Rippple Blog

A better way to fund and support entrepreneurs.

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TechStars for a Day

This past Saturday, Rippple was fortunate enough to attend TechStars for a Day in NYC. Jenn and Alex (third person FTW) rubbed elbows with some of the best and brightest in the NYC startup community, including the TechStars staff (David Tisch and Adam Rothenberg just to name two).

Our goal at Rippple is to provide entrepreneurs access to the resources they need to grow their businesses. TechStars, while taking a different approach, does the exact same thing. The experience at TS4AD was humbling and invigorating, and we bring back to Durham an even brighter sense of what it is to be entrepreneurs.

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Rippple's "Holy Cow!" News

Want to read the original? See here: http://ow.ly/4Oblg.

It's been just over a month since we launched, and since then, things have flown.

Halfway through the Startup Stampede

More than 70 businesses registered on the platform

Successfully fulfilled requests

Partnership with Triangle Startup Weekend

Help us keep rocking. Check out the site and give us any feedback, (oh, and our own fundraiser is still going on).

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Why Support Entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs innovate.

Internet search would be tough without Google. (Thanks Sergey & Larry) PCs wouldn't exist without Apple. (Thanks Steve) Cars would cost 10x as much without Ford. (Thanks Henry) Ice cream wouldn't be as funky without Ben & Jerry's. (Thanks Ben & Jerry)

Entrepreneurs create jobs.

Small businesses account for 64% of the net new job growth over the past 15 years.

Entrepreneurs build the economy.

President Obama says so.

Entrepreneurs reward their supporters.

That's why Rippple is here.

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Durham Startup Stampede

As it has been widely reported, Rippple was fortunate enough to be one of 14 companies to be selected to the inaugural class of Durham's Startup Stampede. Details are at the link, but I wanted to take a moment and comment on the first few weeks here.

First and foremost, this is not an accelerator. It is not an incubator. It isn't really a co-working space. It is summer school for entrepreneurs. Well, technically, more like summer camp for entrepreneurs.

The value we have seen from this program are the relationships we are building. Rubbing elbows on a daily basis with brilliant, driven entrepreneurs is both humbling and motivating.

Questions about the program? Want to come by and take a look? Hit us up.

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Crowdsourcing?

Crowdsourcing is the process by which the power of a large group of people is leveraged toward a common goal.

In other words, crowdsourcing is the power of the people.

Democracy is crowdsourcing. Voting and representation put the power in the hands of citizens to make decisions.

Rippple is powered by crowdsourcing. We help you, the entrepreneur, grow a successful business by tapping in to the power of your community. We also help you, the community member, help grow the local economy by supporting entrepreneurs.

Other examples of successful crowdsourcing? We are always looking for inspiration and perfecting our product.

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WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

My DroidX

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Rippple... Why?

There is a Buddhist proverb saying that a community is like a bucket of water. If you add a drop to the bucket, it raises the level for everyone. Entrepreneurship is kind of the same thing - when an entrepreneur is a success, he or she adds extreme value to the local community by creating jobs, generating tax revenue, and building the local business scene. Rippple provides entrepreneurs with a platform for gaining support from their communities. Community members support local businesses with their expertise, time, and money and are rewarded for doing so. The Triangle market (like so many others) is booming with start-ups, from creative consumer products (Bound Custom Journals), to high-tech healthcare applications (AcuMedSoft). We believe that these entrepreneurs have a compelling opportunity to give back to the communities in which they grow, but that nobody can do it by themselves.

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Taking a Bath in the American Tobacco Fountain

As you may know, we at Rippple are drinking our own Kool-Aid and funding ourselves through, well, ourselves. Check out the request and help us as starving entrepreneur out (plus, you get some pretty cool stuff as well).

As an added bonus, when we reach our goal of $10,000 I, Alex Gibson (co-founder of Rippple) will take a bath in the fountain of the American Tobacco campus:

The sooner you make it happen, the colder the fountain will be.

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Rippple Launch Thoughts

First, thanks to Scott Kelly and the tireless team at Startup Madness for their killer work.

Second, thanks to all the people who texted "3" when asked to vote for the startup who could use the capital provided by the committee the most. We look forward to picking the brains of some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs and financiers around.

Third, thank YOU. Jenn, Brian, and myself started this process with you in mind. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and community members who believe in the local economy and making things happen. Without you, we wouldn't be here. Thanks for the inspiration.

Today we continue building the business and perfecting the product. Want to help? We are drinking our own Kool-Aid and raising funds for Rippple through Rippple. Register and help us out - we'll even give you some cool stuff and some cool shout-outs.

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Rippple Raises $100k from Wells Fargo Post-Launch

After a successful launch at Startup Madness in Durham, Rippple co-founder Alex Gibson got a call from Wells Fargo interested in helping them get off the ground. To the tune of $100k in seed financing.

Great way to start the day.

With an "April Fools" that is.

With all apologies to Wells Fargo (local reps have been super in meetings with us pre-launch), banks don't have the best reputation dealing with small businesses and entrepreneurs. Let's be honest, nobody really loans to this demographic.

Hence, why Rippple.

For startups looking for seed money, we are here - with a better way to get it. Reward your community for helping you get off the ground. Hit up an account today: get funded and help fund local entrepreneurs.

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What is Rippple?

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Our Launch

Starting a business is easy. Come up with an idea, settle on a name, and take a stroll and your checkbook to your Secretary of State's office. Over 3 million people in the United States do exactly this.

Building a sustainable  business is hard. Hire (and retain) the right people. Execute your operations plan. Successfully market and acquire new customers. Become profitable. Do all of this without running out of money or going crazy. Over 65% of startups fail within the first five years.

A couple of entrepreneurs from Raleigh are going to change this.

By building Rippple, a platform enabling communities to support entrepreneurs with their time, money, and skills, we help entrepreneurs:

Raise financial capital

Access goods and services

Acquire new customers

Rippple is about believing that businesses have a compelling opportunity to give back to their communities by building the local economy and creating local jobs. Rippple is also about believing in the power of the community, because no one can do it alone.

Rippple is a better way to fund and support entrepreneurs.