Taking Stock of Empire Avenue for Business

By Mikal E. Belicove|For Entrepreneur.com|May 24, 2011

If you’ve been paying attention to LinkedIn’s IPO (NYSE: LNKD) and dreaming about the same path to business stardom for your start-up or entrepreneurial effort, you’re not alone. Nearly every entrepreneur I talk with — especially those in the high-tech or social media space — truly believes their company has the same potential for success.

Call it whatever you want: irrational exuberance, unbridled enthusiasm, extreme determination, or just straight up delusion. But for some entrepreneurs, the only measure of success is an IPO. For the rest of us, there’s Empire Avenue.  A self-described “social media exchange,” Empire Avenue enables its participants to buy and sell virtual shares in any person or business listed on one of its exchanges. Free for individuals, businesses and brands to join and participate, your Empire Avenue share price, which is based on the value of your social media network, is determined by an Empire Avenue algorithm that automatically examines your interaction and levels of engagement across the social networks including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr and your own company blog. The price also takes into account how many shares you sell on the Empire Avenue market. In other words, the more of your own shares you sell, the more your share price will rise.

Just as in the board game Monopoly, fictional funds are at play on EmpireAvenue.com. When players sign up…

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