263. The Founding Story of Kickstarter — Community, Competition, and Customer-Obsession (Charles Adler)

Charles Adler of Kickstarter joins Nick to discuss The Founding Story of Kickstarter — Community, Competition, and Customer-Obsession. In this episode, we cover:

• Walk us through your background and path to tech.
• Growing up what inspired you most?
• How did the idea for Kickstarter begin?
• Was there an MVP - was there an initial target vertical?
• When did you know that it was working?
• What was the biggest mistake you made during the journey?
• When competition arose... did it scare you?
• Is Kickstarter today still delivering on the initial vision you and your co-founders had?
• What was the hardest part of growing a venture-backed company?
• What advice would you have for founders before selecting VC partners?
• Organic growth and categories?
• We often talk on the show about the importance of customer obsession, really knowing what they care about and spending time to understand that -- what has been your philosophy and approach w/ customers?
• Many founders and investors talk about the importance of diversity.  We talk about the importance of climate change and the environment.  We campaign for socio-economic equality.  How do you think founders (and investors) can be more intentional about building their beliefs into their business and their culture?
• What are you focused on now... tell us about Lost Arts?
• Why do it alone?
• Community has been a common thread/focus across many of your efforts.  Is community core to everything you do... if so why?