De Correspondent shows value of crowdfunding
Early crowdfunding success story, De Correspondent, shows the incredible power that crowdfunding has to turn dreams into long-term reality – based purely on trust.
In 2013, De Correspondent asked for over £1 million to fund an online news publication. The project was something of a journalistic surprise – the site didn’t even exist yet -and even the founder, Rob Wijnberg, thought his chances of success were 50/50.
However, the project smashed expectations and reached a new journalistic world record; within 24 hours it had raised half its goal, and after eight days, Wijnberg got an earlier than expected go-ahead. 15,000 had subscribed, and many had added donations on top of their subscription fee of 60 euros. In just over a week, in a small country, the Dutch crowdfunding project De Correspondent had raised over €1 million (about $1.3 million).
Wijnberg, the project’s leader, had just quit his job at Dutch media giant NRC; he was more focused on an investigative, behind-the-news approach than the paper was going for, and was forced to leave. However, this became something of a blessing in disguise when the idea for De Correspondent was born.
In short, it is a Dutch-based, ad free, online journalism platform. The main articles are translated into both English and French, and are not based on the news; they are the kinds of stories that tend to escape the radar of mainstream media and delve more in investigative journalism. They are author, rather than beat centered.
The paper’s website decribes it as: “Daily, but beyond the issues of the day. From news to new. No political ideology, but journalistic ideals. Themes and interconnections. Journalism over revenues. From readers to participants. No advertisers, but partners. No target groups, but kindred spirits. Ambitious in ideals, modest about wisdom. Fully digital.”
“De Correspondent will publish fresh stories on a daily basis, but it aims to uncover, explain and highlight deep-lying structures and long-term developments that powerfully shape our world, rather than reporting on the latest hype, scare, or breaking news story.”
Wijnberg himself explained: “I want the correspondents to make their choices explicit — what do they think is important, and why should readers care about it? You do that by making clear that you’re not following an objective news agenda, but a subjective journey through the world.”
Famous journalists on board with the project include a former leader of the Dutch GreenLeft party, a well-known novelist, a Guardian journalist and several journalists who make regular TV appearances.
The project sparked a few spoofs; including several online websites that mimicked De Correspondent and said that the site was an April Fool’s Day joke. One even said it was a social experiment, to see how much money could be raised on a promise. However, the Dutch are an idealistic bunch – it appears that a million euros is the figure that can be raised on trust alone. Not such a joke, as it turns out.
We are now around two years on, and De Correspondent an editorial staff of fourteen full-time contributing, assistant, and photo/graphic editors; a network of twenty-two contributing correspondents; a subscriber base of 31,000 and counting; and a physical home in a former galery in the east of Amsterdam.
Two years ago, this project was nothing but a dream – just a few ideas written down on a crowdfunding page, and sent out into the etha. But, such is the surprising power of the internet, thousands of surprisingly generous people helped make the dream a reality; making crowdfunding one of the most powerful business tools around.
Miranda Wadham
Yanis Varoufakis writes literary masterpiece… or not
The Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, has published a short blog post detailing why he believes the Greek people should vote ‘no’ in the referendum on Sunday.
The post is concisely written, in what he himself calls “6 short bullet points” – because why on earth should the information given to the Greek people on such a complex, important question be any longer than necessary?
As the post goes on, Varoufakis magnificently manages to pass the blame onto, well, pretty much anyone other than his own government.
He starts with the Eurogroup, obviously: “The Eurogroup had previously conceded that the debt ought to be restructured but is refusing to commit to a debt restructure”
And then moves onto the people that have bailed him out for the past few years: “Creditors have chosen the strategy of blackmail based on bank closures.”
But most importantly, he wants to stress that it really isn’t his fault: “The current impasse is due to this choice by the creditors and not by the Greek government discontinuing the negotiations or any Greek thoughts of Grexit and devaluation.”
He also tried to say that the Eurogroup are sympathetic, even though his government has been playing them like an instrument for the past few weeks. “These signals show that official Eurogroup would also vote NO on its own ‘final’ offer”. Fortunately though, that theory won’t be put to the test – because none of the other European countries needed to pay back 1.6 billion euros, like, yesterday.
No government propaganda would be complete without a sprinkling of language designed to provoke some nationalistic emotion; so luckily, Varoufakis has thrown a few of those in there too.
He argues that “the future demands a proud Greece” and “that, with the power vested upon us by that NO”, that is exactly what he’ll deliver.
Excellent piece of writing, Varoufakis. A*. Whether the Greek people believe you however, remains to be seen…
Miranda Wadham
Greek Finance Minister to step down if Greeks vote yes
The Greek Finance Minsiter Yanis Varoufakis has vowed to quit if Greece votes to accept the EU’s bailout proposals in the referendum on Sunday.
In the event of a “yes” vote, “I will not” be finance minister on Monday evening, Varoufakis said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Athens today.
Varoufakis is confident that the Greek people will vote against the bailout proposals, saying that he would he would “rather cut my arm off” than sign a new deal that doesn’t include debt restructuring for the current debt.
“What we’re saying to the Greek people is, ‘no more extend and pretend,’” Varoufakis said. “We want to reform this country…but we want to do it in the context of debt restructure.”
