The stories we tell about each other matter very much. The stories we tell ourselves about our own lives matter. And most of all, I think the way that we participate in each other's stories is of deep importance. I was six years old when I first heard stories about the poor. Now I didn't hear those stories from the poor themselves, I heard them from my Sunday school teacher and Jesus, kind of via my Sunday school teacher. I remember learning that people who were poor needed something material -- food, clothing, shelter -- that they didn't have. And I also was taught, coupled with that, that it was my job -- this classroom full of five and six year-old children -- it was our job, apparently, to help. This is what Jesus asked of us. And then he said, "What you do for the least of these, you do for me." Now I was pretty psyched. I was very eager to be useful in the world -- I think we all have that feeling. And also, it was kind of interesting that God needed help. That was news to me, and it felt like it was a very important thing to get to participate in.
Zgodbe, ki jih pripovedujemo o nas, so zelo pomembne. Zgodbe, ki jih pripovedujemo sebi o svojih lastnih življenjih, so pomembne. Mislim pa, da je najbolj pomembno, kako smo udeleženi v zgodbah drug drugega. Stara sem bila šest let, ko sem prvič slišala zgodbe o revnih. Teh zgodb nisem slišala od revnih samih, slišala sem jih od učitelja verouka in Jezusa, na nek način skozi učitelja verouka. Spominjam se, da sem se naučila, da revni ljudje potrebujejo nekaj materialnega -- hrano, obleko, zatočišče -- česar nimajo. Hkrati s tem so me naučili tudi, da je moja naloga -- razreda polnega 5- in 6-letnih otrok -- da je naša naloga, očitno, da pomagamo. To je Jezus zahteval od nas. In potem je rekel: "Kar naredite za najmanjšega od teh, naredite zame." Bila sem precej vznemirjena. Zelo sem bila vneta, da bi bila koristna na svetu. Mislim, da imamo vsi ta občutek. Bilo pa je tudi zanimivo, da bog potrebuje pomoč. To je bilo nekaj novega zame in zdelo se je, da je zelo pomembno, da pri tem sodelujem.
But I also learned very soon thereafter that Jesus also said, and I'm paraphrasing, the poor would always be with us. This frustrated and confused me; I felt like I had been just given a homework assignment that I had to do, and I was excited to do, but no matter what I would do, I would fail. So I felt confused, a little bit frustrated and angry, like maybe I'd misunderstood something here. And I felt overwhelmed. And for the first time, I began to fear this group of people and to feel negative emotion towards a whole group of people. I imagined in my head, a kind of long line of individuals that were never going away, that would always be with us. They were always going to ask me to help them and give them things, which I was excited to do, but I didn't know how it was going to work. And I didn't know what would happen when I ran out of things to give, especially if the problem was never going away. In the years following, the other stories I heard about the poor growing up were no more positive. For example, I saw pictures and images frequently of sadness and suffering. I heard about things that were going wrong in the lives of the poor. I heard about disease, I heard about war -- they always seemed to be kind of related. And in general, I got this sort of idea that the poor in the world lived lives that were wrought with suffering and sadness, devastation, hopelessness.
Kmalu po tem pa sem se naučila tudi, da je Jezus rekel tudi, parafraziram, da bodo revni vedno z nami. To me je frustriralo in zmedlo. Počutila sem se, kot da bi pravkar dobila domačo nalogo, ki jo moram narediti in sem si jo želela narediti, vendar mi, ne glede na to, kar bom naredila, ne bo uspelo. Zato sem se počutila zmedeno, rahlo frustrirano in jezno, kot da nečesa nisem razumela. Počutila sem se premagano. In tako sem se prvič začela bati te skupine ljudi in čutiti negativna čustva do cele skupine ljudi. V glavi sem si predstavljala dolgo vrsto posameznikov, ki ne bodo nikoli šli stran, ki bodo vedno z nami. Vedno me bodo prosili, da jim pomagam in dajem stvari, kar sem si tudi želela, vendar nisem vedela, kako bo to delovalo. In nisem vedela, kaj se bo zgodilo, ko mi bo zmanjkalo stvari za dajanje, še posebej, če težava nikoli ne bo šla stran. V letih, ki so sledila, zgodbe, ki sem jih med odraščanjem slišala o revnih, niso bile nič bolj pozitivne. Na primer, pogosto sem videla slike in podobe žalosti in trpljenja. Slišala sem o stvareh, ki gredo narobe v življenjih revnih. Slišala sem o bolezni. Slišala sem o vojni. Vedno so se zdele nekako povezane. In na splošno sem dobila neke vrste idejo, da revni na svetu živijo življenja, ki so obdana s trpljenjem in žalostjo, opustošenjem, brezupom.
