It Is Time!

I think most of you will agree that Prosper is a wonderful concept and has tremendous potential! Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be reading this (is anyone reading this?).

But Prosper’s approach has a fundamental flaw: They have cherry-picked states to license in as a means to keep costs down.

That creates two problems:
1) Lack of consistency across the various States, which leads to borrower confusion.
2) Lack of growth opportunities.

Publicity is a great thing! It draws attention and gets people excited. I’m sure Chris Larsen has done a thousand interviews by now. Local, national and international news programs. I’ve read about Prosper in no less than then major print publications. The buzz is there!

But many potential borrowers are left wondering why they cannot have access to this wonderful tool. Some are so severely rate-capped that they list and relist without so much as a bid. They are helpless and they leave frustrated. What business wants people leaving with that?

Currently, Prosper can only grow through increased market share. While I’m confident that they have a product that is capable of such, they are leaving a lot on the table. By opening up in the other States and removing the rate-caps in the rest, they could expand their market significantly. Effectively, grow wider and deeper.

It is time for Prosper to go National! It is time for them to abandon the State-by-State licensing strategy and give Prosper members (and future Prosper members) a consistent platform to grow. I hope you’ll join me in my quest to get Prosper moving on this issue. Please visit www.baldeagleloans.com/nevada.html for details on how you can help.

The Good and The Bad

All things have a learning curve…

I’m learning that as a Group Leader on Prosper, even when you think you’ve worked through that curve, you probably haven’t. I, like many Group Leaders, have had my good news and my bad news.

Bad News
My first group loan has gone late. But worse than that, without any notice to me as a Group Leader, they reversed payments that had already been made. Apparently they can do that. Now she shows two months late.

I’ve passed emails with her over the past couple of weeks. She is showing a strong conviction to get caught up when she can. But it will be a while.

I have my rank now, but not too cool to be one star. I hope she does catch up soon!

Good News
We just closed our fourth group loan. YourAverageJane blew my wildest expectations with her listing. A last minute surge dropped her to 11% (and she is a clean D). Amazing! I’m so happy for her and glad I made enough low bids to ensure I was on this loan no matter what.

I am working with a new borrower who may be ready to list as early as Monday. Another clean D. Stay tuned!

BaldEagle