

Kiva.org: So sucessful it has run out of projects to fund - robg
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/magazine/27wwln-consumed-t.html?ex=1359003600&en=dd1972325bacc1e3&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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dcurtis
I am absolutely stunned by the percentage delinquency for these loans. After
going through the site for a while, I can't find a single loan that has been
defaulted or delayed.

I don't understand why a paraguayan store owner would need $1075 to stock her
store
([http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about...](http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=34023)),
but it certainly seems like these kinds of investments are kick-starting
entrepreneurial activity in places where it was traditionally impossible or
exceedingly difficult.

I think Kiva is my favorite new business because it truly does raise the
social welfare of the world while also being a startup.

~~~
wumi
Anybody interested in social entrepreneurship should definitely read this
book: <http://www.howtochangetheworld.org/>

I read bout Kiva, Ashoka, and the Grameen bank a few years back (which was the
basis for micro-loans and its inventor won a nobel prize).

An excellent read to show how innovative minds (read: startups) are changing
the world

~~~
felipe
"The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid" is excellent too:
[http://www.amazon.com/Fortune-Bottom-Pyramid-Eradicating-
Pub...](http://www.amazon.com/Fortune-Bottom-Pyramid-Eradicating-
Publishing/dp/0131877291/)

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ubudesign
when I was there few months ago, most of the individual borrowers were
apparently listed by just a few none profit organizations. it made it look
fake. So you would see similar borrowers from few particular regions. I guess
it really isn't micro lending when an organization puts up a list of who would
benefit. that's still ok. just a sense of false advertising i think. I am
loosing some trust in them and something just doesn't feel right. maybe I am
wrong but I hope someone comes up with a better system or other types. micro
lending is great system indeed.

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edw519
"The default rate to date is 0.16 percent."

Stunning.

Compare that to the ho-hum attitude many Americans have toward credit
responsibility.

I'd ask what's happened to our country, but I'm afraid you guys might actually
answer.

~~~
imsteve
> Compare that to the ho-hum attitude many Americans have toward credit
> responsibility.

So these third world countries are so _successful_ because their businesses
don't take any risks?

~~~
migpwr
Just to add a something... you're also talking about a potential life changing
opportunity. When was the last time you used your credit card and felt like it
would change your life? If it did change your life for the better you would
probably want to give back to the system, no?

I think most people would... It has nothing to do with being american, it's
the conditions these people are living in that make them appreciate the help.

~~~
imsteve
Is this a counterpoint to my comment?

~~~
migpwr
No, not exactly... I was trying to add that the borrowing being done on kiva
is not the same as the "ho-hum" loans being taken out by "americans".

If someone really helps you get ahead then it's likely you will want to repay
them and I think that's what you can see happening at kiva. It's not a big
home loan or a credit card... it's a chance to really help improve their
lives.

You should man up and repost the comment you made and then deleted...

~~~
imsteve
I've used a credit card to invest small amounts into my life and make it a lot
better. Whether it helped me or not doesn't really affect whether I want to
repay it though. I don't quite understand that.

The only ho-hum loans that I've seen people take out is 100k to 150k school
loans for useless schools.

~~~
kingnothing
I think the point he was trying to make is that the average American is so far
ahead, financially, of people in third world countries that we take for
granted the availability of money and credit. There are people starving to
death over there because they don't have the money or means to feed
themselves. They can't get jobs because there aren't any companies. People who
might want to own a company can't do that because there is no one to lend them
the capital to get started. They're in an impossible situation that's
difficult for us to understand because we're so far removed from it.

So, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, some company comes along and says to
all of these people, "Hey everyone, we'll loan you the money you need to start
a business so you can live", the people are offered an opportunity to change
their lives to such an extreme degree that they're willing to do whatever it
takes to get the money and pay it back. Here, in the Western world, if you
start a business, fail, and lose half a million dollars, you can brush it off
and try again with a different idea and investor. Granted, it might take you a
while to find someone else who is willing to put the capital up, but you can.
Over there, they can't. They have only one shot, so they take it and do the
absolute best they can because it is an opportunity that will only come once.

With that in mind, nearly every loan in the Western world can be taken with a
ho-hum attitude becuase the opportunity will present itself again. That just
isn't the case for those people.

~~~
migpwr
Yes and thanks for taking the time to write this...

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jakewolf
Too bad they don't fund American startups...

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inovica
Why not set up a kiva-like site for American startups? Oh, hang on - Kiva has
virtually no defaulters on its loans, so maybe scrap that idea.

~~~
rms
The closest you have is www.prosper.com, which has much higher interest rates,
default rates, and a maximum loan that is too low for most startups.

~~~
jakewolf
You can't get started on $25,000?

~~~
rms
Oh, I got started on less. Strike what I said, at least for most of us
following the Paul Graham school of startups.

------
eru
How high is there overhead?

