The goal of NetSquared in my mind is not to demonstrate a Web 2.0 process, rather the goal is to:
Accelerating 20 great projects that utilize the technologies, tools and communities of the social web to create societal impact in a sustainable fashion. We will accelerate these projects by providing cash awards from the newly created Technology Innovation Fund and by connecting them with funders, developers, ntaps, and other people and organizations that can help the projects attain the next level.
I don’t believe in The Wisdom of Crowds as an absolute. There is an equal compelling book called The Madness of Crowds. But either way, NetSquared should not be judged solely on the process that was chosen to select the 20 projects that will qualify for the conference.
I’ve talked to a lot of people about NetSquared. Smart venture capitalists, big foundations, and social innovators and they have been resoundingly excited. What they see is not some sort of new selection process, but a community of driven social entrepreneurs that is managing to leverage their user base and their networks to bring social, intellectual and financial capital to the table.
Will the process bring the 20 “best” projects to the conference? We don’t know. In the book, The Wisdom of Crowds, Surowiecki tells a story of a search for a lost submarine. The searchers use a process of aggregating the location guesses of people who should be able to make a good estimate and find the submarine at that exact place. But not one of the experts picked the location on their own. So the 20 projects that are picked today might NOT be the ones that even the smartest people on this site would have picked. But regardless, I do believe they will be 20 great projects and the goal of NetSquared will be one step closer.
Life’s not perfect. Next year, the voting process can incorporate some of the ideas that user have been submitting. Many of them are great ideas. But I believe strongly that NetSquared is already a success, already a Watershed Event. I look forward to seeing which projects will be at the conference and even more, I look forward to seeing the application of social, intellectual and financial capital that is waiting in the wings to help these projects succeed.
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Comments
A project isn't "great" just because we'd like to think so
If the goal is to "accelerate 20 great projects," how can you declare victory before you:
1. Know which projects have been picked
2. Know anything substantive about the projects?
Do you really think that reading the proposals on this site has given you enough information to declare these projects "great?" Especially given the complete lack of substantive dialogue around them?
Finding 20 great projects is incredibly hard. Frankly, I think Net2 will be lucky if it finds ONE. Ask any venture capitalist: there is a long, long distance between a catchy proposal and a great project. The best VCs put in a level of due diligence that's simply outside the ballpark of what has happened here ... and the projects THEY fund still justify their investment about one time in ten. If they're lucky.
There is no evidence yet that Net2 has found a single great project. All we know is that it has successfully generated buzz. Is that a great thing? Yes. Is it mission accomplished? Not unless you have an exceedingly low bar.