Problem, Vision and Mission
The Problem: The Inheritance Lottery
Today, one of the greatest determinants of life success is the family we are born into. This “birth lottery” creates profound starting injustices, limiting human potential, stifling innovation, and undermining the principles of a truly liberal and social market economy.
Our Vision
A world where every individual has the freedom and starting capital to build their own life, supported by a fair and empowered start. We believe in a social liberal mission that actively corrects for the arbitrary advantages of birth, ensuring that talent and effort, not inheritance, are the primary drivers of success.
Our Mission
Start Equal’s mission is to prototype, promote, and build a global ecosystem fo universal starting capital schemes. We create tangible, practical, and scalable pathways for a more just capital endowment for all young people, shifting the concept from theory to practice.
Our Impact Framework
Core Pillars
Our strategy is built on three interconnected pillars that drive our mission from proof-of-concept to systemic global change. Our operational model, “Liberty-as-a-Service,” is the central hub that provides the funding, data, and proof necessary to fuel all other pillars.
Pillar 1: Piloting & Proof (The “Liberty-as-a-Service” Hub)
This is our core operational program—a high-trust philanthropic platform for high-net-worth individuals and families who wish to redistribute their wealth beyond their family. It offers a structured alternative to traditional charity by funding “Equalstart Capital” for young people.
Execution: We provide expert Advisory, manage secure Escrow & Finance, handle efficient Payouts, run transparent Lottery & Outreach, and ensure impactful Communication.
Evidence: We conduct rigorous Research (surveys, control groups) on the effects of the capital on recipients’ lives, including education, entrepreneurship, housing, and well-being, generating irrefutable proof of impact.
- Scaling: Our goal is to multiply impact globally. We will develop an open-source “playbook” of operational and legal learnings and establish a certification standard to encourage and support international spin-offs.
Pillar 2: Global Justice & Movement Building
This pillar bridges the gap between national and international inequality while unifying the global effort for starting capital. Our philosophy is that “equal opportunity doesn’t stop at borders.”
Global Integration: We structurally advise donors in our “Liberty-as-a-Service” model to dedicate a portion of their redistributed capital to a high-impact
Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program (like GiveDirectly), actively aligning global solidarity with domestic reform.
Network & Unification: We act as a central hub to unify and strengthen the global network of supporters for universal starting capital. This involves mapping and connecting key actors (academics, activists, politicians, organizations), hosting convenings to share best practices, and providing a shared communications platform.
Pillar 3: Advocacy & Systemic Change
Our pilots are the evidence engine to achieve our ultimate long-term goal: systemic government reform. Our advocacy is specific and data-driven, aiming to shift the narrative from charity to structural justice.
Championing the Goal: We make the case for universal basic capital funded by inheritance redistribution.
Structural Legislation: We advocate for structural legislation that permanently and irreversibly links the funding source (inherited wealth) to the payout stream (the grants) through a dedicated Redistribution Fund.
Reframing the Narrative: We frame this not as a punitive “tax,” but as a broad intergenerational redistribution—a mechanism for the older generation, as a whole, to pass on a more equitable share of society’s wealth to the next generation.
Implementation & Network Partners
Start Equal is committed to building a robust, global network that combines operational experience with local knowledge. Our strategy involves both leveraging established domestic partners and creating a logistical platform to operate in new markets.
Implementation Partner: Basic Inheritance Foundation
We are proud to collaborate with the German Stiftung Grunderbe (Foundation for Basic Inheritance), an established pioneer in the field. Founded in 2010 by Christoph Prüm and family, the foundation provides a proven model for private basic inheritance allocation:
Proven Track Record: Stiftung Grunderbe has successfully run four rounds of basic inheritance allocation across 12 German cities, distributing €20,000 to each of the lucky raffle winners.
Maximising Impact through Conditions: Their program includes specific, impact-maximising conditions
→ Recipients must be at least 30 years old at the time of allocation.
→ Recipients must not have inherited significantly prior to receiving the grant.
→ Reciprocity Clause: In case the recipient receives a future inheritance, they agree to pay back 20% of that future inheritance into the foundation’s fund, up to a threshold of €100,000, at which point the total capital grant would have been fully paid back.
More information: grunderbe.de
Network Partners
Tax Justice Network Germany
German leaders in exposing tax avoidance, advocating for progressive taxation, and promoting fiscal transparency—directly supporting our goal of ensuring a stable funding source for equalstart capital.
A leading global organisation specialising in Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT). By channelling funds to GiveDirectly we honour the principle of “Equal Opportunity Doesn’t Stop at Borders.”
How to get involved
Start Equal’s success depends on a diverse global network of partners, expertise, and resources. There are several ways for individuals, organisations, and philanthropists to contribute to the mission of ensuring an equal and empowered start for all.
For Philanthropists & Donors: Fund Equalstart Capital
This is more than philanthropy; it is an act of foundational social liberalism and a strategic investment in the true principles of a meritocratic market economy.
