1. A journey from Egg to
Zopa to Green Thing
James Alexander
Thursday 20th November 2008

2. A journey from Egg
to Zopa

3. Consumers are changing
g g
“… The consumer
revolution of the last 30
years is giving way to the
Freeform Revolution of
the next 30 …”…

4. We have been here before
Turning
TECHNOLOGY INSTALLATION Point DEPLOYMENT
REVOLUTION ERUPTION FRENZY GOLDEN AGE MATURITY
1st ‘Industrial
Revolution’ Canal
Panic
1797 1825
1771 mania 1819
1793 1810
2nd Age of Steam
& Railways 1836
Panic
Railway 1847 1866 1873
1829 mania 1857
Revolutions1848
1890
3rd Age of Steel, Electricity
& Heavy Engineering The “Great Argentina
1903
USA 1920
1875 Depression” (Baring) 1907
USA “Rich man’s
1893 panic”
panic
4th Age of Oil, Automobiles
& Mass Production
1929 1930s
1974
1920* USA stock and 1960
1908 mania “Oil crisis”
WWII
5th Age of Information
& Telecommunications
1987 1997
Asia 2005
& sustainable living in 1971 1974*
“Oil crisis”
1989
Collapse 2000 ? eBay20??
a resource constrained world 2 nd World NASDAQ
Source: Adapted and developed from Carlota Perez ‘Technological
Revolutions and Financial Capital – the Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden
Ages’

5. Freeform companies, enabled by technology are
transforming industries
Turning
TECHNOLOGY INSTALLATION Point DEPLOYMENT
REVOLUTION ERUPTION FRENZY GOLDEN AGE MATURITY
5th Age of Information
& Telecommunications
1987 1997
Asia
2005
Amazon 20??
1971 1974*
“Oil crisis”
1989
Collapse 2000 ? eBay
NASDAQ Google
2 World
nd W ld
2000 2005 2010
P2P Payments P2P Voice P2P Video ? ?
P2P Trading P2P Social
Social Networks
? ?
Personalised
P2P Finance
Search P2P Info P2P Photos
eBay f things …
for iTunes f music …
for Zopa f money
for

6. The online marketplace where people
meet to lend and borrow money
With no bank in the middle, both parties get better rates
Borrowers Lenders
• Low, low rates • Great Returns
• No banks • It’s human
• It’s fair • It’s safe
• You’re in control
Lenders receiving a c.30% better return than base rate; Borrowers borrowing c.30% below the market

7. Financial return and social reward
Working, differentiated, compelling
• Launched in the UK March 200
2005
• >200,000 members
• Borrowers getting the cheapest
loans in the country
y
• Lender returns 7-11%
• <0.2% defaults
• Launched & closed (!) th US
L h d l d the
• Launched in Italy
• JV in Japan

8. Control, community, transparency and
ethicality key for value and trust
Openness
“No other financial site that I have
is highly
visited has the guts to run a discussion
valued board and take it on the chin.
b d dt k th hi
That makes me feel like I am part of a
Users feel community and seems to trigger a sense of
y gg
valued belonging. With belonging comes pride and
and passion.
committe
d
When I tell my friends about Zopa I feel hurt
Users by any negative comments they make as
become though the site was my own, and for that
champions reason it gets me all wound up when I see
of Zopa even the tiniest glitches on the site”
Mosshill, Zopa lender (Oct 18 2006, 09:17 AM)

9. An evolving model
More involving, more viral

10. An evolving model
A derivative in the US

11. Social Finance is already g
y global
Expect proliferation, niches developing, consolidation

12. A few things I learnt
• Great groups of committed
people can achieve amazing
g
things
• Get really clear on your insights
• Creativity comes from
everywhere - liberate people’s
talent
• Always do the right thing - “be”
your vision and values
• Ask for “Help”
p

