The State of Crowdfunding : A Review of Business Models and Platforms

Frank Ter Kuile

Sujets

• Production communautaire
• Crowd funding

Informations

• Publié par: Nan0
• Publié le: 10 juillet 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 89
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

The State of Crowdfunding:
A Review of Business Models and Platforms
An Exploratory Study of the
Master Thesis
Sustainable Development Process of

Dutch Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises



Master Thesis




Faculty of Economics and Business





























Author: Franciscus Alexander ter Kuile
Student No.: 5943736
Primary supervisor: Dr. Michel Avital
Secondary supervisor: Dr. Tsvi Vinig
Amsterdam. 14 November 2011 Author: Markward van der Mieden
Student No.: 5968682
Email: [e-mail]
Primary Advisor: René Bohnsack MLitt
Amsterdam, 14 October 2010
Preface

This thesis is written in order to conclude the Master Programme of Business Studies at the University
of Amsterdam. This thesis is written under supervision of Dr. Michel Avital. In this preface, I would
like to take opportunity to thank him for his time, advice and dedication that he gave to me throughout
the process of writing this thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank my colleagues at the Dialogues
Incubator of the ABN AMRO Bank for their time and input on the topic of crowdfunding. Evenly, I
would like to thank the three experts for creating time in their agenda’s in order to let me interview
them. Additionally, I would like to thank all owners and managers of the crowdfunding platforms
participating in the survey, and of whom I received much e-mail with interesting insights. Finally, I
would like to thank my friends, my family and especially my girlfriend, who gave all the support that I
needed in the process of writing this thesis.
Abstract

Crowdfunding is a development that recently caught a lot of attention. Over the last years, many
crowdfunding platforms have been established and often proved to be successful in raising money.
Crowdfunding happens through means of an open call to a large group of people – “the crowd” – in
order to fund initiatives with a specific purpose. This phenomenon has been highlighted in the media as
a new form of fund raising that has the potential to lead to revolutionary business models. On the basis
of its increased efficiency, it is claimed that crowdfunding may even lead to a paradigm shift in the
established ways of present-day funding.
Even so, crowdfunding remains a topic on which academic research is, to present date, very
limited. The result is that the concept of crowdfunding is not well defined, which leaves much room for
discussion. Furthermore, the scale on which crowdfunding takes place is to a large extent still unknown.
This thesis is of an exploratory and descriptive nature, in order to bring more insight to the phenomenon
of crowdfunding. The aim of this research is therefore to create better understanding on crowdfunding.
This thesis will discuss the conceptualizations of crowdfunding. Although the opinions of
experts deviate, one has to conclude that crowdfunding and the means through which it takes place –
the Internet – are without doubt interrelated. Predominantly, crowdfunding happens via crowdfunding
platforms that serve as an intermediary between the funder and the person or organization looking for
funding. Donating, pre-financing, lending and investing are the four funding forms or underlying
business models by which the crowdfunding platforms can be subdivided. This subdivision corresponds
to the sociological motivation of people to fund or to invest. On the one end of the spectrum, one may
be willing to fund on the basis of pure economical reasons, while one may wish to do so, on the other
end, on more altruistic reasons such as donating.
A survey among various crowdfunding platforms was held, in order to gain better insight in the
crowdfunding market and its predominant way of funding. The survey outcomes showed that
crowdfunding platforms are generally used to fund enterprises as well as cultural and creative projects.
Moreover, the results showed a hedonistic and economic reasoning constitutes the predominant motive
for people to engage in crowdfunding.
Tableofcontents

1.Introduction......................................................................................................................3
1.1AcademicRelevance................................3
1.2ManagerialRelevance...................................................4
1.3ThesisOutline...................................................................4
2.Literaturereview..............................................................................5
2.1Introduction......5
2.1.1Web2.0.............................................................................6
2.1.2SocialNetworks............................................................................................7
2.2.3WisdomoftheCrowds...............................................7
2.2.4Crowdsourcing..............................................................................................8
2.3Crowdfunding...............................................................10
2.3.1CrowdfundingPlatforms.......................................................................................................12
2.3.2FormsofCrowdfunding.........12
2.4MotivationofInvesting.............................................16
2.5Conclusion......................................................................................................................................17
3.Methodology..................................................21
3.1Introduction...21
3.2ResearchQuestions....................................................................................................................21
3.3ResearchDefinition22
3.4ResearchStrategy........................................................22
3.5ResearchDesign...........................................................................................................................22
3.6ResearchPopulationandSampleselection.....................................24
3.7DataCollection..............................................................24
3.7.1Phase1:Casestudy..................................................................................................................................................24
3.7.2Phase2:Expertinterviews...................................................................................................25
3.7.3Phase3:Survey..........................27
3.8DataAnalysis.................................................................28
4.Results............................................................................................30
4.1QualitativeResults......................................................................................................................30
4.1.1CaseStudyAnalysis..................................................................................................................30
4.1.2:ResultsExpertInterviewAnalysis....................36
4.2QuantitativeResults...................................................40
4.2.1:SurveyResults..........................................................................................................................40
5.Discussion.......................................................46
5.1TheCrowdfundingConcept....................................................................................................................................46
5.2TheCrowdfundingPlatforms.................................................................47
5.3TheMotivationforCrowdfunding........................................................................................48
5.5Limitations......................................51
5.5.1QualitativeData................................................................51
5.5.2QuantitativeData.....................................................................................51
5.6SuggestionsforFutureResearch..........................52
6.Conclusion......................................................................................................................53
References..............................................55
IndexofFigures

Figure 1: Placement of crowdfunding ........................................................................................................ 5
Figure 2: Google search statistics ............. 12
Figure 3: Forms of crowdfunding ............ 15
Figure 4: Research process ....................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 5: Conceptual matrix of funding forms ......................... 29
Figure 6: Crowdfunding process .............. 31
Figure 7: Crowdfunding platforms segmented into their business model ............... 33
Figure 8: Number of crowdfunding platforms founded P/A .................................................................... 40
Figure 9: Distribution of funding forms ....................................................... 41
Figure 10: Distribution of reward types 41
Figure 11: Crowdfunding platforms orientation ........... 42
Figure 12: Crowdfunding platforms purpose ................................................................ 42
Figure 13: Crowdfunding forms in