Power of Community as Financier

This is the eBook version of the printed book.

This Element is an excerpt from We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business (9780132244794) by Barry Libert and Jon Spector. Available in print and digital formats.

How the Internet is revitalizing the tradition of “people-to-people” lending – and how entrepreneurs can take advantage of it!

Lyn Townshend needed a business loan. But she had no income, having quit her job at IBM. She had a record of credit card delinquencies and had never run a company. Not surprisingly, she was turned down by her bank and the SBA. She joined Prosper.com’s cooperative of past and would-be borrowers, posted her loan request, and was funded by 77 people.