56 START-UP ALLEY Pipo
Words by Ann-Marie Corvin
In this month’s Start-up Alley, we take a look at a way of investing in new talent and two blockchain- enabled start-ups changing how we do payments and contracts
PIPO
COUNTRY: UK STARTED: 2018
It was part-time entrepreneur Mike Merrill who first drew attention to the concept of a publicly traded person, selling himself on the open market for $1 a share. In the ensuing decade, there have been lending platforms such as Upstart.com, which offers capital in exchange for a cut of a college graduate’s future and Pave, which provides struggling millennials with access to favourable loans so they can achieve their goals. UK start-up Pipo, founded by Shahar Burg and Ben Thompson, takes the publicly traded person concept and transfers it to a crowdfunding platform with added cash benefits and incentives for investors. The basic idea sees talented individuals (coders, musicians, tech entrepreneurs) go public – creating shares in themselves rather than their companies – and attracting investors to raise money for a stated career goal. Whenever these individuals reach a significant milestone in their campaign they then pay dividends. The price of the shares and the terms of the dividend are set by the investees (usually between £3 and £10 a share) although there’s no legal obligation to provide dividends and it’s up to investors to undertake due diligence. According to Thompson, the advantage of such a model, which hinges on trust and transparency, is that it cultivates an ongoing relationship between the investor and the recipient. “Platforms like Kickstarter offer no financial benefits for investors and there’s no relationship between the investee and investors. What we want to do is create a community that gets richer beyond just one project,” he says. “Often young people looking for investment in their careers don’t want donations, they want engagement. The more they succeed, the more they will be able to give back – so it creates a mutual incentive.”
WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS CREATE A MARKETPLACE WHERE IT’S POSSIBLE TO INVEST IN PEOPLE YOU BELIEVE IN
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