November Proposal: A $100 Million Democracy Venture Fund To Change America

By Brent Budowsky
Created Oct 12 2006 - 9:14pm

I have been quietly talking to many of the "right people" about a proposal I
will formally make shortly after the election that would create a Democracy
Venture Fund that will provide direct support to projects, sites and
ventures to promote people and ideas working for an enlightened America.

Right up front: the core group of 3-5 million Americans who are the most
progressive, independent and committed have the unilateral and pre-emptive
power to make this happen.

This core group would have the unilateral and pre-emptive power to use this
platform of a political, consumer and marketing alliance to expand to groups
measured in tens of millions such as Hispanics, African Americans, women's
groups, labor, veterans and progressive Judeo- Christian religious
organizations for shared empowerment, values and win-win financing.

Here is how it would work. For now do not focus on the legalistic details,
which are very negotiable, but on the macro business strategy, the
empowerment plans for our people, and the financial and social impact for
our values.

The key: The most committed individual progressives and independents would
involve ultimately 3-5 million people to raise an initial $100 million
capitalization.

Assume governance decisions will be made by a 3 Member Board of Directors
including nationally respected "names you know".

Assume aggressive full disclosure of all expenses so virtually zero of this
money would be wasted on huge classes of the consultants and middlemen, with
failed and wrong business models, that turn donations from small donors into
huge profits for middlemen that often reward defeat.

Assume that donations to this Democracy Venture Fund would be sought and
treated as pure donations for changing America, but, if this venture
succeeds financially, as I predict it will, original donors would have first
stake in profit sharing and possibly a future I.P.O.

The power: there is enormous potential power for democracy, capitalization,
commerce and reform in the many millions of Americans who love our country,
want change, and are looking for ways to act directly.

These good people are under-represented by the major media,
under-appreciated by national political leaders, under-funded by Democratic
financiers who lag 20 years behind their Republican counter-parts. Properly
organized and honorably treated this vast constituency of conscience and
idealism can have great and enormous power.

Think about it: a mass alliance of progressive and independent voters and
consumers would have the power to negotiate historic consumer e-commerce
agreeements with major American companies. Access to this huge customer base
would be granted along the lines of Olympic sponsors, each bidding for
rights to this huge consumer base by offering the largest affinity
percentage to the Venture Fund.

There would be one home page that would function as an alliance, attracting
huge numbers of people with common values, creating powerful leverage with
media, advertisors, entertainerment and marketing. Then funneling almost all
of the revenue back to individual sites, groups, on-line and off-line at the
grassroots and community level.

Therefore Company X would be the designated vendor by offering 20%% return to
the Fund through products sold and alliances with sites that already have
existing but weaker deals. It would involve win-win sharing of the greater
return created by this power alliance of our consumers.

Many Fortune 1000 companies do corporate philanthropy and cause-related
marketing that few customers know about. The Democracy Venture Fund and its
mass consumer base would provide them the ultimate marketplace of eyeballs
that would be close to 100%% in favor of many of these projects and present
these companies with low cost, high impact advertising opportunities that
are far superior to much advertising spending that is currently mistargeted
or wasted.

The Principle Is: it is time organize and to empower this huge constituency
of patriotic Americans who are tired of corruption in politics and business
and tired of being treated like second class citizens. It is time to
unilaterally and pre-emptively bring together vast constituencies for
idealism and to sit at the head table of money and power, equal to our
numbers and values.

Entertainment Superstars would have a unique forum to support their benefit
projects and their commercial work by collaborating with us. We would create
a permanent mass audience for superstar projects and a mass market for low
cost internet broadcasts and downloading that would bring money to our
project, their causes, and motion picture studios and record labels that
join us.

Next: this venture fund super-empowered by people would make periodic
alliances with worthy groups for shared revenue from these commerce
ventures. We could work with large women's groups supporting day care or
breast cancer treatment; work with large groups that support homeless vets
and wounded troops; work with religious groups and those supporting the poor
on holiday missions of help; and work with groups doing voter registration
especially African-American and Hispanic groups, and with their radio,
television and internet sites creating an overwhelming democracy machine
with enormous financial and media leverage.

There could be a giant mobilization around a cause such as homeless
veterans, the homeless heroes that would reach a vast audience of supporters
that could tap a hundred million Americans to raise a fortune for a great
cause, with even a small spinoff of 2%% to this venture capable of financing
future make-America-better projects.

Next: this venture fund could negotiate a direct investment in Air America
and weld in, to Air America's business model, a hard alliance with the
progressive blogosphere and new revenue streams from increased audience and
super-empowered e-commerce revenue sharing.

Each of these alliances would use the leverage of our mass consumer movement
and loan it or share it, which would give us the power to make donations to
good causes through profit sharing with zero additional overhead, and in the
process increase the people power in our alliance which will rise with every
new alliance.

This Democracy Venture Fund would challenge the constipated and conservative
classes that have warped major media and missed huge advertising
opportunities. By attracting a mass consumer base to a central site, the
major Fortune 1000 companies would have no choice and would purchase
advertising space along classic commercial lines. The central site would
then recycle this money, using it to buy advertising time on progressive and
independent blogs, news sites, or cause- related sites.

