Quick Link: Economists' Tips on Fund Raising for Non-Profits

Yet another awesome Freakonimics Radio episode:

In this podcast you’ll hear the economist John List give us the gospel of fundraising — what works, what doesn’t, and why. List and economist Uri Gneezy write about the science of charitable giving in their book The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life.

List gives us a lot of ideas about how to successfully raise money — like using good old-fashioned guilt, for instance. Or that attaching a lottery or raffle to your fund-raising effort is a good idea. But our favorite way that List says you can raise more money: get an attractive person, preferably a woman, to do the asking for you.

Quick Link: Sharing Economy Startups versus Regulators

From Times of India article titled "New age taxis violate laws: Bangalore cabbies" dated Nov 12, 2014 titled:

The Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners Association (BTTOA), Adarsh Autorickshaw Drivers' Union and Karnataka Maxi Cab Owners Association are meeting the city transport commissioner on Wednesday to discuss certain practices of the new operators which they allege go against the law.

"Some cab operators are using state and all-India permit vehicles to ply point-to-point taxis. That's against the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. Also, the Karnataka government has set a standard fare of Rs 19.50 per kilometre for radio taxis, but Ola, Uber and TaxiForSure are offering rock bottom fares, subsidizing customers with the tonnes of funding they have received," said L Radhakrishna Holla, general secretary of BTTOA that runs 45,000 cabs.  

But Raghunandhan G, co-founder of TaxiForSure, countered, saying Rs 19.50 per km was only a ceiling, and an all-India permit did not restrict point-to-point city services.

This Freakonomics Radio episode on the ongoing battle between the peer-to-peer marketplace enabling startups in the US - like Airbnb, Uber and Lyft - and the regulators provides some pointers as to how the issue might pan out here as well.

Quick Link: Scaling a Service-based Business

Interesting episode at Smart Passive Income where Pat Flynn and Josh Shipp analyse a real life small business (a laundry service) and provide on some new approaches for scaling it.

I especially like Josh's note on Gathering Intelligence from Existing Customers by asking the following questions:

1. What is something you need ongoing support for?
   The answer will provide ideas for creating Recurring Revenue opportunities
2. What is the #1 challenge in your biz, life? (True solutions)
3. What product or service do you wish we offered? (“Here’s what I’d pay for”)
   
4. How would you describe us to someone you care about in ONE sentence? (Clear brand)