Hello again, if you are readying this I am very appreciative of your time and attention. I have underestimated what it would take to get regular posts out and so have shifted my intention to get one out a month instead of every week. There are just too many other things to do that I think are more important in the life of a bootstrapped startup.
I thought my next post should go a bit deeper into the vision of what we are attempting to do at Source. I often find myself dreaming into what it could be and I think its worth putting some of these thoughts out into the world, even if only in a blog that very few people will read for now, but hopefully that will change in times to come. Our current website also does not go into any detail about what we are doing.
As I have said in a previous post the driver for why we are doing what we are is narrative change. If we are to truly shift to a new way of being and living in this world we need to start telling ourselves a different story. Without ignoring the massive issues we are facing, we need to start looking at what is being done, showcase some of the amazing people dedicated to bringing forth this new world that we all crave so deeply and talk about the solutions more so that we can cultivate a sense of hope for our collective future.
Between main stream media and social media the public discourse on the big issues like climate change, biodiversity loss and ecological overshoot are largely focused on the problem and often polarising. This can create a sense of doom and fear which while useful as an initial provocation is not so for sustained positive action. I have been through a few cycles of depression on my journey into understanding the state of our world and it's always coincided with me reading too much, especially on social media. I feel privileged in that I have the tools to bring myself out of this but many do not so they rather choose to look away or not engage at all.
So how will we do this?
We have started building what we are calling a content distribution SAAS platform. Essentially its a regenerative content marketplace. We will source and find storytellers whether they are individual content creators, or startups with great ideas, those implementing the solutions or non profits working in the various impact sectors. We will then categorise their content on our platform and distribute it out to relevant and targeted distribution partners, websites and communities.
Yes you read that correctly we have started building. We have a new team member Merveille van Eck our full stack developer who joined in the last few weeks and is already getting stuck in scoping the project and testing out some possible solutions. Exciting stuff! Welcome Merv!
There will long term be a focus on giving unheard and marginalised voices exposure so that they can get their messages out to the world and we can learn and grow from a more diverse narrative. Once we are breaking even financially we aim to launch a grant program of our own to help facilitate this.
As I have said before I am wanting to do things differently. Our world does not need another tech unicorn, not that we will ever be one, rather we need to learn to do business in a way that is a win for all, benefits all stakeholders and is able to distribute wealth in a meaningful way. What this looks like I am still not clear but I do know it means not holding onto anything too tightly, flowing with where the energy is going, being very clear on our values and operating with the utmost integrity.
We will soon start building out a pilot program to launch once our MVP is ready to go so that we can test assumptions and prove both our model and impact. Simultaneously we are looking for some grant funding to help all of this come to fruition. If you feel drawn to get in touch to find out more or get involved in some way please do so, I have an open door policy.
I trust this brings more clarity to our mission here at Source. We are storytelling machines, its ingrained in how we absorb and process information and emotions and is a core part of being a human. So lets be a bit more thoughtful about the stories we tell and not give ourselves away to the capitalist driven attention economy which currently has gripped our society.
Lets build a regenerative world together.
If we can dream it we can do it!
Lee
