Cameesa - The Blog

Jeff Howe has an interesting post about the limits of crowdsourcing.  In it, he sights how the crowdsourced news site Digg is experiencing another user revolt because the site has removed 80 some nefarious user accounts.  Digg works by allowing users to vote for news stories, and displaying the most popular ones.  The offending accounts are accused of attempting to game the service by automating the voting process.

There is a high perceived value in having a story with many votes, as it will be seen by a large number of people.  Enterprising deviants will obviously try to find ways to promote specific stories because it gives them a sense of control over the media and free press for whomever they choose.  It’s like a value added service almost.

This exposes a key flaw in online voting based crowdsourcing: the ability for minority control.  The values of crowdsourcing espouse democracy and wide-range group thought.  However, on the internet one person can appear as many by writing programs to manage multiple user accounts.  How do you combat this?

First, we need to examine to value of an anonymous online vote, or “digg” as it’s called.  If I digg something, what does that actually mean?  Ideally, a digg should be a reflection of my tastes.  I would have read the story, found it useful, and “dugg” it to say to the world: “I endorse this”.  But the ideal scenario breaks down because of the anonymity of the internet.  On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.  So digging a story really says nothing about the real life you.

The value of a digg is therefore worth the amount of time it takes you to click the “digg this” button.  But what if you could write a program to do that?  The value of a digg then approaches nothing.  Therefore, the challenge for the Digg team, and anyone in voting based crowdsourcing, is to encourage users to care about their reputation.  It is the only way to give currency to a digg and meaning to the system.

Instead of trying to give currency to a virtual object (a digg), why not just use REAL currency to allow people to signal their intentions?  That is what we are doing with Cameesa.  We realize that an online vote has little value, due to anonymity and inherent gaming, and believe that true group opinions are best taken online with crowdfunding.

While in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport last week I realized I forgot reading material. Printed words on a plane are a must! I soon found myself wandering the little bookstore that every airport has and my eye was caught by a hardcover bearing a title I hold dear to my heart: Crowdsourcing. This momentarily blew my mind; I have never seen a book solely focusing on the subject. Although I feel confident I know the economics and current environment well, I just had to check it out. After I had a little LOL and an OMG, I admit my second thought was a bit arrogant: “I probably have more current knowledge on this trend than this book does” but I quickly caught myself and cracked it open. I thought it would be a healthy review and beneficial to hear another’s dictation of this market-changing force. And so I paid the hearty $26.95…thinking “this better be good.”

I have not yet finished it but have peaked at some of chapters that sounded appealing. The book’s premise is that organizations are learning that some of the best ideas come from the public, not the boardroom. It touches on businesses and various groups who have embraced and gained from crowdsourcing and others who were not so successful (which actually interested me more). Some companies in the former group mentioned were:Google, who awarded cash to individuals who developed contest-winning software for the iPhone;Advertisers, who now rewarding their consumers create their television and print placements; and Threadless, our Chicago friends who started letting web users design their own T-shirts a few years ago.

I couldn’t help but jump to the chapter dedicated to crowdfunding. Sellaband is highlighted, where “believers” financially support bands trying to make it big and Kiva, where people come together to offer loans to other struggling people to start businesses or get out of debt.

I hope next time a book covers crowdsourcing and crowdfunding Cameesa.com gets a mention

I can’t recommend it yet, but if you’re interested in learning more about crowdsourcing, hit up your local book store and check it out.

Be forewarned that this is a reflection of my past 3 years working at Bank of America; sadly, all good things come to an end.

It all started on November 14, 2005. I was a young, inexperienced programmer finishing my Computer Science Master’s at The University of Chicago. Brien, Karen, and Zo gave me a chance to showcase my ultimate programming skillz. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I knew that there was something special about these people. In the end, my intuition was right, these people were awesome.

Brien and Karen taught me that it is possible to be close friends with your managers, and still maintain a healthy and professional relationship. This lesson was solidified when Karen, Brien, Suneet and I spent an entire day hanging out : watching the Cubs, eating at Tango Sur, chillin’ at Moe’s Cantina and laughing endlessly.

