General questions about the Unreasonable Institute
What is the Unreasonable Institute?
Where is the Unreasonable Institute based?
Why did you choose the name “Unreasonable Institute?”
Who’s behind the program and why are you doing this?
How does the Unreasonable Institute plan to become financial sustainable and scalable itself?
Is the Unreasonable Institute looking for funders?
What Happens at the Unreasonable Institute?
What does a typical day at the Unreasonable Institute look like?
What does the 6-week Institute look like?
What opportunities does the Unreasonable Institute provide to acquire funding?
Does the Unreasonable Institute guarantee funding for its Fellows?
Does the Unreasonable Institute provide access to both philanthropic capital and investment capital?
Where will Unreasonable Fellows live while in Boulder?
Do I have to stay in Boulder for the entire 6-week Institute?
I’m concerned that 6 weeks is too much time.
Who can I contact if I have more questions?
Am I eligible for the Unreasonable Institute?
What sorts of companies are eligible to apply to the Unreasonable Institute?
Why do you prefer companies that have generated at least $1 in revenue?
Why do you accept only for-profit ventures?
We are a founding team. Can our entire team attend the Unreasonable Institute in Boulder?
How do I improve my chances of becoming an Unreasonable Fellow?
Is my age a factor in your selection process?
Do I need to send in a business plan?
Can I apply to the Unreasonable Institute if I’m not a U.S. citizen?
Is my company too early (or too late) stage to apply to the Unreasonable Institute?
Do you require entrepreneurial experience?
If I’m not an Unreasonable Fellow, will the Institute still help me build my team?
My English is not very good. Can I still apply?
What is the application process like?
How does your application process work?
What is the timeline for your application process?
How much does it cost to attend the Unreasonable Institute?
Why don’t you let your applicants pay the program costs of the Unreasonable Institute?
Why don’t you provide your Fellows full-ride scholarships to attend the Unreasonable Institute?
Tell me about the Unreasonable Marketplace
What is the Unreasonable Marketplace?
Why do you say 46 Fellows in all your marketing but I see fewer?
Does the $10,000 cover roundtrip airfare and visa costs?
What happens to the funds raised on the Marketplace if a finalist doesn’t get into the Institute?
What if a finalist raises more than $10,000?
What is the timeline of the Finalist Marketplace? How long do finalists have to raise $10,000?
Are contributions made on the Finalist Marketplace tax-deductible?
Can a non-U.S. citizen sponsor a finalist?
What forms of payment can be used to sponsor a finalist?
I’m interested in sponsoring a finalist, but how do I know that my credit card information is safe?
Do you have any advice on how to raise the $10,000?
How has the Finalist Marketplace gone in the past?
If I sponsor a finalist, what information does he or she receive?
If I sponsor a finalist, what information will be publicly displayed?
Can I sponsor a finalist anonymously?
When will finalists know that they are accepted into the Unreasonable Institute?
General Questions about the Unreasonable Institute
What is the Unreasonable Institute?
The Unreasonable Institute is a mentorship-driven acceleration program for entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental problems. Each year, we unite 25 entrepreneurs from every corner of the globe to live under the same roof for six weeks in Boulder, Colorado. These entrepreneurs receive training from world-class mentors, ranging from the co-founder of Google.org, to the CTO of HP, to an entrepreneur who’s enabled over 19 million farmers to move out of poverty. In the process, they form relationships with 20 investment funds, bridge partnerships with premier organizations across the globe, and pitch to hundreds of investors and partners. Beyond the Institute we continue to support them with a growing global network of more than Unreasonable Mentors, Fellows, investors, and consulting organizations. Ultimately, our goal is to provide high-impact entrepreneurs every skill, every connection, and every resource they require to create ventures that can effectively address a social or environmental need, that can financially self-sustain, and that can scale globally to at least one million beneficiaries. Click here to see what we do.
Where is the Unreasonable Institute based?
We are based in the beautiful city of Boulder, Colorado, USA (ranked by Forbes Magazine as the most educated city in the United States in 2008). Boulder has a thriving entrepreneurial climate, a world-class university, and is becoming a true Mecca for social innovation and early stage investment. We are proud to call Boulder our home.
