The first is about whether you should start a business during this bad economy.
I liked the story because I started The Groop in 2001. And TOOK advantage of the bad economy:

Starting a business in a bad economy
Global Entrepreneurship Week has events in 77 countries. But is now the time to start a business, when the economy is shrinking? Mitchell Hartman finds out.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/18/time_to_launch/

The second is about how the economy and specifically tech will do next year. It posits that because of cash reserves corporations will continue to spend money next year.

HP surprise: Good news in 4th quarter
Hewlett-Packard reports fourth-quarter profits will be stronger than expected. The company is also optimistic about the future. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/18/hp/

Listen to both of these.

During the seminar, I mentioned I would “talk to you later” about some of the questions you had. Using the magic of the Internet I would like to address many of these.

I would like to share my experience of starting The Groop as a collective and how I did it.
First let’s set the baseline: What is a “Collective:”

    “Collectives, also known as “co-operatives,” “cooperatives” or “co-ops” are groups of individuals who join together to undertake an activity for their mutual benefit. Co-ops may be for-profit or not-for-profit, unionized or not, and legally incorporated or not — what’s different about a co-op is that it’s owned and operated by its members.”  Source : Backspace.com

The benefits of working as a collective are many. You have more resources to share, such as, space, equipment and supplies. Another benefit is that you have different skills, and you can promote the work of the different members. Collectives have been around for ages. A great article on Backspace.com mentions that Push Pin Studios, Pentagram and other successful design studios first started out as collectives.

So how did The Groop do it? How do you create a successful business with this model?

(more…)