They’re not all bloodsucking vampire squids at Goldman Sachs; some actually do God’s work.
Some of them have used their wealth and social connections to try to make the world a better place. Take Greg Behrman, who quit Goldman and later headed for duty in Afghanistan to serve his country.
Now he’s launching a new site — along with a movement — called Nation Swell. The idea is to create an activist media business to fix America’s problems, with the help of small communities, and he’s got a slew of Goldman and KKR guys on board to help.
Backing the service with personal investments are KKR partner Jonathan Smidt; Goldman Sachs merchant banking partner Scott Lebovitz and KKR head of credit Nat Zilkha.
New Ground Ventures is also providing the seed-round funding. The for-profit site is hoping to tap corporate social responsibility dollars while connecting good ideas to the cash to support them.
Behrman has already snagged some top media folk, including BusinessWeek’s Greg Romesh, to get involved.
Journalists from Time magazine have also joined to help curate content to attract interest in a host of projects such as tackling homelessness and solving energy issues.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal showed up in support of Behrman at a launch event downtown, insisting that he simply be called Stan.