Puddle: Borrow money easily and cheaply from your community.

@rrhoover Well, the best way to understand it is to join a puddle. ;) You don't need to borrow to be a member. For anyone with a project that needs money, it's the fastest and cheapest way to get it. Freelancers, makers, and entrepreneurs are all examples of people who come to Puddle every day with and understanding of the power of cheap short-term capital. Many folks in the US use credit cards today to finance computers, classes, travel, or even their Kickstarter campaign. We, of course, use our puddle.

I've been a member for about a year (early adopter) and only recently invested money in Puddle to start seeing how it could be advantageous. Unfortunately, I'm in a puddle that is at risk, and can't take my money out without sacrificing some of that money put in. There are challenges with accountability that I'm sure the Puddle team are working to sort out @GeoffreyWeg, and there are no background checks at present. But I think such a mechanism would be counter to the idea that the Puddle team is trying to put forward. My perspective is that for intimate friend groups, it can be promising. I'd love to see the model evolve to help those groups in particular AND to incorporate better storytelling to help Puddle evangelists like myself encourage more friends to participate.

I'm intrigued, @skylar. How are people using it today? Any particularly strong use cases?

I essentially use Venmo for this same purpose but just don't tell my friends about it.

I'm intrigued, @skylar. How are people using it today? Any particularly strong use cases?

I essentially use Venmo for this same purpose but just don't tell my friends about it.