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What are your views on Narendra Modi's project "Statue of Unity"?Ans: I personally believe the Statue of Unity is indeed a fitting tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Home minister as well as the man who played a key role in unifying India as what we see today. Definitely, such a personality must be honored, especially in Gujarat, his home state.Keeping the politics and imaging building part of Narendra Modi aside, such monuments do help in popularizing tourism for years to come as well as give an iconic representation to a place or destination. For example, Taj Mahal wasn't built as a tourist attraction, rather a personal tribute of an Emperor to his beloved wife. But today gives a strong international identity to the entire country. To build such a monument, it cost nearly 32 Million (3.2 Crore Rs) in 1648 AD which means its nearly 52.8 Billion Rs (USD 827 Million) in today's rates. Compare to that, the Statue of Unity is just USD 290 Million worth.However, there is something important to understand. Taj Mahal was built by an Emperor who never had to worry about the life of commoners of his own country, while Statue of Unity built by Prime Minister/Chief Minister who had direct accountability to people. That's the big difference between Monarchy and Democracy.Emperor Shah Jahan rarely worried about building any public housing or residential facilities or public infrastructure for the common man. He loved building a magnificent Red Fort and Juma Masjid in Delhi along with marble fountains laid Chandhi Chowk where moonlight can be reflected on its avenues, but never worried about people who lived on sides of this same Red fort or people who have to do business in Chandi Chowk. Can a Modern democratic Indian leader have similar priorities as like any Emperor? Don't think I am criticizing a Mughal emperor. I too loved the great beautiful structures of Mughal emperors and fascinated with it. But the priorities of Empire and Republic always stand to differ.The taxpayers of United State of America didn't spend a penny to set up Statue of Liberty, so as the French Govt. Instead with was financed by individuals, companies, and others in Paris as well as in New York to fund for such a project. No one could complain as it wasn't a taxpayer project. Today Statue of Liberty is a global symbol of New York and everlasting symbol of French-American relationship. That’s the beauty of democracy. The democracy of America and France prevented their governments spending taxpayer money on such projects while people got engaged in developing projects that would soon become global icons.World’s Largest Bird Statue in Kollam- Kerala as part of a larger project- Jatayu ParkIn Kerala, we recently built World's largest bird statue at Kollam to honor the mythical bird Jatayu of Ramayana. Ofcourse we didn't shout at top of our voice, as the best publicity always comes from those who use it and finds it valuable.But its so surprising that no one in Kerala complained about developing such a huge statue and project worth Rs 100 crore. Why so? Simply because it was a private-public partnership where a team of investors led by a senior businessman to invest for a project while the role of Govt was limited in handing over the land to such venture. Not a penny of tax payer’s money used to develop the famous Jatayu Park which now has an Adventure center as well as a Nature ParkJatayu park, an example of a unique business model - Times of IndiaIt's not impossible for a state like Gujarat to find private investors to fund for such project. After all its the fabled land of Adanis and Ambanis, the epitome of private investment and capitalist ventures. We live in a land where businessmen are ready to invest Rs 1000 crore for a movie project. It's definitely not hard to find a group of investors who can invest for a 2000 crore+ Statue project which comes as a tourist package and long terms rights of the project.What makes me surprised is that Gujarat Govt itself using Rs 2400 Crores worth taxpayer's money to fund for such statutes. I as a Malayalee, living in Kerala may not be worried about Gujarat Government’s funding pattern, but definitely, as an Indian taxpayer, I do have right to question Central Govt allocating 200 crores of money for such project.The Gujarat ModelThis particular investment pattern exposes the fabled Gujarat Model of development where you ignore the social realities of the much larger public around and focus things that show off big to others. I am sorry if this offends my Gujarati friends. I say this out of my own experience living in Ahmedabad and working for IIM-A. I realized the hollowness when we visited numerous villages for various surveys and other data collection. We had published a report in 2007 about electrification issues of Gujarat then as the state was