Ideas are Orange

Some ideas on improving Kiva

I hace recently loaned some money through Kiva to some  promising entrepreneurs in developing nations (like my own). Kiva is a fantastic idea, the process of micro-loans cannot work without an enabling technology, and finally somebody put two and two together and launched this service.

I do have some ideas that could improve certain things:

1. The Listing: The People Listing needs to have filters (using dropdown menus) on top. The listing needs to allow people to boil down the large list  by several criteria such as: gender, country, business type, amount.
   In the world of donations (had significant experience building several projects for non-profits), people often donate to a specific target population (women, children), or for a specific purpose (education, nourishment, etc...). Kiva's criteria could be split in genfer, country, bus. type and others. For example, I am more inclined to donate to women in south pacific countries.
   If they really want to increase usability, this listing should be built using ajax, so that no reloading is necessary.
2. The "I have contributed widget": Contribution is the next big word! Warren Buffet gave away his money and so will Bill Gates. Everybody wants to be like No. 1 and No. 2, but suddenly they aren't the richest, but the ones that contribute the most. One should be able to export a Widget - to put on your site, your company's site, your blog, your LinkedIn profile, etc... - to show how much you have contributed.
   If people compete for stuff like having more LinkedIn connections, or more Myspace friends, surely they'll compete for the most amount of money loaned. The current widget asks people to loan to a specific entrepreneur, it needs to be the other way around, it needs to show how much a specific person has contributed. I'm sure some guy wanting to appear first on the list will donate a large amount of money.
3. Kiva + Google Maps: A mashup is needed here, mainly to show in a visual manner the areas that are getting more loans and less loans. A visual representation could show where the money is flowing and what other regions need support. Analytics are visual and I suppose "equality" is important here, but there is no visual way of knowing which areas (not necessarily people) are in need.

This is a great project... I definitely encourage people to loan at www.kiva.org

The Next Net - LinkedIn

Business 2.0 magazine published on its March cover the 25 hot startups to watch. It struck me that LinkedIn was not included in the top 25, as I think they will probably be 2007's most important web 2.0 application.

Here is the thing. Most web applications need only one thing, and one thing only to become great. Much like Google owns search, Flickr owns pictures and Youtube owns Video. Well, LinkedIn owns the people, who are what make it all happen. Or at least business people.

In any information system or application, there is always a bit of information to which all others are attached. In a CRM system for example, the basic input is having client accounts, that is to what you associate contacts and proposals. LinkedIn has the people, which is the piece of information to which everything is attached. The have begnu creating functionalities to "attach" certain things, like other people, answers, recommendations, but it can really be taken further.

LinkedIn is in a unique position to become the next killer app, because it can work as a hub to which all other apps. are attached. But they should be more concerned with linking the LinkedIn profiles with other things such as:

• Showing on your linkedIn profile the number of pictures you have on Flickr.
• Showing on your profile the amount of money you´ve contributed through Kiva.
• Showing on your profile Squidoo lenses that you´ve created
• Showing on your profile the [Lulu] books you have published
• Showing on your profile a map of places you have been (WAYN comes to mind)
• etc...

These could be attached through Widgets (what web 2.0 app. doesn't use widgets?)

The key thing here is that LinkedIn should focus on keeping and expanding the people, not the functionalities. The "people" functionality is more than enough, it simply needs to create a way to tap into other apps and make the profile more visible - by showing other bits of information (pics, kiva contributions, etc...) that people own.

Making the Gootube awards the new oscars

The Internet over time has proven the difference between most well designed, well built, etc.. and most widely used applications. This is a notion from way at the beginning when we were told (Michael Porter) that what mattered wasn't the technology, it was the use given to it.

The Youtube awards are the formal milestone that is testament to that affirmation. Video is a global phenomenon, so much that it warrants a complete award ceremony. It is most viewed videos and that is not exactly related to best filmed, directed, profuced, etc...

