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It's Like Shark Tank, but for Charity

2020-01-17 · announcement · Hank · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects · mode: Announcements · tags: civic or action cta, self promotion

Hank says his business success rests largely on the support of an online community, Nerdfighteria, and proposes that the community build a business together: mentors apply via an 'I can help' form, entrepreneurs via 'I need help', and the chosen business gets $50,000, repaid with a share of profit to maternal health in Sierra Leone.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Praise for Hank's business skills and his reasons: problem-solving, business as good, his dad, lucky hiring

  • ★★ Hank says three times in the last week creative people running cool businesses told him they really respect his business skills. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ Hank answers that the list of his business screw-ups is a mile long and full of cringe. (playful) — 00:00:10
  • ★★ One reason he is fairly good at business: Hank likes solving and worrying about problems, fun creative work he finds similar to plotting a novel. — 00:00:20
  • ★★★ Hank sees business as good: employing people, treating them fairly, creating value for the world and finding ways for that value to sustain itself. — 00:00:30 · capitalism
  • ★★ Hank's dad has run businesses, and whenever Hank has a problem he can call him for help, which is extremely valuable. — 00:00:38 · Mike Green
  • ★ Hank says he has been very lucky with hiring. — 00:00:44
  • ★★★ Hank's secret: every business he has launched that succeeded was launched with the support of a really wonderful online community. — 00:00:51 · Nerdfighteria

00:00:53 — The secret is an online community: DFTBA profit and channel revenue to charity, Nerdfighteria as the biggest asset

  • ★★ Hank says that is part of why DFTBA now gives all of his and John's profit to the Maternal Center of Excellence in Sierra Leone. — 00:01:06 · DFTBA Records, Maternal Center of Excellence, Sierra Leone, John Green
  • ★★ Hank says Vlogbrothers channel revenue has always been split between charity and supporting smaller educational video channels. — 00:01:14 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Looking honestly at where the value came from, Hank feels much of it came from the employees and the community, less from him, one person. — 00:01:20 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Hank says in business it is important to understand where your value comes from and your strengths, and the community has always topped their list. — 00:01:38 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ The community is not just a market, Hank says: it finds people who know how to do things, people to hire, and gives immediate product feedback. — 00:01:48 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ Hank admits he keeps talking about soda syrups to get viewers to tell him how they feel about them. (playful) — 00:01:56
  • ★★ Hank says basically no one has this asset: others have similar ones, but nothing like Nerdfighteria. — 00:02:03 · Nerdfighteria

00:02:10 — Building a business together: the 'I can help' and 'I need help' forms, $50,000 and repayment to maternal health in Sierra Leone

  • ★★★ Having hesitated to give advice when his biggest asset is something he does not tend to share, Hank proposes that he and the community build a business together. — 00:02:10 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ Hank asks business people who could mentor or help pick submitted business ideas, and who have expertise for a small decision board, to fill out the 'I can help' form in the description. — 00:02:19
  • ★★★ Hank asks entrepreneurs with a product or service they have started to grow but that needs a push to fill out the 'I need help' form. — 00:02:37
  • ★★ They are looking for businesses beyond the idea stage; a mere idea can apply, but it had better be a banger. — 00:02:47
  • ★★★ Hank says he is going to give the chosen business $50,000. — 00:02:59
  • ★★★ The catch: if the business succeeds within three years, the $50,000 comes back to promote maternal health in Sierra Leone, and 10% of after-tax income goes to that effort every year. — 00:03:03 · maternal death, Sierra Leone

00:03:29 — Everyone can be a business owner; the Crash Course Business: Entrepreneurship playlist; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank tells John he thinks everybody has the ability to be a business owner, though not everybody has the inclination. — 00:03:29
  • ★★ Hank thinks everyone should watch Crash Course Business: Entrepreneurship, a 17-episode series hosted by Anna Akana on the basics of starting a business and of business in general. — 00:03:35 · Crash Course

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says Hank is a little nervous about the plan: maybe it will work, maybe not, but he thinks it might, and if it does it will be fun. (hedged) — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: online community

Also: capitalism · Crash Course · DFTBA Records · entrepreneurship · Maternal Center of Excellence · maternal death · Mike Green · Sierra Leone

Only in the description or credits: Anna Akana · Shark Tank

Also centred on online community: Happy Birthday John Green! · Ending the Age of Outrage (at least in ourselves, if not in the world) · YouTube's New Thing (and a New Thing of Our Own) · The Most Interesting Thing I've Ever Done

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