inching towards India’s first Power surplus state (I can’t find that report online). Interestingly the same has been echoed even 5 years later in 2013 based on census recordsGujarat now supplies near 24-hour electricity not only to its large cities and towns but to the 18,000 villages, too. All sources put together, Gujarat now produces about 14,000 MW power of which about 2,000 MW is surplus. There are some dark spots – like the latest census shows 11 lakh homes in the state still have no power source – though. Of these, about 15% are in urban areas. At least nine lakh homes are in rural areas, where the government claims to have implemented Jyoti Gram. About nine lakh houses use kerosene lamps to light their homes. Of this, over eight lakh are in rural areas.‘Power-full’ Gujarat gives 24-hour electricity - Times of IndiaEven in the case of the Statue of Unity, the effects of the Gujarat model can be well seen.It's easy to call anyone who is protesting as Naxals etc. But hardly anyone checked why are the tribals living close to the statue area protesting? Why Gujarat Govt need to put a large contingent of police to prevent tribals tearing up the posters of the inauguration of the world’s largest statue?The shop that was once by the road side was demolished to widen the road. The land was never formally acquired and demolished as it fell in the way. The owner rebuilt the shop and now fears that shop will submerge any-day when water rises in the weir that flows down as water is being released for inauguration.Angry tribals tore apart posters in the Narmada districtAnd more ridiculous part- Police posted to guard flexes and posters announcing the inauguration to prevent tribals removing such.The two extreme worlds the exist in Gujarat Model- the 2900 crore project vs Rs 2000 worth Shanties for humans to live.Most of us who live in cities and enjoy a middle-class life fails to understand many realities that rural India faces.Imagine working hard, all around 6 months in farms and all of the sudden water gushes in from the nearby dam that ruins your hardwork and your income. That is what exactly happening in the site of the Statue of UnityNavagam is one of those villages where land will be submerged as water rises in the weir of Narmada river. As the ‘Statue of Unity’ is set to inaugurated on October 31, water from the dam has been released in the weir for the VIPs and guests to witness a river full of water. About 40 acres of land in Navagam will be submerged till October 31. Farmers had cultivated vegetables which are almost ready. Nobody told us that water is being released from the dam. We are witnessing the water level rise by the hour and land submerging gradually, A family owns between 2-4 acres of land. There are poor tribal families who sustain themselves on crops and vegetables they grow on their small patch of land. Now that the land will be submerged, most of them will have no means of feeding themselves or their family,” says Sanjay Tadvi, son of Ambaben, and a resident of Navagam.Six villages – Navagam, Waghariya, Limdi, Kevadiya, Kothi and Gora -- immediately around the Sadhu Bet, the location of the ‘Statue of Unity’ are badly affected. Of these, Waghariya has lost all of its land, while Kevadiya village has lost about 90% of land.The Tall Price That Gujarat's Tribals Are Paying for the 'Tallest' Statue | NewsClickThis is the exact problem which we need to address as our tribute to the man who worked to unify this nation shouldn’t create disunity among the people atleast of the home state.And this problem is exactly what the Gujarat Model of Development has to address. Sweeping problems underneath the carpet helps no one. You can’t hide the realities from the public. And please, telling realities will not make anyone Anti-National. Cleaning our own homes is not an act of disgrace, rather making it sustainable for all to live.I would definitely agree, Gujarat is a paradise for investors as well as for salaried urban middle class. I too enjoyed that. But there is a huge gap between urban crowd and rural crowd in Gujarat as the fruits of development rarely trickle downThe Truth Behind the Gujarat Growth ModelGujarat model: The gleam of state’s high growth numbers hides dark reality of poverty, inequalityModi’s ‘Gujarat Model’ Of Development: A Reality CheckXi Jinping's Ahmedabad visit: Slum areas, including historic Dandi bridge, on way to Sabarmati Ashram covered up‘We are Gujaratis, too. Why are you ashamed of us?It's easy to cover up and showcase the best to the world. But beyond the green curtains, there are many hardcore realities which need to be addressed that no statues can address.I am from Kerala and thus this model of development definitely can’t accepted by many of us who have a different notion of development. I won’t say, we are perfect. We have many imperfections, we have many problems, we