- BusinessWeek: “Why Boulder is America’s Best Town for Startups”
- Fast Company: “Why you should start a company in Boulder”
Why did you choose the name “Unreasonable Institute?”
The name is based on a quotation by George Bernard Shaw: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man [and woman].” Plus, it describes exactly the kind of entrepreneur we are looking for: someone who is willing to ignore the skeptics, to persist through failure, and is unyieldingly determined to change the world.
Who’s behind the program and why are you doing this?
We are a group of young and highly unreasonable people, who faced unique challenges in starting our own social ventures in the past. We hungered to unleash the power of entrepreneurship to tackle the world’s greatest problems. As startup entrepreneurs, we faced an array of obstacles and over time we realized thousands of early-stage entrepreneurs around the world faced the same hurdles. With a belief that we cannot afford to send the next generation of young people into the world unprepared to tackle its greatest challenges, we knew something had to be done. Creating the Unreasonable Institute was our answer.
How does the Unreasonable Institute plan to become financially self-sustaining and scalable itself?
Our main source of revenue comes from the $10,000 USD that each Fellow needs to raise on the Finalist Marketplace to attend the Institute. In addition to these funds, we are currently working on integrating corporate sponsorship into Unreasonable TV, forming a seed stage investment fund, hosting multiple events year around, and potentially consulting for organizations who have the aspiration of becoming a little bit more “unreasonable.” All ulterior revenue streams aside, when we run two Institutes in the same year, we will be able to cover all of our operational costs with just the funds raised on the Finalist Marketplace. This core revenue stream gives us the ability to scale to new locations across the globe. If we do our job and effectively supporting high-impact entrepreneurs in scaling their solutions to millions of beneficiaries, we will meet our own unreasonable standards.
Is the Unreasonable Institute looking for funders?
The Unreasonable Institute looks for visionary funders who can help us take this organization across the globe and build it until it is financially self-sustainable. What is most important to us, however, is that the people behind any capital we receive share our values, can be champions of our organization, and are people we truly want to be invested in the success of the Unreasonable Institute. Please contact our President (daniel at unreasonableinstitute.org) if you are interested in sharing a conversation about this. More importantly, you can support and/or provide capital to many of our Unreasonable Fellows. Take a look at their profiles here.
What Happens at the Unreasonable Institute?
What will a typical day be like for an Unreasonable Fellow?
A typical day at the Unreasonable Institute looks like this (note: everything before 8pm is always optional. Additionally this schedule may change based on feedback from Fellows):
9:30am – 12:30pm, Workshops to build skills essential for building an Unreasonable Venture, led by Mentors, Capital Partners, or the Unreasonable Team (optional)
12:30pm – 2:00pm, Lunch
12:30pm – 6:30pm, Protected time for Fellows to work (e.g. meet with Mentors and Capital Partners, correspond with teammates, convert the workshop learnings into tangible/valuable takeaways, etc.)
6:30pm – 8:00pm, Dinner
8:00pm – 9:00pm, Family pitches. 2 entrepreneurs will have the chance to pitch to the Unreasonable Fellows, mentors, and staff and get immediate feedback on their ventures (the 2011 Fellows found this extremely helpful, both in the giving and receiving of advice from the group)
9:00pm – 10:30pm, Capital Partner and Mentor introductions. Get to know the people who will help you build your business.
Here are two more resources to help you understand what happens at the Unreasonable Institute:
- Read this awesome blog post written by 2011 Unreasonable Fellow Saba Gul (Pakistan) on her experience at the Unreasonable Institute.
What does the 6-week Institute look like?
The 6 week Institute will follow the schedule outlined on our Unreasonable Calendar page. In addition to the regular daily structure, the following notable events will also occur during the 6 weeks:
-Weekly Community Pitch Events, where Unreasonable Fellows showcase and pitch their ventures before local supporters and mentors, getting valuable feedback, connections, and support;
-Weekly “Small Groups”, where Unreasonable Fellows will be given relentless feedback and constructive criticism in small groups by their peers, by mentors, by capital partners, and by the Unreasonable team to improve and fill holes in their models, share lessons and utilize the powerful peer community to obtain feedback and rapidly advance their venture, and prepare for investor pitches,;
-The Unreasonable Climax, where Unreasonable Fellows will pitch their ventures to over 400 potential funders, partners, and local supporters. Our hope is to make the Unreasonable Climax into a 2-day conference, divided into an official investor pitch event on day one (for which over 100 potential funders will be present) and a community presentation on day two, where Mentors, partners, local supporters, and those hungry for inspiration across the country will gather. This multiday event has one goal: to provide Unreasonable Fellows an even greater amount of exposure to potential partners, funders, and resources to take their venture to scale.