I had an idea to make the Oscar's more like the World Cup of soccer. Make it a truly global event. I doubt it will happen, no point in trying to change a 70+ year old legacy award show. They won't decide to change until it is to late.

But Google and Youtube can innovate here. Perhaps they can make the Video Awards a global event. Something massive. Something that is held annually across borders, in several countries and with several categories - expanded beyond those that exist now. It would draw millions of virwes, just what the Oscar's needsa. The post on the Oscar's might be insightful, and innovative if put into practice by an innovative company.

Kiva + LinkedIn = Contribution

"Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back." Source: Kiva

LinkedIn, on the other side, is the premier site to register your professional network, keep track of business relationships, get business recommendations, create people-to-people connections that can bring new business; as well as provide other services as business answers.

Kiva is enabling a global objective, the need to contribute by way of lending to those in need.
LinkedIn is contributing to another global objective, the need to connect.

Kiva is basically creating visibility for a large set of small entrepreneurs that do not have access to capital, which in developed economies translates into small sums. This comes after largely know initiatives such as the Grameen Bank. The interesting bit is these people need the visibility because people are willing to contribute (lend in this case) but there is a need for more contribution platforms or mechanisms.

LinkedIn is interesting because it is mostly based on the concept of connection on a group level, but visibility on an individual level. People want their career and expertise to be visible, they strive to have several relationships, to the point where it exceeds those people you actually know, they strive to give expert answers to business questions posed, and ask for recommendations from others to certify their expertise.

Kiva could use LinkedIn

• By allowing LinkedIn people to lend money to entrepreneurs in regions of interest, areas of interest or others - linking Kiva into the profiles.
• By making loans a visible aspect of a persons LinkedIn profile. That is the amount that a person has lended and its global impact.
• By making contribution evident and showing members that contribute the most. The richest men in the world (Bill Gates + Warren Buffet) are now hip because they contribute, not because they can buy the world. You could have www.toplenders.com as they have www.toplinked.com
• By providing tools to show a global footprint of needs. Think a global map of where loans are required. If Kiva uses the crowd appropriately it could be satisfying capital needs in key areas of the world.
• LinkedIn could get "smaller" profiles in exchange. Is any profile to small in a world where we are all people? Although there is definitely a challenge in getting these entrepreneurs to use the net, and LinkedIn. US$ 100 laptop with the loan anyone? (that's another post... but every entrepreneur needs a laptop)

For Kiva this is a way to tap into a savvy business network willing to contribute and lend. The community is the judge, and the community is willing to judge how much people contribute. If [developed economy LinkedIn] people don´t mind, having not-developed economy people in their profile, its a way to start bridging the digital and economic divide. This is a practical way of putting capable individuals in touch with individuals in need.

Management Consulting needs Flickr

When it comes to creating and experience or remembering one, nothing "says" it like some pictures. And to get that huge visual library organized, nothing does the job like Flickr with all its capabilities and user friendly interface. Flickr is in my opinion an essential web 2.0 tool for personal use, and a revolutionary tool for business - if only business was more sensitive. Management consulting needs Flickr

www.flickr.com This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from andresnaranjovillamizar tagged with pwc. Make your own badge here.

The consulting business is based on delivering engagements. On getting people together to deliver a project to achieve some objectives. The objective can range anywhere between selling a company, to integrating and acquisition, redesigning processes, or getting a huge system installed. In any case, ANY case, it involves people. And people love pictures. Also, in any case, ANY case, it involves some small, medium or large problems associated to project management. These can be simple communication problems, or huge scope management problems.

I have learned in my consulting career that a great relationship or keeping people friendly can help solve project problems in an easier way, or make them less evident. I strongly feel that photographing an engagement experience would do the same for a whole team. If key meetings, important sessions, important achievements, everyday working conditions and other situations were all photographed, a visual log of a project would be a great tool to get people to be more sensitive and remember the experience for its good moments instead of its small problems.