have many defects, perhaps more serious issues than Gujaratis.But still, our basic notion is to address those realities by discussing it and trying to resolve rather hiding from the public and making a window dressing.Incidentally, when Modi was boasting the greatness of this statue, in Kerala we were inaugurating housing for 192 fishermen who lost their houses in 2016–2017 period.Kerala builds refurbished houses for heroic fishermen in record timeModi Govt Spends Rs 3,000 Cr On Statue Of Unity; Kerala Govt Builds Houses For Poor Fishermen In Rs 20 CrAnd let me even acknowledge, out of 20 crores which Kerala Govt spent for this public housing, 6.5 crores came from Central Govt in form of funds from PM Awas Yojna. So essentially Central Govt also used taxpayer money for this project just like they allocated for Statue of Unity.But can any Indian question the logic of Govt of India spending on housing for those who have no houses? No!!! But that question lingers for a statue.Its here the old debate topic of Gujarat vs Kerala Model comes up.A popular cartoon getting viral in Kerala explaining the difference of model between Gujarat and KeralaI am definitely not against the mammoth project like Statue of Unity. Rather I, just like any other urban middle-class person, would love to visit and enjoy the place thus adding a value to the tourism of Gujarat as well as offering a respect to such a great personality. Our family has a relationship with VP Menon, the lieutenant of Sardar Patel in the integration of India and we still have the below photograph at our homeSardar Vallabhbhai Patel with Cochin Maharaja- H.H Pariksht Thampuran and State’s Secretary- VP Menon at Cochin Hill Palace to sign Instrument of Accession of Cochin into Indian Union. Cochin was the first Kingdom in India to voluntary offer accession into India and was a staunch supporter of Patel’s dream of unified India.So since my childhood, I had heard a lot of Sardar Patel as well as VP Menon’s hard work in unifying 562 Princely states that form much of Modern India.Naturally, for a proud Malayalee Indian, it's definitely great to see such a man being honored for well before the world.But my opinion is that it must not be at cost of much larger society. Even Patel dreamt for such an India which should prioritize on basic needs of society than show-offs.And that sums up my views on the Statue vs Govt expenditure on it.

The NortheastWhat do you think of when you picture the Northeast Region of the United States? Perhaps it is the major cities like New York City, Washington DC, and Boston. Perhaps what comes to mind are one of the amazing natural wonders like Niagara Falls or the 1000 Islands in upstate New York. In fact; there is an incredible variety of people and places in this region. Having been to almost all 50 states and multiple countries in Europe and Africa, I will still say that the northeastern United States is by far one of the most unique and beautiful places to have the privilege of being born and living. No place else in America or even the world has such an immensely dense and infinite variety than the sacred stretch of Megalopolis – from D.C. to Boston. And smack-dab right in the center of all that action is still what I believe, after all of my immense traveling, America’s greatest city, the birthplace of liberty and the country itself: Philadelphia. Where else can you have breakfast in Washington and dinner in Manhattan? Where else do you have six major cities at your fingertips, beautiful countryside, spacious mountain ranges and (I don’t care what anyone says) some of the most beautiful and unique beaches. You may think of the miles of beautiful beaches like those on Cape Cod or on Long Island or the Jersey Shore. Maybe even the great beaches on Lake Ontario or Lake Erie.New York City and Boston have been considered the two leading cities of the East Coast for as long as anyone can remember. They serve as two shining beacons of America. Boston is recognized as one of the oldest and most colonial cities in America, given its Revolutionary-Era roots. NYC, on the other hand, has served as the city of hope and freedom that attracted millions to Ellis Island in hopes of achieving the American Dream. While they are often compared given their geographical location, the two are vastly different. Not to mention, the sports rivalry between the two of them is uncanny (the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, the Giants vs. the Patriots). For example in Boston, Red lights are merely suggestions, it's perfectly legal to make an U-turn in the middle of the street without warning, and there are many one-way streets that make it impossible to find your way around unless you really know where you're going.There has been a rivalry between Boston and New York since revolutionary times and these days that extends to big times sports. Boston is