Crowdfunding for Public Benefit: Learning from Digital Feedback in Serial Entrepreneurship

Tao Xiangming
University of Sussex Business School, UK

Abstract:
Crowdfunding is vital for social entrepreneurship, dismantling traditional financing barriers and democratizing access through digital platforms like Kickstarter, where around one-third of campaigns are led by serial entrepreneurs. Despite its widespread use, there’s limited understanding of how these entrepreneurs learn from their crowdfunding successes and failures to promote public benefits. This study analyses data from 236 serial social entrepreneurs and 748 Kickstarter campaigns to explore this entrepreneurial learning process. The findings reveal that digital platforms facilitate experiential learning by providing real-time feedback from campaign outcomes. Crowdfunding failures drive exploratory learning, spurring innovation and new strategies, while successes promote exploitative learning, refining and optimizing existing approaches. After crowdfunding failures, exploitative learning enhances future performance by fostering stability, accountability, and campaign effectiveness. This dynamic learning process demonstrates how entrepreneurs can leverage technological platforms to advance public benefits. By utilizing these platforms for experiential learning, social entrepreneurs can maximize their societal impact, driving both business and social change.

Dr. Xiangming (Tommy) Tao is a Lecturer in Innovation and Project Management at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex Business School. As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Certified Management & Business Educator, he also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. His interdisciplinary expertise spans entrepreneurship, innovation, and project management, with a focus on how technological innovations drive business and social change, and how to learn from failure in these endeavours. His research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Product Innovation Management, Small Business Economics, Technovation, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. His accolades include the Best Reviewer Award from the Academy of Management, a Finalist position for the ISPIM Dissertation Award, the Paul R. Lawrence Fellowship, the Case Writing Scholarship, and the Inclusive Sussex Award.

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