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Yancey Strickler  

Co-Founder & Former CEO of Kickstarter; Author of "This Could Be Our Future;" World Economic Forum Young Global Leader

Yancey Strickler is a writer and the co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter. Viking Books will publish Strickler’s first book, “This Could Be Our Future: A Manifesto for a More Generous World” on October 29.

Since introducing the world to crowdfunding a decade ago, Kickstarter has helped creative people raise more than $4 billion in funding for their projects. Among the projects that got their start on Kickstarter: Cards Against Humanity, Oculus Rift, multiple Oscar-winning films, projects by Spike Lee, Neil Young, Marina Abramovic, and thousands of albums, books, comics, artworks, gadgets, plays, and restaurants.

In 2015, Kickstarter became a Public Benefit Corporation, choosing to focus the company’s mission, as the New York Times wrote, on “altruism over profit.” A study by the Wharton School of Business the same year found that Kickstarter projects created more than 300,000 full- and part-time jobs.

Strickler has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People. He’s spoken at the Museum of Modern Art, Tribeca and Sundance Film Festivals, Web Summit, SXSW, Walker Art Center, Stanford, Columbia University, and NYU.

Strickler is co-founder of the artistic resource The Creative Independent and a former music journalist whose writing has appeared in Pitchfork, the Village Voice, and The Washington Post. The London Spectator called him “one of the least obnoxious tech evangelists ever.”

Speech Topics

Fireside Chat

Strickler joins an interviewer for a lively conversation about the story of Kickstarter, becoming a Public Benefit Corporation, how to build a creative organization, the state of creativity and culture today, how to communicate effectively on the web, and what the future might have in store for our organizations and communities.

The Emotions of Leadership

Business gurus write about Wartime CEOs and Peacetime CEOs, and how different moments call for different kinds of leadership. But success or failure is often determined not by strategic decisions, but by the emotional leadership of the people making them. What does it mean to manage our emotions as leaders? How do we stay focused on what matters? Hear from Strickler’s personal experiences and come together with others on the challenges and emotions of leadership.

Creativity Can Solve Anything

How people have used creativity to design new solutions to new and old problems. Adele’s battles with ticket scalpers, the invention of the three-point shot, the history of modern medicine, and some inspiring creations through Kickstarter, among others, show humanity at its most creative. This talk shows how creative thinking, attention to detail, and bold actions can lead to new ways of approaching old problems.

This Could Be Our Future

The story of Kickstarter, from an ingenious idea and three friends to billions of dollars in funding for creative projects. Strickler takes the audience through the experience, sharing the challenges and memorable moments from the journey. Strickler then zooms out further, showing the exciting possibilities of a new way of thinking about value.

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