InnovativeCompanies
Here is a selection of companies doing great, innovative work that I would highly recommend learning more about;
SliceThePie: A marketplace for the trading, promoting, financing, and finding of new bands
Ponoko: Anyone can design a product and Ponoko then ships the finished physical product. Designers also have the option of releasing and selling the design on Ponoko’s website. Nothing is built until a customer buys your design, which Ponoko builds and distributes, and the designer gets a cut. In fact, it is possible Ponoko only brokers the sale of the design to someone who then makes it for themselves.
Cambrian House: Ideas for businesses are solicited and voted on by members of the Cambrian community. The best ideas are then funded, made into reality and promoted by the community. There is currently a modest profit sharing model in place which I would guess will develop to a large degree as time goes on.
Crowdspirit: An ambitious project to concieve, develop, engineer, test, fund, and promote a mainstream consumer electronic device.
Prosper: P2P lending. Become your own bank by lending people around the US money. I have been lending on this for almost a year in $50 increments and so far haven’t had any defaults and have made a good return.
Threadless: The kings of customer co-design. Anyone can upload a t-shirt design which is then rated by their 500K strong membership. Each week the 7 best rated designs are sold on a limited run on shirts.
Sellaband: Bands can solicit help from their fans in funding their next album. Once a band hits 50K in funds they are given the opportunity to create a professionally produced album. People who give money for the album to be produced receive a free CD and a chance to split the proceeds from the music with the band. The music is released for free but revenues from advertising and sales of CDs are split between investors, SellABand, and the band itself.
A Swarm Of Angels: The crowd is involved in every step of the financing and creative involved in the filming of a movie. “A groundbreaking project to create a £1 million film and give it away to over 1 million people using the Internet and a global community of members.”
Got any more to recommend? Let me know.
