330: The 4 Questions You Need To Be Asking To Make Better Decisions: Kickstarter Co-Founder and Author Yancey Strickler

Yancey Strickler, Author and Kickstarter Co-Founder

In this inspiring podcast interview, Nathan Chan sits down with Kickstarter co-founder and author Yancey Strickler to discuss his 'Bento Box' method for making better decisions, how his company Kickstarter found it’s feet, and our unhealthy obsession with “financial maximization”. 

Strickler was working as a music journalist in New York when a chance encounter with future co-founder Perry Chen in a restaurant led to the creation of Kickstarter, and crowdfunding as a category-defining player in a new field. 

A writer at heart, Stickler used his time post-Kickstarter to write the groundbreaking This Could Be Our Future. An in-depth look at our current obsession with financial gain, and how society has conditioned us to always choose whatever will make the most money.

Making the right choices in life is a mission close to Strickler’s heart. As such, he created the revolutionary “Bento Box” framework, an inspiring and humbling process for individuals and businesses alike to frame and structure their decisions.

This podcast is one of our most inspiring insights into human nature and the importance of caring for our future selves and our future business.  Learn from Strickler as he gives you the secret Bento Box method to help you make the right decisions in life. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss!

Key Takeaways

• Strickler discusses how the idea for Kickstarter came about in 2005 while working in the music industry
• Why it took Strickler close to 4 years for the idea to be executed
• The conscious decision to frame Kickstarter as a funding method for passion projects and new ideas rather than a charity platform
• Why Kickstarter was originally called “Kickstartr”
• Pitching the idea of Kickstarter and the initial investors, and getting Andy Baio onboard with the project
• How they went from unpaid developers to profitability in 14 months
• The effect of being a category-defining player in a new field 
• Stepping down from his position at Kickstarter
• Strickler’s new book “This Could Be Our Future” and our current obsession with Financial Maximisation: whatever makes the most money is the right decision
• Strickler’s Bento Framework
• • Now Me: profitability 
  • Future Me: as a business, your values
  • Now Us: stakeholders, employees, suppliers, etc.
  • Future Us: the bigger idea of what you want to be

Key Resources From Our Interview 

https://www.ystrickler.com/book