Kurzgesagt: Our Story, Finances and Values

In this video, Kurzgesagt talks about their backstory, how they finance their work and the values of the company.

Backstory

• Philipp dropped out of high school as a teenager but was inspired by a special teacher who taught him to see connections and the big picture.

• Kurzgesagt tries to recreate this experience for viewers by telling good stories that spark excitement and make people want to learn more.

• Philipp eventually started Kurzgesagt as a passion project in 2012 after being inspired by Crash Course World history.

Financing

• Early on, agency work was Kurzgesagt's main source of income. Ad revenue varies from year to year, as do sponsorships.

• The shop is the single biggest source of income accounting for 40% over the last 8 years. YouTube ads accounted for 13% and Patreon 9%.

• Without support from viewers through Patreon or purchasing items from their shop, Kurzgesagt would cease to exist.

Values

• Kurzgesagt did not plan to become big or grow; it just happened. They are now an animation studio with offices in Munich and Berlin.

• With such high production costs, they face an interesting problem: how can they publish their work for free?

• They see themselves as science communicators who don't just do merch but sciency products that are part of the science story they try to tell.

Kurzgesagt: Who Funds Us?

In this section, the speaker talks about the sources of funding for Kurzgesagt.

Sources of Funding

• The majority of Kurzgesagt's funding comes from merchandise sales and viewer donations.

• About 3% of revenue over the last eight years came from Gates organizations for a wide variety of topics, often suggested by Kurzgesagt.

• 5% comes from Open Philanthropy and is only used for specific projects such as starting new channels in different languages.

• The final 2% came from other organizations like the Red Cross or the UN.

Institutional Sponsors

• Institutional sponsors represent about 10% of Kurzgesagt's funding.

• Kurzgesagt chooses institutional sponsors carefully but if organizations want to fund videos that help spread quality information about relevant topics, it is an easy yes for them if they have capacity for it.

• They have contracts with every grant giver or sponsor that bars them from editorial influence, other than suggesting topic areas like "global health" or "climate change".

• Sponsors can neither influence details nor conclusions. The final decision always remains with Kurzgesagt.

Our Values and Our Vision

In this section, the speaker talks about their core mission and values.

Core Mission

• Their core mission is to spark curiosity and make science and humanism accessible to as many people as possible.

• They want to make people excited about science so they rediscover subjects they hated in school and see how amazing they are.

• They want to inspire long-term thinking and a positive, constructive outlook.

Optimism

• Despite the gloominess of many topics, Kurzgesagt wants to approach them with informed and well-researched optimism.

• They want to inspire people to dream about the glorious future that we could actually build but only if we believe it is possible.

Future Plans

• In the long run, Kurzgesagt wants to be a positive influence across more media such as Tik Tok, VR games, apps, and other games they plan to make in the future.

• They hope to have a lasting impact by making science and learning more fun for as many people as possible.

Call-to-action

• Viewers can help Kurzgesagt achieve their mission by watching and sharing their videos, checking out their shop, becoming a Patreon or giving them an ad-blocker exception.