There is a famous saying that states “never underestimate the power of stupid people in big groups.” What would the saying for a group of smart, entrepreneurial, driven people?

The possibilities are endless.

Wikinomics is a cool concept: release an idea to the internet, and see what the common wisdom of the world can do to help your idea grow. It takes independent invention to a whole new level.

In this age of mass collaboration, who is to decide which work is whose? If I have the original idea but you contribute 5 parts to the original, do you get part of the intellectual property? It’s an interesting issue, and I’m curious how that will play out.

But in the meantime, get out there and collaborate already!

Good question. I’m not sure I know the answer! Furthermore, though Google has begun to purge videos and pick up what is being said in the videos, how good of a job does it really do? If you can have excellent content in a video, are the Google Spiders able to make that relevant?

My guess? In the future maybe, but as of right now not so much. However, as fast moving as the internet is, we should probably think that videos will soon become content rich sources and we should pursue them with vigor.

So good practice is to find some creative video content, start to upload them and populate your site for them, and jump the gun on Google’s arrival of loving videos!

Have you ever gone to do some economic development–whether it be building houses, working on construction, or some other thing to “help” the community of a developing nation, and at the end of the trip gone back and been really on fire for helping others?

Have you made vows to volunteer more at the local homeless shelter, spend less on yourself and give to local charities?

How successful were you? If you’re like me, then probably not very. The same thing happens to me every time I spend a week or so in economic development in another country: I come back inspired to help, but I quickly forget about the people I originally set out to help.

Enter Kiva. Kiva takes that passion and desire to do something and actually allows you to! For as little as $25, you can offer a monetary loan to entrepreneurs anywhere in the world, and you can have your original investment repaid in as little as 6 months. The best part? There’s no catch, there’s no fraud, and it’s completely safe.

I say completely, but I should revise that statement. There is a 98.1% repayment rate. So you have 1.9% probability of losing some of your investment to a bad loan, currency conversion gone awry, or another rare thing. Here’s the truth: I’ve made 20+ loans on the site and have lost ZERO dollars due to any of the aforementioned. If that’s not a great track record then I don’t know what is.

So if you are like me and genuinely want to help people, then donate a quick $25 to Kiva and see lives changed. After all, you don’t really need those drinks on Friday, do you?

Looking at top startups from 2010 yielded a lot of great results. The one that caught my eye? A plug-in called Rapportive. It’s a simple little gadget that you use with Gmail. It gives you all information from Twitter, LinkedIn, FB, and others. So when you are reading an e-mail from a possible job contact, you can quickly access all their information on the fly. It’s truly a great tool, and if the company releases more innovative products like this, they are sure to be around for a while!

Over the weekend I was thinking with my friend on how it would be possible to combine something I love to do–travel–and get paid for it. Then we remembered a show like “Amazing Race,” where the contestants have their travels paid for (and of course they are wanting to win the ultimate prize).

What if companies like North Face, REI, Clif, and others wanted to sponsor individuals who traveled throughout Latin America for example, simply roughing it and using their gear as positive PR. It makes sense to me, and it would work like this: 5 companies would need to give about $200 each in gear (some more or less, obviously, depending on what is needed). From there you as the traveler would catalogue all your travels, and be sure to tell about the products you are using (ie My North Face 70L hiking backpack feels so great! I have all my stuff in it and there is space left over!).

Then on their site (or you could create your own) you would document all these places and events; went on a 3 day hike through the Andes? Write a post about it and put up some picture!

The end result? Great PR for these companies (which translates to sold merchandise and positive image), and the trip of a lifetime for you!

Where do I sign up?