fund it

May 12, 2005 7:02 AM

Fundable.org. Bringing together buyers and buyers and buyers and buyers and buyers and buyers and buyers and sellers.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders (14 comments total)

Someone should start a fundable project to buy band uniforms and instruments for River City. I hear that it's getting bad there - they even have a pool hall!
posted by jperkins at 7:11 AM on May 12, 2005

Above I made what I hope is an obvious reference that highlights what I see as the biggest problem of their system in its current form.
posted by jperkins at 7:42 AM on May 12, 2005

In 2004, Louis Helm and John Pratt co-founded Fundable Group, Inc., which owns and runs Fundable.org.

So this is for-profit, non-profit, or a for-profit that wants to look like a non-profit?
posted by R. Mutt at 7:55 AM on May 12, 2005

Seems like most of the projects so far (smallsmall dataset) are people looking to get pre-orders or pre-funding for some spec project. Kind of a micro VC thing, which is neat.

Wouldn't it be great if the schools got all the money they needed and the government had to post on fundable.org to buy a bomber?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:16 AM on May 12, 2005

I can't speak to the actual organization, but the business idea is a good one. I mean, I wouldn't go in with a group of strangers on a big ticket item, but this would be great for coordinating large family reunion bookings, or get togethers.

Also, trip planning and coordination from folks in diverse locations, large scale shared purchases...etc. For instance, say all the Mefites, everywhere on the globe, decided that we'd like to have a universal meeting in London. A site like this would be a good coordinating point, both from a capital accumulation standpoint and from a "who's the flake" standpoint. :)


That said, I find it hard to believe that there are enough people who trust enough people to make this a viable business plan...but ya know, who knew people would buy pet rocks?
posted by dejah420 at 8:19 AM on May 12, 2005

One of the cool features is that you can enter your eBay ratings to give some sort of 'proof' of reliability. Yes it's not much, but at least it's a start. And generally I think it's a great idea. If only because people will most likely be willing to risk small ticket sums of around $10-20 on something if they trust that the money will be refunded if the project doesn't lift off the ground. It's a really nice idea IMO.
posted by Duug at 8:25 AM on May 12, 2005

I work for a medium-sized (employee-wise; we're pretty big area-of-coverage-wise) non-profit, and I don't think this would really help for those sorts of things.

But I do quite like this mini-VC idea. But can you trust these people to actually refund the money? hm. It's kind of like a big escrow service, with extra features. It'd be really interesting if this helped some projects get off the ground, though.
posted by blacklite at 8:50 AM on May 12, 2005

Am I the only one thinking that this grew out of someone watching all the old school Mefites trying to coordinate the finances for gifts for Mathowie?
posted by FlamingBore at 9:05 AM on May 12, 2005

I can't speak to the actual organization, but the business idea is a good one.

Ditto. Great idea. Implementation might not be perfect yet, but it's a start. Yay for collectivism!
posted by mrgrimm at 9:46 AM on May 12, 2005

What does Fundable Inc get out of doing this? It costs them money to set up the website, manage it and process financial transactions. But they say it costs nothing to the users. So how are they convering their costs, let alone making any money? Are they using the money for some sort of short term investment? Anyone have an ideas?
posted by gus at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2005

Looks like it's chartered as a for-profit corporation (although given that it was just chartered last month, it may still have time to register as a non-profit, something that Texas may not require up front):


Company Information: FUNDABLE GROUP INC
300 E RIVERSIDE DR APT 307
AUSTIN, TX 78704-1304

Status: IN GOOD STANDING NOT FOR DISSOLUTION OR WITHDRAWAL through July 11, 2006
Registered Agent: LOUIS HELM
300 E. RIVERSIDE DR STE 307
AUSTIN, TX 78704
Registered Agent Resignation Date:
State of Incorporation: TX
File Number: 0800479324
Charter/COA Date: April 13, 2005
Charter/COA Type: Charter
Taxpayer Number: 32017211288
posted by mabelstreet at 12:31 PM on May 12, 2005

Seems like a good idea, but don't know if it has practical large scale uses.
posted by ArunK at 1:09 PM on May 12, 2005

Could this be used to raise money for political candidates?
posted by R. Mutt at 3:28 PM on May 12, 2005

Could this be used to raise money for political candidates?

And an excellent reason why they can't be a non-profit. There are cumbersome restrictions on kinds of businesses a non-profit is involved in. I presume it's simply easier to run the company as a corporation or LLC than as a non-profit, which does nothing to protect the personal assets of the owners in cases of insolvency.

Ah...a great way to get all your slacker friends to chip in for the BM camp.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 6:24 PM on May 12, 2005