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.