Diaspora Bank Business Plan Template
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t!b!
Nov 21, 2010, 7:59:42 PM11/21/10
to Watu Afrika
"At this stage we need to discipline our thinking and select those
things that we feel/know will work and at the same time hold in
readiness the other ideas that have been put forward that may be too
off the wall to incorporate directly.
This process will give us the bones of a brief for a full business
plan that can then be created and taken on to potential funders and
managers.
I am happy to coordinate the contributions if you want to review and
send thoughts back to me...
All contributions and observations are accepted and I hope you find
the process helpful. Please add pages or topics you feel should be
there...
You will see I have had a first stab at a logo for the Diaspora Bank
and that is as much for branding this document as anything else. I am
not a designer but I do like to have an early working Graphic flag for
those involves to recognize."
David Smith
To see the document/presentation on the website go here
https://sites.google.com/site/watuafrika/HOME/the-project/diaspora-bank#TOC-Diaspora-Bank-Business-Plan-Templat
To contribute to this document/presentation go to our shared Google
Docs folder (our content management tool).
https://sites.google.com/site/watuafrika/HOME/the-project/diaspora-bank#TOC-Diaspora-Bank-Business-Plan-Templat
If you don't have access to our database please write an email to Tibi
or Kate.
things that we feel/know will work and at the same time hold in
readiness the other ideas that have been put forward that may be too
off the wall to incorporate directly.
This process will give us the bones of a brief for a full business
plan that can then be created and taken on to potential funders and
managers.
I am happy to coordinate the contributions if you want to review and
send thoughts back to me...
All contributions and observations are accepted and I hope you find
the process helpful. Please add pages or topics you feel should be
there...
You will see I have had a first stab at a logo for the Diaspora Bank
and that is as much for branding this document as anything else. I am
not a designer but I do like to have an early working Graphic flag for
those involves to recognize."
David Smith
To see the document/presentation on the website go here
https://sites.google.com/site/watuafrika/HOME/the-project/diaspora-bank#TOC-Diaspora-Bank-Business-Plan-Templat
To contribute to this document/presentation go to our shared Google
Docs folder (our content management tool).
https://sites.google.com/site/watuafrika/HOME/the-project/diaspora-bank#TOC-Diaspora-Bank-Business-Plan-Templat
If you don't have access to our database please write an email to Tibi
or Kate.
t!b!
Nov 21, 2010, 11:08:52 PM11/21/10
to Watu Afrika
I am going to open my mouth quite wide, hoping that I am addressing a
very open minded crowd. We are here to break the mold. In fact, we are
here to break everyone's mold first! And in order to free someone from
his own cast you need to shake that person a little. Nothing personal,
I consider you all as my friends, closer to me in thinking than any
member of my own family, let's just have some fun respectfully
breaking each other's mold.
In David's presentation I have a problem with the following
expressions:
# Competitive Review
# Who are your competitors?
# Competitive Advantage
# Target Customers
I call this "box language". Within the "box paradigm" there is a well
defined organization, with well defined boundaries, with internal
processes, with US, with OURS, ... and the OTHERS, competitors,
customers, purely commercial exchanges, profit maximization,
backstabbing, fake representation, selfishness, etc., etc.
The reason why we are here today, talking about breaking the mold and
about building new institutions to develop the African continent is
that we all agree on at least one thing, to reject the box paradigm.
An ambitious project to raise the African continent cannot be a close
project. It can only be an open project (we can argue about this in a
separate discussion). If we all agree on this then we must acquire and
use a different language. We must layout our project using a different
conceptual scheme.
EXTERNAL COMPETITION: An open system is by definition NOT competitive.
It acts as an attractor. It creates synergy. Who, in his right mind,
would start competing with an open project, creating almost the same
thing? The open project is OPEN, you can just join it! Why would you
spend energy recreating a parallel structure when you can just join
the OPEN thing and get your reward (make money for example). You don't
like some part of the open thing? Fork it! No one will stop you from
expanding it, from building more value into it, from diversifying it,
as long as you don't go off the charts, as long as you respect the
core values of the open thing. Improving, expanding, that is exactly
the goal of the open project. You fit in perfectly. Competition, in
the old sense of the term, simply doesn't make sense. You only build a
parallel structure if you have something completely different.