How does the Unreasonable Institute provide opportunities to acquire capital?
The Unreasonable Institute provides opportunities to raise seed capital through (1) building relationships with top impact investment funds ranging from Good Capital to Acumen Fund called Capital Partners (along with being potential sources of capital, these partners are the most adept to connect Unreasonable ventures to other capital sources and to provide the most valuable feedback about raising capital for their venture), (2) a culminating pitch at the Unreasonable Climax to investors from around the world (note: our goal and expectation is to get 100+ people who manage various forms of capital in the room), and (3) relationships with mentors who can lead Unreasonable fellows to other sources of capital. Underlying all of this is probably the most important thing: Unreasonable Fellows will be prepared to approach, build close relationships with, and make a strong case for capital to potential funders.
Does the Unreasonable Institute guarantee funding for its Fellows?
We cannot and do not guarantee that our Fellows will receive funding at the Unreasonable Institute. However, we do guarantee unprecedented exposure to funders and world-class relationships with dozens of capital sources, which are detailed in the question above. Fundamentally, our goal is to go to bat for you, to do everything we can to get you the resources you need to rocket ahead.
Does the Unreasonable Institute provide access both to philanthropic capital (grants and foundation money) and investment capital (equity and debt)?
Yes! Some Mentors and Capital Partners focus on philanthropic capital, while other Mentors and Capital Partners focus on investment capital. We invite all types of capital sources to our pitch event (and survey the Fellows about types of capital and potential sources they believe should be there), ensuring there is an abundance and diversity of funding opportunities available for Unreasonable Fellows.
Where will Unreasonable Fellows live while in Boulder?
You will live in a former fraternity house in the heart of Boulder, Colorado that we affectionately call the Unreasonable Mansion. But, make no mistake – the house is beautiful, comfortable, clean, and it is our home for the course of the Institute! Fellows will bunk up, sharing rooms with 1-2 other Fellows, sharing meals with each other, and with visiting Mentors, and Capital Partners, who also live at the Unreasonable Mansion while in town. The house will be adjacent to the University of Colorado campus, where we will lead many of our discussions, skill training sessions, and workshops. Overwhelmingly, past Fellows, Mentors, and Capital Partners have been delighted by the chance to live under one roof together and have found the house amply comfortable.
Do I have to stay in Boulder for the entire 6-week Institute?
The most valuable service we provide to our Unreasonable Fellows is our 6-week summer Institute. If accepted as an Unreasonable Fellow, you will have been chosen from hundreds of applicants around the world. Out of respect for them and to ensure that we are maximizing our impact, we ask that you attend the full 6 weeks of the summer institute without missing more than 4 days (including not missing weekends). If you require a few days to travel to participate in exceptional opportunities, meetings, or conferences that you believe will accelerate your venture, we will be happy to discuss those opportunities with you.
I’m concerned that 6 weeks is too much time.
Seeing that we will be welcoming about 50 mentors to the Institute and 20 of the world’s top investment funds and foundations, running weekly pitchfests and hosting a culminating pitching event with hundreds of potential funders and acclaimed entrepreneurs, we cannot imagine shortening the Institute to anything less than 6 weeks. The vast majority of entrepreneurs from the 2011 Institute have also reported that six weeks was just the right length for the Institute, including entrepreneurs who left families and large teams.
Can we guarantee that this 6 weeks is a better use of your time than staying with your market? No. But according to our mentor Paul Polak, credited for lifting over 19 million farmers out of poverty, developing a transformative product or service that meets the needs of your customers is only 20% of the job. The hard part, 80% of the job, is marketing, distributing, and sustaining your organization. Our focus is on the latter part of the job.