Swedish central bank cuts interest rate
The Swedish central bank has cut interest rates to a record low, saying the situation in Greece had increased uncertainty.
The rate now stands at -0.35%. In a statement, the bank said the consequences of the situation in Greece for the Eurozone as a whole and for Sweden “are difficult to judge.”
The Riksbank on Thursday lowered the repo rate by 0.10 percentage points, saying its “expansionary monetary policy is having an effect and inflation is rising.”
The rate change takes effect July 8.
Spectra Systems up 24% after winning Chinese contract
Shares in Spectra Systems (SPSY:LON) rose 24.3% this morning after securing a nine year contract with Chinese supplier of secure government certificates.
Dr. Nabil Lawandy, CEO of Spectra Systems, sais: “We are extremely pleased about the penetration of our security products into Asia. Our customer is a supplier of government certificates with strong ties to other customers, which we hope will drive our revenues further. In addition, we are confident that this newrelationship will also benefit our TruBrand(TM) smartphone-based authentication technology in the Asian markets”.
Spectra Systems are leading supplier of authentication technology for banknotes, brand authentication and tax stamps.
Dixons Carphone FTSE 100 top riser after US announcement
Dixons Carphone (LON:DC) was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 in early Thursday trading after it announced that it would be expanding into the US.
The UK company which was formed by a merger between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse, will enter into a joint venture with US company Sprint to build and operate an initial 20 stores.
“We bring specialist knowledge and skills to this partnership and will be looking to deliver innovation and outstanding customer service under the Sprint brand,” said Andrew Harrison, Dixons Carphone Deputy Group Chief Executive.
If successful, the second phase involves a planned 200 store openings funded by a $32 million investment from Dixons Carphone.
“We are excited to partner with Dixons Carphone and to leverage all their know-how as one of the world’s leading wireless retailers to benefit Sprint and its customers,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure.
Shares in Dixons Carphone were up 3.57% at 475.4p
Ophir Energy upgraded to buy
Ophir Energy (LON:OPHR) was up 0.2% after being upgraded by analysts at UBS. The bank now rates oil & gas company Ophir Energy as a buy with a price target of 150p.
Analysts pointed towards LNG projects Ophir are developing expressing their view that the market is under-pricing shares given the long term potential of the assets.
“On a 12-24 month view Ophir has a good chance of achieving sell-downs of both projects (Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania), forcing the market to reassess value. With around $800 million of net cash it can afford to wait. We are confident exploration spend will deliver improved value for money,” says UBS.
Ophir has shed 50% in the last year and USB feels the current share price provides a buying opportunity.
Tsipras to push ahead with referendum
Following a series of conflicting reports, Tsipras confirmed in a live address that he intends for the referendum on austerity to take place.
Tsipras has publicly supported a ‘no’ vote which many EU officials have said was an effective vote to exit the Euro.
The Greek Prime Minister, unsurprisingly, brushed these comments off. In his address to the Greek public he said a ‘no’ vote was needed to better the terms with creditors.
European shares sunk after the comments although remained in positive territory on the day.
Angela Merkel earlier said that there was no chance of further negotiations until after the referendum was held shifting all focus to this Sunday and the polls released in the run up.
European shares have yo-yoed on contradictory comments throughout the session as initial hopes that a deal may be struck without a referendum were squashed.
Banks remain closed in Greece and Greeks have been limited to withdrawing EUR 60 per day.
Support for the vote is unclear, early indications put the ‘no’ vote in front, however the poll was released by a newspaper that supported Tsipras’s government.
Sony launches crowdfunding site
Sony is no stranger to crowdfunding – it has used the platform to launch several of its own campaigns, including the popular Shenmue 3 game. However, it seems the company is branching out further by launching its own platform.
First Flight, Sony’s Japan-based crowdfunding site, aims to promote new business ideas from within the company. It allows investors to put money into ideas developed by its own employees, keeping them at the forefront of innovative new ideas as well as promoting their company’s talent.
The company said in a statement: “First Flight is intended to deliver experiences that move people emotionally through innovation. It will enable each start-up and their customers to share their ideas and inspiration, and then jointly bring those ideas to fruition through direct and interactive communication.”
First Flight currently offers pre-orders for two Sony-affiliated projects; the MESH Smart DIY kit, and the FES e-ink watch. The watch has already raised money on crowdfunding platform Makuake, and backed by Sony subsidiary Fashion Entertainments. Aiming to enter the smart watch market, it E-Ink display means the design can be changed, and it has a 60 day battery life. A third project due to launch on First Flight soon is a sleek all-in-one remote called the HUIS Remote Controller, which is already 20 percent of the way to its 5 million yen crowdfunding goal.
The service is currently only available in Japan, and there is no news as to if or when it might expand.
Airbus shares rise after deal with China
Airbus (EPA:AIR) shares gained 2.6% after an agreement was signed with China to sell up to 75 Airbus planes to a Chinese company, in a deal worth $18 billion.
During a visit to Paris by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Airbus boss Fabrice Bergier signed a deal for 45 confirmed orders, as well as the possibility of 30 more with the China Aviation Supplies Holding Company.
An Airbus source told AFP that the A330 will be fitted with more seats in China and will travel shorter distances than in Europe, as a solution to the country’s congested skies and airports.
Airbus has had a positive year, reporting soaring full-year profits in February.