Spigit is a new social community startup for..
startups. Sort of a FUBU for the tech world, Spigit aims to build your professional network and play the “Spigit Game.” I have yet to see such an extensive set of rules and guidelines for a game of this genre, though it follows much the same protocol as in a real world scenario. The game can be broken down into three stages, incubation, validation, and emergence. You begin by posting your idea for a startup, then go through a series of challenges that include: expert approval, vote threshold, page view threshold, approval rating threshold and buzz percentile threshold. If you can break through all of these thresholds, then your startup moves on to the validation stage.
Though you’re not the next YouTube yet, so don’t hold your breath. From there you can start recruiting team members and “believers.” Your startup will be measured based on degree of conversation, more expert approval, and then break through the thresholds of buzz percentile, approval rating, page views, postings and number and rating of the reviews you receive. You’ll receive badges along the way, and that all becomes relevant at stage three, your emergence.
Emergence is where the game really begins, as we all know. Participants or “believers” can buy “spocks” or invest in your company. These spocks can be bought and sold for as long as the Founder deems the market open. Once they close, your company goes IPO and believers are rewarded with last price “spigits” and IPO shares, as well as a percentage of total market capitalization distributed as dividends.
Spigit.com In Their Own Words
The Founder enters the game as soon as their ideas is posted and becomes public. The spigit game consists of three distinct stages that the Founder must complete. Each of these stages has specific requirements and milestones in different areas that must be met. In Stage 1 and 2, the user must complete or achieve each of the required milestones in order to move onto the 2nd and 3rd stages.
The first two stages of the game are called Incubation and Validation. In the first two stages, reaching milestones are the driving factors for moving to the next stage, and scoring is kept hidden. Following completion of the 2nd Stage, the user moves on to Stage 3, called the Emergence Stage. In this stage, scoring is unhidden and becomes the driving factor for determining who wins the game. The Founder takes their idea through an IPO and through the “spock market simulation” to build their score.
Why Spigit.com It Might Be A Killer
At first glance, I assumed that this was another social network aimed at providing a means in which to connect major players in the startup game. Yet, this really is a full fudge startup game, with a set of challenges that mirrors your actual emergence on the web. They did an extremely thorough job designing this interface and explaining the game rules. It’s a brilliant idea with great execution, given that it’s not just a well designed game, but a social network for founders and participants to. It’s definitely not a game for your momma’s startup.
Some Questions About Spigit.com
Will users be daunted by such an intricate procedure? Do all companies have to go IPO? Couldn’t the believers be the ones to decide the ultimate fate of the startup, or is that just my KillerStartups ethos talking here? 