Lets be blunt and tough. The progressive internet sites and independent news
sites reach countless millions of consumers, are a major part of the core
business of every leading technology company. Yet these companies often
disrespect us by making overwhelming political donations to our opponents
and using close to zero of their corporate funds to advertise on our sites.

I will be sending this to the Chief Executive Officer of Intel and other
business leaders I know with the direct challenge that their management,
corporate boards and investors need to show respect and good business sense
with this enormous core base of their customers. If they do not, we, their
customers, should take our business to competitors with higher values and
better business sense.

Whether it is Intel v. AMD, Apple v. Dell, we should throw our numbers, our
money and our weight with those who stand with us the most, at every
opportunity. Some of our purchases are based on favored products; others are
pure discretionary and we should use this mega-billion dollar discretionary
power to reward companies that stand with us and no longer reward those that
do not.

The key: the centralizing power of our large mass constituency would force
commercial powers our way; we would then have the power and use it, to
refunnel the money to diverse and worthy sites which would make them far
stronger financially and empower their work.

Influencing Media: at a minimum this central hub for enlightened consumers
would have the power to dramatically affect ratings for individual shows on
cable television, network television, digital television and progressive
radio from Air America to Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller among many others.
It is high time we use this power aggressively.

The central site would include a TV Guide and Radio Guide for progressive
and politically independent listeners and viewers that would offer outlets
free space to highlite programs that directly excite our base.

We would have the power to dramatically promote individual shows and
significantly uptick their ratings and magnify our power.

We would have the option of buying our own commercial advertising to get our
message on their shows.

We would have the power to provide seed money for major documentary movies
(which could be highly profitable, with profits recycled to our
participating sites and groups).

I predict it would not be long until media and cable conglomerates put on
more shows such as Keith Olbermann, who speak to us, because our numbers
mean money and power for us, ratings for them, or ratings for their
competitors if we take our eyeballs elsewhere.

I predict it would not be long before major venture capital companies
solicit us to provide major new capitalization. I have talked to several of
them. They are interested in principle; they still do not fully get it; but
they are coming close and when the train starts to leave the station, major
money will move quickly and our decision will be whether or not to take it.

We would have the clout to get far more of our favored guests on their shows
because that is how the world works. There will be be far more authentic
voices for our mass audience and far more writers, thinkers, authors, voices
for veterans, progressive religious leaders, African-Americans, Hispanics
and high level women because we will use our power, to give them power and
platform.

It is ridiculous that a majority of the American people are so grossly
under-represented but this can change in a heartbeat and we have the power
to do it. The Democracy Venture Fund does not reinvent the wheel. It merely
combines the classic business models and tactics of the conservative media
and marketing machine, traditional venture capitalist business, and modern
advertising with the organizing principles of the great moments of the
labor, civil rights and women's movements.

Progressive And Independent Thinkers: with a central hub attracting enormous
page views and grassroots support we would provide progressive and
independent authors, writers, artisits with free or heavily discounted space
for advertising and promoting their work. This would use our leverage for
them, to spread their ideas, finance their work, and increase their
influence.

For our voices, we will create the publishing and media marketing powerhouse
that the right and Republicans have done for decades.

Major Motion Picture Studios: our vast hub of progressive and independent
consumers would give us the clout to make mega deal marketing alliances with
major studios to promote motion pictures with themes that excite our base.
Additionally we would have the clout to promote those artists such as George
Clooney who share our ideals and give special empowerment to artists who
have their own production companies.

In fact: once our own seed money is generated we should initiate a road show
to investment managers for the major progressive movie, television and music
superstars to attract their capital to empower our efforts, which will
promote their work.

Political Candidates And Elected Officials: we would have the clout between
elections to offer on a rotating basis free space to public officials to
inform our base of their initiatives to make America better. This would
benefit every Democratic elected official who chooses to participate, and it
would be available between elections to enlightened Republicans which would
have the effect of encouraging Republicans to defy right wing leaders and
powers in their party.

We would provide early stage free publicity and fundraising power to reform
candidates, and build on the success of the Fighting Dems and the major
movement of Democrats which has been highly successful this year, to run
candidates with military and intelligence experience and appeal to giant
constituencies of military families who respect their service and our
support for them.

In the year of a national election, we would offer discounted commercial
advertising space to candidates to make their pitch, and take the revenue
from those political ads and use it, to provide financial support to
grassroots, blogosphere and public service causes and sites.

Conclusion: time to open a new and great debate and a new entreprenurial
spirit of empowerment and winning that will help transform American
politics, and help reform American business.

It is absurd and ridiculous that progressives lag twenty years behind
conservatives in applying entrepreneurial principles to media. It is absurd
that low ratings cable companies so brazenly ignore our moral majority and
their programming often looks like a board meeting of the Heritage
Foundation. It is ridiculous that what should be the people's party lags
years behind not only in getting out its message, but getting out the vote.

It is time for action and alliance; time for empowerment and power; time for
the majority to act like the majority, and be treated like the majority. We
have the people, we have the numbers, we have the money, we have the
principles and we have the power, if we recognize it, to use it.

This note will be widely circulated; ideas are welcomed; an updated version
will be posted in the near future while this is being circulated both
publicly and privately today.

It is time for the next great wave of patriotic reform in America and if
those of us who want an even better America, will act together to build it,
it will happen far sooner than the pundits and experts dare to think.

--
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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson