Skysthelimit.org, a non-profit supporting underrepresented young adult entrepreneurs, provides a similar digital experience to matchmaking apps, but is for entrepreneurs and business mentors. It uses the same artificial intelligence that social networking sites use, only its goal is not to, say, create addictive habits online to sell more ads, but instead to match entrepreneurs with a network of volunteer business mentors. Skysthelimit.org develops the social capital of first-time entrepreneurs to increase their chances of building successful businesses quicker.
The 501(c)(3) tech nonprofit, which was founded by Blockchain.com co-founder Nic Cary and lifelong friend Bo Ghirardelli, is based in Oakland, CA and uses data from entrepreneurs and volunteers, such as skills, industry, location, and stage of business, to predict and recommend high-quality matches.
The nonprofit, funded in major part by Accenture’s corporate social responsibility initiative, monitors and supports these matches over time to help entrepreneurs develop skills, build businesses, and create jobs for themselves and their communities.
“Three out of the last four weddings I went to were for people who met through online dating platforms,” said Mr. Ghirardelli. “Each of them on a different one. These people formed life-changing relationships that started online.”
Skysthelimit.org, he says, is building a place for people to create new, meaningful professional relationships focused on supporting a young entrepreneur’s dreams.
“Mutuality is key,” says Mr. Ghirardelli. “[We want our members] to build meaningful relationships rooted in commonalities and a desire to achieve mutual goals.”
How’s it work?
“The way we match entrepreneurs with business advisors and mentors are not too dissimilar to how a dating app will look at your preferences, and use its algorithm to make a recommendation,” said Mr. Ghirardelli. The platform encourages entrepreneurs and volunteers to start a conversation using in-app messaging.
“We are building a digital experience that really mimics how people build relationships naturally,” said Mr. Ghirardelli. “It’s not too different from how we meet someone new in the professional world. There is some kind of intro email, then we have our first few meetings, and eventually we decide whether it is a good fit to keep collaborating together. Unlike in dating platforms, we guide our entrepreneurs and mentors to commit to each other to set expectations around their collaboration—whether they’re working on creating a business plan or launching a digital marketing campaign for a young entrepreneur’s new product line.” These collaborations help a first-time entrepreneur develop social capital, vital business knowledge, connections, and confidence.
“You stay in touch loosely, you may meet in person, you may grab lunch, and eventually then that relationship has a chance to develop into something meaningful to both sides, to both people,” he said.
One-on-one mentoring and tutoring is the original way that humans learned before more formal educational systems were ever conceived, says Mr. Ghirardelli.
“We can use data to help instantly create better, more positive outcomes for our community,” said Mr. Cary. “We can A/B test new features rapidly, and analyze results in real-time. Like other tech platforms, we look at users’ time on site, we’re looking at satisfaction, surveys, and we can study all the points across the conversion funnel through our whole pathway to business ownership, and start to refine that process in an intentional way because we sit on a lot of data.”
He adds: “This is still relatively alien in the philanthropic space because the tools just haven’t been used yet in a digitally native way by many nonprofits, and there are still few foundations who have started to invest long term in funding tech nonprofits.”
Skysthelimit.org, which started a Friends & Family Fund to help entrepreneurs, started to accept bitcoin donations from the start. “And that’s been helpful to us over the years,” said Mr. Cary, who has pledged a portion of his Blockchain.com earnings to Skysthelimit.org, through Founders Pledge, “to help small businesses get access to capital they wouldn’t otherwise have.”
Skysthelimit.org has a unique startup grants program, powered by a custom Hyperledger blockchain, where the community of entrepreneurs, volunteers, and donors vote each month on eligible young entrepreneurs to select who wins these grants to help them launch their business.
“Wealth inequality is getting worse quickly,” says Mr. Cary. “When you don’t have savings, and neither do your friends and family, it is incredibly hard to find risk-tolerant capital for your new business as a first-time entrepreneur.”