And after a while, I developed what I think many of us do, is this predictable response, where I started to feel bad every time I heard about them. I started to feel guilty for my own relative wealth, because I wasn't doing more, apparently, to make things better. And I even felt a sense of shame because of that. And so naturally, I started to distance myself. I stopped listening to their stories quite as closely as I had before. And I stopped expecting things to really change. Now I still gave -- on the outside it looked like I was still quite involved. I gave of my time and my money, I gave when solutions were on sale. The cost of a cup of coffee can save a child's life, right. I mean who can argue with that? I gave when I was cornered, when it was difficult to avoid and I gave, in general, when the negative emotions built up enough that I gave to relieve my own suffering, not someone else's. The truth be told, I was giving out of that place, not out of a genuine place of hope and excitement to help and of generosity. It became a transaction for me, became sort of a trade. I was purchasing something -- I was buying my right to go on with my day and not necessarily be bothered by this bad news. And I think the way that we go through that sometimes can, first of all, disembody a group of people, individuals out there in the world. And it can also turn into a commodity, which is a very scary thing. So as I did this, and as I think many of us do this, we kind of buy our distance, we kind of buy our right to go on with our day. I think that exchange can actually get in the way of the very thing that we want most. It can get in the way of our desire to really be meaningful and useful in another person's life and, in short to love.
In čez nekaj časa sem razvila, kot mislim, da mnogi, ta predvidljiv odziv, ko sem se začela počutiti slabo vsakič, ko sem slišala o njih. Počutila sem se krivo zaradi svojega relativnega bogastva, ker očitno nisem počela več, da bi izboljšala stvari. Zaradi tega sem imela celo občutek sramu. In tako sem se seveda začela distancirati. Nehala sem poslušati njihove zgodbe tako pozorno, kot sem jih prej. In nehala sem pričakovati, da se bodo stvari resnično spremenile. No, še vedno sem dajala. Na zunaj je izgledalo, kot da sem še vedno zelo angažirana. Dajala sem svoj čas in svoj denar. Dajala sem, ko so bile rešitve na razprodaji. Cena skodelice kave lahko reši življenje otroka, prav. Mislim, kdo lahko temu nasprotuje? Dajala sem, ko sem bila stisnjena v kot, ko se je bilo težko izogniti, in dajala sem, na splošno, ko se je nabralo dovolj negativnih čustev, da sem dajala, da bi omilila lastno trpljenje, ne trpljenje koga drugega. Če sem iskrena, sem dajala samo zaradi tega, ne zaradi pravega upanja in vznemirjenja zaradi pomaganja in velikodušnosti. Zame je to postala transakcija, neke vrste trgovina. Nekaj sem kupovala. Kupovala sem si pravico, da nadaljujem s svojim življenjem, ne da bi se vznemirjala zaradi teh slabih novic. In mislim, da način, kako včasih gremo skozi to, lahko, v prvi vrsti, raztelesi skupino ljudi, posameznike tam zunaj v svetu. Lahko pa se spremeni tudi v blago, kar je zelo zastrašujoče. In ko sem to počela, in mislim da nas veliko počne to, na nek način si kupimo distanco, na nek način si kupimo pravico, da živimo svoje življenje. In mislim, da je ta izmenjava dejansko lahko v napoto stvari, ki si jo najbolj želimo. Lahko zavira naše hrepenenje, da smo pomembni in koristni v življenju drugega in da, na kratko, ljubimo.
Thankfully, a few years ago, things shifted for me because I heard this gentleman speak, Dr. Muhammad Yunus. I know many in the room probably know exactly who he is, but to give the shorthand version for any who have not heard him speak, Dr. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago for his work pioneering modern microfinance. When I heard him speak, it was three years before that. But basically, microfinance -- if this is new to you as well -- think of that as financial services for the poor. Think of all the things you get at your bank and imagine those products and services tailored to the needs of someone living on a few dollars a day. Dr. Yunus shared his story, explaining what that was, and what he had done with his Grameen Bank. He also talked about, in particular, microlending, which is a tiny loan that could help someone start or grow a business. Now, when I heard him speak, it was exciting for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I learned about this new method of change in the world that, for once, showed me, maybe, a way to interact with someone and to give, to share of a resource in a way that wasn't weird and didn't make me feel bad -- that was exciting. But more importantly, he told stories about the poor that were different than any stories I had heard before. In fact, those individuals he talked about who were poor was sort of a side note. He was talking about strong, smart, hardworking entrepreneurs who woke up every day and were doing things to make their lives and their family's lives better. All they needed to do that more quickly and to do it better was a little bit of capital. It was an amazing sort of insight for me.