INTERNAL COMPETITION: Open systems are self organizing synergistic
systems. Within every open enterprise there must be incentives to
excel, to add as much value as you can, and this can ONLY be done by
setting the rewards in proportion to contributions. This is what I
call a value-based organization, as opposed to a power-based
organization. Rewards are calculated in proportion to real
contributions, NOT according to who you are, or who you know. This is
how you eliminate internal competition, in the old sense of the word,
while keeping creativity and productivity at a high level. Is there
competition within Linux or Wikipedia? No, in the old sense of the
word. There is no defocussing and energy wasting internal fighting for
a higher place within the power-based hierarchy. For more on the
dynamics of (open) enterprises based on open technologies start with
this page by Michel Bauwens http://p2pfoundation.net/Product_Hacking
CUSTOMER: If we talk about an open enterprise, an open social project,
the service provider/customer distinction must be maintained, but the
structure of this relation will necessarily be different within the
new paradigm. The customer/consumer, or an organization of customers/
consumers CAN also take an important role in the open project/
enterprise. In fact, they MUST be part of this mammoth social project,
otherwise the project WILL fail. You cannot raise the economy of a
nation or of a continent without the participation of the society,
(PERIOD) The DIASPORA BANK provides a service to the African society,
and the African society MUST feel as being part of all this. On the
other side, the DIASPORA BANK doesn't just offer a service in exchange
of profits, like in the classical company-customer relationship. Not
just for ethical or philosophical reasons, but also for hard-core
economical reasons. How can you make profits from an impoverished
community (other than stilling their unused resources)? You must first
HELP that community to raise to the level where it can afford to
reward you for your services. But in order to provide that help you
need the community to get involved in your project. There is NO simple
service provider-customer relation here. It is a mistake to reduce
reality to classical (old) references. We need a more inclusive
definition of consumer/customer, which borders the notion of
PARTNER.
Instead of talking about COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE I would focus on
providing value, in context, to local communities. I would focus on
making a real difference, locally, instead of thinking about
competition with other financial institutions. They are so far behind
the curve on this one, they ONLY serve the elite. They are not even
part of the game, we can't even talk about competition. They aren't
open. They don't enlist the population in their projects. They are not
part of a social movement. They will never develop strong ties with
local communities. THEY WILL NEVER FILL AT HOME IN AFRICA! There is NO
competition, there is only advantage, which ONLY depends on how well
we do our job. It depends on how well we attract local communities to
team up with us in our project. It depends on how well we do in making
these local communities believe in us, in our common goals. On how
well we do to energize the local community. On how well we do in
making local entrepreneurs believe in themselves! On how well we teach
them to work in collaboration with each other and with the rest of the
world to add value to their local resources and to distribute them on
the world's markets, for their own good. The advantage depends on how
well WE are received in their homes, in their villages and their
towns, on who well we feel like them and they feel like us.
For those of you who think that these ideas border utopia, please
think twice. There are tones of working examples out there that we can
discuss. We've been conditioned into believing that collaboration
doesn't work. We've been conditioned into fearing our neighbors, and
even our brothers and sisters, all to justify the role of monopolistic
institutions in our lives. I don't believe in "Homo homini lupus" as a
universal statement, nor in "man is something sacred for man". Under a
certain set of incentives man can lean towards one or the
other.
I tried to shake you out of your mold, it's your turn now!
On Nov 21, 7:59 pm, "t!b!" <tiberius.brastavice...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "At this stage we need to discipline our thinking and select those
> things that we feel/know will work and at the same time hold in
> readiness the other ideas that have been put forward that may be too
> off the wall to incorporate directly.
> This process will give us the bones of a brief for a full business
> plan that can then be created and taken on to potential funders and
> managers.
> I am happy to coordinate the contributions if you want to review and
> send thoughts back to me...
