Showing attitude: "Values are becoming increasingly important in business".
In an interview with the SonntagsBlick, Wemakeit CEO Johannes Gees defends the crowdfunding platform's firm stance against the No-Billag initiative. This is also for economic reasons.
Even if they want to earn money as a for-profit company, they are convinced that their clear stance will pay off in the long term, says Gees. Values are becoming more important in the economy, and companies with an attitude will be more successful in the future: "Those who have values and consistently represent them will be rewarded by their customers," he is convinced. If a company avoids upsetting anyone in order to avoid losing customers, it will only paralyze them.
Expectations regarding reactions have been confirmed, he said. "In the end, the No Billag Committee is more likely to raise more money because there is solidarity. Public discourse sometimes plays out in a very predictable way."
Meanwhile, what Gees suspects in the interview seems to be coming true: The Distance from Wemakeit crowdfunding is giving the No Billag fundraising campaign an additional boost: by Saturday evening, 40,000 of the targeted 100,000 francs had already been deposited in the initiators' accounts.
In the future, Wemakeit plans to involve the 200,000-strong community more closely. It is not yet clear exactly what this will look like - but according to Gees, it could go in the direction of users being able to vote on whether a campaign is permissible or not. (hae)
Photo Johannes Gees: Wemakeit.ch
