RCAAN Luncheon with BioLab Founders on September 12, 2013

Balance Lab View 180

Phil Zepeda introduced our speakers, Daniel Xiaodan Zhou and Vijay Rajan, founders of Balance Lab View 180, a new approach to combating political polarization in America society. (Daniel is a doctoral candidate in the School of Information at the University of Michigan and Vijay interned with Phil's company, Ann Arbor Financial Services.) Bio Lab View 180 is a new business model which incentives understanding of opposing political views that are different from their own.

Daniel explained that this new approach grew out of research that showed that people who spend more time with like-minded people become more isolated and polarized, while those who spend more time with those of opposing views become less polarized.

Our speakers showed a You Tube video to illustrate their point, showing that they are working to give people tools to communicate opposing ideas effectively, with a financial incentive.

They plan to gain popularity by building a loyal user base. Initially, people will pay to post already published articles. Eventually, users may be able to post their own writings.

The founders plan to survey their users and provide feedback on how well the articles they are promoting are helping to change people's minds. The pair are looking for teammates, advisors, and investors.