He tried and failed to divide California into six states.
Now Tim Draper, the venture capitalist, is at it again trying to upend state government. This time he has launched a contest on FixCal.org inviting others to submit their ideas for fixing the state. He announced it on YouTube:
My idea was six Californias, he says. What s yours?
The site works somewhat like Product Hunt, which I wrote about earlier this year, with ideas voted up or down. A panel of judges will decide the best ideas based on criteria such as transformation, representation and accountability, according to the site.
As for winners? They receive the opportunity to seek financial and strategic support from a select group of investors for the purpose of proposing and enacting the proposal as law, by the enactment of legislation or by the initiative process., says Innovate Your State, the non-profit behind the endeavor.
Already the site, launched today, has attracted a few ideas, and they are mostly in the big government is bad category. Creating a part-time legislature is one idea, as is trade bullet trains for desalination plants.
But these are early days, and as Draper has shown, there are no shortage of ideas for fixing government. FixCal.org may be something to watch.
Above: Tim Draper, the venture capitalist. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)