What Can You Do?

"No man does it all by himself!" - The Village People

If you want to help out with some small contribution during the first rounds of Alchemy, that would be great. In the longer term - mid 2012 - I'll be looking for real investment capital and will need a committed team that can work full-time on turning this into a reality.

There are literally hundreds of things that will need to be done, from artwork and web-design, to product development, to network administration and incentive program management, to manufacturing and product-sourcing, to financial systems, to logistics and distribution, to figuring out how to do this legally.

It's going to be a huge task, but well-worth the effort and hopefully very profitable too. I would love to start hearing from people who want to be involved, and holding some small events to talk about progress so far and the way forward. Maybe I should add "event management' to the list of jobs? Click here to contact me.

Make It Real

Tired of talking, I'm more interested in doing. The Alchemy Project is in test-of-concept phase at the moment, in response to the question at the top of the page.

First, I ask everyone I know to put some money in. Then I ask all their friends. If nobody will lend US$10, then obviously I'm doing something wrong. If you sponsor the first trial program, then obviously the Alchemy concept is worth pursuing. It might be worth it anyway, but eventually I will need some real investors. It would be great to go to them and say that 500 people have already proven that they believe in the project.

The first and second rounds are just to prove that it's possible to crowd-source some money, lend it to entrepreneurs in developing countries, enable them to make enough money to repay the loan, and actually get the money back. The feedback from the lucky entrepreneurs will be used to develop a production version of the technology and website, and there is no way I can do this alone after that point.

In order to turn this into a real business, I will need a team - preferably including some of my many friends.

Founder

"Have you refined and got excited about the idea enough to get people you care about to invest? If not, you haven't invested yourself in the idea yet." - Derek Fluker, in response to my plaintive requests for help and enthusiasm.

Derek, and my other VC friends at Yushan Ventures and appworks, tell me that they invest in people rather than ideas, as ideas are worthless until they are put into practise. If you're thinking of lending a few dollars, and eventually investing, you may like to know who your money is going to.

I'm British originally, but it's almost twenty years since I left my own country and started to travel the world seriously. Since then, I have visited over fifty countries and had all kinds of crazy adventures: I've been homeless and unemployed, and slept under bridges; I've swum with dolphins and dived with sharks; I've enjoyed some pretty amazing jobs; been shipwrecked; had many encounters with cultures that didn't "make sense"; met some incredible people; seen and done things most people only dream about; I've even been attacked by a Komodo Dragon - and still have the scars to prove it.

I'm now older than James Bond, and have been living in Taiwan for most of this century. I've taught a lot of 'Applied English' to adults and high-schoolers, usually related to problem-solving and the much-loved topic of how to live, strive and survive in the modern world. In the last few years I have given a lot of classes and seminars related to entrepreneurialism, and organised networking events such as TEDxMonga.

If you don't know me yet, and want to get to know me more, you can find me on Facebook. And on LinkedIn. I have a TED profile. And, according to Google, I am officially the sexiest man in Taipei. This is probably not the most useful qualification for someone launching a new venture intended to save the world, but it's important to have a sense of humour.