Kickstarter Hires Everette Taylor, Formerly Artsy's CMO, as CEO

Kickstarter has announced that marketing executive and entrepreneur Everette Taylor has been named CEO of the platform company. crowdfunding.

Taylor most recently served as Marketing Director for Artsy, an online marketplace for buying and selling works of art. He succeeds COO Sean Leow as Kickstarter CEO, who has served as interim CEO since former chief executive Aziz Hasan announced earlier this year that he was stepping down after three years at the helm. p>

"I'm honored to take on the role of Kickstarter CEO at a very transformative time for the company," Taylor said in a statement. "Kickstarter has had such a positive impact on the world, and I'm honored to continue the mission of bringing creative projects to life and supporting amazing creators around the world."

During Taylor's tenure at Artsy, Forbes named him one of the most influential CMOs in the world. Before joining Artsy in 2019, he ran ET Enterprises, a creative marketing agency he founded in 2013 whose portfolio of companies includes PopSocial, MilliSense, ArtX and GrowthHackers. He was also CMO for car booking platform Skurt and head of marketing for online survey startup Qualaroo. Additionally, Taylor also oversaw mobile app growth for a division of Microsoft China as interim chief marketing officer and as CMO for e-commerce company StickerMule.

Leow commented on the hiring of Taylor, "Everette brings so many exciting qualities to the table that will help to take Kickstarter to the next level, from his deep passion for our mission and natural leadership to his proven track record of first-class product and brand experiences. »

"Kickstarter pioneered a people-centric model to support creative work and i think we've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with this approach,” said Union Square Ventures co-founder Fred Wilson, Kickstarter board member and chairman of the CEO search committee. believe that Everette's energy and creativity will help the company massively expand the market in the years to come."

Kickstarter is incorporated as a public benefit corporation. In keeping with that mission, according to the company, Taylor is "deeply passionate about his philanthropic work and giving back to the community." He sits on the Chisenhale Council for Chisenhale Gallery, a non-profit organization that helps artists commission and produce contemporary art, helping international and UK-based artists achieve their most ambitious work so far. day by pursuing new directions in their practices.

Taylor also sits on the advisory board of Art at a Time Like This, which works with artists and curators create art that responds to current social and political events and presents it in public spaces. In 2013, he launched the Unity Over Self clothing line with NFL athlete Brandon Ross to raise money for children with autism. In 2019, Taylor received an honorary doctorate from Shaw University in recognition of his "meritorious contributions to human society and the welfare of mankind".

Kickstarter says its mission is "to help bring creative projects to life". Since its launch in April 2009, more than $6.85 billion has been pledged to 227,201 projects successfully funded on Kickstarter by some 21 million individual backers, according to the company.

Comments