The Case for Crowdfunding Before Raising Venture Capital with Everette Taylor, Kickstarter

For years, crowdfunding had a reputation as the place founders went when they couldn’t raise venture capital. Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor thinks founders should look at it very differently.

In this episode of Build Mode, host Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Everett to talk about crowdfunding as an alternative and sometimes a precursor to traditional venture funding.

Everette’s own path into entrepreneurship was unconventional. Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, far from Silicon Valley, he says he didn’t know what venture capital, SaaS, or ARR were when he started his first company. Instead, he threw parties to make enough money to fund the software he was building. He eventually sold that company at 21, an experience that taught him some hard lessons about understanding the value of what you’ve built.

Today, as CEO of Kickstarter, Everette is making the case that founders don’t necessarily have to choose between crowdfunding and venture capital. A successful Kickstarter campaign can help founders raise non-dilutive capital, find their first customers, test demand, and establish product-market fit—all before giving up a piece of their company. And for founders who eventually do want VC backing, Everett argues that traction can give them considerably more leverage at the negotiating table.

He also explains why Kickstarter is increasingly attracting established companies and creators, what makes hardware particularly well suited to crowdfunding, how AI is changing who can become an entrepreneur, and what founders need to have in place before launching a campaign.

They get into:

How Everette funded his first startup by throwing parties

What selling his first company taught him about understanding your value

The differences between donation, equity, and reward-based crowdfunding

Why Kickstarter can work particularly well for hardware startups

What crowdfunding can give founders that venture capital can’t

How Kickstarter can help founders find early adopters and test product-market fit