Ex-Google executive's new venture helps students avoid corporate life

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/08/net-us-upstart-launch-idUSBRE8770OP20120808

by bhavin • 14 years ago

31 14 14 years ago

efnx• 14 years ago

At first this sounds a little like indentured servitude. That too, solved some problems of its time. A little weird though, the concept.

simonbrown2• 14 years ago

Since when were college graduates "students"?

DenisM• 14 years ago

The backers - acquaintances, alumni or other accredited investors - provide funding that will typically range between $20,000 and $50,000 in exchange for an agreed share of the graduate's future income over a 10-year period.

Well, I am skeptical, but also glad someone decided to try it out - the chances are slim, but this is so unusual some unexpected good may yet come out of it.

tim_sw• 14 years ago

Are the "upstarts" personally liable for the funding if they can't pay it back?

simonbrown2• 14 years ago

No.

> Girouard noted the funding is different than a loan because there is no guarantee of repayment.

jetti3• 14 years ago

To be fair, there is no guarantee of a typical loan either.

shalmanese• 14 years ago

There's an interesting Quora discussion on the legality, logistics and mechanisms behind "human shares": http://www.quora.com/Can-you-buy-human-shares

jetti3• 14 years ago

"The backers - acquaintances, alumni or other accredited investors - provide funding that will typically range between $20,000 and $50,000 in exchange for an agreed share of the graduate's future income over a 10-year period. Upstart determines the portion of future annual income to be shared based on the total sum raised and the person's qualifications, including academic record and field of study."

I'm failing to see how this is any different than a loan, with the exception you can pay a loan back early AND you know how much you owe the lender. This just seems like for $100k (based on the 5 backers at the minimum $20k that is quoted above) you could be paying many times that for success that is unrelated to the money that you received.

chimi2• 14 years ago

Risk and reward. No bank is going to loan a company at this stage money and there's no guarantee the investors who are providing this money will get any return at all and there is no collateral, so the founders should pay more for the money.

jetti3• 14 years ago

See the wording for me makes it seem that the backers would get a percentage of ANY income that the person makes, regardless if it had to do with the project funded or not, for 10 years.

eli_gottlieb• 14 years ago

Girouard noted the funding is different than a loan because there is no guarantee of repayment.

That's how loans are supposed to work.

Ex-Google executive's new venture helps students avoid corporate life

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