Misplaced Pages

#337662

60-416: BackerKit was founded in 2012 by Maxwell Salzberg and Rosanna Yau as a pledge management, payment processing, shipping, audience engagement, and pre-order tool for Kickstarter campaigns. In 2018, Backerkit established The Creative Fund, with the goal of donating one dollar to a wide range of projects on Kickstarter. In 2022, BackerKit announced its own crowdfunding marketplace in response to criticisms within

120-517: A recession . RIF – A generic reduction in force, of undetermined method. Often pronounced like the word riff rather than spelled out. Sometimes used as a verb, as in "the employees were pretty heavily riffed ". eRIF – Layoff notice by email. IRIF – Involuntary reduction in force – The employee(s) did not voluntarily choose to leave the company. This usually implies that the method of reduction involved either layoffs, firings, or both, but would not usually imply resignations or retirements. If

180-550: A company." Additionally, the CEO confirmed that Kickstarter stood by its decision to fire the two employees and would be pursuing legal action to fight their claims. The statement immediately resulted in criticism and calls for boycotts from creators who had previously used the platform, while writer Neil Gaiman tweeted that he would be unlikely to post support for or links to new Kickstarter campaigns "as long as they are anti-union." Kickstarter employees continued to file complaints to

240-507: A controversial mass layoff and resultant legislation in the late 1990s. When an employee has been laid off in Australia their employer has to give them redundancy pay, which is also known as severance pay. The only time that a redundancy payment doesn't have to be paid is if an employee is casual, working for a small business or has worked for a business for less than twelve months. The redundancy compensation payment for employees depends on

300-466: A data breach of almost 5.2 million users' data, including email addresses, usernames and salted SHA-1 hashes of passwords. On March 19, 2019, Kickstarter's staff announced plans to unionize as part of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), which would make Kickstarter the only major tech company to have a union. Shortly after the announcement, three senior staffers released

360-535: A definition in section 139 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 : see Redundancy in United Kingdom law . When an employer is faced with work of a particular type ceasing or diminishing at a particular location, it may be perceived as obfuscation . Firings imply misconduct or failure while layoffs imply economic forces beyond the employer's and employees' control, especially in the face of

420-544: A euphemism for permanent termination of employment and now usually means that, requiring the addition of "temporary" to refer to the original meaning. Many other euphemisms have been coined for "(permanent) layoff", including "downsizing", "excess reduction", "rightsizing", "leveraging synergies", " delayering ", "smartsizing", "redeployment", "workforce reduction", "workforce optimization", "simplification", "force shaping", "recussion", "manage out people", "resource action", and "reduction in force" (also called "RIF", especially in

480-711: A firm's moving production overseas may entitle one to increased re-training benefits. Some companies in the United States utilize Supplemental Unemployment Benefits. Since they were first introduced by organized labor and the Department of Labor in the early 1950s, and first issued in a Revenue Ruling by the IRS in 1956, SUB-Pay Plans have enabled employers to supplement the receipt of state unemployment insurance benefits for employees that experience an involuntary layoff. By establishing severance payments as SUB-Pay benefits,

540-410: A layoff or termination would otherwise be imminent, or by offering an attractive severance or early retirement package. Conversely, the company is not obliged to accept an employee's decision and may not accept every employee who volunteers for a VRIF. WFR – Work force reduction. Following the recession of 2007–2008 , the public sector has seen significantly smaller job growth in employment versus

600-432: A layoff, the effects can trickle into future employment and attitudes. Layoffs in the workplace often leave the former employee less inclined to trust future employers which can lead to behavioral conflicts among co-workers and management . Despite new employers not being responsible for a prior circumstances, job performance may still be affected by prior layoffs. Many companies work to make layoffs as minimally burdensome to

660-432: A majority of a region (freight in the northeast for example) suffers and has to lay employees off, there will be mass unemployment in an economically rich area. This can have leave ripple effects nationwide. Unemployment is the biggest effect on the economy that can come from layoffs. In francophone Belgium, the term Procédure Renault has become a synonym for the consultation process leading to mass redundancies, due to

SECTION 10

#1732786978338

720-463: A memo dissenting against the decision, claiming that it is too extreme and that it would be a "misappropriation of unions for use by privileged workers." According to Kickstarter employees, they wanted to found a union both for enabling collective bargaining for wages and for "giving employees more clout," allowing them to work for goals that they saw in their interest and the public's interest. In May, Aziz Hasan, then CEO of Kickstarter, announced that

