I want to thank those of you who have trekked over to the Omidyar Network to check out the business plan that enables eBay to facilitate charitable giving. There has been a slow and steady rise in users checking out the idea and an increasing number of ideas and suggestions posted on the discussion thread around the idea, better still, people are starting to vote for it. For those that have, thank you! For those who haven’t you can check out the the link.
For those into non-profit projects you should check out the the Omidyar Network. The network was founded by Pierre Omidyar, who at 28, co-founded and wrote the original computer code for eBay. It is not clear to me, but it appears that he occasionally funds ideas – either non-profit and for-profit but that generate a public good – that are discussed on the network. For those with a non-profit (or even for-profit idea that has a public good element to its business plan) the network offers an online workspace where you and your team (along with others on the network) can collaborate. It’s still unclear to me how effective it is at distilling out good ideas but it is worth exploring.

Sidebar: I just finished watching (for the first time ever) Inside the Actor’s Studio and Matt Damon was the guest. Someone apparently described Damon as “the thinking person’s movie star” which is absolutely correct. Anyway, if you can check it this interview. I’ve always liked Matt Damon as an actor – but what a person. So much integrity and work ethic, but fun at the same time.

[tags]ebay, social entreprise, omidyar network[/tags]