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Kickstarter

crowdfunding platform · in 44 videos (2012–2026)

Crowdfunding platform John praises for letting artists fund work directly from the people who like it. Hank's DFTBA Games used it for the card game Wizard School, over 1000% funded, and the party game ROLF, and he later launched the Book of Good Times there, his first Kickstarter to ship on time.

Videos by year: 2012: 12 · 2013: 12 · 2014: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2026: 1

Website: kickstarter.com

Threads

Also named in the threads: The Evil Baby Orphanage (2007) · John's social media hiatus to write a novel (2015) · Journey to the Microcosmos: Hank and James's YouTube channel about microscopic life (2019) · The Book of Good Times Kickstarter (2024)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

ROLF (2) · Wizard School (3) · Evil Baby Orphanage card game (3) · Journey to the Microcosmos (2) · hankschannel (3) · TikTok (3) · progress (2) · SciShow (3) · Crash Course (4) · Christmas (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2012

  • 2012-02-14 · Things I Can Do — John is a huge fan of ways to connect people directly with the stuff they like, like Kickstarter: Julia Nunes no longer needs venture capitalists or record companies to fund an album, a very big revolution. — 00:02:26
    • John says what he loves about Kickstarter, as about the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, is that it is 'about us': the money is raised and spent together. — 00:02:55
    • John says projects like Gumroad and Kickstarter make him think the internet might someday become the artistic utopia: a place to make a living making things you care about with and for people you care about. (hedged) — 00:03:24
  • 2012-04-12 (said on 2012-04-13, implied) · Introducing Lizzie Bennet — Hank wanted to do something no one had done before: an adaptation in online video, transferring a previous work into the new medium; he knows of no examples. (hedged) — 00:00:36
    • The series is a work of fiction adapted into a video blog, and the work chosen is Pride and Prejudice. — 00:01:04
    • They have made eight episodes; to make more they must prove people want to watch, either to get a sponsor or to get enough views to pay for it. — 00:02:25
  • 2012-06-22 · Hank is Maybe Crazy — Hank says The Lizzie Bennet Diaries gets about the same number of views every episode, rare for a web series: around 70,000, roughly 30,000 short of paying for the show. — 00:02:39
    • Hank asks 30,000 viewers to go and watch all the episodes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. — 00:02:58
  • 2012-08-10 · I Don't Have a Favorite Pony — announcement: Hank says the people at Weird Games took up the idea; when he saw their Kickstarter he asked to help and they showed him the whole game. — 00:02:57
    • Hank says at $50,000 the Kickstarter adds a Nerdfighter expansion in which players can play John and Hank as time nannies. — 00:03:17
  • 2012-12-04 · Time for AWESOME — announcement: John says the P4A already has more than $15,000, thanks to Nerdcrafteria donations and to the Evil Baby Orphanage card game makers, who quietly donated part of their proceeds. — 00:02:26
  • 2012-12-21 · Meet the Team: The Missoula Office (And P4A and TheBrainScoop) — Hank says he is grateful to have worked with so many amazing people on projects like the P4A, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, SciShow, Crash Course, DFTBA Records and VidCon, and that he just loves to create and to help people create. — 00:03:01
  • …and 12 statements more in 2012 — all statements of 2012

2013

  • 2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John introduces a reading from The Fault in Our Stars, now past the first pages, by actors from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a YouTube web-series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. — 00:38:22
  • 2013-02-15 · Baby, Harlem, Obama, Dance Crazes, Big Week — Hank: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries won two Streamys at the pre-awards and may yet win more. — 00:02:26
  • 2013-02-19 · Doing Things, On the Importance of — John gets several emails a day praising his work on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which he is not involved with at all, though he is happy to take credit. (playful) — 00:02:56
  • 2013-02-26 · Cooking with a 3-Year-Old: The Mac & Cheese and Communist Celery Edition — John: Hannah Hart asked people who donated to her Kickstarter to show off their kitchens because she might come cook in them, so John and his son cook dinner to show theirs. (hedged) — 00:00:01
  • 2013-03-15 · Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes — ask: Hank invites Nerdfighteria to discuss, in the comments, Our Pants and the Nerdfighter subreddit, what they love, how to broaden, how content is discovered and whether there is a better way to fund it. — 00:03:13
  • 2013-03-20 · Ads Work...but for Whom? — John says Kickstarter is awesome but suits projects with an end, like a movie, album or game, not a YouTube channel meant to last. — 00:02:22
  • 2013-05-31 · Optimism is Not Insane — Hank's trip to Seattle's Museum of Flight to help Planetary Resources launch its space-telescope Kickstarter inspired him: crowdfunding a telescope, artifacts of great shared projects, dedicated people. — 00:02:51
  • 2013-06-21 · New Channels, New Songs, and Just Plain News — Hank: according to Weird Games, the Evil Baby Orphanage card game has now sold over 4,000 copies. — 00:00:26
  • 2013-08-27 · On the TFIOS Movie Set — announcement: John congratulates Hank on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries winning an Emmy, after the film's screenwriters, on set, congratulate Hank too. — 00:01:24
  • 2013-08-30 · Raw Onion, Twerking, and Speech Jam — Hank: In a song, Hank recalls asking Bernie what he thought of Pride and Prejudice characters as vloggers, and marvels that the idea won an Emmy award. (playful) — 00:00:52
  • 2013-10-11 · TFiOS Movie, Emma Approved, Subbable Update, etc — Hank: At the warehouse, Hank says DFTBA Records is going well and preparing for Christmas and the Lizzie Bennet Kickstarter, whose rewards he apologises have not been sent yet. — 00:01:20
    • Hank recalls telling John at this spot his idea for a Jane Austen vlog series; The Lizzie Bennet Diaries did very well, with tens of millions of views and an Emmy. — 00:01:44
  • …and 6 statements more in 2013 — all statements of 2013

