When it comes to financial matters, I like to play it safe. Bubble Boy-safe. So the concept of a wiki for investors makes me a little nervous. But Wikinvest apparently inspired enough confidence in some onlookers to win $2.5 million in funding.
And aspects of Wikinvest seem quite sensible. Want understandable, English-language explanations instead of decimal points and ratios? Or how about a site that understands company’s names, and not just esoteric ticker symbols? Wikinvest has got you covered.
I was particularly impressed by the site’s stock charts. “Typical stock charts plot a line that moves up and down – but most people want to know why the stock price is moving,” notes an “About Us” section. “So we built WikiCharts that allow people to annotate and explain what’s happening. Investors have already created over a thousand annotations explaining the stock price movements of hundreds of companies . . .”
These features tend to favor inexperienced investors, however, and in a wiki, that may not be ideal. If more knowledgeable people have no reason to visit, Wikinvest could have trouble gaining information and creating a following. And then there’s the whole slew of issues that any wiki must face (imagine the financial equivalent of Wikipedia’s elephant issues).
Still, with a fresh $2.5 million, Wikinvest has probably gained quite a lot of time to sort these things out. Hat tip to TechCrunch’s Nick Gonzalez.
