On an otherwise reasonable evening, more than 1,000 people packed an auditorium in Boulder, Colorado, for the culmination of the 2012 Unreasonable Institute. They came to see 23 ventures present their solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges.
Robyn Scott, Co-Founder & Director of OneLeap, shares how her venture enables enterprising people, whatever their background, to get directly through to people who make things happen.
Swamped with emails and network requests, decision-makers often focus their scarce attention on their traditional networks. If you’re on the outside, business remains a ‘who you know’ game. OneLeap democratizes access by putting value back into online contact. Anyone prepared to “put their money where their mouth is” can send a short message to any of the business leaders, innovators or investors profiled on the platform. 80% of the modest fee goes to the recipient’s charity. The fee is an incentive to write a thoughtful message. Senders get a guaranteed response or a 100% refund in 10 days. Recipients choose their maximum monthly messages and the market sets the fee.
OneLeap encourages “pull” connections: users specify what they’re interested in, creating more relevant, high value connections for both sides. Outcomes of connections range from entrepreneurs meeting senior people at Virgin, Pearson and MTV and a side variety of investment connections, to a deal between a London hedge fund and Hong Kong specialist financial products innovator.