I agree entirely. In the case of TED the thing they are "selling" is their curatorial expertise. Nice stage, website, etc, but some of the talks would be great

I agree entirely. In the case of TED the thing they are "selling" is their curatorial expertise. Nice stage, website, etc, but some of the talks would be great filmed in a shed. In that case, if we doubt their curation the value vanishes. It's not clear to me why an enterprise like TED would feel growth offered any upside at all (and yes, I read the article). Smallness and exclusivity are virtues, and thanks to that great website the world certainly is not lacking for ways to access their ideas. If they really only care about motivating and inspiring people then why not offer small grants for others to start their own independent, unaffiliated TED-like events. These events might even thrive without the scarlet letter X -- denoting second-class citizenship in the World of Ideas.