first in the USA for education while NYC is second. Boston - The Cradle of Liberty, or The Athens of America. Manhattan – The performing arts and the walking 24 X 7 city, filled with bars, restaurants, corporate headquarters. Bars, yes, we know NYC bars close at 4am, whereas ours shut down around 1:45am. Well, here's a little known fact: nothing good has EVER happened between the hours of 2-4a in a bar. I think, when the Puritans created those blue laws, they were actually just trying to save us from getting in bar fights and sexing extremely mediocre-looking people.NYC has the Jersey Shore with Bruce Springsteen and all those seedy water front dance clubs, and the Hampton's, where rich cheesy people literally build giant mansions and nightclubs out by the ocean just to replicate their city experience. But Boston has got Cape Cod, which is shaped like a salty, storm-weathered strongman flexing his nautically tattooed biceps, as well as the rich man's Cape Cod (Nantucket). Boston is cultured too, New York may have all those high-priced hookers who call themselves weird nicknames, but Boston has those sweet young things who just mumble adorably unintelligible things and use sweet, food-related sports metaphors, such as: “Much like a cookie, I predict the Yankees’ dynasty will crumble, and the results will be delicious for Red Sox fans.I worked for Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) in Manhattan whose corporate headquarters were in Maynard, and lived in both worlds; As a member of the NYC management team, I traveled to Boston every week, sometimes several times a week. First it was the Eastern Shuttle out of LaGuardia into Logan, then a drive through the Callaghan Tunnel onto interstate 95, past Framingham and out to Maynard; soon DEC provided a helicopter service from Logan to Maynard and all its MA facilities, which I flew on hundreds of times.There were also months attending various schools in Maynard, engineering meetings in Parker Street, and I stayed at the Park Plaza hotel in downtown Boston for four months while checking out a triple deck PDP 11 system in the Maynard Mill for Bradford computers that was going to replace the Daily News paper presses with image and data entry processing on east 42nd street in NYC. Then there were the endless recruiting trips to Westfield, Westminster and Springfield plants to hire engineers for NYC, lots of customer meetings, product line sales schools, going to the Harvard Business School, meetings with the Corporate staff and Operations Committee when I managed the NY Strategic Account Program and Telephony accounts like NYNEX / ATT/ Bell Atlantic, ball games at Fenway, USA and regional sales meetings in Boston at the Prudential Center, Cambridge, Stow and etc., etc. I even toured Boston Harbor, the USS Constitution and USS Massachusetts which are moored there. There were literally hundreds of meetings and schools for more than 20 years, I practically lived in Boston and I loved the city.Overall, Boston is a very open minded and progressive city full of opportunities. At first, the vibe seems a little 'rough' if you do not come from a critical thinking highly educated city-life background, but you will quickly learn that once you get to know people, they seem more genuine than most. There are huge numbers of twenty-something's and businesses that cater to them. The area is much more liberal then the rest of the country. Boston and the Rt. 128 corridors are high tech centers of the USA. There are a lot of computer companies, biotech businesses and information technology professionals.Basic Northeast Region US State FactsThe Northeast is the wealthiest, most populated and educated, economically and socially diverse and expensive region in the USA.All 11 states in this region were part of original thirteen British colonies before the US won it's independence in the American Revolution. What are now Vermont and Maine were actually part of other colonies before the Revolution.The 11 states that make up the US Northeast Region are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.Six of the states in this region are collectively called the "New England States". They are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.The Northeast states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania are often referred to as the Middle Atlantic States.Washington D.C., which is not a US state, is also considered part of the Northeast region.The climate of the Northeast varies by season. Winters are often extremely cold; especially in the northern most states such as Maine. The regions summers are generally warm and humid.Gettysburg Battlefield - Located in Gettysburg Pennsylvania this was the sight of the biggest battle of the American Civil War.New York City, which is located in the Northeast, has the highest population of any city in the US; its population exceeds that of most states.The Northeast states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island are the only US states where the number of Catholics is more than the number of Protestants and other Christian religions. This is due to the huge number of Catholic immigrants arriving from such predominantly Catholic European countries as Ireland and Italy in the late 1800s.I also loved New York City which I counted as my first home and Boston as my second. Two different cities, each with its own attributes, e.g., New York City is crazy while Boston is Old School. There's always so much to do in the city, but Boston is really a lazy man's walk around town. It doesn't have the fire and brimstone of Manhattan. Boston is just a nice city to sit down and take a rest on one of the benches in Boston Common. The park isn't huge but it has everything you need for a break from the busyness of the city. Think Central Park - just on a smaller scale. There are great children's playgrounds, public restrooms, a frog pond, baseball diamonds, places to walk the dog etc. We even saw one woman feeding squirrels and she had named all of them. It seemed like she feeds them daily. Enjoy the uniqueness and people watching!I think back to living in the Northeast for 40 years (3 in New York City, 7 years in New Jersey, and 30 years in upstate New York). I also spent years in Boston going to Harvard, visiting my corporate headquarters, New Hampshire office parks, Washington DC regional offices and Philadelphia district offices.I got my start in NYC in the 1950s when I was in Norfolk in the Navy spending many weekend liberties in Manhattan. For a sailor from Milwaukee stationed in the segregated and dismal 1950s south, Times Square was an euphoria of delight, a paradigm of exoticness coupled with the world's diversity of peoples and life styles all wrapped in one package. During our annual 'Fleet Week' when my Battle Group visited New York City and my Destroyer anchored in the Hudson by the George Washington Bridge, I stood Military Police in Times Square before we were deployed to the Med for six to eight months. Compared to dismal Norfolk, Manhattan was like comparing Paris to Calcutta.To me the Navy was high seas adventure and world travel with a bunch of rough neck sailors, and living in Virginia was existing in a racially segregated, primitive social environment with uneducated Good Ole Boys and nothing to do (except hunt and fish), and working in Manhattan, a delight with millions of things to do and with whomever you wanted to socialize within a setting of educated and high achieving international individuals.Southern culture is based on ultra conservative REPUBLICAN beliefs and evangelical religious practices that justifies all sorts of evil transgressions and refutes evolution, global warming, cosmology, modernity and the genome of DNA. And I will never understand the southern obsession with guns, it just doesn't square with biblical teaching. The south is an intolerant society that is loaded with fears of diversity and modernity. They try to keep things the same, and between political gerrymandering, voter suppression of minorities, constant messaging from conservative and religious ideologues, there are very few mechanisms for getting another opinion much less the truth. It's so bad that there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t see some conservative going on and on about how the Republican party is the party of “good Christian values” and everyone else (specifically liberals) is waging some kind of war on religion.Northern culture is very different from the Southern Culture. Did I say Northern culture? No such thing! Northern society is way too varied to have a singular culture. "The North" is kind of a default concept created by Southerners. They define it as "any place but the South." The north is really at least two separate regions, the Northeast and the Midwest. The culture of Grand Rapids Michigan is completely alien to someone living in Boston, Ma. In fact a thick New England accent may be tough for someone in the Midwest to even understand. The values of the two regions are different, as are the ethnic makeup's of them. The northeast is far more urban, far more politically liberal, while the Midwest is slower and less densely populated, it's considered traditional America. It is funny that southerners do not see this fact, as they are constantly lumping all northerners together as if they share a common culture.There were actually thousands of delights, with tens of thousands of people walking about, and no question about it, the best girl watching in the world was available in Manhattan - particularly in midtown along its many avenues, lined with skyscrapers, building ledges and street cafes to sit around.A particularly good area was in the fifties on Sixth Avenues where many water fountains abounded and