This is an update for the first week, inclusive (after the jump).
I've also asked two new questions.
Conversation Summary
Marc Dangeard pointed out that the scope and impact of this market is large: the number of entrepreneurs, the amount of investment capital, and the oppportunity for developing sustainable success metricts.
Adam Ashcroft mentioned the concept of a different type of equity security, a "guardian share," available in the CafeDirect and Traidcraft models.
Marc Dangeard brought up issues with a publicly traded equity associated with the start up costs and ongoing fiduciary duties related to measurement.
Jeff Mowatt noted Chris Cook's Open Capital model and his own people-centered model . He mentioned similar work regarding the Community Interest Company in the UK, where a hefty chunk of the profit goes directly to social enterprise and charitable organizations. He then gave the example of his own software company.
Hernan Pisano provided a considerable amount of background regarding the historical narrative in this space. A more readable version (there were formatting issues) is available on his blog
Jeff Mowatt added Peter Burgess' work at the Transparency and Accountability Network and adds a proof of concept at his site
Marc Dangeard pointed out again the issue of metrics, and suggested the Gross National Happiness scale in lieu of GDP (for example). He suggested "interest rate" and "sustainability" for a venture for measurement and mentions his agreement with issues brought forward in Yunus' book, Creating a World Without Poverty
Don Steiny relates his experience in Finland and Europe. He mentions entrepreneural individualism has lower degree of cultural acceptance, and cites a lack of capital and initial T&C as mitigating factors prohibiting rapidly accelerated growth. He describes an incremental project selection / innovation process that appeared to him to be disconnected form market dynamism.
Marc Dangeard responds that project selection in the Entrepreneur Commons approach that is more closely connected to the market and entrepreneurial process.
Michael Lewkowitz comments that applying the traditional VC model to the social milieu seems a "distracting red-herring." He is looking towards approaches more dependent on social capital, such as peer lending.
Chris Cook jumps in with a clear and detailed description of his current experience. He offers two "peer to peer" partnership-based financing models, both based on UK's LLP. The first is a mutual guarantee society: "This is a mutual guarantee framework for bilateral Peer to Peer trade credit. This credit is interest-free, but not cost free, in that a provision is made to cover system and service provider costs (provided by a service provider formerly known as a Bank), and also an amount is paid into a Default Fund." The second is a "Capital Partnership whereby production, or the revenues from the sale of production, of a productive asset are shared between the Investor member, and the User of Investment (which can be an entity of any type or legal form)."
Mike Bauwens raises the concern "that entrepreneurship is being divorced more and more from capitalism, that innovation is becoming social, and that more and more innovation is done through open design communities forfeiting intellectual property." and explains a systemic proposal to address this, including links to his website.
Mike Bauwens then adds many helpful links to information and models, which I've summarized here:
- His proposal
- the emergence of open design communities for physical production is monitored here
- funding mechanisms are monitored here and here
Addional Models:
- Blended Value
- Capital Commons Trust
- Cooperative Capital
- Good Capital
- LLP's
- Open Capital
- Patient Capital
- Trusts
- Venture Communism
- Workers Capital.
- One tradition that is relevant is the Economy of Communion model of the Focolare movement
Jill Finlayson of Social Edge adds several market- and equity-based approaches, and includes three links.
Another post by Jill lists Social Edge resources:
Nils de Witte brings up the idea of a market
analysis of investors. He points out, "Money is not a commodity and it
is not the money that brings the success." He continues discussing
emerging markets and how microfinance might be providing too much debt
and too few equity opportunities. He also raises the issue of "bailout"
or default components of the debt market. Finally, he raises a comment
that it appears to him that Europe at least has readily available
equity of good quality, and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Jeff Mowatt gives a nice lesson in the origins
of the terms Social Capital and Social Capitalism that culminates:
"Speaking on behalf of the P-CED founder...what he set out to do was to
propose a business model which made people, their economic, social and
cultural rights the core objectives of the business."
Michael Monterey mentions his ning forum Global Community Development Association and here
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