Outvesting - raising €5,000 for an Irish startup

A blog post by Pat Phelan ignited a fresh wave of conversation around the subject of startup funding in Ireland. Anton Mannering came at it from another angle and both discussions reminded me of a similar one a few months ago sparked by Joe Drumgoole's post to Web2Ireland.

While each debate has thrown up a number of good ideas there's a certain level of frustration with the realization that these discussions tend to go around in circles, often ending up with a consensus that the government needs to do more/better. While I can sympathise with that point of view I really think it's time that entrepreneurs in this country started doing more for ourselves, however insignificant it may seem by comparison. Initiatives like the Bizcamp, OpenCoffee Club and the IQ Prize demonstrate the power of 'self-help'.

While lots of figures have been bandied about during each of these discussions the sum of €5,000 keeps coming up as a baseline figure that a bootstrapping startup could do something useful with. It also happens to be the amount of funding I received in 2008 as a Level 1 awardee at Social Entrepreneurs Ireland.

Which is why we're using that same figure as the target for a new pledge drive seeking 100 people to donate €50 each to a startup competition. Outvesting is the name we're giving to this initiative and if/when the target €5,000 is reached we'll make a call for applications. Each of the donors will then review those applications and decide on a winner by poll. Whereupon the startup will be awarded with the €5,00 prize.

More details are available on the site, including the meaning behind the name Outvesting and how to pledge. At time of going to press (I've always wanted to write that) there are 83 pledges so you'll need to get in fast if you'd like to be part of the historical and epic 1st Outvesting fund drive :-)

[Very special thanks to John Keyes for building the webpage]

Comments

[Gordon]

Hi James,

Well done on getting this started. Its a fantastic plan and its great to see over 80 people pledging already.

It'll hit 100 no problem.

Gordon.

[James Corbett]

Thanks Gordon, we just hit the 100 mark! Although we'll continue to seek pledges for possible follow up fund drives and in case of any misunderstandings.

[niall larkin]

Brilliant James. Fair play

[James Corbett]

Cheers Niall, now for the hard part.... collecting the cash ;-0

[Siobhan O'Dwyer]

Great idea - are we too late?

[James Corbett]

Thanks Siobhan. No, you're not too late as we're still accepting pledges for follow on fund drives and in case of any defaults.

[Autohändler]

Congratulation, good idea.

[Antivirus_man]

I liked your site, you are very interesting to write. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[school_dubl]

Hi Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, a cool site I like