Life is great.  Things are moving quickly, and I’d like to update everyone on where stuff is going.

Firstly, I married a great lady on August 29th on a 4,200 acre ranch in northern Virginia.  If you haven’t met Sarita yet, just take my word for it.  She’s perfect for me.

Secondly, I moved back to Gulu, Uganda to do some stuff here while Sarita continues her work with war-affected girls.  Lately, I’ve been teaching some business classes to the local peeps, starting a pineapple farm and doing some internet consulting for a company in the US.

Thirdly, Sarita and I have rented a house for 800,000 Shillings/mo ($400).  This is not easy in Gulu where NGOs inflate the housing prices to levels rivaling the US.

Fourthly, I have secured a device that delivers internet via MTN cell phone connection.  Its slow, but I can def use when creative inspiration strikes in the middle of the night — which tends to happen to me:)

Fifthly, I’ve rented a 100cc Bajaj motorbike for 40,000 Shillings/wk ($20).  Now, I’m mobile baby and things have been getting weird.

Next, I’ll write more about a few adventures I’ve had lately — drunk elephants, vehicle breakdown in the bush and other life-threatening situations.

Today I read about some controversy around President Museveni’s “investments”.  I think Mr. Museveni is just a little misunderstood, and I’m here to defend him.

I feel you, dog

Come on.  Everybody knows that lobbying the other countries for debt forgiveness and foreign aid is a thankless job.  But hey, somebody’s gotta do it.  And President Museveni does it every day without ever asking for anything.*

*Note: Except the basics.

Strategy: Impress the pants off of ‘em

Look, he is asking Britan for $1.07 billion in aid.  What better way to close the deal than to roll up in a brand new $36 million Gulfstream V jet. I mean, the British PM Gordie Brown goes commercial when he travels to Uganda – what a sucker.  Perhaps the Gulfstream actually could impress him into sending aid.

Ah ha!  You have the cunning of a jungle cat, Mr. Museveni.  I like it.  It makes total sense: spend lavishly to show them how much you really need the money.  You are a genius.

Faking it until he makes it

Which is why I also fully support other recent key investment initiatives like:

• $121 million to host the Commonwealth Heads of Govt Meeting in 2007
• $41 million to refurbish the Presidential Palace in 2007

Its only a $200 million request in total – just 0.3% of Uganda’s GDP (is that a lot?).

You are a visionary.  Its true that 1/3 of your country lives on less than $1/day.  But ya gotta spend money to make money in this high stakes game of international aid. Everybody knows that, right?

Good luck, sir.

Taking a break today to catch up on some blogging.  More new stuff tomorrow.

I’ve spent the day working at Luxury Computers of Gulu and hanging out at Kope Cafe – talking to the random muzungus that cycle through.  After an hour of talking with different people about their organization, mission, next steps, blah, blah, I realized something.  Many of these groups are doing almost the same thing and they don’t cooperate at all.

If I’m starting a company, then I have to know my space.  Who’s in it, how am I different, can we partner.  If I don’t know this, then my company will likely fail.

NGOs don’t appear to have these motivations.

Why?  Why don’t they seek out everyone who’s doing similar activities, pool resources, and achieve a greater outcome?

• Is it just too hard to keep up on what everyone else is doing?
• Is there an information sharing product needed here?
• Is it because of differing religious beliefs?

I need to look into this more, but it just seems a little weird to me.

Juba Road

Today, my friend and I headed north on “Juba Road” to the Awer IDP (internally displaced people) Camp.  Sudan imports most of its products from Uganda and Juba Road is the primary international trade route between Uganda and Sudan.

The NAFTA treaty was signed between Canada, US, Mexico when I was a teenager living in Houston.  This kicked off billions of dollars of infrastructure investment in roads.  Since Houston would be a major stop on this international trade route, Hwy 59 would become 6 paved lanes in each direction and become Hwy 69 aka the NAFTA Freeway.

You could imagine my disbelief.  The pic below captures perfectly the Juba Road experience.

Um, yeah. Trucks actually pass each other on this road...

