Ideapod  Ideapod is a social media platform founded in 2013 by Mark Bakacs and Justin Brown who describe the company as a "technology company that produces media". The company's stated mission is to, in the creators' words, "foster discussions about big ideas" and elevate the level of social discourse online and offline by allowing people to express their views and share ideas with others on matters of concern to them. Ideapod was created to enable the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and the world, for the better. It features noted institutions such as the United Nations on its website, and is used by Jason Silva of Nat Geo's "Brain Games" series. Ideapod received an endorsement and assistance for funding from Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group. As of August 2016, its user base is at 300,000. Ideapod is a social media platform that was founded in 2013 by two Australian entrepreneurs named Mark Bakacs and Justin Brown. Brown stated that he felt "disillusioned" by social media websites such as Facebook or Twitter, and felt that there was too much "gratuitous information" on these websites. Brown was studying for a PhD in international politics in London, but chose to drop it for the website. He found himself in a rut in a corporate workplace, and wished to do something more impacting. Ideapod launched an invite-only beta release on February 24, 2014. Before the beta's release, Ideapod advertised that it featured "100+ influential thought leaders and 150+ leading partners, including the United Nations, and the YMCA." Ideapod has stated that it hopes to bring in a more diverse user base using this beta. Ideapod was launched at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell, 166 East 65th Street in Manhattan, on 19 September, 2013. Ideapod as of October 21, 2014 had 70,000 users; in 2015, they had 150,000 users. As of August 2016, Ideapod has 300,000 active users and 130,000 fans on Facebook. Ideapod, a social network for sharing and evolving ideas, allows participants to create posts which may feature URLs, images, and videos, but limits the length of their post to 1000 characters (or 40 seconds, whichever comes first). People are able to reply to others' posts and collaborate with each other. Its founders stated that they felt that a "140-character tweet" was too small for users to be able to explain "high-level concepts for solving world problems."