Kirstin Falk

We Need a Culture of Progressive Investment

Progressives need to match innovation with investment. Clearly, the Republicans understand this, note the new conservative political network being launched:

"OSM was founded last year as Pajamas Media, a play on bloggers' ability to opine from home at all hours, day or night. It has raised $3.5 million from venture capitalists."

Do you ever see a progressive organization launched with venture capital? Conservatives know what they are doing, and it is time for people to recognize that there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way that progressives allocate resources.

The problem is not lack of resources, and the problem is not lack of ideas... the problem is that we are not wiring our political capital with strategic investors and turning ideas into reality.

We need to foster the marketplace of ideas by creating a new culture of investment that recognizes the importance of taking risk and acknowledging that failure is not a bad thing. No one knows who the next Move On, Meet Up or Howard Dean is in politics, and that is precisely why progressive investors need to be willing to take risk. Can you imagine if no one had taken the risk to invest in Yahoo, Ebay or Google?

We all recognize in our retirement accounts that you need to have a diversified portfolio with a long term approach. So how has this investment philosophy become so disconnected with politics? When the polls close, so do our pocketbooks.

Our goal at the New Progressive Coalition is to change that.

Kirstin Falk: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 9:23 AM, Nov 16, 2005 in Progressive Agenda | Progressives | The Media
Permalink | Email to Friend