Personal Statement, Jon Carson, CEO
"The journey is the reward". Someone said that to me years ago, and I've tried to live that philosophy ever since. "Doing well by doing good" is another familiar expression, and I believe that in today's world it's a great way for an entrepreneur to go.
I've been lucky to have had some great mentors, backers, board members, and some very steep learning curve experiences that have shaped me as an early-stage-company CEO. I've also been lucky to have achieved more success than I ever thought possible, which has given me the freedom to do what I want.
And right now I want to do cMarket. This is a very big idea, with the potential to make a big positive difference in the world. There is over $16 billion per year raised from consumers for the nonprofit sector through the (often inefficient) old fundraising auction model. At cMarket, we have removed the barriers of geography and time for bidders by putting thousands of auctions online and leveraging the resulting data to help great organizations move the needle even further for important causes.
The issues we face as a society are enormous, foremost among them the tectonic unfunded liabilities in our Medicare and Social Security accounts. Add to this the military spending of the past seven years and you have a real fiscal squeeze which is unlikely to abate anytime soon. This means that it's imperative for folks to have the best fundraising toolbox possible, and I firmly believe that toolbox is incomplete without an online auction component.
Back in the late 80's, the line "greed is good" from the movie Wall Street seemed to resonate on some level with people. In today's ever-challenging world, I think it's fair to say that "good is good".
The journey is the reward.
