Kjerstin Erickson launched her first nonprofit as a junior in college. That organization, FORGE, helps African refugees rebuild their communities after surviving tribal warfare. She has been profiled on CNN, and the Clinton Global Initiative has recognized her work. Erickson is 26, and her future looks bright. If you are an investor willing to take a gamble, you can own a small chunk of it.
Erickson and two other young social entrepreneurs recently made the decision to, in effect, take themselves public. Through an online marketplace called the Thrust Fund, the three have offered up a percentage of their future lifetime earnings in exchange for upfront, undesignated venture funding. Erickson is willing to swap 6 percent of her future lifetime earnings for $600,000. The other two entrepreneurs, Saul Garlick and Jon Gosier, are each offering 3 percent of future earnings for $300,000.
Despite the fact that her plans remain vague -- she is writing a book and has ideas for nonprofit and commercial ventures -- Erickson says the response from investors has been positive. She has lined up two investors and hopes to spread the deal out among a small group of backers. "My preference would be to have about 20 investors," she says. "That would be ideal in terms of a manageable number of relationships."
Can both Erickson and her investors do well under such a scenario? Maybe. But "it's certainly a worry to see someone this early in her career already sign herself over to become a sort of indentured servant," says Seth Goldman, CEO and co-founder of Honest Tea. "I think it speaks to the tendency entrepreneurs often have to undervalue their long-term potential when they get into tough or desperate situations. I've certainly been in that kind of situation before, but I can't say I endorse this approach."
The Thrust Fund entrepreneurs prefer to see it in a different light. "I view the 3 percent as an opportunity tax," says Garlick. "This investment now could be catalytic for me to go on and do other things I believe in. I've always said that I could live off of 97 percent of whatever I earn."