Project Update #5: Digital Marketing Services, Advanced Creator Dashboard, and New Hires

Hey, everyone! We're back with another installment of Kickstarter Project Updates, a video series where we share the journey of how we’re building Kickstarter.

In my last video, I spoke about the new services we're beginning to offer as we continue to develop new ways to support creators throughout their entire Kickstarter journey: Our partnership with Jellop will help creators reach new backers through digital marketing, while our beta with PledgeManager will allow creators to fulfill pledges more easily.

Today, we're continuing to build on that work with new features and products that I know you're going to love. Most recently, we made available our new and improved creator dashboard. One of the things we hear all the time from Kickstarter creators is that having access to more data will help them run better, more successful campaigns. Now, when a project has launched, creators and collaborators will have an option in the creator menu to view the beta version of the new dashboard.

Equipped with more information, creators can make better decisions about how to market their projects, and they can make adjustments as they go based on what's working and what isn't. We’re always looking for feedback, so creators will have the option to fill out a short survey on the dashboard. Your responses will directly inform the changes and improvements we make to the visualizations and data the dashboard provides, so please let us know where you see opportunities for improvement.

Now, for some really big news: We've added some amazing new talent to the team!

First, Danny Baez has joined the company as our new Head of Arts. Danny brings a wealth of experience to the role. He's the founder of REGULARNORMAL, an art space that strives to disrupt the status quo in the art world. He’s also a cofounder and director of the Mecca International Art Fair, which he hosts in his home country of the Dominican Republic, and a cofounder and board member of the ARTNOIR collective, which empowers Black and brown artists, curators, patrons, and other cultural workers. In short, he's passionate about supporting artists and creators. Danny will oversee Kickstarters visual and performing arts categories, working closely with artists, collectives, art organizations, museums, and cultural institutions globally to help them bring their ambitious and creative ideas to life.

I went with Danny to see artist Lauren Halsey's new installation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This incredible work initially started as a Kickstarter project and shows exactly why Kickstarter is such an important platform for the arts. I'm glad to have Danny here on board and looking forward to the impact he's going to have on the arts community here at Kickstarter.

I'm also really excited to welcome Courtney Brown Warren, our new VP of Brand Marketing, and Nikki Kria, our new Head of Communications. Courtney and Nikki were both most recently at Twitter, and now they're joining us to help revitalize Kickstarter’s brand. In addition to improving the product, a major focus for me as Kickstarter’s CEO is to bring people into the company who can help us build better and more meaningful relationships with creators and backers across all categories. With their experience in brand building and storytelling, Courtney and Nikki are going to be instrumental in helping us do this work. I'm also looking forward to working with them on ways to make the platform even more inclusive.

It's an exciting time in Kickstarter’s history, and there's lots more to come. Stay tuned, and subscribe to our newsletter for creators, Working on It, for more updates.

I'll see you back here next time.