To help create a more informed, accountable, and honest world.

On the first day we began working on our startup Dayne and I wrote the above sentence. Six months have since past and we’ve spent that time building Karma around that mission.

This is the (short) story of our startup.

Last year, on the eve of my retirement I jotted down some thoughts about the next stage of my life. When I retired as a professional athlete many opportunities presented themselves, but I did not imagine being a co-founder of a technology startup. Which is exactly what’s happened.

Over dinner one night in October last year my brother, Dayne Rathbone, began talking about an idea he’s had for years: to use technology to create and access honest information about people.

Dinner at the Rathbone household tends to involve vigorous debate, even more vigorous laughter and generous doses of disagreement. But everyone around the table agreed that the world would be a better place if we could easily access objective information about people.

I found the idea compelling, and I went to bed wondering what the world would look like if we could democratise information about people. Dayne spent the night drafting an email to everyone present at the dinner. I read the document over my morning coffee and one particular paragraph sprung from the page:

“We’re all familiar with the idea that the quality of our decisions is constrained by the quality and availability of information. When we buy a new car, phone, or computer, we often spend days or weeks researching our options. I typically won’t watch a movie that doesn’t have at least 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. And yet the decisions we make regarding other people are perhaps the most important of all. When we pick a teacher for our kids, go on a date or hire someone, we often do so without really knowing the person’s true character or competence.”

When Dayne woke we spent the morning in excited discussion about the idea. At some point in the frenzied dialogue we shared what I can only describe as a “holy fuck” moment. It was a realisation that this idea, and we, could change the world. That evening we drafted a one page document outlining the concept. The final paragraph read:

“We believe that Karma has the potential to radically shift our culture in the direction of openness and accountability. We are all more honest and moral when we know others are watching, and if our decisions and actions in the present may stay with us forever, how could we be anything but better people.”

The months that followed have been a blur of meetings. In the three year period during my first retirement from sport I was fortunate to meet many of Canberra’s successful entrepreneurs. I called each of these people and asked them to meet with us. We wanted to know if our enthusiasm was born out of groupthink and confirmation bias, or if the concept had merit in the eyes of those who have long lived in the technology and startup world.

These meetings were genuinely encouraging because support for our proposition was intensely positive. During this time Dayne and I listened to numerous entrepreneurial podcasts, read everything we could get our hands on and asked as many questions as we dared of people in the know.

Here we were, a comedian and a rugby player embarking on highly disruptive technology startup.

I feel incredibly grateful to live at a point in time where the probability of meaningful discovery is so stacked in our favour. The internet is the ultimate problem-solving device. But it remains in an early stage of it’s evolution. It’s staggering that in 2015 reputation is still mainly transmitted by word of mouth.

Two themes emerged from our meetings and discussions about Karma. The first being that easy access to trustworthy information about people will become a reality at some point in the future — whether we build it or not, someone is going to successfully bring the concept to market. The second is that ours is a massive undertaking. As we peeled back the layers required to launch Karma the magnitude of the project began to dawn on us.

What might motivate someone to write about another person? How will we avoid abuse and defamation on our system? What does a prototypical Karma user look like? How will we fund our startup?

Immersing ourselves in these problems and attempting to find solutions has been immensely challenging and extremely enjoyable. This process has expelled us from our comfort zones and we've been joined on the journey by some generous and talented people.

It’s rare to be able to work on a project that perfectly aligns with one’s values, but that’s exactly the position in which we find ourselves. We think the world is ready for this idea, and we believe that Karma could help create more honest and transparent societies. I know that’s an astronomically bold claim, but it might just be true.

Every day Dayne and I are reminded that we're attempting to build something bigger than ourselves.

What could be more important?