Hollywood expectations

As we drove the bumpy 30 km to the camp, I began thinking about what I would see.  I thought it would be something out of the movies like the Constant Gardener or Blood Diamond.

• several hundred huts housing the thousands in the camp
• kids playing football in the field
• parents farming the rich soil on the outskirts of the camp
• NGOs driving though camp in nice white SUVs distributing food
• people lined up for free shots from volunteers in white lab coats

Ah, not so much…

Next stop Awer IDP Camp - you can see the huts in the distance

Awer IDP Camp

I was wrong.  My expectations were mostly wrong.  I saw no farming activity, no SUVs, no NGOs.  I was struck by this and asked about the camp’s leadership.  There didn’t appear to be any camp leader(s).  It was crazy, just a bunch of people 30 km from the nearest town – the middle of nowhere – hanging out with no real leadership, no business, no infrastructure, nothing.  Hmm…

So what is Awer really like?  I need to get out, walk around the camp and see things for myself.

The photo commentary that follows is limited because many adults have a fear of being photographed because they feel it may cause them to be targeted for violence.  So, most of my pics are of kids.

The first people we encountered were a group of nice ladies who were preparing food.  They were friends of my friends and they were keen to talk (through a translator – my Acholi isn’t, well doesn’t exist) about their work and their situation.

The rice may show up on trucks, but it still needs to be processed.

Of course I wanted to give it a try.  The women laughed and said that food preparation was woman’s work.  As if I couldn’t do it.  Well, my attempt was good for laugh and the quickest way to make new friends.

I won't make a sandwich in the US, but, in Uganda, I'll pound the heck out of some rice.

Density

When you take a bunch of people who are used to living with several hundred meters between huts, and compress them into the density of the camps without proper sewage infrastructure, disease is ineveitable.  You can’t just walk out of your hut and pee on the ground anymore because that affects your neighbor who’s hut is 5 meters away.

Liiiiiike a glove -- Ace Ventura

The US sends some supplies in sturdy aluminum containers.  This aluminum is turned into everything from musical shakers to doors (below).

Hanging out. These guys aren't really afraid of me.

Some of the kids aren’t used to interacting with white people.  I get it.  We’re weird.  Our skin is white and we have arm and leg hair (they don’t, really).  Can’t blame them for reacting that way.

This guy was terrified of me.

There it was.  In the middle of the foot path.  A tombstone for a lost loved one.

Amon Ventornia. Born 1908. Died 2-11-06.

Farm this stuff

I finally reached the south end of the camp.  Just look at all that fertile land.  Why isn’t anyone farming it?  What’s the deal here?

Should be acres of agriculture, as far as the eye can see.

Groups of interested kids waiting for us on the path back to camp.

What a great visit.  I look forward to coming back again soon.  There was so much that I wasn’t able to document on this trip.  I really want to learn more about the camp social dynamics.  When I do, I’ll report back.

This is the story of Uganda the way I understand it to be.  If you have things to add, please leave comments and I’ll update it.

The British are coming, the British are coming!

Uganda was colonized by the British in the 1890’s.  The two dominate and largest tribes in the area were the Lugandans (source of the name Uganda) in the south and the Acholi in the north.  The Brits gave governing duties to the Lugandan tribe and set up the Acholi tribe as the military force.

A house divided

As you might imagine, this division has deeply impacted Uganda’s development.  Resources are disproportionately allocated with heavy favoritism to the southern parts of Uganda.  Current President Museveni is of Lugandan heritage and that doesn’t hurt.  Kampala is a bustling city while 66% of the Acholi in the north live on less than USD $1/day.

In the north, a witch who had mysterious visions and believed she could not be killed by gunfire began amassing a rebel following of Acholi in the north.  There are several accounts (from both sides) of her walking calmly through the battle field between opposing gunfire.  She passed power in the rebel army to a man named Joseph Kony.

Unconventional warfare

Kony, a total savage, invented a thing called “child solidiers” whereby he would steal young children from the villages of his own people in northern Uganda and force them into military service.  There are accounts of children being given guns and commanded to kill their parents.  Or, two brothers being forced to kill one or have the rebels kill both of them.  Little girls were abducted and used to carry supplies and raped.  All of the children are subjected to drugs, brainwashed and desenctized into killing machines.  Just horrible.

The villagers requested help from the Ugandan governement.  The government simply lacked the resources to defend the remote villages from Kony’s attacks, so they set up more concentrated camps in northern towns like Gulu.

Villagers had the option to leave their homes and stay in the camps for protection and over 1 million people did just this.  Once Kony’s rebel army was disbanded, they would simply return home.

Yeah, that was 22 years ago.  WTF!?

You now have an entire generation of young people who’ve grown up in what have come to be known as IDP (internally displaced people) camps.  Since land rights were part of an oral tradition shared between neighboring families, many no longer know where family’s land was let alone how to farm it leavning most with no skills whatsoever.  All they know is that rice shows up on a truck everyday.

Going back

The word on the street is that Kony is on the verge of signing a peace treaty with the Ugandan goverment.  Even if this is done, getting back to their villages would take years – assuming they could find their land.

They would need to send back a small group to plant.  Then, another to harvest.  Then, assuming a decent harvest, they could return with their families in the following year

Peace. Psych!

How do I know this process of return to the villages?  Easy.  Many have already attempted it 3 times.  You see over the last 22 years, Kony has signed and broken 3 peace agreements.  Each time it gets more difficult for people to believe the peace is going to last, so fewer people even attempt the move back.  Moving back to the villages is an extremely costly process for these families because many have no resources or savings.

NGOs to the resuce

Uganda’s story, which is lost on much of the main stream population, is known well by the NGOs (non-governmental organizations or non-profits).  In fact, Gulu, a town of only 20,000 residents is home to more than 120 international NGOs.  I’m told this is the most NGOs per capital of any town in the world.

Okay.  Now you’re up to date with everything I know about the situation.  Let’s see what else we can uncover in the coming days.

Luxury Computers of Gulu

In 30 minutes I found faster internet here, in the bush, than I could find in a week in Kampala.  Luxury Computers of Gulu is a great place to work.  The owner, Charles, is cool, everyone is quiet and productive – no distractions – its cheap and they take good care of me.

Visiting Italy without leaving Uganda

When I loaded up www.google.com, Goog auto redirected me to www.google.it (Italy).  No doubt the satellite signal was being bounced through an Italian IP address or something.  It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to switch it back to English.

Perhaps Google shouldn’t use geo targeting in the developing world where satellite internet is more common.  This is the primary reason why we don’t geo target at COUPONGOOD.org.  Other reasons include: 1. we don’t know how to do it  and 2. we really wouldn’t know where to start.

Think your startup is scrappy, check out my office.

Luke I have gone to the Dark Side

The general store next door sells coke for USD 30¢.  Do you understand what that means for a Coke addict?  Its not good, man. The sugar, the caffiene, the power coursing through my veins.  Wait, what?  Haha nevermind.

Doing a woman’s job…

In Uganda, washing clothes is seen as the “woman’s job” (along with almost all other forms of work).  So, when I, a white man, set out to hand wash my clothes in a basin, it drew considerable interest from my female neighbors.

I bought some Omo – local degergent brand – from a general store (hut) and got to work.  After a while, I had a small gallery of fans — who quickly turned to friendly critics and helpers.

In no time, all the dirt and blood stains were gone.  Strangely, my hands were tingling and felt rubbery to the touch… Which begged the question: What the is Omo made of?  Krytonite?  Asbestos? Unicorn tears?  I don’t really want to know.

If this is my last post, then you’ll know the Omo got me

I traveled to Uganda with a singular question: Are COUPONGOOD’s microfinance loans working?

All of the loan recipients are in the south near Kampala, Mukono and Jinja because of its stability, infrastructure and proximity to Kampala, the seat of power.  So, logic says I should spend my time meeting loan recipients there.

One twist…I’ve heard so much about a northern town of Gulu and I’ve made some friends that live there.  One has offered to show me around if I’d like to come.  Hmm…

• Not much microfinance going on up there
• The State Department advises against traveling to Gulu
• My father’s only request “Please don’t go to Gulu”

Yeah.  I think I’ll go to Gulu.  Let’s mix it up a bit.

Good luck to me.

We were late.  This wasn’t good.  The only option that could get us to the bus in time was boda boda.  Problem: My friend had several extremely large bags and a drum.  No matter, we piled on the back of two bodas and hung on for dear life as we zipped in and out of rush hour traffic in Kampala.

Post Bus

8:10 am: We arrived at the Post Office just in time.  The Post Bus is the preferred mode of transpo to Gulu because it leaves on time and the drivers don’t harass you as much as those at the Bus Park.  One-way to Gulu was around $8, a bargain for a 6 hour bus ride.

Quite Culture

I was struck by how quiet everyone was.  People weren’t talking, babies were silent.  Everyone was just sitting peacefully together.  My friend and I were the only people talking on the whole bus — leave it to the muzungus to break the silence – ha.

Slums

Very quickly we transitioned from the paved roads to dirt roads and the slums.  It was already very different from what I had seen in the other parts of town.

Slums only 5 minutes from downtown Kampala

Huts

The country side was sprinkled with little curcular huts with thatch roofs.  So interesting, I didn’t expect to see huts this close to Kampala.  I figured they only existed in the bush.  Wish I had pics of it, but the camera died.

Street Vendors

Entpreneurial activity was in full swing at the bus stops en route.  Dozens of street vendors were hawking various foods and bottled water.  Their energy was amazing, I picked out 3 kids who could’ve been superstar salespeople in the US.  You can just see it — their delicate mix of drive, empathy and aggression.  Cool.

Pee time

We also stoped for a communal “short call”.  Everyone, men and women, pile out of the bus and pee in the bushes along side the road.  What’s a “long call”, you ask?  Ha.

Bleeding

I was just remarking about the high quality of the dirt roads when the driver hit a pot hole at what must have been 45 mph.  Being in the back of the bus, we were all launched into the ceiling.  Babies and children sitting in their mothers laps were catapulted forward into other seats and, since my armrest was broken, I gashed my arm on a piece of jagged metal.  That’s cool, just sitting there bleeding on a bus.  No big deal.  These people are tough, though.  None of the kids cried.  They just quietly walked back to their mothers.  In fact, nobody said anything about it at all.  Amazing.

It looks sterile, nothing to worry about, right?

Hotel Florida

We arrived in 5 1/2 hours — record time.  The Hotel Florida gave me the best room, called the St. John Paul (with whom I share a birthdate).  It was $20/night and it had a view of downtown Gulu.  Very nice indeed.

Hotel Florida balcony

Bird's eye view of the Gulu market

Well, I’m here.  Tomorrow I’ll reignite my quest for fast internet

Well, sleeping on a bed made for an elf has added more than a few knots into my shoulders.  Today, I decided to head to the mall for a little rehab and R&R.

The Garden City Mall is the muzungu (white people) hang out in Kampala.  See a scale model of it below.

Seriously, just fix the helicopter. Its kinda weirding me out

Somehow I managed to resist the siren call of the luxurious Simba Casino.  Thank God.

Ah, yes, the casino. So many broken promises..

I decided to get a massage upstairs in the mall.  It was pretty good, def worth the $10 for 90 minutes.

Thanks to my new found animal friends, I woke up early again today and walked into town.

MY MISSION: Find decent internet.

My search for “high-speed” internet took me down several of the major streets in downtown Kampala.  The ads for miracle drugs were everywhere.  It was like someone just printed out a bunch of email spam and posted it on the walls.

Their targeting was uncanny...(sniffle)

Kampala, not a great place to walk around at night while drunk.  Could you imagine how many lawsuits we’d have if we tried this in the USA?

Just a little barbed wire to protect the shrubberies, no big deal.

Ah yes.  I hear they’re putting one of these stores in downtown Houston, TX next month…

I asked the clerk if he had a sale on uranium or evil. He asked me to leave. I said I was just kidding. He asked me to leave. I smiled. The armed guard asked me to leave. I left.

