Kickstarter CEO quits but claims it has nothing to do with blockchain backlash

pcgamer.com:

Aziz Hasan, the CEO of Kickstarter, is stepping down from the role after three years. He announced his departure in a blog post on the site, reflecting on his time at the company and saying he was «so proud» of the «passionate, skilled and dedicated team.»

«To our team, the backers, the creators, this entire community—you are what makes Kickstarter the creative and amazing place it is,» he continued. «Often beautiful, sometimes unusual, and always inspiring. I close my tenure here with so much gratitude and a much deeper personal connection to how powerful and impactful creative projects are in the world.» He told Fast Company that «personal reflection» is the reason he's saying goodbye to Kickstarter on April 4, wanting to spend more time with his wife and two young children.

Hasan leaves Kickstarter behind in a strange position. At the end of 2021, the company announced it intended to put itself on the blockchain. The accompanying blog post was a pitiful grasping at straws—like most things that attempt to explain bullshit concepts are—and was subsequently mocked across the internet. Backers hated it, creators hated it, pretty much nobody appeared to be a fan except Kickstarter itself. It half-heartedly paused plans shortly after but made it clear its overall stance wasn't changing.

We know our community has a lot of questions about this new direction, including how it will benefit creators, and how we’ll stay true to our environmental commitments. We are listening. We’ve started an FAQ at https://t.co/YG1XSdpMCZ with what we’ve been asked the most. https://t.co/v8ti7mMpIEDecember 15, 2021

Those plans are still very much in place, Hasan told Fast Company, though «Kickstarter, as it exists today, is not sitting on the