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Donald Trump backs a Kickstarter rip-off to save crowdfunding from the hipsters

Donald Trump backs a Kickstarter rip-off to save crowdfunding from the hipsters

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via puu.sh
via puu.sh

Universally respected businessman and thoughtful political figure Donald Trump has found a surefire way to give back to the community: backing a near-copy of Indiegogo or Kickstarter designed for the "masses." Trump has announced his support for FundAnything, a recently launched crowdfunding startup helmed by self-described "serial entrepreneur" Bill Zanker. Unlike Kickstarter but like Indiegogo, FundAnything lets users ask for help funding almost anything, from artistic projects to help with health care, taking either 5 or 9 percent of funds raised depending on whether the goal is met. The site currently hosts somewhere under 200 projects.

Zanker and Trump previously worked together on a book called Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life, and Trump has framed his support for FundAnything as a way to help people who are "bullied by the economy." After finishing a round of tweets asserting that he would "kill Jon Stewart" in a debate, Trump took some time to publicize the project on Twitter this morning, and AllThingsD writes that he will tweet projects from it on a weekly basis.

"Bringing a concept to the masses takes star power."

Zanker, meanwhile, bills FundAnything as a more populist take on crowdfunding. "Crowdfunding got traction with creatives and tech, but you go anywhere but the coasts and they don't get it yet," he said. "What I'm trying to do is bring crowdfunding away from the Brooklyn hipsters and bring it to the masses." Zucker does not explain precisely what makes FundAnything more suited for the hoi polloi, though he does say that "bringing a concept to the masses takes star power."

While Kickstarter has drawn a little minor attention from celebrities, FundAnything has one obvious advantage: the ability to plaster Trump's smiling face on a banner at the top of its home page. Below, the site offers special placement for "Donald's Picks," which were funded in whole or part by Trump and include medical care for a man with cystic fibrosis and an album by Swiss-American singer-songwriter Celeste Buckingham. Trump distributed the money (between $15,000 and $40,000) in suitcases at an event in New York's Trump Tower; while it was supposed to be livestreamed, AllThingsD reports that technical difficulties made that unfeasible.