I noticed the dominate consumer branding strategy was to use as many superlatives as possible.  Take, for instance, the automobile below.  In the US we know this to be the Toyota Previa, but Ugandans know it as…

The Super Delux 4WD Limited Town Ace

Its just interesting that populations respond differently to branding.  My Ugandan Pizza business would be called “Best, Bester, Bestest Really Good, Most Filing, Most Luxurious Pizza”.  FYI: I’ve already bought the domain — www.bestbesterbestestreallygoodmostfillingmostluxuriouspizza.biz — so better luck next time.

Oh, I finally found suitable internet: The Sheraton Downtown.  Its expensive, so I’ll keep looking, but at least I could get some heavier duty things done online today.

Side note: I woke up and realized something — I love Uganda.

Today I’m trying to setup meetings with MFIs and loan recipients…must find working internet in town.

So far I’ve been using taxis and boda bodas to get around. Today I’ve decided to go local, keep it real and walk Jinja Road into Kampala today.  Its only 5 kilometers — that’s nothing.

Its a great walk.  I’m eating dirt and diesel fumes.  Boda drivers are hammering me to take them into town, they don’t believe I’m walking there…I guess muzungu (white people) don’t usually walk.

On foot, its much easier to connect with the many people that line the busy streets.  I stopped to talk with some skilled metal/wood workers on the corner near my place (below).

Metal shop in Kampala

They were on the ball, but living in extreme poverty (behind the shop).  None of them have ever taken micro-finance loans.  I recommended that they explore that option to grow their business.

A little farther up the road I decided to heed friendly advice and avoid the tap water in Kampala.  Might be hard to see in the picture below, but the water has a ton of trash in it…

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink...

Shortly thereafter, I came across a hoof (below).  Would’ve eaten it, but the ants already had it.  Dang.

Ah, I think somebody's goat lost a hoof. Anybody?

My walk took me right by the Ministry of Elections for Uganda.  Interestingly, President Museveni, who took power through the millitary 22 years ago, has changed the constitution to afford himself extra terms in office.  The signs below show his deep commitment to the democratic process.

Daaaa, ummm...yup. We don't count good...

MISSION: Fail.

Report the dead...I knew I forgot something.

Bicycle bodas were prevalent — and loaded with impossibly large loads (below).

Sugarcane delivery

"Fuel-tanker vs. fuel-biker"

"What's that? Four bunches? No problem."

At Garden City mall, I saw the guy (below) with this huge bag of bottles on his back…

That's impressive. How far is he carrying that bag?

Um. Wait...that's not good. Seriously?

Fortunately, I found a Coke dealer just before the shakes and cold sweats started up again.

Ah, sweet elixir of life

Today was really fun.  The people are unbelievably kind.  I really like it here, and there are so many ways to help.  Gotta figure out the angles and get something going over here to help these guys…

Unfortunately, after a 2 hour walking adventure and a whole day of searching, I unable to locate suitable internet.  Guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

Problem:  Imperfect information about boda drivers (motorcycle taxis) leads to unsafe free-for-all

• Many bodas drive unsafely and without helmets
• Many do not know their way around town
• > 90% actually rent their motorcycle from a local owner and see their earnings impacted accordingly
• The influx of many new bodas threatens to squeeze margins for the drivers
• There are no branded fleets of boda drivers — its a wild west…

Solution: Leverage branding, scale and economic incentives to improve driver safety/earnings

Driver Safety:

• Provide clearly branded well maintained bodas to drivers
• Provide road/accident safety training to all drivers
• Provide helmets and day-glow vests for driver/passenger
• Require drivers to know the major districts, connecting roads, and typical tourist stops
• Require drivers to speak basic English

Driver Earnings:

• Revenues: Hopes that branding will cause drivers to stand out in the crowd, and get more fares.
• Costs: Over time, the drivers will pay less to rent the bodas

Back of the Envelope:

• There are over 200,000 boda drivers in Uganda
• 1,000 drivers paying the market rent would be $1.7MM USD/year in revenues (2.8bn Ush)
• As the bikes are paid off, the cost structure of the business will decrease, which we can pass on to the drivers in the form of lower rental costs.
• Increased driver earnings will increase the quality of their lives.