Your wealth represents a powerful engine for opportunity. For donors who believe their success should not automatically translate into unearned, idle privilege for their children, and who seek a more impactful use than simply routing funds to the state, the “Liberty-as-a-Service” model offers a principled alternative.
The Liberal, Empowering Choice
By funding Equalstart Capital you are choosing:
- Empowered Liberty: You are turning inherited privilege into productive capital for the next generation of talented, driven individuals who currently lack access. This ensures more citizens can participate as empowered agents, capable of entrepreneurship, investment, and building their own future—the very essence of true liberalism.
- Meritocracy in Action: This is a direct intervention to correct the starting injustice of the birth lottery, creating a level playing field where your legacy supports genuine merit and effort, not passive inheritance.
- “Liberty-as-a-Service”: We offer a platform that allows you to direct your wealth with precision. You define the criteria; we handle the complex logistics—from the secure escrow and the transparent lottery to the final capital injection and rigorous research on its effects.
- A Global Legacy: Address the principle that “Equal Opportunity Doesn’t Stop at Borders” by designating a portion of your capital to flow toward high-impact Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) programs, ensuring your legacy is both nationally just and globally conscious.
You are not just donating; you are investing in a deeper, more robust form of capitalism driven by widespread opportunity.
Contact: For funding discussions and to begin structuring your Liberty-as-a-Service agreement, please reach out to: fund@startequal.org
For Experts & Activists: Join the Movement
We seek individuals and organisations with deep experience in relevant fields to help build and strengthen the global movement.
- Policy & Legal Experts: Contribute advisory services on the optimal legal structures, inheritance tax reform proposals, and the critical concept of hypothecation for universal capital grant funding.
- Researchers & Academics: Collaborate on the design of the pilot studies to ensure methodological rigour and help analyse the long-term effects of capital endowment.
- Advocacy & Media Professionals: Support our efforts to shift the public narrative around inherited privilege and starting injustice.
Contact: To lend your expertise, join as a volunteer, or support in any other way, please email us at: connect@startequal.org
For Partner Organisations: Align & Multiply
For Partner Organisations: Align & MultiplyWe actively seek partnerships with aligned organisations to scale the model and unify the movement.
- Universal Capital Grant Actors: Join the global network to share research, coordinate advocacy efforts, and strengthen the collective voice for capital grants.
- Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Organisations: Collaborate on research, share best practices in cash distribution, and help us bridge the gap between wealth inequality and extreme poverty.
- Future Spinoffs: Use our operational blueprints to launch independent, local Equalstart Capital programs in new regions or countries.
Contact: To join the network, organisational alignment and scaling opportunities, please write to: partner@startequal.org
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is USC like Universal Basic Income (UBI)?
No, fundamentally different. UBI is a continuous income for basic living; Universal Starting Capital (USC) is a one-time capital grant at adulthood. Starting capital costs far less than UBI’s multi-million-dollar lifetime cost and focuses on a springboard for opportunity, not just a safety net.
Is USC like communism?
No, it is capitalism taken seriously. It ensures truly fair competition by abolishing inherited privilege—the last vestige of feudalism. It fulfills the “American Dream” by making success truly dependent on talent and effort, not birth.
Left-wing or conservative?
Neither, or both. Start Equal is social-liberal. It believes liberty and equality are inseparable. True liberty means a fair start; you cannot be free in a “rigged race.”
Won’t USC make people lazy?
To the contrary. Research shows capital empowerment encourages entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and productive investment. It counters the inefficiency of inherited wealth, where opportunity often trumps talent.
Will USC expand the state?
No, the opposite, actually. We propose a hypothecated Inheritance Redistribution Fund—money legally and permanently channelled solely for starting capital, not into general budgets. By levelling starting conditions, it may reduce the need for other social security programs, potentially shrinking government in those areas.
Isn’t USC an unrealistic utopia?
No, it already exists or existed in a number of countries in the form of Children Development Accounts, such as UK, Canada, USA, Singapore, South Korea, Kazachstan, Hungary.
Background
Start Equal was founded by Jan-Marten Veddeler. His commitment to social liberal principles and structural economic empowerment is the foundation of Start Equal’s mission.
Coming from a German Mittelstand SME background, Jan brings a blend of private sector rigour, deep social impact experience, and academic commitment to economic justice:
- Social Entrepreneurship: Co-Founder of Startup Lions in Turkana, Kenya—a Google-Impact Challenge-winning Social business focused on IT training and digital job creation among the world’s most marginalised youth.
- Multi-Sector Experience: ~10 years working in Finance & IT, oscillating between the private sector and the NGO/Social Business world.
- Academic Focus: Bachelor’s in Economics (University of Mannheim) and a Master’s in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (Witten/Herdecke University).
- Subject Matter Expert: Researched inheritance reform topics since 2016 and is currently finalising a book on the social-liberal foundations of inheritance reform and universal capital grants.