Na srečo so se pred nekaj leti stvari zame spremenile, ker sem slišala govor tega gospoda, dr. Muhammada Yunusa. Vem, da vas mnogo tukaj točno ve, kdo je, vendar, če povem krajšo verzijo za vsakogar, ki ni slišal njegovega govora, dr. Yunus je pred nekaj leti dobil Nobelovo nagrado za mir za svoje pionirsko delo na področju mikrofinanciranja. Jaz sem ga poslušala tri leta pred tem. V bistvu, mikro finance -- če vam je tudi to novo -- so neka vrsta finančnih storitev za revne. Pomislite na vse, kar vam nudijo v vaši banki, in si predstavljajte te produkte in storitve, prilagojene potrebam nekoga, ki živi z nekaj dolarji na dan. Dr. Yunus je delil svojo zgodbo, razlagajoč, kaj je to, in kaj je naredil s svojo banko Grameen (Vaška banka). Še posebej je govoril o mikro posojilih, ki so majčkena posojila, ki lahko nekomu pomagajo, da začne ali poveča svoj posel. Ko sem ga slišala govoriti, je bilo razburljivo zaradi več razlogov. V prvi vrsti zato, ker sem se naučila nove metode za spremembo sveta, ki mi je mogoče končno pokazala, kako z nekom sodelovati in kako dajati, deliti vire na način, ki ni čuden in zaradi katerega se ne počutim slabo. To je bil razburljivo. Kar je pa še pomembneje, pripovedoval je zgodbe o revnih, ki so bile drugačne od zgodb, ki sem jih slišala dotlej. V bistvu je le mimogrede povedal, da so posamezniki, o katerih je govoril, revni. Govoril je o močnih, pametnih, delavnih podjetnikih, ki so vsak dan vstali in so počeli stvari, da bi izboljšali življenje zase in za svoje družine. Vse, kar so potrebovali, da bi to počeli hitreje in bolje, je bilo malo kapitala. To je bilo zame osupljivo spoznanje.
And I, in fact, was so deeply moved by this -- it's hard to express now how much that affected me -- but I was so moved that I actually quit my job a few weeks later, and I moved to East Africa to try to see for myself what this was about. For the first time, actually, in a long time I wanted to meet those individuals, I wanted to meet these entrepreneurs, and see for myself what their lives were actually about. So I spent three months in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania interviewing entrepreneurs that had received 100 dollars to start or grow a business. And in fact, through those interactions, for the first time, I was starting to get to be friends with some of those people in that big amorphous group out there that was supposed to be far away. I was starting to be friends and get to know their personal stories. And over and over again, as I interviewed them and spent my days with them, I did hear stories of life change and amazing little details of change.
Bila sem dejansko tako globoko ganjena, težko je izraziti, kako se me je to dotaknilo, a bila sem tako ganjena, da sem čez nekaj tednov dala odpoved v službi in se preselila v vzhodno Afriko, da bi na lastne oči videla, za kaj gre. In prvič po dolgem času sem si želela srečati te posameznike, želela sem srečati te podjetnike, in sama videti, kako v resnici živijo. Tako sem tri mesece v Keniji, Ugandi in Tanzaniji intervjuvala podjetnike, ki so prejeli 100 dolarjev za zagon ali povečanje posla. In skozi te stike sem se dejansko prvič spoprijateljila z nekaterimi od ljudi v tej veliki brezlični skupini tam zunaj, ki bi naj bila daleč stran. Spoznavala sem njih in njihove osebne zgodbe. In vedno znova, ko sem jih intervjuvala in preživljala dneve z njimi, sem slišala zgodbe o spremembah življenja in čudovitih majhnih podrobnostih teh sprememb.
So I would hear from goat herders who had used that money that they had received to buy a few more goats. Their business trajectory would change. They would make a little bit more money; their standard of living would shift and would get better. And they would make really interesting little adjustments in their lives, like they would start to send their children to school. They might be able to buy mosquito nets. Maybe they could afford a lock for the door and feel secure. Maybe it was just that they could put sugar in their tea and offer that to me when I came as their guest and that made them feel proud. But there were these beautiful details, even if I talked to 20 goat herders in a row, and some days that's what happened -- these beautiful details of life change that were meaningful to them. That was another thing that really touched me. It was really humbling to see for the first time, to really understand that even if I could have taken a magic wand and fixed everything, I probably would have gotten a lot wrong. Because the best way for people to change their lives is for them to have control and to do that in a way that they believe is best for them. So I saw that and it was very humbling.
