The Business Experiment: open-source startup

Hi Stephen

Check out Blowfly Beer:
http://www.blowfly.com.au/

They're an open source beer company; where simply buying the beer can mean you get the option of owning part of the company. They often take votes on what to do, which has led to producing water, and potentially soft drink.

I had one of the founders on The Gadget Show podcast (the same one that you cohosted with me a while back) :
http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/gadget/2005/06/29/the-gadget-show-19/

Its a nice idea, you may want to try an d take the next step though, a model which is truly an Open Source Business, ie the business id Open Source (freely contributed) to customers. Of course they pay for socts incurred delivering the service, but essentially the people running the Open source business are not running it for profit, just as with Open Source Software. That doesnt mean entrepreneurial side plays cant be spun around an ecosphere with the Open Source Business at it center. The idea is better elaborated at:

http://braindump.iuplog.com/default.asp?item=98949

It may be much slower to take off than the TBE discussed in your post, but its driving principle and impacts would be far greater in the long run. What it does share is the similar concepts of being driven through the wisdom of crowds..

Cheers Mark