Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I created this new topic in response to Denise`s open call for research and evaluation of what works (for other entrepreneurs) and what doesn`t. 

I`m particularly interested in the "Wisdom of Crowds" theory that has recently been written about.  How we can learn from it and other Web 2.0 philosophies?  What can we learn from the results of The Business Experiment?

I`m hoping "The Latest Scoop" will be a place we can all come to discuss our research on the best ways to make our Community Venture(s) a success!

 I watched an interview on the future of the internet. I`m sure I heard Bill Gates recently on PBS saying that Microsoft will be coming out with software to tie multiple communities together on one site. With user IDs at one site......etc.  Did anyone else see that interview? I just think that we should all keep informed of breakthroughs that might give us an advantage over the competition.  

Lessons Learned from The Business Experiment*

People need incentives to act and not everyone is motivated by money. Other incentives include power, popularity, passion for an idea, curiosity, and knowledge.

When establishing incentives, you have to think about the marginal value of incentives.   The value of some participant`s time may be too high for them to stay dedicated to the project.

Crowds are only smart under certain conditions

• Since a crowd doesn`t know anything about your industry, you shouldn`t rely on it for advice in your industry.
• There have to be processes for people to make their own individual decisions and reap the rewards/consequences of their individual decisions.
• Crowd members are influenced by other crowd members.

Crowds don`t understand the context associated with each task
Each task comes with a history from each person that has worked on it.  That history must be understood for another person to take over and continue the task from its current state.

Crowds don`t pick difficult decisions since they want to choose what`s fun or exciting.  They most likely won`t make key compromises necessary for the long-term health of the business.

Groups need leaders and direction
When all members have an equal voice, not much productive decision-making is made.  Self-direction (of the entire crowd) doesn`t ever materialize.

Summary

• The TBE deteriorated after their business was chosen because those not interested in the idea stopped participating.
• A preset idea could have attracted the right people; instead, the project mostly attracted people that wanted to discuss their idea so it would be picked.
• Once a leader was selected, the community business was not much different than any other business because decisions were made at high levels when there wasn`t time for a vote.

Some of the most successful community-driven projects are the exception instead of the rule.   Linux, for example, is driven forward by a handful of excellent individuals with passion for the project.

Altruism, sharing, and group decision making is sexy.  But is Web2.0 really just a bubble?

*Information copied/summarized with permission.

Participants

The list below is copied from the awesome participants list Frnchchps started some time ago.  (can`t vouch for all of the links, but hopefully they copied successfully)  I`m doing a side project to help with team building to ensure that everyone that is ready to get down to work is able to participate in the community ventures.

In the near future, I will either be contacting each one of you, or we will have some other way available for you to input your information.  I see this as everyone`s opportunity to let everyone else know what they can and like to do.  Remember, "everyone can do something well!"

Please be thinking about your skills as they pertain to Business.  Some sources of experience to consider are: on-the-job skills, training, education, mentoring, hobbies, volunteerism.  It`s also helpful to consider any non-business skills you might have as they may be useful to the community later on or spark new ideas.

Also, consider what you enjoy doing!  You won`t be much use to everyone (and yourself) if you`re great in accounting, but find it boring, or don`t want to do it outside your 9-5 job.

Tag! You`re it......#77!

thanx.

1. Making someone look good,
2. Making someone feel good,
3. Solving a problem,
4. Creating an opportunity.

From aol small busines(Entrepreneur.com): Inspired by talk of Net2Mind.com and GreenBeans. I needed a place to keep this this for reference. BoldItalics mine. I`m thinking GreenBeans for Kids and their Eco-friendly parents.

Those kids you knew who spent their weekends playing Dungeons & Dragons were onto something. Virtual games and worlds are spawning virtual economies. "It`s a real economy, but it exists in a virtual space, a computer-generated, earth-like environment that has persistence and physics," says Edward Castronova, associate professor of telecommunications at Indiana University in Bloomington. He points to the online video game World of Warcraft, which hit 7 million subscribers in September, as the largest example of a virtual economy in action.

Entrepreneurs will have to look beyond potions and battle helms for opportunities, though. That`s what Sibley Verbeck`s The Electric Sheep Company has done. The 31-year-old founder and CEO (above, in both real- and virtual-world versions) helms a team of nearly 30 employees that builds virtual 3-D experiences, including the open-ended virtual world of Second Life.