Kickstarter's Co-founder on Paralyzing Fear & Staying Punk Rock

Jan 27, 2020

Yancey Strickler, co-founder and former CEO of Kickstarter, shares his inspiring journey of redefining identity after stepping away from a significant role. He reflects on the emotional complexities of leaving a job that shaped his identity and the paradox of navigating startup life. Yancey introduces 'bentoism', advocating for a value system that prioritizes meaningful contributions over pure profit. He discusses the challenge of staying authentic in a social media-driven world and urges listeners to align their projects with their core values for true fulfillment.

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Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

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From Identity Crisis to Creative Mission

01:31 • 17min

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Sponsorship Break Featuring Health and Financial Solutions

18:42 • 3min

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The Journey of Kickstarter: From Skepticism to Success

21:38 • 21min

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Exploring Personal Manifestos and Online Authenticity

42:53 • 3min

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Rethinking Value in Business

45:47 • 14min

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Embracing Bentoism for Personal Growth

59:29 • 9min

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Navigating the Messiness of Startup Life and Identity

01:08:37 • 3min

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A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O'Connor

Published in 1955, 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' is a short story by Flannery O'Connor that follows a Georgia family on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother manipulates the family into taking a detour to visit an old plantation, leading them into a fateful encounter with The Misfit, a violent escaped convict. The story critiques superficial religious attitudes and explores the conflict between appearance and reality, particularly through the characters of the grandmother and The Misfit. It is a tale of moral and philosophical introspection, set against the backdrop of the Southern Gothic tradition, characterized by dark humor, violence, and a sense of foreboding.

Finite and infinite games

James P. Carse

In this book, James P. Carse distinguishes between finite and infinite games. Finite games are instrumental activities with clear rules, boundaries, and winners, such as sports, politics, and wars. Infinite games, on the other hand, are authentic interactions that aim to continue the play, changing rules and boundaries as needed. Carse explores how these concepts apply to various aspects of life, including culture, religion, sexuality, and self-discovery. He argues that finite games offer wealth, status, and power, while infinite games provide something more subtle and grander, such as true freedom and endless possibility. The book offers insights into how approaching life as either a finite or infinite game affects one's choices, satisfaction, and success.

Blitzscaling

Reid Hoffman

Chris Yeh

Blitzscaling is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that prioritizes speed over efficiency in the face of uncertainty. It involves designing an innovative business model that can grow rapidly, implementing a strategy that builds growth factors through network effects and aggressive spending, and using an innovative approach to management to handle the human resources challenges of rapid growth. The book, written by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh, draws on their experiences scaling startups into billion-dollar businesses and provides a framework that can be applied in any region or industry. It emphasizes the importance of positive feedback loops, competitive advantage, and the ability to adapt and manage through different stages of scaling.

This Could Be Our Future

A Manifesto for a More Generous World

Yancey Strickler

In this book, Yancey Strickler argues that Western society is trapped by assumptions that prioritize self-interest and wealth. He suggests that these assumptions have led to environmental collapse, corruption, inequality, and widespread dissatisfaction. Strickler advocates for expanding the concept of value beyond financial gain to include values such as community, purpose, and sustainability. The book offers a vision for building a more generous, fair, and sustainable society and provides a framework called Bentoism for making these changes.

Start with Why

How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Simon Sinek

In 'Start with Why', Simon Sinek introduces the concept of 'The Golden Circle', which consists of 'Why', 'How', and 'What'. He argues that successful leaders and organizations start with their purpose or 'Why', which inspires loyalty and trust. Sinek uses examples such as Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers to illustrate how this approach can lead to significant influence and success. The book emphasizes the importance of leadership and purpose in inspiring others and achieving long-term success.

The Three-Body Problem

None

Cixin Liu

Cixin Liu's 'The Three-Body Problem' is a critically acclaimed science fiction novel that blends hard science with compelling storytelling. The story follows a group of scientists who make contact with an alien civilization, leading to unforeseen consequences for humanity. Liu's intricate world-building and exploration of complex scientific and philosophical themes have earned him widespread recognition. The novel is known for its ambitious scope and its exploration of the potential challenges and dangers of encountering extraterrestrial life. It's a thought-provoking work that has captivated readers worldwide.

Have you ever left something that was so tied to your identity, you worried, “Who am I without it?” A job? Maybe a relationship? Although terrifying, sometimes shedding an identity is where the magic happens. Who you are and what you actually stand for becomes a little clearer. At least that was the case for Yancey Strickler.

He co-founded Kickstarter and spent five years as CEO. Now Yancey is in the midst of stepping into his own identity without the backbone of the company he created. In his new book, This Could Be Our Future, he asks us to look "beyond money and toward maximizing the values that make life worth living." Yancey tells the story of his journey from growing up on a farm, to punk rocker, to building a tech company that transformed creative communities around the world.

Startup life is messy. It comes with a lot of highs and lows. And leaving a job that defines your identity can be paralyzing. So is staying at one when it’s clearly time to go. We are in a similar moment in tech. We’re trying to figure out our identity in what Yancey calls a “dark forest where the loudest and most extreme voices are amplified.” You could argue it’s a pretty important time to understand our own values, and what we value as a society as a whole. In this episode of First Contact, we explore what it’s like to rediscover your identity and stay true to yourself through life’s most challenging moments.

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