780-403: A number of milestones. A dock made for the iPhone designed by Casey Hopkins became the first Kickstarter project to exceed one million dollars in pledges. A few hours later, a new adventure game project started by computer game developers, Double Fine Productions , reached the same figure, having been launched less than 24 hours earlier, and finished with over $ 3 million pledged. This was also

840-456: A product. To underscore the notion that Kickstarter is a place in which creators and audiences make things together, creators across all categories are asked to describe the risks and challenges a project faces in producing it. This educates the public about the project goals and encourages contributions to the community. Several creative works have gone on to receive critical acclaim and accolades after being funded on Kickstarter. Others, such as

900-690: A project's success or failure on Kickstarter. Some key findings from the analysis were that increasing goal size is negatively associated successfully, projects that are featured on the Kickstarter homepage have an 89% chance of being successful, compared to 30% without, and that for an average $ 10,000 project, a 30-day project has a 35% chance of success, while a 60-day project has a 29% chance of success, all other things being constant. The ten largest Kickstarter projects by funds raised are listed below. Among successful projects, most raise between $ 1,000 and $ 9,999. These dollar amounts drop to less than half in

960-449: A project. They also warn project leaders that they could be liable for legal damages from backers for failure to deliver on promises. Projects might also fail even after a successful fundraising campaign when creators underestimate the total costs required or technical difficulties to be overcome. When asked what made Kickstarter different from other crowdfunding platforms, co-founder Perry Chen said: "I wonder if people really know what

1020-705: A public company in 2019 via an initial public offering raising $ 1.1 billion. Cards Against Humanity originated with a $ 4,000 Kickstarter campaign in 2010. Both Kickstarter and project creators have cancelled projects that appeared to have been fraudulent. Questions were raised about the projects in internet communities related to the fields of the projects. The concerns raised were: apparent copying of graphics from other sources; unrealistic performance or price claims; and failure of project sponsors to deliver on prior Kickstarter projects. Some notable cancelled projects include: Many individual Kickstarter projects caused controversy: In February 2014, Kickstarter announced

1080-496: A success rate of 37.45% (success rate being how many were successfully funded by reaching their set goal). The total amount pledged was $ 4,690,286,673. The business grew quickly in its early years. In 2010 Kickstarter had 3,910 successful projects and $ 27,638,318 pledged. The corresponding figures for 2011 were 11,836 successfully funded projects and $ 99,344,381 pledged; and there were 18,109 successfully funded projects, $ 610,352 pledged in 2012. On February 9, 2012, Kickstarter hit

1140-529: A year (so that those laid off can return to job openings), and a release from noncompete agreements for those who accept severance pay. In December 2021, Kickstarter announced they would be moving their platform to blockchain , with the aim of making the tools required for creating a crowdfunding site available to anyone. The pivot came on the back of a $ 100 million investment from the crypto fund of Andreessen Horowitz . The decision backfired, alienated many users, damaging Kickstarter's reputation. Kickstarter

1200-454: Is critical for rebuilding the workplace environment because employees look to their leaders for stability and predictability. No matter the position in an organization, employees will look for job security. Employees (or former employees in this case) can be affected in a couple of different ways. When an employee is laid off, his or her general trust in long-term work may decrease, reducing expectations upon rehire. After an employee withstands

1260-419: Is one of a number of crowdfunding platforms for gathering money from the public, which circumvents traditional avenues of investment. Project creators choose a deadline and a minimum funding goal. If the goal is not met by the deadline, no funds are collected (a kind of assurance contract ). The Kickstarter platform is open to backers from anywhere in the world and to creators from many countries, including

SECTION 20

#1732786978338

1320-721: The Ouya console, have resulted in commercial failure. The documentary short "Sun Come Up" and documentary short "Incident in New Baghdad" were each nominated for an Academy Award ; contemporary art projects "EyeWriter" and "Hip-Hop Word Count" were both chosen to exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art in 2011; filmmaker Matt Porterfield was selected to screen his film Putty Hill at the Whitney Biennial In 2012; author Rob Walker's Hypothetical Futures project exhibited at

1380-903: The iPhone . The app was aimed at users who create and back projects and was the first time Kickstarter had an official mobile presence. On October 31, 2012, Kickstarter opened projects based in the United Kingdom, followed by projects based in Canada on September 9, 2013, Australia and New Zealand on November 13, 2013, the Netherlands on April 28, 2014, Denmark , Ireland , Norway , and Sweden on September 15, 2014, Germany on April 28, 2015, France and Spain on May 19, 2015, Austria , Belgium , Italy , Luxembourg and Switzerland on June 16, 2015, Singapore and Hong Kong on August 30, 2016, Mexico on November 15, 2016, and Japan on September 12, 2017. In July 2017, Strickler announced his resignation. On April 20, 2020, Kickstarter announced that it

