Startup to shake up politics with crowdfundingand open source
By Sim Ahmed | Computerworld New Zealand |
11 May 12
From his office on Francis Street, in the heart of Auckland's Grey Lynn suburb,Steve Walls and his team are preparing to change the world.Walls is the CEO of the startup OneBigVoice. Walls' plan is to launch his productin New Zealand around July, but he says that's only the beginning.OneBigVoice is an online platform for activists, politicos, and the everyday citizento raise awareness of the things that matter to them. Through the site, organisationscan raise funds for advertising campaigns, provide information on issues, andallow communities of interest to participate, as well as local politicians.The crowdfunding aspect can be likened to Kickstarter, but instead of receivingsigned trinkets or a beta product, you get a social or political result (well that's thehope).Users are able to contribute information or financing towards campaigns, curatewhat they support, and share their political activities on social networks.A function still under development is the ability to send official messages to localpoliticians asking them questions or to justify how they are voting in government.Users can subscribe to the answers and rate the politicians on their timeliness andthe quality of response, while the politicians can use analytic tools to gauge whichquestions and issues are important to their electorate.For its services, OneBigVoice takes a 10 percent cut of any money that is raised,and while it will start by launching in New Zealand - Walls says he will take theidea overseas, launching in Australia, UK, and the US.Walls has been working on bringing the platform to life for the last three years.Before this he worked as a strategist for Saatchi & Saatchi, and was a partner atcommunications agency Whybin TBWA - but for the last two years his fulltime job has been working on OneBigVoice.He says the idea for it grew out of observations of political activism in othercountries, and what he felt was a growing disconnection between people and their
governments. Closer to home in New Zealand, Walls says the record low voterturnout at last year's general election shows people do not think they have thepower to truly influence government decisions."Even before the Arab Spring there were plenty of instances of people withgrowing resentment for their governments. They were feeling marginalised by theinfluence businesses have on governments in comparison to the people. Someonelike me might only have one vote every three years, but I want to have more of animpact than that," says Walls."By microfinancing these small campaigns focused on local or specific issues,people will feel empowered that they are making a difference in their democracy."The political-Kickstarter idea is not new. YouLobby is an Amercian site whichdoes the same thing, but has had little success in the US so far.It is also common today to see social and political campaigns on social networkslike Facebook or Twitter, which uses those platforms' popularity to raiseawareness. You would be hard pressed to find a news story about some sort of activism group without the number of Likes on their Facebook page beingmentioned.With the ubiquity of these existing networks, why would people flock toOneBigVoice?"This is a shift away from the usual 'squaring off at 50 paces and taking potshots'mentality," says Walls."The goal is for every campaign to be informative and educational. What I've seenon Facebook and others is an 'us versus them' mentality, this will be all inclusive.We have governments, we have citizens, we need to work together."Walls is adamant that OneBigVoice will keep out of the politics itself. Allcampaigns and organisations are welcome (with the caveat that they do notpromote hate or violence). There will be moderation of campaigns, but this will becommunity powered through a rating and flagging system.Because of the social networking and technology element, early adopters of theplatform are likely to be young, or left leaning. This could create an agenda-focused fundraising platform, which its creators did not intend.
Walls admits that initially the platform could be bias towards one particularagenda, but predicts as it gains traction as a fundraising platform for organisations,and people of different points of view join, this will even out.The Council of Trade Unions, CAFCA, and the 1080 Action Group are among thelist of organisations that will have active campaigns at OneBigVoice's launch laterthis year.
Show me the money
"My goal is to make OneBigVoice as a great example of howbusiness can be run in a responsible way and give back to the community and theplanet," says Walls.Over the last three years, Walls and his business partner have invested more than$350,000 of their own money into the project.Walls says he has been in back-to-back meetings with investors and media for thelast few weeks, trying to raise more money before the launch. So far he is gettingpositive responses from potential investors, he says.OneBigVoice is not a charity, it is a business, and Walls says there is a goodreason for that."We've found charities that do similar things aren't as lean. A lot of the money endsup in administration costs and not going to the actual cost itself," says Walls.The skeleton crew of six includes Walls, his business partner in Switzerland, andfour developers. Features and ideas he would have liked to launch with had to beshelved until more capital was raised."It's been like getting rid of my own children," says Walls.Walls is using another crowdfunding platform to raise money to finishdevelopment on the local politicians function.He has ruled out advertising as he says it would compromise the integrity of thesite."No advertising, we will never have advertising on the site, ever," says WallsSimilar words have been spoken by other tech entrepreneurs. Until only recentlyDavid Karp, founder and CEO of Tumblr, said he would never allow
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Startup to shake up politics with crowdfunding and open source
91
Reads
1
Readcasts
124
Embed Views
Get Scribd Mobile
To get Scribd mobile enter your number and we'll send you a link to the Scribd app for iPhone & Android.We've sent a link to the Scribd app. If you didn't receive it, try again.
We'll never share your phone number.
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