13. From Zopa to Green Thing

14. James bird pic
p

16. …a 3°C rise would cause
40% of all species to
become extinct

18. Virtually universal awareness
Awareness =
100%
Global warming
Ozone hole (CFCs)
Climate change
Human Volcano
Acid rain ?
The Greenhouse Effect ?
Sir Stuart Rose
?
?
?
?
Sir Nicolas Stern
James Hansen
?
? ?
Gilbert
Svante Arrenhius Al Gore
Reid Bryson
1908 1960 1980 2000 2008 e
Time

19. Inclined
28.62m
Occasional
10.54m Committed
9.68m
Non
5.01m
Source: Defra, TGI, 2007

21. EARLY ADOPTERS/ EARLY LATE
INNOVATORS MAJORITY MAJORITY LAGGARDS
Positive Conveniently Onlookers
Vocal Activists Choosers Conscious 26%
4% 31% 35%
• Concerned and active
• Vocalise discontent • Only partially concerned
• Aware and guilty about • Aware of environmental about ethical and
lifestyle change and ethical environmental issues
• Boycotts ‘bad’ issues but not really • Not particularly desiring
companies interested
Principled • Do not complain vocally • Endorses penalties for
to live ethically, or doing
the easy activities
Pioneers • Supports local non-green actions by
community companies
4% • Do ‘easy’ things like
reducing water use
• The most committed to
green issues
INCREASING ETHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN AND ENGAGEMENT
Source: HenleyCentre HeadlightVision Planning for Consumer Change 2007

28. 80% of respondents across 15 developed nations
would prefer working for a company that “has a good
reputation for environmental responsibility
responsibility”
Ipsos Mori

31. We have been here before
Turning
TECHNOLOGY INSTALLATION Point DEPLOYMENT
REVOLUTION ERUPTION FRENZY GOLDEN AGE MATURITY
1st ‘Industrial
Revolution’ Canal
Panic
1797 1825
1771 mania 1819
1793 1810
2nd Age of Steam
& Railways 1836
Panic
Railway 1847 1866 1873
1829 mania 1857
Revolutions1848
1890
3rd Age of Steel, Electricity
& Heavy Engineering The “Great Argentina
1903
USA 1920
1875 Depression” (Baring) 1907
USA “Rich man’s
1893 panic
panic”
4th Age of Oil, Automobiles
& Mass Production
1929 1930s
1974
1920* USA stock and 1960
1908 mania “Oil crisis”
WWII
5th Age of Information
& Telecommunications
1987 1997
Asia 2005
& sustainable living in 1971 1974*
“Oil crisis”
1989
Collapse 2000 ? 20
eBay ??
a resource constrained world 2 nd World NASDAQ
Source: Adapted and developed from Carlota Perez ‘Technological
Revolutions and Financial Capital – the Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden
Ages’

32. Sustainable living = the new common sense?
Technology ‘Common-sense’ innovation principles
revolution
FIRST Factory production & mechanisation
‘Industrial Productivity / time keeping
Revolution’ Fluidity of movement - local networks
SECOND Standard parts / machine made machines
machine-made
Age of Steam Scale = progress - energy is available where needed
& Railways Interdependent movement - agglomeration / industrial cities / national markets
THIRD Giant structures - universal standardisation - science as a productive force
Age of Steel, Electricity & Economies of scale of plant / vertical integration
Heavy Engineering Worldwide networks and empires - great scale for world market power
FOURTH Mass production / mass markets / product standardisation / horizontal integration
Age of Oil
Oil, Energy intensity (oil based) & synthetic materials
Automobiles & Functional specialisation / hierarchical pyramids
Mass Production Centralisation / metropolitan centres & suburbs
National powers, world agreements and confrontations
FIFTH Information-intensity / instant contact & action / instant global communications
Age of Information & Knowledge as capital / intangible value added
Telecommunications Network structures / segmentation of markets / proliferation of niches / clusters
Heterogeneity, diversity, adaptability
Economies of scope & specialisation combined with scale
Globalisation / interaction between the global and the local
Source: Carlota Perez ‘Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital – the Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages’

