It only took just a couple of hours after I posted, "Using LinkedIn Answers For Investment Attraction" that my colleague, Isabelle Poirier received a tweet from @AboutDCI inquiring about using Quora in the investment attraction process. Just to prove that great minds think alike, I was just drafting this very post when I saw the tweet.
For those who are not familiar with Quora, the site is the home of a collection of questions and answers that is edited and managed by individuals that use the resource. Figure 1 is the index page of the site.
As the index page states, users can log in to Quora with a valid Facebook or Twitter account. Once in, users are free to read and answer questions that have been posted.
In terms of using the tool from an investment attraction perspective, the best approach is to ask a question regarding startup companies that are seeking venture capital funding. This can be done by either:
- Entering the keywords: "venture capital" and then browse by topic to find the relevant answers
- Entering the question, "what startups are looking for funding?"
Selecting the second option will prompt Quora to provide the following image as illustrated in Figure 2.
Going with the question, "What startups are looking for funding in March 2011?" will lead to users to the answers listed in Figure 3.
With the list provided above, economic development officers may start the process of researching and monitoring these companies and sectors to evaluate if the firms are the right fit for their town. If they are not a fit or show no interest in coming to the region, officers can have search for possible competitors of these startups.
Do you agree with our view on how Quora can be used to identify potential investors?
Quora is available at www.quora.com