A Social Venture Fund
This feels like we are making EdgeRyders a “costume”? I would like it to be a much deeper relationship.
Ironically I can give an example from the venture capital world. A good investor is not just someone who will write a check but will also be able to provide other added values such as past experience, connections to other investors, connections to key market players, etc.
I would like to a see a similer situation with EdgeRyders - only it is a Social Capital system. When I present myself as part of EdgeRyders it means I bring with me the vast social capital that EdgeRyders has to offer. I bring with me a diverse group of people with diverse interests, diverse experience, diverse languages, diverse connections. It should be a no-brainer both for me as a “social entrepreneur” and for my “client” to want to be involved with EdgeRyders.
I am even contemplating if it is correct to “use” EdgeRyders as “just a corporate shell”. After all, every project that goes through EdgeRyders contributes to building the brand/karma of how EdgeRyders is perceived in the world. If a project is aligned with EdgeRyders then it would obviously benefit from the Social Capital EdgeRyders has to offer. If a project isn’t aligned, then do we really want to be a “corporate shell” for it?
The corporate shell and business cards are the cherry on top of much more substantial cake.
Maybe we should have a community process that builds on [hexayurt]'s SC4SV to decide on where we as a community would like to invest. Maybe we should have an investment strategy (of our precious social capital). Maybe we should have an application process (like for the unMonastery) for EdgeRyders investments.
Lote3 is a clear example of the community coming together to support a project (with plenty of social capital investment) - though it seems to me to be a choice by default not necessarily by conscious design. Maybe we can look at the intuitive process that powers Lote3 and see if we can learn from it how to evaluate, choose and make future social investments?