Tako sem slišala od pastirjev koz, ki so denar, ki so ga prejeli, porabili za nakup nekaj novih koz. Njihova poslovna pot se je spremenila. Zaslužili so nekaj več denarja. Njihov življenjski standard se je spremenil in izboljšal. In naredili so nekaj res zanimivih majhnih sprememb v svojih življenjih, na primer, začeli so pošiljati svoje otroke v šolo. Lahko so si kupili mreže proti komarjem. Mogoče so si lahko privoščili ključavnico za vrata in se počutili varne. Mogoče so si lahko privoščili le sladkor za čaj, ki so mi ga ponudili, ko sem prišla v goste, in zaradi tega so bili ponosni. Vendar so bile to čudovite podrobnosti, tudi če sem govorila z 20 kozjimi pastirji zapored, kar se je ob nekaterih dnevih dogajalo -- čudovite podrobnosti o spremembah življenj, ki so jim toliko pomenile. To je bila še ena stvar, ki se me je resnično dotaknila. Res sem se počutila ponižno, ko sem prvič videla, resnično razumela, da, tudi če bi lahko s čarobno palico vse popravila, bi najbrž naredila veliko stvari narobe. Ker je najboljši način, na katerega lahko ljudje spremenijo svoja življenja, ta, da imajo nadzor in da to storijo na način, za katerega verjamejo, da je najboljši za njih. To sem torej videla in se počutila ponižno.
Anyway, another interesting thing happened while I was there. I never once was asked for a donation, which had kind of been my mode, right. There's poverty, you give money to help -- no one asked me for a donation. In fact, no one wanted me to feel bad for them at all. If anything, they just wanted to be able to do more of what they were doing already and to build on their own capabilities. So what I did hear, once in a while, was that people wanted a loan -- I thought that sounded very reasonable and really exciting. And by the way, I was a philosophy and poetry major in school, so I didn't know the difference between profit and revenue when I went to East Africa. I just got this impression that the money would work. And my introduction to business was in these $100 little infuses of capital. And I learned about profit and revenue, about leverage, all sorts of things, from farmers, from seamstresses, from goat herders. So this idea that these new stories of business and hope might be shared with my friends and family, and through that, maybe we could get some of the money that they needed to be able to continue their businesses as loans, that's this little idea that turned into Kiva.
Kakorkoli, medtem ko sem bila tam, se je zgodilo še nekaj zanimivega. Niti enkrat samkrat me niso prosili za prispevek, kar je bil moj način delovanja, kajne. Tam je revščina, daš denar, da pomagaš. Nihče me ni prosil za prispevek. V bistvu nihče ni želel, da se mi smilijo. Želeli so le, da bi lahko počeli več tega, kar so že počeli, in da bi nadgrajevali svoje sposobnosti. Kar pa sem slišala, vsake toliko, je, da so si želeli posojilo -- zdelo se mi je, da je to zelo razumno in resnično vznemirljivo. In mimogrede, študirala sem filozofijo in poezijo, tako da nisem poznala razlike med dobičkom in prihodkom, ko sem šla v vzhodno Afriko. Le zdelo se mi je, da bi denar deloval. In moj uvod v posel so bile te majhne 100-dolarske infuzije kapitala. Naučila sem se o dobičku in prihodkih, o vzvodih, vse sorte, od kmetov, šivilj, kozjih pastirjev. Tako je ta ideja, da bi te zgodbe o poslih in upanju lahko delila s svojimi prijatelji in družino in da bi na ta način mogoče zbrali nekaj denarja, ki so ga potrebovali, da bi nadaljevali svoje posle, kot posojila, to je ta majhna ideja, ki se je spremenila v Kivo.
A few months later, I went back to Uganda with a digital camera and a basic website that my partner, Matthew, and I had kind of built, and took pictures of seven of my new friends, posted their stories, these stories of entrepreneurship, up on the website, spammed friends and family and said, "We think this is legal. Haven't heard back yet from SEC on all the details, but do you say, do you want to help participate in this, provide the money that they need?" The money came in basically overnight. We sent it over to Uganda. And over the next six months, a beautiful thing happened; the entrepreneurs received the money, they were paid, and their businesses, in fact, grew, and they were able to support themselves and change the trajectory of their lives. In October of '05, after those first seven loans were paid, Matt and I took the word beta off of the site. We said, "Our little experiment has been a success. Let's start for real." That was our official launch. And then that first year, October '05 through '06, Kiva facilitated $500,000 in loans. The second year, it was a total of 15 million. The third year, the total was up to around 40. The fourth year, we were just short of 100. And today, less than five years in, Kiva's facilitated more than 150 million dollars, in little 25-dollar bits, from lenders and entrepreneurs -- more than a million of those, collectively in 200 countries.
