From Inc. — Is This a Smart Way to Get Funding?
Last Updated on Friday, 18 June 2010 06:57 Written by spence Friday, 18 June 2010 06:57
Doing Good, Doing Well Kjerstin Erickson, center, with AIDS prevention coordinators in Zambia. Photo provided by subject.
A young entrepreneur named Kjerstin Erickson offers to trade future income for upfront cash.
By Kasey Wehrum
Kjerstin Erickson launched her first nonprofit as a junior in college. That organization, FORGE, helps African refugees rebuild their communities after surviving tribal warfare. She has been profiled on CNN, and the Clinton Global Initiative has recognized her work. Erickson is 26, and her future looks bright. If you are an investor willing to take a gamble, you can own a small chunk of it.
Erickson and two other young social entrepreneurs recently made the decision to, in effect, take themselves public. Through an online marketplace called the Thrust Fund, the three have offered up a percentage of their future lifetime earnings in exchange for upfront, undesignated venture funding. Erickson is willing to swap 6 percent of her future lifetime earnings for $600,000. The other two entrepreneurs, Saul Garlick and Jon Gosier, are each offering 3 percent of future earnings for $300,000.
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