> All contributions and observations are accepted and I hope you find
> the process helpful. Please add pages or topics you feel should be
> there...
> You will see I have had a first stab at a logo for the Diaspora Bank
> and that is as much for branding this document as anything else. I am
> not a designer but I do like to have an early working Graphic flag for
> those involves to recognize."
>
> David Smith
>
> To see the document/presentation on the website go herehttps://sites.google.com/site/watuafrika/HOME/the-project/diaspora-ba...
very open minded crowd. We are here to break the mold. In fact, we are
here to break everyone's mold first! And in order to free someone from
his own cast you need to shake that person a little. Nothing personal,
I consider you all as my friends, closer to me in thinking than any
member of my own family, let's just have some fun respectfully
breaking each other's mold.
In David's presentation I have a problem with the following
expressions:
# Competitive Review
# Who are your competitors?
# Competitive Advantage
# Target Customers
I call this "box language". Within the "box paradigm" there is a well
defined organization, with well defined boundaries, with internal
processes, with US, with OURS, ... and the OTHERS, competitors,
customers, purely commercial exchanges, profit maximization,
backstabbing, fake representation, selfishness, etc., etc.
The reason why we are here today, talking about breaking the mold and
about building new institutions to develop the African continent is
that we all agree on at least one thing, to reject the box paradigm.
An ambitious project to raise the African continent cannot be a close
project. It can only be an open project (we can argue about this in a
separate discussion). If we all agree on this then we must acquire and
use a different language. We must layout our project using a different
conceptual scheme.
EXTERNAL COMPETITION: An open system is by definition NOT competitive.
It acts as an attractor. It creates synergy. Who, in his right mind,
would start competing with an open project, creating almost the same
thing? The open project is OPEN, you can just join it! Why would you
spend energy recreating a parallel structure when you can just join
the OPEN thing and get your reward (make money for example). You don't
like some part of the open thing? Fork it! No one will stop you from
expanding it, from building more value into it, from diversifying it,
as long as you don't go off the charts, as long as you respect the
core values of the open thing. Improving, expanding, that is exactly
the goal of the open project. You fit in perfectly. Competition, in
the old sense of the term, simply doesn't make sense. You only build a
parallel structure if you have something completely different.
INTERNAL COMPETITION: Open systems are self organizing synergistic
systems. Within every open enterprise there must be incentives to
excel, to add as much value as you can, and this can ONLY be done by
setting the rewards in proportion to contributions. This is what I
call a value-based organization, as opposed to a power-based
organization. Rewards are calculated in proportion to real
contributions, NOT according to who you are, or who you know. This is
how you eliminate internal competition, in the old sense of the word,
while keeping creativity and productivity at a high level. Is there
competition within Linux or Wikipedia? No, in the old sense of the
word. There is no defocussing and energy wasting internal fighting for
a higher place within the power-based hierarchy. For more on the
dynamics of (open) enterprises based on open technologies start with
this page by Michel Bauwens http://p2pfoundation.net/Product_Hacking
CUSTOMER: If we talk about an open enterprise, an open social project,
the service provider/customer distinction must be maintained, but the
structure of this relation will necessarily be different within the
new paradigm. The customer/consumer, or an organization of customers/
consumers CAN also take an important role in the open project/
enterprise. In fact, they MUST be part of this mammoth social project,
otherwise the project WILL fail. You cannot raise the economy of a
nation or of a continent without the participation of the society,
(PERIOD) The DIASPORA BANK provides a service to the African society,
and the African society MUST feel as being part of all this. On the
other side, the DIASPORA BANK doesn't just offer a service in exchange
of profits, like in the classical company-customer relationship. Not
just for ethical or philosophical reasons, but also for hard-core
economical reasons. How can you make profits from an impoverished
community (other than stilling their unused resources)? You must first
HELP that community to raise to the level where it can afford to
reward you for your services. But in order to provide that help you
need the community to get involved in your project. There is NO simple
service provider-customer relation here. It is a mistake to reduce
reality to classical (old) references. We need a more inclusive
definition of consumer/customer, which borders the notion of
PARTNER.
