Beats | October 9, 2019

The Purpose of Capital: The Musical

David Bank
ImpactAlpha Editor

David Bank

ImpactAlpha, Oct. 9 – And now for something completely different…

When Jed Emerson released “The Purpose of Capital” last year,  he and video producer Mia Haugen, who are married, considered a promotional video “standing on windswept Norwegian tundra, looking deep and thoughtful as my voiceover reads sections of the book,” as Emerson recalls. “We immediately abandoned that idea!”

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They were flummoxed about how to popularize the book’s core concepts, “since, uh, dualism and capital considerations and all are a bit dense for most of us,” he told ImpactAlpha.

The couple spent Thanksgiving with his brother’s family and discovered that niece and actress Jackie Emerson, who played Foxface in the first “Hunger Games” movie, had actually read the book and thought it was “everything a young 25 year old should be mulling over.”

Jackie Emerson pulled together a case and crew, put Jed-speak to a catchy tune, added some nice dance moves and and produced, “What If?” or “Impact: The Musical.” You can read more about the video at the Purpose of Capital. A sample: 

What if…we redefined what money is and can do

What if…we thought of capital as energy too

What if…we thought of cash in a completely new vein

What if…we utilized our funds for impact not gain…

Let’s just say, the three-minute YouTube video is full of energy. What if… impact investing hits the pop charts?