Čez nekaj mesecev sem se vrnila v Ugando z digitalnim fotoaparatom in osnovno spletno stranjo, ki sva jo postavila skupaj z mojim partnerjem, Matthewjem, in fotografirala sedem mojih novih prijateljev, objavila njihove zgodbe, te zgodbe podjetništva, na spletni strani, zasipala z elektronsko pošto prijatelje in družino in rekla: "Mislimo, da je to zakonito. Komisija za vrednostne papirje in borzo (SEC) nam še ni odgovorila z vsemi podrobnostmi, ampak, ali bi želeli sodelovati v tem, bi priskrbeli denar, ki ga potrebujejo?" Denar je prišel v bistvu čez noč. Poslali smo ga v Ugando. In v naslednjih šestih mesecih se je zgodilo nekaj prelepega; podjetniki so prejeli denar, bili so plačani in njihovi posli so dejansko rasli, in bili so se sposobni sami preživljati in spremeniti smer svojih življenj. Oktobra 2005, po tem, ko je bilo izplačanih prvih sedem posojil, sva z Mattom s spletne strani umaknila besedo beta. Rekla sva: "Najin mali eksperiment je bil uspešen. Začniva zares." To je bil naš uradni začetek. In to prvo leto, od oktobra 2005 skozi 2006, je Kiva priskrbela 500.000 $ posojil. Drugo leto jih je bilo skupaj za 15 milijonov. Tretje leto jih je bilo skupaj že okoli 40. Četrto leto le nekaj manj kot 100. In danes, po manj kot petih letih, je Kiva omogočila več kot 150 milijonov dolarjev v majhnih 25-dolarskih koščkih od posojilodajalcev in podjetnikov -- več kot milijon le-teh, skupaj v 200 državah.
So that's where Kiva is today, just to bring you right up to the present. And while those numbers and those statistics are really fun to talk about and they're interesting, to me, Kiva's really about stories. It's about retelling the story of the poor, and it's about giving ourselves an opportunity to engage that validates their dignity, validates a partnership relationship, not a relationship that's based on the traditional sort of donor beneficiary weirdness that can happen. But instead a relationship that can promote respect and hope and this optimism that together we can move forward. So what I hope is that, not only can the money keep flowing forth through Kiva -- that's a very positive and meaningful thing -- but I hope Kiva can blur those lines, like I said, between the traditional rich and poor categories that we're taught to see in the world, this false dichotomy of us and them, have and have not. I hope that Kiva can blur those lines. Because as that happens, I think we can feel free to interact in a way that's more open, more just and more creative, to engage with each other and to help each other.
Tu je torej Kiva danes, da vas prestavimo v sedanjost. In čeprav je o teh številkah in teh statistikah res zabavno govoriti in so zanimive, gre zame pri Kivi v resnici za zgodbe. Gre za ponovno pripovedovanje zgodbe o revnih in za dajanje priložnosti nam samim, da se pridružimo na način, ki potrdi njihovo dostojanstvo, potrdi partnersko razmerje, in ne razmerje, ki temelji na tradicionalnem odnosu med donatorjem in prejemnikom, ki je lahko neprijeten. Namesto tega je razmerje, ki podpira spoštovanje in upanje in ta optimizem, da skupaj lahko gremo naprej. Kar upam, je torej, ne samo, da bo denar še naprej tekel skozi Kivo -- to je zelo pozitivna in pomembna stvar -- ampak upam, da bo Kiva lahko zameglila meje, kot sem rekla, med tradicionalnimi kategorijami bogatih in revnih, ki nas jih učijo videti v svetu, to lažno dihotomijo nas in njih, imeti in ne imeti. Upam, da bo Kiva lahko zameglila te meje. Ker, ko se to zgodi, mislim, da bomo lahko sodelovali na način, ki je bolj odprt, bolj pravičen in bolj ustvarjalen, da bomo medsebojno sodelovali in pomagali drug drugemu.
Imagine how you feel when you see somebody on street who is begging and you're about to approach them. Imagine how you feel; and then imagine the difference when you might see somebody who has a story of entrepreneurship and hard work who wants to tell you about their business. Maybe they're smiling, and they want to talk to you about what they've done. Imagine if you're speaking with somebody who's growing things and making them flourish, somebody who's using their talents to do something productive, somebody who's built their own business from scratch, someone who is surrounded by abundance, not scarcity, who's in fact creating abundance, somebody with full hands with something to offer, not empty hands asking for you to give them something. Imagine if you could hear a story you didn't expect of somebody who wakes up every day and works very, very hard to make their life better. These stories can really change the way that we think about each other. And if we can catalyze a supportive community to come around these individuals and to participate in their story by lending a little bit of money, I think that can change the way we believe in each other and each other's potential.