Instead of talking about COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE I would focus on
providing value, in context, to local communities. I would focus on
making a real difference, locally, instead of thinking about
competition with other financial institutions. They are so far behind
the curve on this one, they ONLY serve the elite. They are not even
part of the game, we can't even talk about competition. They aren't
open. They don't enlist the population in their projects. They are not
part of a social movement. They will never develop strong ties with
local communities. THEY WILL NEVER FILL AT HOME IN AFRICA! There is NO
competition, there is only advantage, which ONLY depends on how well
we do our job. It depends on how well we attract local communities to
team up with us in our project. It depends on how well we do in making
these local communities believe in us, in our common goals. On how
well we do to energize the local community. On how well we do in
making local entrepreneurs believe in themselves! On how well we teach
them to work in collaboration with each other and with the rest of the
world to add value to their local resources and to distribute them on
the world's markets, for their own good. The advantage depends on how
well WE are received in their homes, in their villages and their
towns, on who well we feel like them and they feel like us.
For those of you who think that these ideas border utopia, please
think twice. There are tones of working examples out there that we can
discuss. We've been conditioned into believing that collaboration
doesn't work. We've been conditioned into fearing our neighbors, and
even our brothers and sisters, all to justify the role of monopolistic
institutions in our lives. I don't believe in "Homo homini lupus" as a
universal statement, nor in "man is something sacred for man". Under a
certain set of incentives man can lean towards one or the
other.
I tried to shake you out of your mold, it's your turn now!
On Nov 21, 7:59 pm, "t!b!" <tiberius.brastavice...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "At this stage we need to discipline our thinking and select those
> things that we feel/know will work and at the same time hold in
> readiness the other ideas that have been put forward that may be too
> off the wall to incorporate directly.
> This process will give us the bones of a brief for a full business
> plan that can then be created and taken on to potential funders and
> managers.
> I am happy to coordinate the contributions if you want to review and
> send thoughts back to me...
> All contributions and observations are accepted and I hope you find
> the process helpful. Please add pages or topics you feel should be
> there...
> You will see I have had a first stab at a logo for the Diaspora Bank
> and that is as much for branding this document as anything else. I am
> not a designer but I do like to have an early working Graphic flag for
> those involves to recognize."
>
> David Smith
>
>
> To contribute to this document/presentation go to our shared Google
> Docs folder (our content management tool).https://sites.google.com/site/watuafrika/HOME/the-project/diaspora-ba...
> To contribute to this document/presentation go to our shared Google
Ian Bentley
Nov 22, 2010, 9:03:55 AM11/22/10
to Watu Afrika
Tibi
THAT was an extremely thought-provoking post and certainly jolted me
out of MY mold.
What you are suggesting is the foundation for a HIGHLY DISRUPTIVE
business model ... because if one shifts paradigms completely, what
you are suggesting makes perfect sense.
I'm interested to see what kind of reaction it provokes from the
group. My suggestion would be to summarize its contents (cut it to
half its current length) and post it in the DB sub-group as a new
thread.
To my mind its the kind of concept that is sufficiently provocative
and controversial to generate some really active participation and
lively debate in the group ... which is very important if we want to
really involve a broad cross-section of opinion into the discussion.
It would also be good in the Africa - All things Business group ...
not least as a way of channeling new participants our way.
THAT was an extremely thought-provoking post and certainly jolted me
out of MY mold.
What you are suggesting is the foundation for a HIGHLY DISRUPTIVE
business model ... because if one shifts paradigms completely, what
you are suggesting makes perfect sense.
I'm interested to see what kind of reaction it provokes from the
group. My suggestion would be to summarize its contents (cut it to
half its current length) and post it in the DB sub-group as a new
thread.
To my mind its the kind of concept that is sufficiently provocative
and controversial to generate some really active participation and
lively debate in the group ... which is very important if we want to
really involve a broad cross-section of opinion into the discussion.
It would also be good in the Africa - All things Business group ...
not least as a way of channeling new participants our way.
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