Who can I contact if I have more questions?
Please feel to contact us at wisdom@unreasonableinstitute.org or contact any one of our team members by clicking here.
Am I eligibile for the Unreasonable Institute?
What sorts of companies are eligible to apply to the Unreasonable Institute?
We work with for-profit, early stage ventures tackling social and environmental problems. Aside from being fueled by a drive to effectively addresses a social or environmental problem, an Unreasonable Venture must have a full-time team of at least 2 people, have completed a prototype or pilot, be able to prove that they have meaningfully engaged with their customers, and be highly-scalable (capable of reaching at least 1 million people). We also overwhelmingly prefer organizations that can demonstrate their value to their customers by having generated at least $1 in revenue through the sale of their core product or service. Read more about our eligibility criteria here.
Why do you overwhelmingly prefer companies that have at least $1 of revenue?
After running our first Institute we have realized that we work most effectively with early stage, and not idea stage ventures. Revenue shows us your venture is more than just an idea and that someone out there thinks highly enough of what you’re offering to part with their hard-earned dollars for it. It shows us you’re engaging with customers meaningfully. We also believe that only action validates theoretical knowledge and are looking for entrepreneurs who can show, not just tell, us they’ve got something their customers will value. We do realize that occasionally, ventures that are highly likely to offer goods and services their prospective customers will pay for, may not have generated revenue. Typically, this is because these companies are highly-leveraged or capital-intensive. If this is true for your venture, you will simply need to convince us however you can that customers will purchase your product.
Why do you accept only for-profit ventures?
While in the past we’ve worked with both non-profits and for-profits, we’ll be testing accepting only for-profit ventures to our 2012 Institute. We’ve made this decision for three reasons. Firstly, we’ve observed that for-profit ventures have benefited more from the Unreasonable experience on the whole, as the mentors and capital sources that we bring to the Unreasonable Institute are more focused on for-profit ventures. Second, we believe we’ll be able to concentrate our efforts on serving one type of entrepreneur enabling us to provide greater value for our Fellows. Thirdly and most importantly, we believe in experimentation. Accepting for-profits only this coming year is an experiment we hope will teach us where we can contribute the most value to early-stage entrepreneurs. If we find that, for example, focusing on for-profit ventures limits the geographic or socio-economic diversity of entrepreneurs we have at the Unreasonable Institute, for instance, we’ll go back to accepting both for-profits and non-profits in 2013!
We are a founding team. Can our entire team attend the Institute in Boulder?
We require that you have a team in order to be accepted as an Unreasonable Fellow. However, we will only accept one founding member per venture to attend the Unreasonable Institute in Boulder, CO. The reason behind this rule is to ensure that while one of you is attending the Institute, the other can remain on the ground, serving your customers and tending to the on-the-ground operations of your company. Additionally, one of the most important parts of the Unreasonable Institute is its community. To ensure that we have a diversity of ventures to promote creativity but have a small enough pool of entrepreneurs to allow an intimate community to form, we only accept one founder from each team. We do however have a teammate week, allowing teammates to attend the Institute and all sessions for that period of time. If you’re accepted as an Unreasonable Fellow, we’ll fill you in on when this will be.
I’m a single founder. Can I get accepted into the Unreasonable Institute or do you only look for teams?
We only accept ventures run by teams of at least two people. This is for two reasons: (1) We want to ensure that while one teammate attends the Unreasonable Institute, the other can remain on the ground, serving customers and tending to on-the-ground operations. (2) To us, having a teammate on board demonstrates you are deeply committed to your venture, that you have lit at least one other person on fire with your vision, and that you are prepared for serious execution.
How do I improve my chances of becoming an Unreasonable Fellow?
You can follow the suggestions outlined in our Becoming Competitive page.
Is my age a factor in your selection process?
No, as long as you’re over 18. In 2011, we accepted Fellows between the ages of 22 and 49.
Do I need to send in a business plan?
No. Our application process consists of 20 short answer questions that are designed to clearly investigate your team, the issue you are addressing, and your proposed solution. Aside from the questions we ask in our application, we do not accept outside materials like business plans.