1440-551: The private sector , and layoffs have been used to ensure sustainability. As the public sector declines, the demand for services from the private sector declines as well. Layoffs in the public sector have put limitations on the growth rate of the private sector, inevitably burdening the entire flow of markets. Risks of being laid off vary depending on the workplace and country a person is working in. Unemployment compensation in any country or workplace typically has two main factors. The first factor of unemployment compensation depends on

1500-514: The tabletop role-playing game industry against Kickstarter's investment in Blockchain . The first major crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit was for Gloomhaven 's Grand Festival, which raised over $ 5 million. Other early successes included Return to Dark Tower ($ 2 million) and Spirit Island : Nature Incarnate ($ 1.2 million). In 2024, the premium edition of Brandon Sanderson 's novel Words of Radiance raised $ 16 million on BackerKit, breaking

1560-611: The "Best Inventions of 2010" and "Best Websites of 2011". Kickstarter reportedly raised $ 10 million funding from backers including NYC-based venture firm Union Square Ventures and angel investors such as Jack Dorsey , Zach Klein and Caterina Fake . The company was based at 58 Kent Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn until they transitioned to a fully remote workforce after the COVID-19 pandemic . On February 14, 2013, Kickstarter released an iOS app called Kickstarter for

1620-417: The 'obsessive' pursuit of downsizing to the point of self-starvation marked by excessive cost-cutting, organ failure and extreme pathological fear of becoming inefficient. Hence 'trimming' and 'tightening belts' are the order of the day. Traditionally, layoffs directly affect the employee. However, the employee terminated is not alone in this. Layoffs affect the workplace environment and the economy as well as

1680-473: The 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale; musician Amanda Palmer 's album Theatre is Evil debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200; designer Scott Wilson won a National Design Award from Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum following the success of his TikTok + LunaTik project; the Kickstarter funded GoldieBlox toy gained nationwide distribution in 2013; and approximately 10% of

1740-414: The 20% mark reach their goal. Creators categorize their projects into one of 13 categories and 36 subcategories. They are: Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film and Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology and Theater. Of these categories, Film & Video and Music are the largest categories and have raised the most money. These categories, along with Games, account for over half

1800-586: The Design, Games, and Technology categories. However, the median amount raised for the latter two categories remains in the four-figure range. There is substantial variation in the success rate of projects falling under different categories. Over two thirds of completed dance projects have been successful. In contrast, fewer than 30% of completed fashion projects have reached their goal. Most failing projects fail to achieve 20% of their goals and this trend applies across all categories. Indeed, over 80% of projects that pass

1860-532: The Fair Work Commission for a redundancy payment reduction. A layoff is also known as a retrenchment in ( South African English ). In the UK, permanent termination due to elimination of a position is usually called redundancy . Certain countries (such as Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Germany), distinguish between leaving the company of one's own free will , in which case

BackerKit - Misplaced Pages Continue

1920-520: The NLRB, which forced Kickstarter to allow its employees a formal vote on unionization. The vote was held on the morning of February 18, 2020, with 46 voting in favor of joining the OPEIU and 37 voting against. The CEO at the time, Aziz Hasan, said after the vote, "We support and respect this decision, and we are proud of the fair and democratic process that got us here." With this, the OPEIU will now work with

1980-528: The US, UK, and Japan suggests that downsizing is being regarded by management as one of the preferred routes to help declining organizations, cutting unnecessary costs, and improve organizational performance. Usually a layoff occurs as a cost-cutting measure. A study of 391 downsizing announcements of the S&;P 100 firms for the period 1990-2006 found, that layoff announcements resulted in substantial increase in

2040-404: The US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands , Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Mexico. Kickstarter applies a 5% fee on the total amount of the funds raised. Its payments processor applies an additional 3–5% fee. Unlike many forums for fundraising or investment , Kickstarter claims no ownership over

2100-601: The Wounds: Overcoming the Trauma of Layoffs and Revitalizing Downsized Organizations, in the post-layoff environment, there is a need for empathy, tangibility, self-knowledge, and relentlessly seeking customers among the surviving employees. The remaining employees may have feelings of survivors guilt . In order to diminish negative effects of layoffs, Wayne Cascio suggests alternative approaches to layoff and downsizing as "Responsible restructuring" approach. Optimism

