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Danae Ringelman's original business school idea was a democratic voting fund

Danae Ringelman · 93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever · Dec 15, 2025 · at 15:56

Indiegogo co-founder Danae Ringelman discusses her original concept for democratizing capital access before pivoting to online crowdfunding.

0:00 / 0:22exact quote · 22.4s
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“What drove me back to business school was to start something that would make the funding process more democratic. And my initial idea was a fund, actually, with a democratic twist. Where the investors could be lots of people putting a little bit in. And then there was a democratic process to actually vote on what would get invested in.”

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Insight
Ringelman: Traditional gatekeeper financing locks out audience demand
“And that was the moment that I realized that there was A huge room of people that wanted this thing to happen, yet they didn't have the power to make it happen, and it was all dependent on one person to say yes. And that was the inequity that drove me to even…”
Danae Ringelman Dec 15, 2025 ▶ 15:22 93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever
Disclosure
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Danae Ringelman Dec 15, 2025 ▶ 43:05 93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever
Disclosure
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Danae Ringelman Dec 15, 2025 ▶ 24:01 93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever
Disclosure
Indiegogo co-founders each committed $30,000 of their own money to launch
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Danae Ringelman Dec 15, 2025 ▶ 27:03 93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever
Assertion Supported
Indiegogo operated without raising outside funding for three years
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Danae Ringelman Dec 15, 2025 ▶ 27:14 93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever
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