Can I apply if I’m not from the United States?
Yes, yes and yes. Not only can you apply, we are dedicated to working with entrepreneurs from around the world. We firmly believe that the issues we face today are global in scope and that solutions to these issues require global effort. For that reason, we absolutely, without doubt, accept entrepreneurs from every corner of the world. For our 2011 Institute alone, entrepreneurs applied from over 60 countries!
Is my company too early (or late) stage to apply to Unreasonable?
We do not accept ventures that are in the idea stage. We look for ventures that have at least completed a pilot or prototype and that have at least one full-time teammate. We also give overwhelming preference to ventures that have generated at least $1 in revenue through selling their core product or service. We also work with well-established ventures that are looking to make the leap from being a reasonable organization to an unreasonable venture by scaling globally and reaching millions of people. We’ve seen ventures that have already generated over $1 million in revenue take away tremendous value from the Unreasonable Institute. Take a look at Unreasonable TV Episode 2 for an example. Read our eligibility requirements for more information.
Do you require entrepreneurial experience?
We are looking for a relentless entrepreneurial spirit in all Unreasonable Fellows. This does not necessarily mean that you have already founded a company or organization, though we do appreciate that level of experience. What it does mean is that we are looking for people who are resilient to failure, who persist through the challenges, and who have a record of taking problems into their own hands to create solutions. If you haven’t created a venture in the past, convince us you are unyielding enough to weather the challenges of starting an enterprise. Click here for more information on what characteristics we look for in all Unreasonable Fellows.
If I’m not an Unreasonable Fellow, will the Institute still help me build my team?
Due to constraints of time and energy, we are solely dedicated to accelerating and supporting our Unreasonable Fellows and are not able to help build the teams of outside entrepreneurs. Instead of us connecting you with a stranger, we recommend that you find teammates through your personal network. In our experience, teams thrown together without much consideration and from outside parties typically fall apart.
My English is not very good. Can I still apply?
We are an international organization and firmly believe that English is not a pre-requisite to being an incredible entrepreneur. Considering, however that the Institute will be run in English, you will need to be able to read, write, and speak English sufficiently. Within the next three years we look forward to scaling outside of North America and to potentially running Institutes in different languages.
What is the application process like?
How does your application process work?
The application process to become an Unreasonable fellow consists of three stages: (1) a written application, (2) an interview, (3) and a race to raise $10,000 on the Finalist Marketplace. Applicants begin by submitting a written application primarily consisting of 20 short-answer questions addressing the need they are tackling, their solution, their plan for execution, and their team. Out of all submitted applications roughly one hundred applicants will advance to the interview round, which involves answering 4-5 questions in a 20-minute phone call or Skype call with a member of the Unreasonable Team. From the pool of interview candidates, up to 50 will become finalists and profile their ventures in our online Finalist Marketplace. Using the marketplace, they’ll be challenged to raise the costs of attending the Unreasonable Institute, without supplying any of those funds themselves. The first 25 finalists to raise $10,000 from hundreds of individuals around the world will be chosen as Unreasonable Fellows and invited to attend our summer institute. To learn about this process in detail, read more here.
What is the timeline for your application process?
The application process timeline is detailed here. Interviews for the 2012 selection process will take place between December 8 and December 17, 2011. The Finalist Marketplace will take place between January 17 and March 7, 2012.
How much does it cost to attend the Unreasonable Institute?
Read about the costs of attending the Unreasonable Institute on our Costs Page.
Why don’t you let your applicants pay the program costs?
There are three reasons we don’t let our applicants pay the program costs of the institute. First of all, we don’t want to deter applicants because of the costs of the program. Second of all, we don’t want to deter the best potential applicants who view the price of attending our Summer Institute as a large opportunity cost to funding their own ventures. Thirdly, we believe that the market selects the best ideas by providing individuals the opportunity to vote with their dollars. To ensure the Finalist Marketplace is more democratic, we institute weekly contribution caps, meaning no entrepreneur can receive more than $10 from any single sponsor in the first week. This contribution cap increases slowly over the course of the marketplace. Read More.
Why don’t you provide your Fellows full-ride scholarships?