Sometimes what's achieved in a project is underscored by the issues faced in the process. Even though clients expect a result, they judge by the effort. A great result with a Phyrric effort leaves people devastated.

Flickr is the tool to document engagements visually>

• Use sets of pictures to organize projects. One set for each project.
• Use tag clouds to create a visual verbal representation of the types of engagements that are being delivered. Tag projects with the client name and the industry... or only the industry if confidentiality is important.
• Use tags also for the event name and people that take part.
• Use comments on pictures to highlight important stuff from the meeting.
• Allow users to comment with the picture if something was fun or cool, or something they remember.
• Use the Geographical Map Representation tool to place all engagements globally and show what the "global delivery promise" means. Especially for Big 4 Firms.
• Use flickr badges to put on project intranet tools.

In the future, perhaps when you want to learn about a project you don't have to consult a huge business case, but can just go to the engagement's Flickr Set.

MS Apps - When Windows becomes a browser

A browser can handle multiple windows right? Isn´t the natural transition from the PC Windows to the Web Windows right there for the taking? You have a browser that can handle multiple windows - but they are calling them tabs. They are in fact Windows. MS already has names for all the life and business apps that we use, but they need to be migrated to the web to "comply" with the Web 2.0 and one day 3.0 market risk - where the Internet will be the sole platform.

Windows will probably become a web platform instead of a PC platform eventually. It will probably be delivered from www.windows.com (hopefully - no tough domains please), nor domains that don't build on the windows brand.

So in a few months we should be able to go to URLs such as:

• games.windows.com (for an index of MS games on PC Windows now on the web... and play:)
• solitaire.windows.com
• freecell.windows.com
• hearts.windows.com

These should all seem like simple options. Think of this, companies block or outright uninstall the games. This is what you call a quick win, instantly getting people to move online to use the apps they really like. No need to figure out how to move the users from the PC to the Web... they will go where there apps go and corporations are doing part of the job of moving or restricting some apps. I'm sure that MS probably wants to move Excel or Word before the games... I would move the games, build some web platform cred with the real MS user.

Now think of your accessories folder:

• accessories.windows.com (note that all the usual Windows menu items are mapped to a domain)
• notepad.windows.com
• calculator.msn.com - to make those fast calculations we love
• wordpad.windows.com - to write down small notes
• mediaplayer.windows.com (media player with all your favorite stuff. Linked to MSN)

One day we will probably have the MS office apps

• office.windows.com (to see all the apps. that your or your company has licensed for you. Options or widgets could be added for 9.99 (think itunes) to perform additional functions - like converting to PDF or exporting to Flash, or sending pictures to flickr, or "pimping" your PPT presentation, or distributing your MS Project Progress with a small videocast, you get the point.)
• excel.windows.com - Google Spreadsheets killer - once and for all... please.
• word.windows.com - with cool BIG features like online translation from chinese to english
• project.windows.com - think of e-project.com (which I use)
• visio.windows.com - with collaborative editing for those flowcharts or those ERM models
• publisher.windows.com - so that marketing can show you the brochure

All of these in multiple Browser Windows. No more Windows on your taskbar... the windows on your Browser navigation bar.

MS Windows would need to be a platform instead of an OS. It would serve all other apps, and you would probably install them by "pulling them" from other sites. This would not install them on your computer...MS is your computer online, and they can shift their desktop ownership to browser ownership.

This is where MSFT needs a verb that has category killer potential. A verb that signifies "dynamically retrieving and installing a web application from a website onto your windows web platform". Something like "Google" for search... except that it needs to sum this up. Marketers contribute... although they should probably use a decision market for this instead of hiring a big ad firm. I can already picture those "xxxxx it" buttons on windows to get the latest software.

I liked the Vista launch and I like MS Vista. But some quick wins really need to start to surface that show the web migration effort. The games, accessories and other apps seem like obvious choices to test out with a HUGE user base.