I awoke early this morning (5:30 am) thanks to the dueling symphony of rooster(s), birds, dogs, goats and monkeys.

Pretty cool

Loud

Creepy

Despite the 10 hour time change I feel fine.  Perhaps my several month stint with polyphaic sleep has conditioned me to recover quickly with short naps.

Today, I need to get my infrastructure setup:

• Exchange money
• Buy a cellphone
• Locate reliable internet

You can read my recommendations on infrastructure at the bottom of the post.

Observations

As I headed into town, it was clear that the labor force of Kampala was over-invested in transportation – especially the motorcycles (boda bodas).

You see, bodas are notorious for dangerous driving habits.  They are usually unskilled, untrained, young men who split lanes, drive into oncoming traffic, hold little regard for human life.  In fact, several months ago, the gov’t passed a law that required bodas to wear helmets and provide helmets for passengers too.  The law was completely ignored.

After talking with some locals, I thought of a way to promote safer boda driving and enhance the earnings of bodas.  You can read about it here if you’re interested.

How to…

Recommendations for currency in Uganda.  Don’t bring very much USD.  Just use your Visa ATM Debit card at the Barclays downtown Kampala.  Its fast, the exchange rate is fair and it reduces the likelihood of serious theft in transit.  Note: Stanbic Bank ATMs didn’t work with my Wells Fargo ATM card.

I was shocked at the ease of setup for mobile phones in Uganda.  I bought a low-end Nokia for $30.  Then, I bought an MTN sim card (the card that actually carries your phone number) for $2.  Then, I bought $10 of airtime and loaded it onto my phone by dialing *155# + the access code.  The entire process took less than 10 minutes.  Amazing.

Follow me! Follow me to freedom!

Security guards in the US carry flashlights.  In Uganda, they carry an AK-47s.  This guy was pretty cool.

I was trying to convince him to get his security guards together and carry out a coup against this store’s competitors.  That’s what I’d do if I had a store front in Kampala — just amass an army of security guards and mount offensives against my competitors.  When you security guard has an AK, who needs an army?

Though Red Chili has internet, it is slow.  So slow, in fact, that I could not even log into Godaddy to setup this blog.  I need fast internet, and, despite searching all day, I was unable to find it.

I flew SFO to Newark to Brussels to Bujumbura (Burundi) to Entebbe (Uganda) to Kampala (by taxi).

The trip took 22+ hours, but a healthy dose of naps, work, and Uganda research made it fly by.

Concerns before departure:

1. Missing a connection
2. Getting lost in foreign airports
3. Inability to adjust to 10 hour jet lag (most I’ve ever had is 3 hours)

Fortunately, all went smoothly.

Noteworthy observations:

• The runway in Bujumboyo is extremely narrow – whew!
• Before departing Bujumboyo, they made an announcement and came through the cabins spraying an unknown aerosol into the air.  Hmm…”I think I have the black lung”
• On takeoff from Bujumboyo, I noticed a non-trivial forest fire burning out of control within several hundred meters of the airport. This is Africa.

Kampala

The first person to greet me in Uganda was my driver, James.  He was recommended by my buddy Matt Flannery, and it was very nice to have someone there holding a sign with my name (spelled creatively as Tjysun).

Ugandans are well aware of most things going on in the US as evidenced by James’ questions en route to Kampala:

-Do you know Beyonce, Rhianna, Paris Hilton (met her once…she’s not that great), Brittany Spears…
-Who are you voting for?  He wants me to vote for Obama.
-What is going to happen to Africa if the banks keep failing in the US?  No idea, my man.

While driving fast on an unlit dirt road, I asked him distinctly different questions like:

• Oh s*#t do you see that pedestrian?
• Why’s that motorcycle coming right at us in our lane?
• How many people have you hit while driving at night?

