The last 4 years
It’s been 4 years since there has been any public activity from GOODFRUIT. You might have wondered, what happened to the events we ran for creators and startups? What happened to the crowdfunding platform?
GOODFRUIT’s mission has always been, and always will be, to renew and enrich culture through entrepreneurship and creativity. After many successful events between 2011 and 2012 we decided to launch a crowdfunding platform that could take the value created from real life to an online format and help more people at scale. Early on we had some great results, achieving a 75% success rate compared with an industry rate of 43%. However, it became difficult to maintain this level of activity without significant further funding, which was the irony because we were helping others raise funds (micro funds at best)! The crowdfunding model works by taking a % on successful projects. It is akin to a pipeline, if you have less coming into the pipeline, you effectively will have less successful projects coming out the other side and make less revenue. This made a crowdfunding business operationally difficult to sustain.
This meant having to stop the business, a time that was devastating on a personal level. My identity was in GOODFRUIT and I felt embarrassed and a failure because, well, who likes to fail? I reclined from meeting new people as often the first question would be “how is GOODFRUIT?” to which I felt the need to respond “ermm…fine”. This was my mistake and a huge lesson in embracing real entrepreneurship
There is no success without failure.
During this period, God began revealing how I had placed success and reputation on a pedestal (properly channeled these provide fuel for huge impact, but when they take a hold of us they can become toxic). During this quiet season, or what felt like a wilderness season, I began feeling the same passion I felt when GOODFRUIT started; to see people and culture transformed through businesses and creative work inspired by faith. I began to reflect on what went wrong, but at the same time questioning if this whole thing was even worth it. If the dream didn’t work then, why would it work now? As I wrestled with this, within the space of a few months, my wife and an older wise man told me the same message:
“When God calls you, plans can change but the vision stays the same”
This broke the dam that was holding me back, this was what I needed to switch gears, feel free and turn the ignition on for GOODFRUIT again.
On a personal level, over the last 4 years, I have been involved with and observed some transformational experiences. From being part of a startup that deteriorated, to being part of another startup that skyrocketed to raise over $285m. From seeing lives transformed through charitable work by people whose names you will never know, to seeing the healing power that vulnerability and authenticity brings. I am super grateful for these experiences and know firsthand what pain and joy, success and failure feels and looks like. I know the future will have its ups and downs but that’s the beautiful struggle and that’s just part of pursuing this kind of life. Now let’s look ahead.
The next 10 years
Thinking about what the next 10 years could look like, we are excited about two things: 1) creating new ventures and projects that enrich and redeem culture 2) amplifying leaders, creators and entrepreneurs with faith, accelerate their work and impact. We are working on a new framework we are coining The Human Operating System™ (Human OS). An operating system is a platform on which you build other software, like the foundation of a house. iOS is the operating system for the iPhone, Windows is the operating system for Microsoft and we think the Human OS™ is the operating system for cultural change.
What the heck is a Human OS™?
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says
He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end
For us this tells us, everyone, regardless of faith, social status, geographical location or background has a deep longing within them for something more. It’s how humans are wired. Something beyond the superficial, something that speaks to the spirit and soul. When we create businesses and work that speak to this longing > the Human OS™, it attracts and moves audiences and customers, people and communities. Think of a business built on crazy generosity for example; it moves people to support it (think TOMS or Jollies), or a film that shows a story of sacrifice, love or courage like TAKEN or 300. They draw on something deeper, something that tells us we can be more but we don’t know how or fully comprehend it. At GOODFRUIT, we want to create and support entrepreneurs and creators creating work built on a Human OS™.
Over the next 10 years, we believe we can see 100 million people impacted through new startups and creative endeavours. That’s right, 100 million people. You might think this number is crazy high but it’s not, it’s actually on the conservative side. This is not just crazy faith, it’s good maths. What is the secret sauce? New businesses and projects, technology, programmes, partnerships and…crazy faith. We don’t expect to do this on our own either, this will be achieved through partnerships and collaboration. Generational, cultural change is not a one organisation rodeo.
Up Next: Blueprint Conference - 23rd November 2019
To find out more about what’s cooking, come and meet people at our upcoming conference, Blueprint, on 23rd November, with support from Running Club Records and Chapel. Single Early bird passes went live yesterday and are available until October 31st. There is a great line of speakers and panel conversations that we hope will help inspire you on your journey wherever you are. The underlying theme of the conference is to understand the importance of taking care of our spiritual and physical wellbeing in pursuit of cultural change. Great ideas and sharp strategies are needed, but these alone won’t cut it.
A Special Code just for you
For the nearly 1000 people on this mailing list, we wanted to say a big thank you for still subscribing after all this time so we created a conference code that gives you a +1 at no cost. Bring a friend on us. This code can be used by 20 people from the mailing list so get it while you can Enter Promo Code: MAILINGLIST at checkout.
If you have any questions or want to reach out about anything that’s been said you can email us at: team@goodfruit.co
Anthony
GOODFRUIT