With laughter there always came business, and with business came Mr. Business Time, Taylor (aka T-Raack). Taylor, a Northwestern graduate, was my partner in crime…..programming crime that is. He actually taught me everything I needed to know about programming and, to this day, he is still the smartest and sharpest programmer that I have ever worked with. Sorry ladies…he’s not single any more

In the workplace, I met a UFC fighter, Tom, who happened to have a strange love for peanut butter, the Russian language, and monkeys. His attitude taught me to be happy no matter what life handed me. Next, there was Suneet and Lindsay who were both natural Providers, and had an endless caring for others. Lindsay was famously known for decorating people’s cubes on their birthdays, but when it came to her own birthday, she did not want to make it a big deal. Moreover, Suneet, organized Bank of America’s first basketball league, of which more than 100 employees participated, and then setup a volunteering program for the kids. Suneet also had a freakish memory by remembering significant names/events in everyone’s lives, not to mention a hilarious giggle. With giggles there was always wit…this is where sarcastic Scott came in, he was a witty individual that wrote depressing music, and was calm no matter which situation he was in. If you wanted to get back to a happy mood from Scott’s music, all you had to was call Darrin Tracy. “The Darrin” was famously known for his Slam Dunk video and for partying like it was 1999. Finally, there was Whitney who taught me a ton about Unix Systems, solving problems, and technology as a whole. And how could I forget Zo. Zo taught me that things are always comical, no matter what. If we weren’t talking about programming, then we were talking about something that no one in the world would think of…(ie. The Bristol Chart). Zo had a way to bring up questions and topics that no one could ever imagine.

“Jak sie masz? My name-a Borat. I like you. Do you like me?” was heard non-stop throughout our cubicles as Yury and I would fall back in our chairs. We met Borat from the Ali G show and spent half of our Christmas vacation watching it. Yury was a master negotiator who could sell a ketchup popsicle to a lady in white gloves. “Very nice, I like.”

My business partners were in North Carolina, and I wish I could have seen them more often. I will never forget my trip to Charlotte, where we spent majority of our lunches together, and then hung out after work……EVERY DAY. They were thoughtful and gave me recognition for everything I did, sometimes even for work that I didn’t do. Allison, Alison, James and Sara, thank you for being open and honest communicators. Sara, thanks for making fun of James and James, thanks for always ripping on Sara.

Believe it or not, I actually learned a lot at work. Magenta Magenta helped me find myself, and my true strengths. Wyatt Sutherland taught me about Agile Programming, and Michael Menary taught me to always give people their space.

As we have all know, the people make your job interesting and fun. From Qarlympics, to building a cardboard castle around Yury’s desk, to Congratulating Suneet on his weddingto Darrin’s birthday party, to Bryan Chavez eating 30 butter packets for $30, to Fat Fridays…..we ALWAYS had fun.

These are the things that i will miss most. I will miss you all and I thank you for making my last three years so memorable.

As some may know, Ali Gowani will be taking over my job as the Lead of the Corporate Research Library. I foresee him to be more successful than me because he is smarter :). Ali is a great programmer with an eager thirst for knowledge. He asks great questions and is an extremely quick learner. Ali taught me that the best way to learn something is by teaching someone else.

So………August 29th, 2008, is my last day working at Bank of America. I will be joining Andrew Cronk on the Cameesa Full-Time Squad on September 2nd, 2008, and am extremely excited for what is about to come with Cameesa. We are going to work very closely to provide you with the best T shirt Crowdfunding Platform EVER. Feedback is always welcome.

I subscribe to Google Alerts for the terms crowdfund, crowdfunded, and crowdfunding, among other things. The other morning when I awoke I was alerted to an article on crowdfunding from the Sydney Morning Herald.

I checked it out, and noticed a few familiar names on the crowdfunding scene: Sellaband and MyFootballClub. But there were two other companies that I had never heard of: Catwalk Genius and BeerBankRoll. After poking around a bit, it appears that Catwalk Genius plans to use crowdfunding to sponsor fashion designers. A noble cause, but I didn’t learn much more since their website is not currently functional.

The other company, BeerBankRoll is much further developed, and aspires to be a crowdfunded brewery. They have received a fair amount of press around the web, and appear to be steadily signing up people who believe in the idea. As I lurked around the nether regions of the site, I noticed that they are actually located in a suburb of Chicago!

It’s rare to find crowdfunding companies, but even more rare to find one in your own back yard. It was encouraging for me to see that crowdfunding is starting to proliferate in the United States. Hopefully we can catch up to our UK/European brethren soon. I feel like the biggest challenge is education on the concept. Once people grasp the premise they start to feel comfortable with participating.