2160-466: The companies’ stock prices, and that the gain was larger, when the company had prior layoffs. The authors suggested, that the stock price manipulation alone creates a sufficient motivation for publicly-traded corporations to adopt the practice of regular layoffs. Euphemisms are often used to "soften the blow" in the process of firing and being fired. The term "layoff" originally meant a temporary interruption in work (and usually pay). The term became

2220-451: The company says it was for "performance issues." After these allegations, some Kickstarter creators have started a campaign against Kickstarter to let its employees unionize. On September 28, Kickstarter confirmed that it would not recognise the unionisation effort. In a statement addressed to project creators, the CEO stated that unionisation would turn workplace relations "inherently adversarial" and that it "doesn't reflect who we are as

2280-503: The company would require an election for the union rather than voluntarily recognizing it, saying that "our view is that we are better set up to be successful without the framework of a union." On September 16, the employees filed a complaint against Kickstarter with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after two employees were terminated. According to the workers, they were fired for unionizing, although

2340-442: The definition of crowdfunding is. Or, if there's even an agreed upon definition of what it is. We haven't actively supported the use of the term because it can provoke more confusion. In our case, we focus on a middle ground between patronage and commerce. People are offering cool stuff and experiences in exchange for the support of their ideas. People are creating these mini-economies around their project ideas. So, you aren't coming to

2400-402: The distribution of unemployment benefits in a workplace outlined in an employee handbook . The second factor is the risk of inequality being conditioned upon the political regime type in the country an employee is working in. The amount of compensation will usually depend on what level the employee holds in the company. Packages may also vary if the employee is laid off, or voluntarily quits in

2460-474: The employee is fired rather than laid off, the term "with cause" may be appended to indicate that the separation was due to this employee's performance and/or behavior, rather than being financially motivated. VRIF – Voluntary reduction in force – The employee(s) did play a role in choosing to leave the company, most likely through resignation or retirement. In some instances, a company may exert pressure on an employee to make this choice, perhaps by implying that

BackerKit - Misplaced Pages Continue

2520-424: The employee. At times employers may layoff multiple people at once to soften the impact. Layoffs create lower job security overall, and an increased competitiveness for available and opening positions. Layoffs have generally two major effects on the economy and stockholders . The way layoffs affect the economy varies from the industry that is doing the layoffs and the size of the layoff. If an industry that employs

2580-430: The employee. Layoffs have a widespread effect and the three main components of layoff effects are in the workplace, to the employee, and effects to the economy. One framework to examine the effects on the macro level is PSB, which examines the stakeholders perspective in global downsizing. This framework examines the global perspective of positive and negative stakeholders behavior during downsizing. Layoffs have remained

2640-500: The face of a layoff (VRIF). The method of separation may have an effect on a former employee's ability to collect whatever form of unemployment compensation might be available in their jurisdiction . In many U.S. states, workers who are laid off can file an unemployment claim and receive compensation. Depending on local or state laws, workers who leave voluntarily are generally ineligible to collect unemployment benefits, as are those who are fired for gross misconduct. Also, lay-offs due to

2700-580: The films accepted into the Sundance , SXSW and Tribeca Film Festivals are projects funded on Kickstarter. The Glowing Plant project was the first and only synthetic biology campaign on Kickstarter. The Oculus Rift began as a 2012 Kickstarter project and became one of the most funded projects at the time. The company was then acquired by Facebook two years later for $ 2 billion. Peloton Interactive sold its first exercise bike on Kickstarter in 2013 with an early bird price tag of $ 1,500. It became

2760-483: The first time Kickstarter raised over a million dollars in pledges in a single day. On August 30, 2014, the "Coolest Cooler", an icebox created by Ryan Grepper, became the most funded Kickstarter project in history, with US$ 13.28 million in funding, breaking the record previously held by the Pebble smartwatch . From 2012 to 2013, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick and Jeanne Pi conducted research into what contributes to

2820-554: The government employment sector). "Mass layoff" is defined by the United States Department of Labor as 50 or more workers laid off from the same company around the same time. "Attrition" implies that positions will be eliminated as workers quit or retire. "Early retirement" means workers may quit now yet still remain eligible for their retirement benefits later. "Redundancy" is a specific legal term in UK labour law with

2880-415: The greatest way for a company to cut costs. Although from the employer's perspective a layoff is beneficial for the business , layoffs create an uncertainty in the workplace environment and lowers other employees' job security as well as creates an apprehension and fear of termination for the remaining employees, and subsequently lowers overall motivation in the workplace environment. According to Healing