Alas, I arrived.  Time for some sleep, good luck jet lag…

My room

Luxury

COUPONGOOD, powered by Diet Coke

COUPONGOOD is in beta, and we’ve made 52 loans to Ugandan entrepreneurs.  Now I’m headed there to drop in on the MFIs and the loan recipients to see if the loans are making a difference.  I’ll be evaluating four factors: 1) gov’t/infrastructure 2) Macro/micro economic health 3) MFIs 4) borrowers.

I think I’m ready:

Shots: Hep A, Hep B, Yellow Fever, Teatnus, Menengitis, Rabies — DONE
Waterproof bag, first aid kit, canteen, malaria meds, other meds, flashlight, pants, shirts, socks, underwear, shoes, belt, laptop, toothpaste/brush, bug spray, sun screen, sun glasses, hat, small towel, passport, vaccination card, money — CHECK

I’ve never been out of the US.  When I tell that to people who’ve been to Uganda, they usually laugh and ask me if I’m serious.  Weird, that can’t be a good.

I’ll be there for 3 weeks.  My biggest fear? Simple: I won’t want to come back.

Its time for another metrics update.  Now that the site mostly automated, its time for us to get out there and make people aware of it with a focus is on inbound links and traffic generation.

Milestones:

• Google PageRank up from 0 to 1/10 — wohoo!
• Cracked Alexa top 400,000 (#376,000)
• 1,000+ stores

Key Metrics:

Loans:

• 48 loans — waiting to make 10 more loans
• See the People Helped
• See our Kiva Lender profile

Stores + Coupons:

• 1,191 stores (up 100% month-over-month)
• 3,083 coupons (up 200% m-o-m)
• 832 pages indexed by Google (up 110% m-o-m)

Traffic:

• Unchanged month-over-month
• This will improve with marketing and inbound links…get there

Incoming Links:

• 1 link (unchanged)

Well, we had a major milestone last week.  We were served with our very first Cease-and-Desist letter from the lovely lawyers at CouponCabin.com.

Having worked in the social media for a few years now, I’ve traded more than a few interesting emails with lawyers who request the removal of user generated content that allegedly infringes on their clients’ feelings.  Its common for NBC to request Youtube to remove pirated videos from their site, for example.  Its pretty simple, you just remove the content and get back to work.

However, this CouponCabin case appears to be more strategic and systematic.

Their Strategy:

They have arranged for merchants to issue special coupon codes for CouponCabin that acutally use their name “CouponCabin” in the code.  Then, they claim (see the letter below) that the republication of their name (trademarked of course) might confuse users.  Its totally bs, but its a genius strategy.

Their System:

We received a letter that referenced a coupon code: “COUPONCABIN-ALL5PER”.  We couldn’t find it on the site or in the db.  Weird, so we just ignored it.

Then, an hour later we received another letter referencing a different coupon code:  “COUPONCABIN08”. Clearly, their legal team is systematically searching Google for all certain codes and sending the letters to the site owners via WHOIS.

Really?  What’s the ROI on that effort?

• Legal Assistants cost, what, $100/hr
• Let’s say they can serve 1 letter every 10 mintues or 6/hour
• If that’s true, then each letter costs $16.67
• At the time of this writing, there were 197 results for a Google search for COUPONCABIN08 and
  
• Let’s assume 80% unique violators…thats ($16.67 * (0.8*197)) = $2,627.92 to “protect” just one code
• How many sites actually complied with the request? (we did, but we’re nice guys)

What could they do with the money?

• They could have bought Adwords traffic for “coupon codes” at $1.17 per click and netted 2,200+ new users
• They could have blown it on a really cool hot air ballon ride
• We would’ve probably partially funded 100 Kiva Loans in Uganda, but I guess lawyers need work too…

What do you think?  Leave your comments in on this post.

