Our guest this week on the GeekWire radio show and podcast is Stephen Toulouse, better known as Stepto, who joins us for a conversation about the Kickstarter funding platform and other methods of paying for projects through fans and customers.

Stephen Toulouse in the studio. (Erynn Rose photo)
Stephen Toulouse in the studio. (Erynn Rose photo)

Many people in the tech world know Stepto from his long career at Microsoft, working most recently as the Xbox Live director of enforcement. He recently left and has been exploring a variety of different projects, including a new book that he was able to fund through Kickstarter using some creative incentives for contributors.

In recent weeks we’ve seen a big rise in Kickstarter projects, ranging from Jordan Weisman’s Shadowrun revival to the Seattle teens funding their camera dolly through the platform.

That discussion begins at 12:30 above, following our weekly news roundup, which includes thoughts on Facebook’s $1 billion Instagram acquisition, the new Facebook office in Seattle, Boeing’s surprising Android phone project, and T-Mobile’s new “scream tones” for finding lost devices.

Also listen for details our App of the Week, a Mac app called Cinch that brings an Aero Snap-like feature to Apple machines. And be sure to check out the latest installment of our Name that Tech Tune contest, which comes in the final segment of the show, with a chance to win the audio version of Stepto’s first book, A Microsoft Life.

Listen to the show above or directly via this MP3 file.

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