According to selection methedology research, if you want to hire someone for a sales position, the best way to predict their success in the position is to ask them to sell you something. Similarly, we want our Fellows to prove their entrepreneurial mettle by doing something entrepreneurial: raising capital. Additionally, in our 2008 pilot program, we observed that those participants who raised their own funds had a much greater sense of ownership, support, excitement, and accountability to make the best of their experience at the Institute than those who were given full-ride scholarships. That’s why we ask all our Fellows to raise the $10,000 it costs to attend the Institute on the Finalist Marketplace. Furthermore, the Marketplace gives our Fellows the chance to get hundreds of individuals invested in their future success, which we believe is critical for the longevity of their venture
.
Questions about the Unreasonable Marketplace
What is the Unreasonable Marketplace?
Up to 50 of the best applicants to the Unreasonable Institute will be selected as finalists. Each finalist will post a profile (the content of which they create) of their venture, themselves, and their team on an online platform. Through this platform, each finalist will work to raise $10,000, the cost of attending the Unreasonable Institute. The first 25 finalists to do so will be chosen as Unreasonable Fellows and invited to attend our 6-week summer program. Read More about the Marketplace here.
Why do you say 46 Fellows in all your marketing and on the website text, but I see fewer than 46 profiles?
Great observation! We selected 46 Finalists for the Marketplace. Some have had to pull out for personal reasons, a few more have not posted their profiles yet. So why do we post 46? Well, our marketing and the # of entrepreneurs is all over the place. To change it every day as the number of ventures changes would take up a lot of time. Thus, we picked 46 because that is the number of ventures we choose, and stuck with it.
What does the $10,000 cover?
The $10,000 pays for everything while at the Institute, including housing, food, training, flying out the mentors, staffing, and all weekend excursions. The costs are low for 6 weeks because we’ve secured in kind sponsorships of space and technology from a number of our sponsoring partners. Read more about the costs of the Institute here.
How can I assure that this is something legitimate to give to because online scams are common where I am from?
- First an more importantly, thank you for being concerned about your online security!
- Most importantly, know that the payments page is 100% done and secured by Paypal, the leader in secure online payments. This means that the Unreasonable Institute never sees or has access to your credit card information.
- This is now the 3rd year that the Unreasonable Institute has run the Unreasonable Marketplace. Over 8,000 donors have given over USD$500,000 to support nearly 50 Unreasonable Fellows on the Marketplace. Not one credit card number has been compromised during these years.
- To prove we are who we say we are, you can see our letter from the Federal Government or visit this page on the Federal Government Internal Revenue Service webpage and search EIN 80-0534659. When you search this you will see the Unreasonable Institute come up. If you click on the “PC” link on the far right side, you can read more of the documents we have filed with the United States Federal Government. From here you can see that Unreasonable Institute is a registered public charity.
- The Unreasonable Institute is located in the state of Colorado. Here is a link to the Colorado Secretary of State page. You can search for “Unreasonable Institute” to see that the Unreasonable Institute is a filed organization with the State of Colorado and that we are in good standing.
- See for yourself exactly what happens at the Institute for we have documented it and posted at http://unreasonable.tv.
- See and reach out to past participants (“Fellows”), mentors, and partners that are a part of the Unreasonable Institute at the Unreasonable Network at: http://unreasonableinstitute.org/network
- You can see some past major media outlets that have covered the Unreasonable Institute over the years.
- Still not satisfied? Feel free to reach out to our team for more clarification at our contact page.
Does the $10,000 cover roundtrip airfare and visa costs?
No, unfortunately it does not. However, we are keen to help applicants who require financial assistance and can provide loans, possible access to sponsorship, and other solutions to help applicants secure the financial resources they require to attend the Unreasonable Institute. If you are accepted as an Unreasonable Fellow, please speak with the Unreasonable Team if you need financial assistance with your travel and visa arrangements.
What happens to the funds raised on the Marketplace if a finalist doesn’t get into the Institute?
Finalists who are not ultimately accepted as Unreasonable Fellows will be sent the money they raise on the Finalist Marketplace minus administrative costs to cover transaction fees (ranging between 5-10% of the amount being transferred).
What if a finalist raises more than $10,000?
