Articles
The Greeks would be proud
After thousands of years of "inelegant" execution, democracy may be reaching its true potential - unleashed by the power of social media.
Social Media tools including Twitter and Facebook have put more power into the hands of the people than we have ever seen and are disrupting long-held models for how things are done. Music, marketing, and how movies are promoted are just a few of the models broken by the democratic power of social media.
Another example came across my Twitter timeline this week. You may soon be able to add venture capital to the pile of anachronisms.
Kickstarter isn't new - it has been generating thousands for independent video and art projects for some time. But recently a product idea generated more than $6,000,000 in funding and demonstrated that innovative power has shifted from a small group of bankers and money men to "the people".
Kickstarter is a website that uses crowd-sourced funding to support creative ideas.
Got an interesting creative project? Put up a pitch video on Kickstarter, promote it on social media channels and leverage the power of the crowd to generate the funding you need in a large number of smaller increments.
The product that broke new ground is called Pebble (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android). It is a prototype wristwatch that wirelessly connects to your smart-phone so you can check your Twitter-feed and a bunch of other stuff without digging your phone out of your pocket or purse.
The product is cool; but what is more mind-blowing is what it says about the potential for crowd sourced venture capital to fuel innovations that previously fell short because of risk adverse bankers or short-sighted venture capitalists wouldn't give it the green-light.
This little Pebble could foreshadow the fall of some financial giants.
Who needs to suck up to a stodgy bunch of bankers anymore for a loan? Why search out a greedy capitalist looking to take a whack of equity in your start-up? You can crowd source your capital...as long as your idea has enough appeal to capture the imagination of the "the people".
Social media tools provide the platform and the ability for a good idea to reach and raise millions in a way that was never possible before.
I am not sure that is what the Greeks had in mind when they came up with "people rule" but it's beautiful and powerful.
@andrewrathwell
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.