This article was published on August 18, 2011

GOOD to launch its own Kickstarter-like crowdsource funding platform


GOOD to launch its own Kickstarter-like crowdsource funding platform

As the story goes, upon giving him millions of dollars, entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine creator Bernie Goldhirsh told his son Ben Goldhirsh to “Do something good.” And, apparently he did just that. In 2006, Ben Goldhirsh, then 26, launched GOOD, a magazine dedicated to social causes.

Eschewing traditional business models, Goldhirsh decided to throw parties instead of marketing, which is how I ended up dancing with The Brazilian Girls at the National Museum of the American Indian in the summer of 2006. Even though I was broke in those days, I immediately signed up for the magazine, because instead of regular subscription fees, subscribers could pick a charity of their choice to donate the annual $20 fee, and that made me feel good. Since its launch, the magazine has found sweet success with a dedicated readership and plenty of money in the bank.

This Tuesday, Fast Company reported that GOOD is acquiring Jumo, a social network for people who want to change the world created by Facebook and team Barack Obama veteran Chris Hughes. Today, we have more news from GOOD. As tipped to us by a tweet from Brainpicker, “Apparently, @GOOD is working on a Kickstarter killer http://t.co/zwkMqrL.”

The new platform, which will be used “for funding the best and brightest ideas” is a result of its 2010 acquisition of Wowcrowd. But I don’t think that this will be a Kickstarter killer, as Kickstarter tends to focus on more creative projects in both arts and technology. Furthermore, there’s still plenty of room in the crowdsource funding space, as startups like IndieGoGo continue to grow. I’m excited for GOOD’s new platform, as it will inspire and enable creative thinkers to work on their best ideas for a greater good. Sign up here to stay informed.

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