Philanthropreneurship

Sitting in the wonderful Stockpot on Old Compton Street on Wednesday I overheard a conversation between two men who evidently hadn't seen each other for many years. One was telling the other about being a philanthropist now that his father had left him lots of money and the other was telling how he was trying to create new business models from his work as a research scientist. They were an odd pair - obviously not much to keep them as friends, apart from old Uni days and as the conversation became ever more stilted, polite and hesitant I wanted to lean over and say - "Why don't you both get together and create a brand new website - call it "Philanthropreneurs.co.uk" - a place where great ideas, big thinking, partnerships, creative combinations, backers etc. can come together to work on projects that inspire, motivate and fund each other. A bit like the myriad of crowd funding sites, but different - and what a name. In fact, I'm going to register for www.philanthropreneurs.co.uk just in case someone else nicks it. And if, by any chance, you know who these two were - a big thank you for the inspiration.