Perry Chen

Perry Chen – Kickstarter

When you grow up in New York City in the ‘90s and live your uni years in New-Orleans, you are bound to fall in love with music. That’s what happened to my new Generation Do It Yourself guest (and the first English speaker may I add) Perry Chen, artist and founder of Kickstarter.

“Artists are good at the creative vision, at fighting to bring something alive.”

For us, the Frenchies that grew up watching The Wired, Friends and basically every TV Show and movies taking place in NY, his childhood years may look straight out of a Hollywood production. From his time listening to Tuppac and Biggie to his art gallery, Perry takes us with him into his incredible journey to the top of art.

In 2001, when he was still a young university student living in New Orleans, Perry Chen had a project: to bring Kruder and Dorfmeister to the 2002 Jazz Fest. However, the pair of DJs refused, the amount of money was simply not enough (despite Perry’s many efforts to negotiate with a huge bag of weed). The story could end here but that’s not what happened. Instead, Perry Chen took this opportunity to build a new project: what if people could pledge a certain amount of money for a project they believed in? That would be Kickstarter. Now, 10 years after it’s creation on April 28, 2009, the platform already funded over 165 projects.

“It took me 8 years between the moment when I first imagined the projet and the one where I really commited myself to it. During those 8 long years the idea grew on me, it never left me. Bit by bit, it became all I was thinking of. 

Perry Chen tells us all about this incredible journey in an interview without filters where we talk creation, Hip Hop, money and even Y2K!