granite veranda patios filled with tables, chairs and sitting ledges. Whatever your fancy, blond, brunette, redhead, Asian, White, or Black, the woman of you dreams would pass by every five minutes - or oftener! The beautiful people of the world came to Manhattan for fame, fortune, and excitement. Careers in show business and the business world topped the list as reasons so many bright and attractive people moved to Manhattan. And for some like me, it was for freedom!Then in 1968 I moved to NYC for the time of my life. After living in Manhattan for six months, I found that moving North was like enlisting in the French Foreign Legion, I was starting my life over and everything ugly was left behind me, I could forget the South’s racism and social restrictions and now live and think free. New York had immense pleasurable intensity, there was a tremendous social and intellectual difference between Southern and Manhattan cultures, the South was a primitive society and in a state of social anarchy because of its racist polices, while in the North there were personal freedoms regardless of race and thousands of things to do. After living in Virginia for ten years, where terrible social evils existed and no one thought there was anything wrong with them, where the pace was slow and Saturday night could only be spent at the local segregated social club with white people, in New York City I found thousands of nightly opportunities you could share with anyone, in every venue possible, and with thrilling life styles adding energy. I also learned that New Yorkers have a great attitude, they do NOT let ANYTHING defeat them, get in their way, or bring them down. No question about it, I lived a better life in Manhattan, working and living here provided me with personal freedom and intellectual vigor for the first time in 10 years.The upstate area is full of lakes, rivers and reservoirs available for fishing and hunting. You are close to the mountains and deep woods so you can escape modern life for an afternoon, go fishing or hunting, and be back in the evening at the local diner for food. I could go on and on. From our front yard you can see the Shawungunk Mountains. They are beautiful and I can see living in Upstate New York biggest bonuses, every morning, afternoon, and night the surrounding mountains and waters never look the same. Different light, weather, time of year, it's always beautiful. And it’s nice for being in the 'burbs but still close enough to commute to Manhattan for work and got out for nights on the town.So what is it about Manhattan? It’s a pain to get to, what with trains, buses, and subways commuting jamming people together in cattle like conditions. So it’s not privacy or having your personal space sanctified with charming Southern social mores. No, you are just a piece old meat struggling to survive the commute and streets; then you get to work and around people from all over the world, educated and talented, people you can learn from and business challenges you grow from to advance your career. Manhattan is the commercial, banking, media, performing arts, advertising, and Fortune 500 capital of the world and the office buildings are full of the movers and shakers who make the world turn. Now you see the bold and the beautiful, the famous and discover they are just like you, scared of the notoriety and needing a small space to hide in. That is the biggest lesson you learn in Manhattan that we are not so different, all the races, colors, ethnicities and religions types are so much the same.I performed the obligatory Staten Island Ferry ride and then caught the subway to Clark St Brooklyn, as advised by others, to walk toward the Manhattan skyline across the Brooklyn bridge after getting a slice from Grimaldi's Pizza. On any given day visitors from all over the world stream across the walkways to spy the towers of Manhattan and Lady Liberty from high above the East River. The melting pot begins here. Visitors should know that the rather narrow walkway is shared with a large number of bicycle commuters so keep your eyes open and respect the dividing line. I would highly recommend walking from the Brooklyn side because then you have the beautiful Manhattan skyline to look at on your walk.