Prestavljajte si, kako se počutite, ko vidite nekoga na ulici, ki berači, in se mu boste pravkar približali. Predstavljajte si, kako se počutite. In potem si predstavljajte razliko, ko morda vidite nekoga, ki ima zgodbo podjetništva in trdega dela, ki vam želi govoriti o svojem poslu. Mogoče se smejijo in vam želijo povedati, kaj so naredili. Predstavljajte si, da se pogovarjate z nekom, ki goji stvari in skrbi, da uspevajo, nekom, ki uporablja svoje talente, da počne nekaj produktivnega, nekom, ki je postavil svoj posel iz ničesar, nekom, ki je obkrožen z obiljem, ne z redkostjo, ki v bistvu ustvarja obilje, nekom s polnimi rokami nečesa, kar lahko ponudi, ne s praznimi rokami, ki prosijo, da jim nekaj daste. Predstavljajte si, da lahko slišite zgodbo, ki je niste pričakovali, o nekom, ki se vsako jutro zbudi, in zelo zelo trdo dela, da izboljša svoje življenje. Te zgodbe lahko resnično spremenijo način, kako razmišljamo drug o drugem. In če lahko kataliziramo skupnost, ki podpira te posameznike, in sodeluje v njihovih zgodbah, s tem, da jim posoja nekaj denarja, mislim, da to lahko spremeni način, kako verjamemo drug v drugega in v naše potenciale.
Now for me, Kiva is just the beginning. And as I look forward to what is next, it's been helpful to reflect on the things I've learned so far. The first one is, as I mentioned, entrepreneurship was a new idea to me. Kiva borrowers, as I interviewed them and got to know them over the last few years, have taught me what entrepreneurship is. And I think, at its core, it's deciding that you want your life to be better. You see an opportunity and you decide what you're going to do to try to seize that. In short, it's deciding that tomorrow can better than today and going after that. Second thing that I've learned is that loans are a very interesting tool for connectivity. So they're not a donation. Yeah, maybe it doesn't sound that much different. But in fact, when you give something to someone and they say, "Thanks," and let you know how things go, that's one thing. When you lend them money, and they slowly pay you back over time, you have this excuse to have an ongoing dialogue. This continued attention -- this ongoing attention -- is a really big deal to build different kinds of relationships among us. And then third, from what I've heard from the entrepreneurs I've gotten to know, when all else is equal, given the option to have just money to do what you need to do, or money plus the support and encouragement of a global community, people choose the community plus the money. That's a much more meaningful combination, a more powerful combination.
Zame je Kiva samo začetek. In ko se veselim tega, kar sledi, je pomagalo, da razmislim o stvareh, ki sem se jih naučila do zdaj. Prvič, kot sem omenila, podjetništvo je bila zame nova ideja. Kivini posojilojemalci, ki sem jih intervjuvala in jih spoznala v zadnjih letih, so me naučili, kaj je podjetništvo. In mislim, da je v njegovem jedru odločitev, da si želiš boljše življenje. Vidiš priložnost in se odločiš, da jo boš poskusil izkoristiti. Skratka, je odločitev, da je lahko jutri boljši kot danes in sledenje temu. Druga stvar, ki sem se je naučila, je, da so posojila zelo zanimivo orodje za povezovanje. Torej niso donacije. Ja, mogoče se ne sliši tako drugače. Vendar v resnici, ko nekomu nekaj daste, in vam rečejo: "Hvala," in vam javijo, kako stvari tečejo, to je ena stvar. Ko jim posodite denar in vam ga s časom počasi vračajo, imate izgovor, da imate trajen dialog. Ta neprekinjena pozornost, ta neprestana pozornost je res pomembna za izgradnjo različnih odnosov med nami. In tretjič, glede na to, kar sem slišala o podjetnikov, ki sem jih spoznala, ko je vse drugo nespremenjeno, če imate na izbiro, da dobite samo denar, da naredite, kar želite, ali denar in podporo in vzpodbudo globalne skupnosti, ljudje izberejo skupnost in denar. Je veliko bolj pomembna kombinacija, veliko močnejša kombinacija.
So with that in mind, this particular incident has led to the things that I'm working on now. I see entrepreneurs everywhere now, now that I'm tuned into this. And one thing that I've seen is there are a lot of supportive communities that already exist in the world. With social networks, it's an amazing way, growing the number of people that we all have around us in our own supportive communities, rapidly. And so, as I have been thinking about this, I've been wondering: how can we engage these supportive communities to catalyze even more entrepreneurial ideas and to catalyze all of us to make tomorrow better than today? As I've researched what's going on in the United States, a few interesting little insights have come up. So one is that, of course, as we all might expect, many small businesses in the U.S. and all over the world still need money to grow and to do more of what they want to do or they might need money during a hard month. But there's always a need for resources close by. Another thing is, it turns out, those resources don't usually come from the places you might expect -- banks, venture capitalists, other organizations and support structures -- they come from friends and family. Some statistics say 85 percent or more of funding for small businesses comes from friends and family. That's around 130 billion dollars a year -- it's a lot. And third, so as people are doing this friends and family fundraising process, it's very awkward, people don't know exactly what to ask for, how to ask, what to promise in return, even though they have the best of intentions and want to thank those people that are supporting them.
S tem v mislih me je en dogodek vodil do stvari, na katerih delam zdaj. Sedaj podjetnike vidim povsod, sedaj, ko sem v tem. In ena stvar, ki sem jo videla, je, da na svetu že obstaja veliko podpornih skupnosti. Družabna omrežja so čudovit način, ki hitro povečuje število ljudi, ki nas obkrožajo v naših lastnih podpornih skupnostih. In ko sem tako razmišljala o tem, sem se spraševala: kako lahko pritegnemo te podporne skupnosti, da katalizirajo še več podjetniških idej in da katalizirajo vse nas, da naredimo jutri boljši od danes? Ko sem raziskovala, kaj se dogaja v Združenih državah, sem naletela na nekaj zanimivih spoznanj. Eno je, da, seveda, kot bi lahko pričakovali, mnogo malih podjetij v ZDA in povsod po svetu še vedno potrebuje denar, da bi rasla in da bi počela več tega, kar želijo početi, ali pa bi morda potrebovala denar v težkih časih. A vedno obstaja potreba po virih blizu nas. Druga stvar je, da se je pokazalo, da ti viri ponavadi ne pridejo od tam, od koder bi pričakovali -- bank, kapitalistov s tveganimi naložbami, drugih organizacij in podpornih struktur -- pridejo od prijateljev in družine. Neki statistični podatki pravijo, da 85 odstotkov ali več sredstev za mala podjetja prihaja od prijateljev in družin. To je okoli 130 milijard dolarjev na leto. To je veliko. In tretje, ko ljudje zbirajo denar med prijatelji in v družini, je zelo nerodno, ljudje ne vedo točno, po čem naj sprašujejo, kako naj sprašujejo, kaj naj obljubijo v zameno, čeprav imajo najboljše namene in se želijo zahvaliti ljudem, ki jih podpirajo.
So to harness the power of these supportive communities in a new way and to allow entrepreneurs to decide for themselves exactly what that financial exchange should look like, exactly what fits them and the people around them, this week actually, we're quietly doing a launch of Profounder, which is a crowd funding platform for small businesses to raise what they need through investments from their friends and family. And it's investments, not donations, not loans, but investments that have a dynamic return. So the mapping of participating in the story, it actually flows with the up and down. So in short, it's a do-it-yourself tool for small businesses to raise these funds. And what you can do is go onto the site, create a profile, create investment terms in a really easy way. We make it really, really simple for me as well as anyone else who wants to use the site. And we allow entrepreneurs to share a percentage of their revenues. They can raise up to a million dollars from an unlimited number of unaccredited, unsophisticated investors -- everyday people, heaven forbid -- and they can share those returns over time -- again, whatever terms they set. As investors choose to become involved based on those terms, they can either take their rewards back as cash, or they can decide in advance to give those returns away to a non-profit. So they can be a cash, or a cause, investor. It's my hope that this kind of tool can show anybody who has an idea a path to go do what they want to do in the world and to gather the people around them that they already have, the people that know them best and that love them and want to support them, to gather them to make this happen.
Da bi izkoristili moč teh podpornih skupnosti na nov način in da bi omogočili podjetnikom, da se sami odločijo, kako točno bi naj ta finančna izmenjava izgledala, kaj točno ustreza njim in ljudem okoli njih, ravno ta teden po tihem zaganjamo Profounder, ki je platforma za zbiranje denarja za mala podjetja, da bi zbrali potrebna sredstva skozi investicije svojih prijateljev in družin. In gre za investicije, ne donacije ali posojila, investicije, ki imajo dinamično povračilo. Načrtovanje udeležbe v zgodbi torej dejansko teče z vzponi in padci. Skratka, gre za naredi-si-sam orodje za mala podjetja za zbiranje kapitala. In kar lahko naredite, je, da greste na spletno stran, si naredite profil in izdelate pogoje za investiranje na res enostaven način. Zelo preprosto je zame, kot tudi za vse, ki želijo uporabiti spletno stran. In podjetnikom omogočamo, da delijo del svojih prihodkov. Zberejo lahko do milijona dolarjev od neomejenega števila nepoučenih, neizkušenih vlagateljev -- vsakodnevnih ljudi, bog se usmili -- in lahko delijo ta povračila skozi čas -- pod kakršnimi koli pogoji, ki so jih postavili. Ko se vlagatelji odločajo za sodelovanje na podlagi teh pogojev, lahko svoje nagrade vzamejo kot denar, ali pa se že vnaprej odločijo, da bodo povračila podarili neprofitni organizaciji. Lahko so torej vlagatelji za denar ali za dobri namen. Moje upanje je, da lahko takšno orodje pokaže komur koli, ki ima idejo, pot, kako početi stvari, ki jih želi, in da zbere okoli sebe ljudi, ki jih že ima, ljudi, ki jih najbolje pozna, in ki ga imajo radi in ga hočejo podpreti, da jih zbere, da to doseže.