The letter is below:

Re:  Infringement of CouponCabin, Inc.’s Intellectual Property Rights

Dear Sir or Madam:

CouponCabin, Inc. (“CouponCabin”) has adopted and used the trade name and the trademark “CouponCabin” and has established substantial goodwill in the mark.  In addition, an integral part of CouponCabin’s business model, in conjunction with CouponCabin’s merchant partners, includes the creation and use of unique Coupon Code Identifiers, which are published over the internet and enable consumers and vendors to identify CouponCabin’s offerings.

It has recently come to CouponCabin’s attention that you are using CouponCabin’s intellectual property on your website located at www.CouponGood.org in connection with similar on-line coupon offerings.  Your unauthorized use of the CouponCabin trademark in the coupon code “COUPONCABIN08” for PlayPhone is identical to that owned and used by CouponCabin in its advertising, promotion and general business operations is likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception with regard to the source or sponsorship of the services offered by you.  Consequently, your use of CouponCabin’s intellectual property constitutes trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition as prohibited by federal laws, including 15 USC ss. 1051, 1125, as well as various other federal and state statutes and common law.

Accordingly, CouponCabin hereby demands that you and any other business or person directly or indirectly affiliated with you immediately cease and desist from using any and all trademarks, service marks or trade names that are confusingly similar to those owned and used by CouponCabin, including but not limited to the coupon code “COUPONCABIN08” for PlayPhone.

Please confirm in writing no later than the close of business on September 26, 2008 that you agree to comply with the requests contained herein.  In the event that you do not agree to these demands, CouponCabin will take the appropriate steps to protect its rights, which will include referral of this matter to the legal counsel for enforcement of CouponCabin’s legal rights.  By such action, CouponCabin will seek to obtain injunctive relief, and the recovery of profits, treble damages, pre-judgment interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.

Domains by Proxy, Inc.
September 17, 2008
Page 2

Please be advised that CouponCabin expressly reserves all rights and remedies for the conduct identified herein.

Regards,

Scott Kluth

Kiva recently released a new Team Lending feature.  It enables groups of lenders to come group up around common interests, geographies, etc.  Loans made by team members are tracked through the group.

If you loan through Kiva, then we’d be honored if you loaned through our Lending Team.

Its a solid feature and their usage has spiked.  The growth in user base is great in the long-term, but tough in the short term because its severely limiting the availability of loans.

When we started Coupongood.org, we chose Uganda for several reasons.  One key reason was the solid flow of loans out of Uganda.  You see, we didn’t want to run out of loan inventory…  Back then (3 months ago) there were 20+ Ugandan loans raising funds on any given day; hundreds worldwide.

Now, since Kiva usage is so high, there are ZERO Ugandan loans fundraising and ONLY 11 WORLDWIDE.

Loans that used to take 1-2 days to fund are literally being funded in a matter of minutes.  Its crazy.  This is obviously great – people who need funding are getting it quickly.  However, one of Kiva’s core value propositions is that of choice.  If the loan inventory isn’t increased to match this new lender demand, then you may see some lenders get frustrated.

We’re about 10 loans behind on the site, but we’re working on some things to make loans automatically.

Clearly, you’ve thought about it.

Why am I here on this planet?  What’s missing in my life?

Perhaps you just need some cool COUPONGOOD gear from Zazzle (10% off coupons).

Send us pics of the gear in action — especially if you get the Old School Skateboard.

Cheers!

Need a bigger desk

We did another iteration on the site based on user feedback.  We hit the internal goal thanks to a Diet Coke-fueled 36 hour push at the end…

Categories:

• People wanted a way to browse similar types of stores and find the best ongoing deals.
• We added [very] broad Categories in order to start accommodating this request
• Each Category page shows the top 100 stores and the top 25 coupons
• http://www.coupongood.org/categories

New UI:

• People were confused about how to use coupons
• We responded by making the coupons a little smarter; now, coupons are customized by the presence of a coupon code (or not).
• Also, we increased the clickable area for using the coupon code to make it more intuitive.
• The header and general look and feel was also updated to reflect the tracking data

We hope you like the changes.  Please feel free to add your feedback in the comments of this blog post or you can always email us at:

• 2cents [at] coupongood [dot] org

Cheers,

The Coupongood Team