[P2P-F] [GiftEconomy] Couchsurfing changes to "socially responsible B Corporation"

Fri Aug 26 20:50:03 CEST 2011

It all depends what you do with the money. Genevieve Vaughans brilliant expose of gifts streaming up to the top of the hierarchy informs us that the money we recieve is only partly ours. If we then reason with ourselves as Charles Gray did that we are entitled to an equal share of the world money cake and take that for our use, then we can use whats left no matter what the amount to purchase and take land and resources out of private ownership and back into common ownership as it was before it was stolen from us. The legal structures and frameworks are there for us to use.
Frank

On Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:33 BST Dante-Gabryell Monson wrote:

>Couchsurfing accepting a $7.6 million investment
>
>http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/08/24/non-profit-couchsurfing-raises-millions-in-funding/
>
>excerpts :
>
>CouchSurfing.org, a non-profit website that connects global travelers with
>locals, has opted to accept $7.6 million in funding from Benchmark Capital
>and Omidyar Network. In conjunction with the funding, CouchSurfing will
>convert from its non-profit status to that of a B Corporation. (The B stands
>for “benefit.”) Benefit Corporations are for-profit businesses that define
>themselves as socially responsible to investors and consumers.
>
>It will also allow the start-up to begin profiting off its three million
>large member base. Until now, CouchSurfing’s only revenue stream was its
>paid identification verification service which charges members a tiny fee to
>prove they are who they say they are. Hoffer insists CouchSurfing will
>continue to make its service free to users and is currently exploring
>alternative revenue streams. The first order of business, Hoffer says, will
>be “aggressive hiring”  especially at the technical level. Until now,
>CouchSurfing has bootstrapped its 30-employee organization with the help of
>thousands of passionate volunteers who set up CouchSurfing “meet-ups” around
>the globe.
>//
>
>Thanks Tilman for this info and link to Veit's post!
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: Tilman Bauer <tilman at hospitalityclub.org>
>Date: Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 4:47 PM
>Subject: Re: [hc_ecology] Couchsurfing changes to "socially responsible B
>Corporation"
>To: dante.monson at gmail.com, econowmix at googlegroups.com,
>
>Hi all!
>
>In light of the shocking news of Couchsurfing accepting a $7.6 million
>investment and becoming a for-profit company, HC founder Veit wrote a
>statement that the Hospitality Club will never be a for-profit business, and
>that we are currently developing an open-source website for HC. See the
>statement here:
>http://volunteerwiki.hospitalityclub.org/couchsurfing-for-profit-business-now
>
>Greetings,
>
>Tilman
>
>
>On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 2:24 PM, Dante-Gabryell Monson <
>dante.monson at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> **
>>
>>
>> " 1999-2011 CouchSurfing International, Inc. — A socially responsible B
>> Corporation <http://www.bcorporation.net/> "
>>
>> Watch some quick videos explaining this new change<http://www.couchsurfing.org/bcorp>
>>
>> Read the full article on our website<http://www.couchsurfing.org/news/article/144>
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: CouchSurfing Communications <noreply at couchsurfing.org>
>> Date: Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 2:57 AM
>> Subject: [CS announcement] A new era for CouchSurfing!
>> To: dante.monson at gmail.com
>>
>>
>>   <http://www.couchsurfing.org/>      *            A new era for
>> CouchSurfing!                          *    *FROM*  [image: CouchSurfing
>> Communications] <http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=3H45H0P>
>> *CouchSurfing Communications*
>> San Francisco
>> California
>> *United States*
>>
>>    - Member since: January 12th, 2008
>>    - Age: 61
>>    - Gender: Several people
>>    - Username: COUCHSURFING COMMUNICATIONS
>>    - Couch Available: No
>>
>>
>>      Hello CouchSurfers!
>>
>> We started CouchSurfing with a crazy idea in mind. We thought that maybe,
>> just maybe, the world could be changed one couch at a time. 5,766,182
>> inspiring experiences later, we couldn't be more sure of it.
>>
>> What you’ve done as a community has inspired us to take our mission and our
>> vision to a whole new level. We want to understand what inspiring
>> experiences are made of, so we can enable you to have more of them. We want
>> to make CouchSurfing easier to use so that anyone who’s interested in
>> changing the world one couch at a time will feel welcome here.
>>
>> To accomplish this, we’re making a big change in structure. As of today,
>> CouchSurfing is proud to announce that we are joining the growing ranks of
>> certified B Corporations.
>>
>> What does that mean? As a B (Benefit) Corporation, CouchSurfing will be
>> part of a group of innovative businesses that deliver products and services
>> with a commitment to social and environmental responsibility, transparency,
>> fair work conditions, and doing good for the world.
>>
>> Want to learn more?
>>
>> Watch some quick videos explaining this new change<http://www.couchsurfing.org/bcorp>
>>
>> Read the full article on our website<http://www.couchsurfing.org/news/article/144>
>>
>>  Help / FAQ <http://www.couchsurfing.org/help.html> | Terms of Use<http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html>|
>> Privacy <http://www.couchsurfing.org/privacy.html> | Contact Us<http://www.couchsurfing.org/contact>   ©
>> 1999-2011 CouchSurfing International, Inc. — A socially responsible B
>> Corporation <http://www.bcorporation.net>
>>
>>
>>  __._,_.___
>>   Reply to sender<dante.monson at gmail.com?subject=Re%3A%20Couchsurfing%20changes%20to%20%22socially%20responsible%20B%20Corporation%22>| Reply
>> to group<hc_ecology at yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20Couchsurfing%20changes%20to%20%22socially%20responsible%20B%20Corporation%22>| Reply
>> via web post<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hc_ecology/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcnMxdWJsBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE0MjgxODI3BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDE3NwRtc2dJZAMxMTg1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTMxNDM1Nzg2Mg--?act=reply&messageNum=1185>| Start
>> a New Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hc_ecology/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNGNmc25oBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE0MjgxODI3BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDE3NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzMTQzNTc4NjI->
>> Messages in this topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hc_ecology/message/1185;_ylc=X3oDMTM1MWtuZTJoBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE0MjgxODI3BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDE3NwRtc2dJZAMxMTg1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTMxNDM1Nzg2MgR0cGNJZAMxMTg1>(
>> 1)
>>  Recent Activity:
>>
>>
>>  Visit Your Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hc_ecology;_ylc=X3oDMTJmMzJiN2NnBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE0MjgxODI3BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDE3NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzMTQzNTc4NjI->
>>  MARKETPLACE
>>  A bad score is 596. A good idea is checking yours at freecreditscore.com.<http://global.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15oqm53j1/M=791726.14818010.14570270.10835568/D=groups/S=1705064177:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1314365062/L=f2aed2d6-cfd5-11e0-bcc5-bf58ba7bd381/B=fnj_HUPDhEI-/J=1314357862791071/K=TDCm_mNEZdJyTIeC_B.Ypg/A=6475084/R=0/SIG=1304f1scb/*http://www.freecreditscore.com/dni/default.aspx?SiteVersionID=997&sc=671266&bcd=YGROUPS_Bad596>
>>   [image: Yahoo! Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZXQycTVvBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzE0MjgxODI3BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NDE3NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTMxNDM1Nzg2Mg-->
>> Switch to: Text-Only<hc_ecology-traditional at yahoogroups.com?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Traditional>,
>> Daily Digest<hc_ecology-digest at yahoogroups.com?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest>•
>> Unsubscribe <hc_ecology-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe> •
>> Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>
>>    .
>>
>> __,_._,___
>>