What’s trending now?
Online Networking with a paid for response.
Money buying the right connections is not a new concept. What is new, however, is paying a fee to guarantee an online response from a powerful person and that fee being donated to charity. This concept was developed by two Cambridge Judge Business School Alumni, Hamish Forsyth (MBA) and Robyn Scott (MPhil Bioscience Enterprise), who co-founded One Leap.
One Leap is social entrepreneurship combined with online networking with a twist. How it works: users search the website for influential people which may help them with networking, employment, advice or even investment. The user then pays a fee to send a 400-word message to the influential person. The influential person decides upon the fee and the number of messages that can be sent as well as stating what type of people they would like to hear from. Eighty percent of the fee is then donated to a charity of the influential person’s choice.
The message is sent directly to the influential person’s inbox. If a response is not received, a full refund of the fee is paid back to the user. This is unlikely as 90% of One Leap messages are responded to.
Why it’s important?
Networking in this way allows people massive opportunities through simply making a donation to charity. Currently people pay large amounts of money to send their children to elite schools in the hope that they will connect with important people. Elite online clubs such as a Smallworld and Elixio are also seen as a way to make profitable business connections and meet ‘the right kind of people’. These exclusive communities now seem like far less effective ways to get in contact with influential people when compared to One Leap.
Online networking platforms that are non-exclusive and free of charge such as LinkedIn also do not offer the same efficient networking that One Leap does. One Leap allows direct contact with the people who you know can help you and are interested in hearing from people like you. A money-back guaranteed response is another benefit that is not offered by other online networking platforms.
This concept is incredibly important for start up companies seeking investment. Innovative concepts that would have previously gone unnoticed can now gain the attention they deserve and become a reality. This could mean huge growth in a number of industries in which innovation is currently lacking. Industries such as technology could benefit greatly because people with new ideas may now receive the funding to create new inventions and perform groundbreaking research.
It is also important for companies seeking new and innovative ideas from fresh sources as One Leap allows these pioneers to contact such companies.
What’s the butterfly effect?
Networking in this way could become more and more normal and so the barriers between investors and innovators are broken down. Large firms with power and influence may no longer be the only players in the invention game.
The way in which large corporations issue tenders and seek new ideas could be changed by such a platform because it allows contact with a broad variety of resources that are willing to pay to be noticed.
One Leap also represents a new way of thinking in social entrepreneurship. It shows that social businesses have moved beyond being corporate-minded charities and have developed into groundbreaking business models that make a real impact.
The pioneers and global hotspots
As an online platform, One Leap offers international networking opportunities.
By: Danielle Laity
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About Danielle
Danielle is ever curious and ever learning. She is fascinated by people and intrigued by the way in which trends influence our lifestyles.
Image credit: The world wide web
