A short overview of our history and our motivation for rebranding Common Pool as Carrot.
Common Pool was established in 2009 and incorporated on 11 March 2010. In the beginning, our business model was strictly limited to consulting services. Earliest case studies relied on third-party technologies to operate.
Then, two years later, RAMPIT was formed as a proprietary software company dedicated solely to implementing the competitions conceived through Common Pool. These two entities were structured to work together as one team. Yet, they have maintained separate identities.
Today, at the start of our next decade, we will launch a new brand under which both companies will function. Through a central and unifying identity, we will offer stronger marketing and business development opportunities to capitalize our ten years of experience.
Before we consider the future, it is vital to understand our past. The initial names of these two companies were important for many reasons, and the spirit in which they were chosen will remain.
RAMPIT was always an acronym, Real Autonomy Mastery and Purpose through Information Technologies.
We use the three principles of autonomy, mastery, and purpose to inform how we design our software. In the early days, we would offer copies of the book by Daniel Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, to new developers. It explains how these principles can be used to spark performance in others.
We felt then and now that RAMPIT is not just a functional extension of Common Pool. Rather, the features that we offer are based on a deeper understanding of motivating users, to complement the purpose of Common Pool.
Common Pool is a name borrowed from several terms in Economics. The common pool dilemma is a type of problem where the solver is not extrinsically rewarded and may require new incentives. A related term, common pool resources, generates broader benefits to the public and requires special protections. The most celebrated academic to study these terms was Lin Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics
(2009). Ostrom’s Law states, “A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory.” Lin Ostrom has been the embodiment of what Common Pool is designed to achieve, and we encourage you to read her 8 Principles for Managing a Commons (they will be familiar to those who are paying attention to our process).
We will continue to honor these choices in the approach that we take to this work.
We've spent years experimenting with different ways to publish and promote our brands, and we've learned that our best next step is to consolidate and concentrate resources.
The Reason for a New Brand
When we began this exercise in 2019, we set out to accomplish a few discrete goals. First, we need an identity that can help improve our online presence and therefore support sales. Choosing a name that is easy to remember with an available URL was hard. As we activate the new brand, we can now explore other avenues for publishing content, such as educational seminars to support a broader understanding of our services, expanding our business into new markets (such as working with impact investors to use our platform to source dealflow), and strengthening our revenue line by more effectively promoting our services to a broader range of the same client base. All of these goals are made easier when we have a clear and more marketable identity.
Over the years, we have used different terms and invented new catch phrases to define ourselves. For example, a long-standing favorite has always been “incentive engineering.” From the start, incentives have been the essence of what we do. To visualize how incentives work is complicated, but we sought an image that could convey those complex ideas simply, something that could resonate initially but that could be coupled with a more sophisticated marketing plan.
We're excited to introduce to you...
They inform the processes that we design. They help shape the programs that we deliver. Together, they offer a roadmap for understanding who we are, what we do, and how we achieve success.
We’re aware that there will be mixed reactions to a change like this. It’s natural to favor the known and be opposed to the new. Below are some questions and answers for our many partners.
Becoming Carrot does not change the incorporation or status of our organization. We are still the same legal entity. All of your existing contracts or agreements are in good standing. We have filed the necessary paperwork with local, state, and federal agencies to formalize the name change to Carrot. While we are able to receive any checks from you using our former name, Common Pool, we would prefer that you start using Carrot as soon as we have formally announced the change.
We encourage you and your colleagues to help us broadcast our new website on your social media channels and by sharing www.carrot.net with others. Thank you in advance for helping us spread the word.
You may continue to use the same emails that you have been using. We will transition to our new email protocols slowly. We want to avoid any abrupt changes that might create problems for you. Expect to hear from our staff about when and how they want to make this change with you.
We have lots of great ideas, which we're developing now, for how to use our brand to offer new content and services to a wider audience. As those plans take shape, we will update you and look forward to your ongoing support.
Other Questions OR FEEDBACK
Do you have questions that aren't been answered? We welcome feedback.
