As crowdfunding becomes an increasingly common source of financing for a diverse range of entrepreneurs, this paper seeks to add to the literature by qualitatively exploring why entrepreneurs choose to engage in crowdfunding. We find that entrepreneurs often engage in crowdfunding as a first resort with three distinct motives; to raise capital, to validate a business idea, or to create brand awareness. Especially reward-based crowdfunding is often seen as a tool for validate a business idea or generating awareness not as a source of finance. Finally we observe that entrepreneurs’ motives for engaging in crowdfunding often correlate with their maturity and thus motivations for engaging in crowdfunding shift as they mature.

随着众筹成为各种企业家越来越普遍的融资来源，本文试图通过定性探讨企业家选择参与众筹的原因来增加文献。我们发现企业家经常将众筹作为第一手段，具有三个不同的动机；筹集资金、验证商业理念或建立品牌知名度。特别是基于奖励的众筹通常被视为验证商业理念或产生意识的工具，而不是资金来源。最后，我们观察到企业家参与众筹的动机通常与他们的成熟度相关，因此参与众筹的动机随着他们的成熟而转变。