2014

2015

  • 2015-03-20 · A Sacrifice of Individuality and the Internets — Hank says the internet enabled crowdfunding (Patreon, Indiegogo, Kickstarter), crowdsourcing that built Wikipedia, and the wisdom of the crowd: upvotes on Reddit and choices on YouTube and Facebook that help curate content. — 00:01:01
  • 2015-09-29 · Writing, Walling, Racing, and Wizard Schooling — announcement: John: Breaking his hiatus to check Twitter, John learns Hank launched a new company: DFTBA Games, co-founded by Hank, has a Kickstarter for its first game, the card game Wizard School. — 00:02:26
    • John says he is excited, was one of the first ten backers, and that he and the Yeti are huge nerds for tabletop card games. — 00:02:53
  • 2015-10-02 · Awkward Stranger Conversations — announcement: Hank is overwhelmed by the Wizard School Kickstarter's success: over 1000% funded, so they will get to make the game. — 00:02:52
    • Hank asks viewers to still pledge to the Wizard School Kickstarter because there are stretch goals they want to hit. — 00:03:00

2017

  • 2017-03-31 · No Cut Confessional: Priorities — announcement: Hank says Wizard School has launched and people like playing it, but many Kickstarter perks have not been sent yet; he feels terrible and apologizes. — 00:02:10
  • 2017-08-04 · Why Bullets are Good for the Environment — announcement: Hank announces ROLF, a new silly party game from DFTBA Games, on Kickstarter for the next 24 days or so; it has already reached its goal, so it will be made. (hedged) — 00:03:20
  • 2017-08-25 · Trust and Fire - Thoughts from the Smoke — ask: Hank says the Kickstarter for ROLF, DFTBA Games' dumb party game, ends in a few days; anyone who wants to help and pledge for a copy has a link in the description. — 00:03:29

2021

  • 2021-01-08 · In Which Hank Worries for a Little Bit and then Looks at Microbes — announcement: Hank: Journey to the Microcosmos is running a Kickstarter for this microscope with a phone attachment for making content, plus a guide to starting your own microcosmos journey. — 00:03:00
  • 2021-09-03 · What the Heck am I doing? — announcement: Hank: The Microcosmos microscope from their Kickstarter is finally shipping, but a piece is missing, probably lost in transit; backers' microscopes ship now and the piece follows. — 00:00:00

2022

  • 2022-04-22 · My Life is on My Walls — announcement: Hank shows the Lizzie Bennet Diaries DVD set and notes that this month (April 2022) is the 10-year anniversary of the show's first episode. — 00:02:17

2023

2024

  • 2024-09-06 · I feel like I can't talk about this… — announcement: Hank explains that it is a legit Kickstarter-style campaign: nothing gets made unless the goal is reached, since the molds are too expensive without enough sales; it is exciting and scary. — 00:02:26
  • 2024-09-26 · Something Very Strange Has Been Happening to Me — announcement: Hank announces a Kickstarter to see how many copies of the book they can make. — 00:02:50
  • 2024-09-30 · Put a little bit of cinnamon in it — announcement: Hank: Before leaving the room Hank will launch the Book of Good Times Kickstarter; he is very nervous, having never done anything like it. — 00:00:13
    • Hank launches the Kickstarter on camera: it is live, and he thinks it is going well. — 00:00:28
    • Asked who wrote the book, Hank keeps up the fiction that the book wrote itself and also its Kickstarter page. (playful) — 00:00:28
    • Hank discovers the Kickstarter's shipping settings are wrong and fixes them from the venue bathroom on his phone's Wi-Fi, hoping no one notices. — 00:01:20
  • 2024-10-02 · What I learned from the weirdest day of my life — announcement: Hank: Because many people wanted multiple copies, Hank made it possible on the Kickstarter to get five paperbacks, five hardcovers, or a bundle with one of each. — 00:04:52
  • 2024-10-11 · October 11, 2024 - Goofing off with John (a Vlogbrothers Video) — announcement: The description thanks everyone who backed the Book of Good Times Kickstarter: over 14,000 people got a book. — video description
  • 2024-11-08 · These Maps are Lying (if you let them) — announcement: Hank says about 20% of Book of Good Times backers have not yet sent their addresses, and shipping starts next week (week of 11 November 2024). — 00:01:50
    • Hank asks backers to find the Kickstarter email survey in their inbox and fill it out now, to make life easier for the warehouse team. — 00:02:06
  • …and 2 statements more in 2024 — all statements of 2024

2025

  • 2025-05-09 · OK, I MESSED UP. — Hank: The Kickstarter did amazingly and everything shipped perfectly on time, which Hank has never done with a Kickstarter before. — 00:02:01
    • The typo is restored in the second printing, available now; the book had so far only been available during the Kickstarter. — 00:02:29
  • 2025-12-09 · Hank Green, from A to Z — John says The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a YouTube-based Pride and Prejudice adaptation that became wildly popular about 13 or 14 years ago, won Hank his Emmy. — 00:02:26

2026

  • 2026-10-23 · The Best Email I Ever Got — Hank: When the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a show Hank produced on YouTube, won an Emmy, he did not pay to get a statuette for himself, which he now feels very dumb about. — 00:00:36