When I launched ArtistShare in 2003, I had no idea the approach we developed would become the foundation for what's now a multi-billion dollar industry. What started as a solution to help artists fund their projects directly from fans became the blueprint for every crowdfunding platform that followed—Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, and hundreds of others. Looking back after more than two decades, I realize the real insight wasn't the technology. It was understanding something fundamental about human behavior that most platforms still miss today. The Relationship, Not the Transaction Everyone focuses on the mechanics of crowdfunding—the payment processing, the reward tiers, [...]