December 2021 makes so much more sense now that we know Andreessen Horowitz secretly promised them $100 million to pivot to a blockchain-based product built on the also-a16z-backed Celo blockchain.

At the time, I wondered why COO Sean Leow was so insistent on the move despite being apparently very confused about the whole concept.

https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/03/11/kickstarter-blockchain-a16z-crypto-secret-investment-chris-dixon/
(archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20240311124253/https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/03/11/kickstarter-blockchain-a16z-crypto-secret-investment-chris-dixon/)

#AndreessenHorowitz #crypto #blockchain #kickstarter

The untold story of Kickstarter’s crypto Hail Mary—and the secret $100 million a16z-led investment to save its fading brand

Inside the once-hot startup’s struggle to regain relevance despite a massive check from the crypto arm of venture giant Andreessen Horowitz.

Fortune

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Doctor M. Popular Mar 11, 2024

@molly0xfff so many frustrating parts of this article. The constant framing of Kickstarter as some sort of dying business, when it made $814 million in 2021 is wild. The idea that the business isn't succeeding if it doesn't double it's business YoY is such an ignorant take.

Kickstarter had built a sustainable business that was trending towards $1 billion a year. They destroyed it all with a pivot to crypto, yet the author at Fortune says "The pivot didn’t hurt Kickstarter". What?! WHAT?!!

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Doctor M. Popular

@molly0xfff and after covering the rampant fraud in the crypto-space and how much Kickstarter's users hate web3, the authors try to make the case that blockchain "could still present a solution to Kickstarter’s nagging issues. The immutable ledger of the blockchain, with its traceable addresses and transaction history, could help solve the platform’s difficulties with fraud and trust".

These folks are hopelessly crypto-pilled.