34. “… There is a growing business imperative about sustainable
development, for two reasons: customers expect it and companies
that do not pay attention to what their customers expect will suffer.
S
Secondly, th
dl there are b i t iti
business opportunities out th
t there f BT which mean
for hi h
that we can both do good and be profitable. I think our work
on teleconferencing is an example of where something that accelerates
sustainable development is also one of our fastest growing businesses.
That changes and accelerates the interest of even the most commercially
minded of boards …
…”
“… I think it is a permanently rising curve in expectation, not necessarily
legislation. Certainly, our customers and our staff expect more of the
company today than they did 20 years ago Ten years ago it was not that
ago.
high up the agenda of most companies, now everyone knows what you are
talking about. Not only that, but I think the days of paying lip
service t it are over. Pressure to perform, both internally generated
i to
and external, will increase. Our customers and our staff expect more of the
company today than they did 20 years ago …”
Sir Christopher Bland, Chairman, BT (2007)

35. Transparency = credibility

36. Sustainable Development - “from business risk
to business opportunity”
opportunity

37. £200m,
£200m 100 point eco-plan
point, eco plan
Plan A
Because there
is no Plan B

38. What is Plan A?
• By 2012 all our operations in UK & Ireland
will be carbon neutral
• 35,000 product lines
• By 2012 we will send no waste to landfill
• 2,000 factories, over
20,000 farms and
• We will ensure key raw materials come
250,000 workers
from the most sustainable sources possible
around the world
• 70,000 employees, and
• We will be a fair partner and help you make
a difference to livelihoods and communities the 16 million people
locally and across the world who visit our stores
every week
• We will help customers and employees live
a healthier lifestyle

40. Turning staff into champions
• Over 500 Plan
A champions
• Engagement
innovation
• Unexpected,
valuable
consequences

41. Make it easy for customers to do the
right thing
• Plastic bags
• Impact awareness is low
• Suspicious of talk about being
‘green’
green
• Often confused about
sustainable options
• Not willing to change unless
g g
easy

42. Engaging customers
• Better….and
Better and
greener
• Stylish design…
and saves energy
• Great tasting…
and healthy
• Simple messages

44. A few things I learnt
• Sustainability is mandatory
• Sustainability Requires
• Leadership p
• Clear point of view
• Coherent plan
• Engagement
• Transparency
• It’s a journey:
• A more sustainable
organisation
g
• Enhanced growth and
profitability
• Innovation in a resource
constrained world

46. Stick With What You Got
Easy On The Meat
E O Th M t
Human Heat
All-Consuming
Plug Out
Stay Grounded
Walk The Walk

49. to help as many people as possible
p yp p p
in as many countries as possible
to do the green thing

50. and use people power
to get government and business
to do the green thing too
g g

51. Environmental advisors
Satish Kumar, founder and editor of Resurgence magazine
Alex Steffen, co-founder and executive editor of WorldChanging.com
Dr. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Prizewinner and tree-planter extraordinaire
g , p
Cathy Zoi, chief executive officer of Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection
G M h ll h d Information N t
ti director f Cli t Outreach and I f
George Marshall, executive di t of Climate O t ti Network
k
Jules Peck, Quality of Life Policy Group director
Robert Webb, founder and managing director of XCO2 and Quiet Revolution
Anthony Turner, founder and managing director of Carbon Sense
Ed Gillespie, co-founder and creative director of sustainability consultancy Futerra

52. $0 on marketing … >2.1m content views … 171 countries …
>4,000,000
>4 000 000 Kg CO2 saved … 44k stories … presented at TED …
presented to the APPCCG … Green Thing Trust a registered charity

53. “ Never d bt th t a small group of
“… N doubt that ll f
thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has …”
Margaret Mead

54. A journey from Egg to
Zopa to Green Thing
p g
Thank you. Feel free to get in touch:
James Alexander
Jamesalexander1969@mac.com
+44 7957 209670