Online marketplace system and method

Abstract

A computerized online marketplace that facilitates the acquisition of funding and services for the development and operation of an online business. It provides a variety of investment opportunities for investors and facilitates an entrepreneur's acquisition of capital as well as skills and services needed to start an online business. Possible investment channels for potential investors comprise: money; skills; and services. Investors are awarded investment points for monetary and non-monetary investments and are compensated according to their points. Monetary compensation is awarded periodically to investors according to their rank in relation to the respective investor base of a given business entity. Businesses are hosted at the online marketplace and all aspects of investment and operations are managed through the marketplace thereby facilitating interactions between all parties involved in business initiation, development and operation, including customers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computerized method for initiating and executing a collaborative project comprising:
 at a computer server:   (A) initiating a collaborative project proxy at an online site corresponding to said collaborative project;   (B) creating for said collaborative project proxy a policy set comprising:
 (1) a description of said collaborative project; 
 (2) a plurality of permissible contribution type actions for facilitating online site subscriber contributions; 
 (3) a mapping of investment points to each of said plurality of contribution type actions for allotting investment points to subscribers according to their contribution type actions; 
 (4) a set of rules governing said investment point allotment to subscribers; 
 (5) a definition of compensation to said subscribers against their respective investment points earned in relation to their contribution type actions; 
 (6) a settlement cycle definition describing conditions for executing an investment point settlement algorithm to compensate said subscribers; and 
 (7) a set of parameters to said investment point settlement algorithm; 
   (C) receiving from each of a plurality of subscribers a commitment to contribute or invest in said collaborative project proxy, each commitment comprising at least:
 (1) an contribution type action; or 
 (2) an investment amount; 
   (D) allotting investment points to each of said subscribers as defined in said policy set for said subscriber's contribution type actions or investment amount; and   (E) at completion of each settlement cycle, executing said investment point settlement algorithm with said parameters to calculate for each subscriber a monetary equivalent to subscriber's investment points.   
     
     
         2 . The computerized method of  claim 1  wherein said collaborative project is selected from the group consisting of:
 (1) an open source technology; 
 (2) a licensed product; 
 (3) a privately owned design implementation; 
 (4) a research topic; 
 (5) a technology specification; 
 (6) an industry specification; 
 (7) an engineering specification; and 
 (8) a collaborative initiative that operates in connection with subscriber contributed content, data, and information. 
 
     
     
         3 . The computerized method of  claim 1  wherein said plurality of contribution type actions are selected from the group consisting of:
 equity investments types and proxy equity investment types. 
 
     
     
         4 . The computerized method of  claim 3  wherein said contribution type actions are selected from the group consisting of:
 direct monetary investments and indirect monetary investments. 
 
     
     
         5 . The computerized method of  claim 4  wherein said indirect monetary investments comprise skill based services provided to said collaborative project proxy resulting in equity stakes in said collaborative project proxy. 
     
     
         6 . The computerized method of  claim 1  wherein receiving from a plurality of subscribers a commitment to invest in said collaborative project proxy comprises receiving a commitment to invest prior to initiation of said collaborative project proxy. 
     
     
         7 . The computerized method of  claim 1  wherein said collaborative project proxy is selected from the group consisting of:
 (1) projects that are fully online; 
 (2) projects that operate partly online; and 
 (3) projects that do not operate online. 
 
     
     
         8 . The computerized method of  claim 1  wherein said parameters comprise:
 (1) neighborhood performance index parameters; 
 (2) dynamid parameters; 
 (3) macro-level justification parameters; 
 (4) micro-level justification parameters; and 
 (5) a penalty rule set to compare transformed neighborhood performance index values and to calculate penalties. 
 
     
     
         9 . The computerized method of  claim 8  wherein executing said investment point settlement algorithm with said neighborhood performance index comprises deriving said subscriber's micro-level investment point performance in the defined neighborhood. 
     
     
         10 . The computerized method of  claim 1  wherein said subscribers are selected from the group consisting of:
 (1) an investor or a proxy investor who is an individual; 
 (2) an investor or a proxy investor who is a business proxy; and 
 (3) an investor or a proxy investor who is a project proxy. 
 
     
     
         11 . A computerized system for initiating and executing a collaborative project comprising:
 a computer server executing instructions to:
 (A) initiate a collaborative project proxy at an online site corresponding to said collaborative project; 
 (B) create for said collaborative project proxy a policy set comprising:
 (1) a description of said collaborative project; 
 (2) a plurality of permissible contribution type actions for facilitating online site subscriber contributions; 
 (3) a mapping of investment points to each of said plurality of contribution types for allotting investment points to subscribers according to their contribution type actions; 
 (4) a set of rules governing said investment point allotment to subscribers; 
 (5) a definition of compensation to said subscribers against their respective investment points earned in relation to their contribution type actions; 
 (6) a settlement cycle definition describing conditions for executing an investment point settlement algorithm to compensate said subscribers; and 
 (7) a set of parameters to said investment point settlement algorithm; 
 
 (C) allot investment points to each of a plurality of subscribers as defined in said policy set for said subscriber's contribution type actions or investment amount; and 
 (D) at completion of each settlement cycle, execute said investment point settlement algorithm with said parameters to calculate for each subscriber a monetary equivalent to subscriber's investment points; and 
 a plurality of subscribers computers for receiving at said computer server from each of said plurality of subscribers a commitment to contribute or invest in said collaborative project proxy, each commitment comprising at least: 
 (1) an contribution type action; or 
 (2) an investment amount. 
   
     
     
         12 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein said collaborative project is selected from the group consisting of:
 (1) an open source technology; 
 (2) a licensed product; 
 (3) a privately owned design implementation; 
 (4) a research topic; 
 (5) a technology specification; 
 (6) an industry specification; 
 (7) an engineering specification; and 
 (8) a collaborative initiative that operates in connection with subscriber contributed content, data and information. 
 
     
     
         13 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein said plurality of contribution type actions are selected from the group consisting of:
 equity investments types and proxy equity investment types. 
 
     
     
         14 . The computerized system of  claim 13  wherein said contribution type actions are selected from the group consisting of:
 direct monetary investments and indirect monetary investments. 
 
     
     
         15 . The computerized system of  claim 14  wherein said indirect monetary investments comprise skill based services provided to said collaborative project proxy resulting in equity stakes in said collaborative project proxy. 
     
     
         16 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein receiving from a plurality of subscribers a commitment to invest in said collaborative project proxy comprises receiving a commitment to invest prior to initiation of said collaborative project proxy. 
     
     
         17 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein said collaborative project proxy is selected from the group consisting of:
 (1) projects that are fully online; 
 (2) projects that operate partly online; and 
 (3) projects that do not operate online. 
 
     
     
         18 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein said parameters comprise:
 (1) neighborhood performance index parameters; 
 (2) dynamid parameters; 
 (3) macro-level justification parameters; 
 (4) micro-level justification parameters; and 
 (5) a penalty rule set to compare transformed neighborhood performance index values and to calculate penalties. 
 
     
     
         19 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein computer server executing said investment point settlement algorithm with said neighborhood performance index comprises deriving said subscribers micro-level investment point performance in the defined neighborhood. 
     
     
         20 . The computerized system of  claim 11  wherein said subscribers are selected from the group consisting of:
 (1) an investor or a proxy investor who is an individual; 
 (2) an investor or a proxy investor who is a business proxy; and 
 (3) an investor or a proxy investor who is a project proxy.