About Yancey Strickler

Biography and Ventures

Yancey Strickler is a cofounder and former CEO of Kickstarter, where he pioneered crowdfunding for creative projects, as seen in his [1] Charlie Rose interview discussing public involvement in creativity. He also cofounded The Creative Independent (artist resource) and Metalabel [3][9], and now leads Artist Corporations to revolutionize the creative economy [8]. His personal site aggregates his writing, videos, books, and contact [2][10]. Recent news highlights his efforts to help artists profit via new structures [12][13][14][15].

Creator Economy and Crowdfunding History

Strickler's Kickstarter tenure [1] laid groundwork for the creator economy, enabling public funding of projects. He now addresses struggles in running creative businesses [15], proposing Artist Corporations as a new way for artists to profit [14] and potentially save struggling artists [13]. This builds on crowdfunding history toward sustainable models [12].

Artist Corporations and Collective Ownership

Artist Corporations represent new legal structures for collective ownership, aiming for a 'Creative Century' [8]. Teamed with founders like Rob Kalin and others in 2025 [4], it counters creative life challenges through shared economics, entrepreneurship, and creativity [8]. News frames it as revolutionary for the creative economy [12].

Dark Forest Theory of the Internet

Strickler's seminal 'Dark Forest Theory' depicts the internet as a hostile environment where creators hide like animals in a dark forest [5][7], originally shared privately with 500 readers [7]. This informs his push for private internets over public exposure.

Post-Individualism

Strickler advocates moving beyond individualism: 'the post-individual' [6], where disputes shift from family elders to courts, introducing himself simply as 'Yancey Strickler' to emphasize collective identity over tribal ties [6]. This ties to collective models like Artist Corporations.

Creativity and New Ideas

His work supports creative people via writing on art, Bentoism, and more [10]. About page underscores his role [9], with newsletters exploring creativity [10]. Artist Corporations tagged with creativity [8], and team shoutouts celebrate 'our creative life' [4].

Private Internet and Metalabel

Implicit in Dark Forest [5][7], he cofounded Metalabel [3], likely enabling private, creator-controlled spaces amid public internet perils.