Our payment systems do not allow a finalist to raise more than $10,000. However, if sponsors wish to help support a finalist who has successfully raised $10,000, they may be able to help pay for air travel and visa costs. How to help a finalist with their travel and visa costs will be explained in detail on the Finalist Marketplace.
How much time do finalists have to raise $10,000?
The Finalist Marketplace is open 50 days from January 17 to March 7, 2012. However, because the Finalist Marketplace is a race to raise $10,000 and the first 25 finalists to raise the funds will be accepted, the amount of time finalists have to raise the money also depends on how quickly others are able to do so as well. For the 2011 Institute, all entrepreneurs raised their fees within 36 days.
Are contributions sponsors make on the Finalist Marketplace tax-deductible?
Contributions made to Finalists who are one of the first 25 to raise $10,000 will be tax-deductible for U.S. tax payers because these funds will be retained by the Unreasonable Institute, which is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. However, contributions made to Finalist who are not one of the first 25 to raise $10,000 will not be tax-deductible as those funds will be disbursed to the Finalist who raised them and not held by the Unreasonable Institute.
Does the Unreasonable Marketplace favor finalists with larger networks of high-net-worth individuals or finalists from the United States and Europe?
We were initially concerned that indeed the marketplace would be biased in favor of Finalists from wealthier backgrounds or those who have connections to wealthy individuals, which we called “The Rich Uncle Problem.” A Finalist with a wealthy uncle, for example, could ask this uncle to provide the full $10,000 in sponsorship required on the first day the marketplace opens. To address this problem, we institute weekly maximums, capping the amount any single sponsor can give to any single Finalist in a given week. The first week, this maximum is $10. The second week, it’s $50. The third week, it’s $100, and so on until the last week of the Marketplace when it’s $1,000. In addition to ensuring a more equal playing field, these weekly maximums ensure that the marketplace is a better test of entrepreneurial ability, incentivizing Finalists to mobilize hundreds of people to support them instead of just one.
In past years, we’ve seen finalists who were former child soldiers from Liberia, Congolese refugees in Uganda, Pakistani villagers, and Nigerian farmers were all ultimately able to raise the funds required to attend the Unreasonable Institute.
Finally, we took a hard look at online marketplaces / voting contests like Kickstarter and Global Giving to structure our marketplace. We explicitly asked Global Giving (an online marketplace that is explicitly international in scope, funding almost 2,000 projects around the world) if there was any relationship between where an entrepreneur was from and his / her likelihood of raising funds on online marketplaces. Did Americans, for example, benefit from wider networks of individuals with more money? According to Global Giving and its users, there was no relationship between where an entrepreneur was from and how much money he / she was able to raise. In fact, the entrepreneurs who were most successful in raising funds on Global Giving were simply the ones who were most diligent about raising funds. This was true for both men and women and across nationalities.
How much money can a sponsor give a finalist in a given week during the Finalist Marketplace? Can a sponsor give multiple times? Can a sponsor support multiple finalists?
Because we have weekly contribution caps (as explained in the previous FAQ), the amount a sponsor can give to a finalist depends on the week he or she wishes to make a contribution. As long as a sponsor contributes no more in any one week than the weekly contribution cap allows, there is no limit to the number of times they can support a finalist or multiple finalists. Weekly contribution caps will follow the schedule below:
January 17-23: Maximum contribution is $10
January 24-30: Maximum contribution is $50
January 31-February 6: Maximum contribution is $100
February 7-13: Maximum contribution is $250
February 14-20: Maximum contribution is $500
February 21-27: Maximum contribution is $1,000
February 28-March 7 (last day): Contributions are unlimited.
Can a non-U.S. citizen sponsor a finalist on the Finalist Marketplace?
Absolutely. Our payment systems us PayPal, which is set up to handle credit cards from around the world. We also accept cash contributions in any currency. See the next question for details on this.
What forms of payment can be used to sponsor a finalist?
