I just caught this story about MySpace's startup incubator in the New York Times (h/t Mashable). The incubator will go toe-to-toe with Facebook's fbFund, which funds companies creating Facebook applications.
I find all of this very exciting, since incubating progressive startups is exactly what I had hoped to do with my own company. (We're getting there, by the way, slowly but surely!) These startups are playing around, naturally, in very much the same waters that I imagine many liberal entrepreneurs like to get their feet wet - namely, new, online media. While it's unclear what kind of ventures MySpace's startup incubator will support, fbFund's focus on Facebook applications is clearly amenable to progressive causes. Facebook applications can be used to promote participation in liberal religions; to organize workers and labor activists to support unions; organize students on college or high school campuses; spread the use of progressive media; and on and on.
Naturally, I'm a little skittish about the fact that MySpace's startup incubator is ultimately owned by News Corp., the ultra-conservative parent of Fox News Channel. Launching a progressive business under the wings of Rupert Murdoch is hardly a credible strategy for sustainable progressive movement growth. Nevertheless, if the incubator doesn't take too much equity, it might be a good source of valuable revenue for progressive entrepreneurs.
In any case, I'm glad to see these kinds of organizations getting started. Especially in light of the decline of Skyline Public Works, and particularly during an election year which is bound to produce a bumper crop of new ideas for building the progressive movement, we need to focus keenly on the problems facing progressive entrepreneurs. Startup incubation is a valuable service for those entrepreneurs, and we should do what we can to make those services available for progressives.
