Last night at Drinking Liberally, I spoke a bit with a friend about liberal entrepreneurship and this site, and I got to thinking a bit more about what's really needed to support progressive entrepreneurs on a grand scale (or even a not-so-grand scale.) I'm thinking about things like progressive venture capitalists, willing to lend out a lot of money to seed a progressive for-profit venture, and also willing to forego liquidation whenever a hotter opportunity comes along; or progressive angels, willing to lend out comparatively less money for not-for-profit ventures. Alongside this sort of standing institutional support, I think we could also use some flashy contests - things like Blogpac's progressive entrepreneur contest last summer, and other kinds of business plan competitions.
I'm also thinking about social infrastructure - perhaps something like a marriage between StartupWeekend, BarCamp, and networking groups. I'd really like to see a network of meetups for progressive entrepreneurs to discuss what they're working on, network, incubate ideas, get support and useful tips, etc. In fact, I have half a mind to start something just like that on meetup.com.
There's more to think about here, and I think we have a lot to learn from the world of social enterprise. For the most part these are just half-baked ideas now, but I'd love to see some of this support system come into place eventually.
