Ask HN: Did any projects succeed with crowdfunding?
Hey all I'm working on a new project and thinking about alternative funding paths. Previously I founded a startup around an open source project, had a corporate sponsor, raised VC funding, etc. But something about that feels misaligned with my values. I really tried to make it work and struggled. I was wondering if anyone has made sponsorship or crowdfunding from users work? I noticed that Kagi the search engine toots that it's entirely user and crowdfunded after being bootstrapped by it's founder. What made something like this work? 0 comments on Hacker News.
Hey all I'm working on a new project and thinking about alternative funding paths. Previously I founded a startup around an open source project, had a corporate sponsor, raised VC funding, etc. But something about that feels misaligned with my values. I really tried to make it work and struggled. I was wondering if anyone has made sponsorship or crowdfunding from users work? I noticed that Kagi the search engine toots that it's entirely user and crowdfunded after being bootstrapped by it's founder. What made something like this work?
Hey all I'm working on a new project and thinking about alternative funding paths. Previously I founded a startup around an open source project, had a corporate sponsor, raised VC funding, etc. But something about that feels misaligned with my values. I really tried to make it work and struggled. I was wondering if anyone has made sponsorship or crowdfunding from users work? I noticed that Kagi the search engine toots that it's entirely user and crowdfunded after being bootstrapped by it's founder. What made something like this work? 0 comments on Hacker News.
Hey all I'm working on a new project and thinking about alternative funding paths. Previously I founded a startup around an open source project, had a corporate sponsor, raised VC funding, etc. But something about that feels misaligned with my values. I really tried to make it work and struggled. I was wondering if anyone has made sponsorship or crowdfunding from users work? I noticed that Kagi the search engine toots that it's entirely user and crowdfunded after being bootstrapped by it's founder. What made something like this work?
Hacker News story: Ask HN: Did any projects succeed with crowdfunding?
![Hacker News story: Ask HN: Did any projects succeed with crowdfunding?]()
Reviewed by Tha Kur
on
December 25, 2025
Rating:
No comments: