RichRelevance's David Selinger: Why I support start ups focused on a better world

With all of the attention being paid to Occupy Wall Street and the ills of big business, it’s heartening to shine a little light on two new start up’s who are working hard to make the world a better place.

I recently joined the advisory board of these companies—teams of folks with a big vision, unwaveringly commitment to tackling huge problems and these visions are seeing success.

The first is blissmo, founded and led by Sundeep Ahuja (one of my Stanford classmates and a co-founder here at {rr}). blissmo creates consumer products which bring sustainability to a broad audience. They are leveraging social media and new sales methodologies being pioneered by Groupon, Woot! and BirchBox to reduce the complexity of choosing products that are good for you, your family and your world. Already blissmo’s revenue model is working and they are clearly hitting a sweet spot in terms of emerging demand: the right products, the right discovery and the right price. We’re even a customer at {rr}—as soon as we started testing in one of our offices it was such a hit that the other offices immediately asked to participate. Check them out at blissmo.com.

GoodChime, founded by the highly acclaimed physician and MBA, Sreedhar Potarazu, brings together the worlds of Twitter and Facebook with celebrities and healthy lifestyles. By enabling consumers to connect 1:1 with celebrities on the topics of health, fitness and nutrition, they are opening up a new way of motivating and supporting people who want to make themselves better—and that’s basically everybody. It’s the Shape! Magazine for the socially-connected, real-time personalized world. Celebrities struggle to find the right forum for connecting with their fans on topics that are meaningful, and this channel will be unparalleled in its transparency, personalization and engagement. They just launched yesterday at the TV Guide Hot List Event, featuring support from some little-known participants such as Matthew McConaughey, Bret Michaels, Isiah Thomas, Cal Ripken, Billie Jean King, Dara Torres, Gary Player, Alonzo Mourning, Kevin Love, Paul Pierce and Andrea Jaeger—and 100 other celebs! Check them out at GoodChime.com

I’m so excited because while there certainly are serious ills of the world to be addressed, Sundeep and Sreedhar are not letting their optimism be dampened—they see a wonderful future. I am humbled and proud to offer them whatever support I can provide. Like Steve Jobs, their vision drives their actions—their vision of a world filled with healthy people living happy, sustainable lives.