We utilize PayPal for all online payments. PayPal is the world’s most trusted international payment system and credit card processor and allows us to accept payments instantly and securely from users in over 190 countries. With PayPal, you will be able to use a Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express credit card to make your contribution. If you do not have a credit card, you can also contact the entrepreneur you want to support directly, and pay them in cash or check. This is a much more laborious process, but allows individuals who do not have credit cards to still sponsor Finalists. If you make cash contributions to finalists, they will manually add you as a sponsor to the Marketplace as well as keep diligent records of who the cash contributions came from. To verify cash contributions, we will get in touch with the individuals reported by the Finalist to have made the contribution via email, phone, or other means (employing the assistance of a translator where necessary). If any individual the Finalist has reported as giving them a cash contribution denies having done so, the Finalist in question will be disqualified from participation in the Marketplace, deemed ineligible to be an Unreasonable Fellow, and forfeit the funds they have raised on the Marketplace.
I’m interested in sponsoring a finalist, but how do I know that my credit card information will be safe?
For all online payments, we utilize the world’s most trusted payment provider, PayPal. PayPal handles all credit card transactions and will process all of your payments automatically and securely. We never even see your credit card number or personal information. Your online payments are entirely processed and handled securely and automatically by PayPal. You can read more about how PayPal ensures the security of your information here.
Do you have any advice on how to raise the $10,000?
Absolutely. We have compiled resources here.
Can a Finalist promote before the Marketplace opens? Can they begin accepting donations before the Marketplace opens?
A Finalist may certainly mention the Marketplace and promote that they are on it before it opens. However, Finalists aren’t able to collect any donations until the Marketplace launches.
What happens to the $10,000 a finalist raises if, after being accepted to the Unreasonable Institute, they are forced to drop out due to extenuating circumstances?
In this case, we would treat this entrepreneur the same way we would treat a finalist who didn’t raise the full $10,000. We would give this entrepreneur the $10,000 raised minus transaction fees associated with sending the money (between 5-10% of the overall amount). With regard to refunding donors, it is fairly costly and complex to return so many donations to various sponsors. Thus, if extenuating circumstances prevent the an entrepreneur from attending the Institute, we will be unable to refund money to donors. Instead this money will be supplied to the entrepreneur to use in his or her social venture.
How has the Finalist Marketplace gone in the past?
In 2010, 25 entrepreneurs were successfully able to raise what it cost to attend the Unreasonable Institute, which then was $6,500. They raised a cumulative total of over $160,000 from just under 3,000 sponsors in 60 countries. The finalists who succeeded in raising $6,500 included a former child soldier from Liberia, a Congolese refugee now living in Uganda, a Nigerian farmer and radio show host, a Pakistani villager, a Venezuelan scientist, as well as two MIT graduates.
In 2011, 26 entrepreneurs (we accepted more than 25 entrepreneurs because the last 3 entrepreneurs raised their amount within a five minute window) succeeded in raising the cost to attend the 2011 Institute. In total, they raised over $210,000 from a little less than 4,000 sponsors in 60 countries. The finalists who succeeded in raising the funds included a Ugandan cleantech entrepreneur who was the first person from his village to get on a plane and who had to walk 17 kilometers to use the internet.
If I sponsor a finalist, what information does he or she receive?
When you sponsor Finalists, you will have the option of sharing your contact information with them, or remaining anonymous. If you decide to share your contact information, they will see your name, your email address, and the amount you contributed. They will not have access to any additional information. If you decide to remain anonymous, finalists will only see the amount you contributed but will not have access to your name or email address.
If I sponsor a finalist, is my contribution amount publicly displayed?
When you sponsor a Finalist, you will have the option of requesting that your contribution is anonymous. If you chose to be anonymous, your name will not be displayed publicly as a sponsor and your name will not be shared with the Finalist. You will have full control over this when you make a contribution.
Can I sponsor a finalist anonymously?
Definitely! You always have the option to make any contribution to a finalist anonymously.
Does the Unreasonable Institute take any steps to protect the intellectual property of Finalists displaying their information on the Marketplace?
Finalists have complete control over what information they share on the Finalist Marketplace. It is their job to ensure that they protect sensitive information and share only information they consider appropriate for the public on the Marketplace.
When will finalists know that they are accepted into the Unreasonable Institute?
They will know no later than March 7, 2012, but they will know as soon as they raise $10,000 on the Finalist Marketplace if they are one of the first 25 to do so.