2940-445: The length of time an employee has worked for an employer which excludes unpaid leave. If an employer can't afford the redundancy payment they are supposed to give their employee, once making them redundant, or they find their employee another job that is suitable for the employee. An employer is able to apply for a reduction in the amount of money they have to pay the employee they have made redundant. An employer can do this by applying to

3000-690: The money raised. Video games and tabletop games alone account for more than $ 2 out of every $ 10 spent on Kickstarter. To maintain its focus as a funding platform for creative projects, Kickstarter has outlined three guidelines for all project creators to follow: creators can fund projects only; projects must fit within one of the site's 13 creative categories; and creators must abide by the site's prohibited uses, which include charity and awareness campaigns. Kickstarter has additional requirements for hardware and product design projects. These include The guidelines are designed to reinforce Kickstarter's position that people are backing projects, not placing orders for

3060-457: The move went forward. On December 15, a week later, Kickstarter responded to the controversy in a blog post that clarified the company's position but did not indicate a change of plans. Layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing

SECTION 50

#1732786978338

3120-736: The payments are not considered wages for FICA , FUTA , and SUI tax purposes, and employee FICA tax. To qualify for SUB-Pay benefits, the participant must be eligible for state unemployment insurance benefits and the separation benefit must be paid on a periodic basis. There have also been increasing concerns about the organizational effectiveness of the post-downsized 'anorexic organization'. The benefits, which organizations claim to be seeking from downsizing, center on savings in labor costs, speedier decision making, better communication, reduced product development time, enhanced involvement of employees and greater responsiveness to customers (De Meuse et al. 1997, p. 168). However, some writers draw attention to

3180-500: The person is not entitled to unemployment benefits, but may receive a onetime payment and leaving a company as part of a reduction in labour force size, in which case the person is entitled to them. A RIF reduces the number of positions, rather than laying off specific people, and is usually accompanied by internal redeployment . Department of Labor Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) requires employer "to provide at least 60 calendar days advance written notice of

3240-1150: The platform's record. This role-playing game related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn , New York , that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of February 2023, Kickstarter has received US$ 7 billion in pledges from 21.7 million backers to fund 233,626 projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, board games, technology, publishing, and food-related projects. People who back Kickstarter projects are offered tangible rewards or experiences in exchange for their pledges. This model traces its roots to subscription model of arts patronage, in which artists would go directly to their audiences to fund their work. Kickstarter launched on April 28, 2009, by Perry Chen , Yancey Strickler , and Charles Adler. The New York Times called Kickstarter "the people's NEA ". Time named it one of

3300-513: The projects and the work they produce. The web pages of projects launched on the site are permanently archived and accessible to the public. After funding is completed, projects and uploaded media cannot be edited or removed from the site. There is no guarantee that people who post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects, use the money to implement their projects, or that the completed projects will meet backers' expectations. Kickstarter advises backers to use their judgment on supporting

3360-473: The site to get something for nothing; you are trying to create value for the people who support you. We focus on creative projects—music, film, technology, art, design, food and publishing—and within the category of crowdfunding of the arts, we are probably ten times the size of all the others combined." On June 21, 2012, Kickstarter began publishing statistics on its projects. As of December 4, 2019, there were 469,286 launched projects (3,524 in progress), with

3420-504: The size of) an organization. Originally, layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, or employment but this has evolved to a permanent elimination of a position in both British and US English, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning of the word. A layoff is not to be confused with wrongful termination . Laid off workers or displaced workers are workers who have lost or left their jobs because their employer has closed or moved, there

3480-519: The union effort, Kickstarter United, to bargain with Kickstarter management for a contract. As of May 2, 2020, 60% of the workforce was part of the union. On December 8, 2021, Kickstarter announced a plan to develop a decentralized protocol on blockchain platform Celo to build an open source and blockchain-based crowdfunding infrastructure and then move its own website to that system. The announcement prompted backlash from creators and backers on Twitter , many of whom pledged to abandon Kickstarter if

3540-418: Was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished (Borbely, 2011). Downsizing in a company is defined to involve the reduction of employees in a workforce. Downsizing in companies became a popular practice in the 1980s and early 1990s as it was seen as a way to deliver better shareholder value as it helps to reduce the costs of employers (downsizing, 2015). Research on downsizing in

3600-551: Was likely going to lay off workers due to the coronavirus pandemic causing the number of active projects to be "about 35% below what it was at this time last year with no clear sign of rebound." The layoff was reported by the union to affect up to 45% of the employees, although Kickstarter has yet to report the scale of the layoff as of May 2, 2020. The union negotiated a settlement for laid off employees including four months of severance pay and up to six months of continued health benefits for anyone who gets laid off, recall rights for

#337662