I recently completed my first Kickstarter campaign and I am happy to report it was a success. There are a few tips and tricks that I wish I would have known or emphasized from the beginning so I will jump right in with five points:Plan it all out before hand and get a good idea of your project timeline (prep, launch date, and campaign end date). Kickstarter must approve your campaign before it launches so give yourself a few flex days depending on your topic (i.e. Tech projects can take up to 4 days to approve because of the volume of submissions). Also, if you are hoping to get the money straight into your pocket or as soon as the campaign ends do your homework--Kickstarter just switched to Stripe so I don't know how quickly the payments process but keep in mind that your pledges might need some time to process after your campaign ends. If it is the same as Amazon payments you can expect to wait an additional 14 days from the date your campaign ended to collect the funds.Create the best campaign page possible. These campaigns generally look like a bell curve: donations come in for the first leg, drop low in the middle, and spike again just before it ends. You are going to be middle of your campaign and thinking "we got one donation for $5 today--how on earth are we going to pull this off?" The last thing you need to do is doubt yourself. Spend energy on the things you can control--always.Make a video that you yourself are going to enjoy watching 150 times--because you will. Tell a story that you would be happy sharing with the most random ass person on your Facebook friend list--because they are going to watch it, donate, and share on their wall. After all--you want them to! Include as much content as you see fit to paint a clear picture of your product, what you would do with the money, what you would do with X amount of extra money (your reach goals) and answer any questions before they are presented. Tip: link your Kickstarter campaign page to a http://bit.ly account right away so you can get an idea of who is clicking on your page and when.Make it personal. We saw a lot of traffic coming from our Facebook company page but it wasn't until the last week that I realized we could bring in 10x more traffic by posting personal pleas from our own Facebook pages. I know, I know--this should have been obvious from the beginning but my days of posting status updates were so far behind me. One day, towards the end of the campaign, I decided to get off my soap box with the same "donate $25/$75/$100 to our Kickstarter for this cool incentive..." and I simply divided the remaining amount of money I needed by the number of Facebook friends I had. I wrote a really sincere post stating: "I will be fully funded and able to create jobs and opportunities for folks around the world if all of my Facebook friends give me $2.51! (That's less than a single ride on the NYC subway!) So, in all seriousness, if you donate $2.51 between now and Tuesday I will send you a postcard or letter from New York City to let you know how much I appreciate you. I might even include some of my favorite stationary or a little piece of my travels to show you how beautiful friendship really is. :)" This paragraph lead to a stream of donations that I am still so thankful for. Donating to every campaign on social media can get expensive--not to mention they get white washed with all of the other things that cloud our feed. But when your friends read a post that says "look, all I need is $2.51 to do this AMAZING thing and you can be apart of my story" they won't be able to look away. Make it personal and most importantly--make it inclusive. A good majority of people don't have money to give away, but they do want to help. Make it approachable and accessible on all levels, monetarily or even asking them to share with somebody else who might find the campaign interesting.Introduce your brand. It was tough for us to ask for donations for a website that wasn't even built yet but we looked at this as an opportunity to introduce ourselves as cofounders and better yet--introduce our company. The monetary gain of these campaigns are great, there is no doubt that we are all signing up for that. The real value here is in the partnerships, the introductions, and the opportunities we create to present ourselves for the first time. Which pairs perfectly with my next point...Create. Start from the ground up. You are your brand. Create your own narrative and include relevant pictures about your process. Let your audience know how you met your business partner through pictures or share a story about how you met the only other person in the room who had the desire to make a product as fascinating as yours. Flesh out all of the other stories you can possibly share and use this as your content instead of the same "click this link and gimme money" gimmick. Show how creative you can be. There will be times when you are like, "oh, should I write that? Does that sound weird?" Try it out. Test yourself. Bounce ideas off someone you enjoy getting feedback from.I will never forget chatting to a stranger turned friend who heard of my campaign and said: "Oh, I was going to donate to that but I didn't know if it was 'a thing'." My response: "A THING? HELL YES IT IS A THING!"Kickstarter has taught the world that the sky is the limit--now go out there and land somewhere!Let me know how it goes or if you want to bounce an idea off me: [email protected] can also view my project by searching Avennu on Kickstarter.