So that's what I'm working on now. And to close, I just want to say, look these are tools. Right now, Profounder's right at the very beginning, and it's very palpable; it's very clear to me, that it's just a vessel, it's just a tool. What we need are for people to care, to actually go use it, just like they've cared enough to use Kiva to make those connections. But the good news is I don't think I need to stand here and convince you to care -- I'm not even going to try. I don't think, even though we often hear, you know, hear the ethical and moral reasons, the religious reasons, "Here's why caring and giving will make you happier." I don't think we need to be convinced of that. I think we know; in fact, I think we know so much, and it's such a reality that we care so deeply, that in fact, what usually stops us is that we're afraid to try and to mess up, because we care so very much about helping each other and being meaningful in each other's lives.
Na tem delam sedaj. In za konec želim reči le, poglejte, to so orodja. Trenutno je Profounder na samem začetku in jasno mi je, da je to samo sredstvo, samo orodje. Kar potrebujemo, je, da je ljudem mar, da ga dejansko uporabljajo, tako kot jim je dovolj mar, da uporabljajo Kivo, da ustvarjajo te povezave. A dobra novica je, da mislim, da mi ni treba tukaj stati in vas prepričevati, naj vam bo mar. Ne bom niti poskušala. Ne mislim, čeprav pogosto slišimo, saj veste, slišimo etične in moralne razloge, religiozne razloge, "Poglejte, zakaj vas bo skrb in dajanje naredilo srečnejše." Mislim, da nas ni treba prepričevati v to. Mislim, da vemo. Pravzaprav, mislim, da toliko vemo in da je tako resnično, da nam je tako zelo mar, da je tisto, kar nas običajno ustavi, v bistvu to, da nas je strah poskusiti, da ne bi zameštrali, ker nam je tako zelo mar, da pomagamo drug drugemu in da smo pomembni drug drugemu v naših življenjih.
So what I think I can do today, that best thing I can give you -- I've given you my story, which is the best I can do. And I think I can remind us that we do care. I think we all already know that. And I think we know that love is resilient enough for us to get out there and try. Just a sec.
To, kar mislim, da lahko naredim danes, najboljše, kar vam lahko dam -- dala sem vam svojo zgodbo, kar je najboljše, kar zmorem. In mislim, da nas lahko spomnim, da nam je mar. Mislim, da to že vemo. In mislim, da vemo, da je ljubezen dovolj odporna, da gremo in poskusimo. Samo trenutek.
(Applause)
(aplavz)
Thanks.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(aplavz)
Thanks.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(aplavz)
For me, the best way to be inspired to try is to stop and to listen to someone else's story. And I'm grateful that I've gotten to do that here at TED. And I'm grateful that whenever I do that, guaranteed, I am inspired -- I am inspired by the person I am listening to. And I believe more and more every time I listen in that that person's potential to do great things in the world and in my own potential to maybe help. And that -- forget the tools, forget the moving around of resources -- that stuff's easy. Believing in each other, really being sure when push comes to shove that each one of us can do amazing things in the world, that is what can make our stories into love stories and our collective story into one that continually perpetuates hope and good things for all of us. So that, this belief in each other, knowing that without a doubt and practicing that every day in whatever you do, that's what I believe will change the world and make tomorrow better than today.
Zame je najboljši način za navdih, da poskusim, to, da se ustavim in poslušam zgodbo nekoga. In hvaležna sem, da sem to lahko naredila tukaj na TED. In hvaležna sem, da kadarkoli to naredim, sem zagotovo navdihnjena, navdihne me oseba, ki jo poslušam. In vedno bolj in bolj verjamem, vsakič, ko poslušam, v potencial te osebe, da bo naredila velike stvari na svetu in v svoj potencial, da lahko mogoče pomagam. In to -- pozabite orodja, pozabite prerazporejanje virov -- to je lahko. Verjeti drug v drugega, resnično biti prepričan, ko stvari postanejo težke, da lahko vsakdo izmed nas počne čudovite stvari na svetu, to lahko spremeni naše zgodbe v zgodbe ljubezni in našo skupno zgodbo v takšno, ki nepretrgoma ohranja upanje in dobre stvari za vse nas. Tako da ta vera enih v druge, vedoč to brez dvoma in prakticiranje tega vsak dan v vsem, kar počnete, to je to, kar verjamem, da bo spremenilo svet in naredilo jutri boljši od danes.
Thank you.
Hvala.
(Applause)
(aplavz)