Audio: Panel on using Kickstarter to raise money for startups and creative projects

By Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist

I moderated a panel last Thursday at the Cambridge Innovation Center featuring four Kickstarter case studies: musicians, filmmakers, artists, and entrepreneurs who'd used the crowd-funding site to raise substantial sums of money. ($114,000, in Bill Lichtenstein's case, for a documentary about the glory days of the Boston radio station WBCN.)

Here's who participated (along with links to their Kickstarter pages)

- Cambridge singer-songwriter Ariel Rubin, who funded her EP "Big Spoon" on Kickstarter

- Journalist Bill Lichtenstein, making a documentary film called "The American Revolution"

- Brad Geswein (pictured at right holding a prototype) and Slava Menn of Gotham Bicycle Defense Industries

- Coulter Lewis of Quinn Popcorn

We talked about some of the factors that get people you don't know contributing to your campaign; the right length for Kickstarter campaigns, and the right target amount; how you can get blogs and other media to help promote your campaign; and some of the headaches that can arise when you're dealing with hundreds or thousands of donors. And Rubin started things off by singing a great song.

The audio is below. You can stream it here, or click "mp3" to download it for later listening. (Related content: "How Supermechanical raised $550,000 for a new wireless device — without VCs or angel investors.")

Above, from left: Scott Kirsner, musician Ariel Rubin, Brad Geswein and Slava Menn of Gotham Bicycle Defense, filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein, and Coulter Lewis of Quinn Popcorn. (Photo above courtesy of Keith Spiro Photography.)