Category Archives: Social Entrepreneur

Registration Opens for ForSE 2008-Forum for Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on September 10, 2008 | Leave a comment

In 2007, I helped found an annual conference on Social Entrepreneurship in partnership with Boston University and the Deshpande Foundation called the Forum for Social Entrepreneurship or ForSE for short. ForSE brings together social innovators with leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas along with hard-earned management learnings to foster informed discussion and action on new social venture concepts. Continue reading →

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Posted in Conference, Education, environment, Health, Information Technology, international development, Micro-enterprises, micro-finance, mobile technology, non-profit, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social Innovation, sustainability, sustainable development

Tagged Boston, Climate Change, Conference, ecosystem, Education, Food Security, Food Supply, Gerald Chertavian, Global Warming, Health, internet, microfinance, Mobile, mobile technology, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, sustainable development, Sustainable ventures, Year Up, Youth entrepreneurship

Paul Polak’s Twelve Steps to Practical Problem Solving

Posted on August 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

Paul Polak is a physiatrist by training but has spent the past 25 years working to alleviate poverty in the developing world. His non-profit, International Development Enterprises, has come up with innovative low cost technologies that have improved the local livelihood of people at the bottom of the pyramid. For example the simply designed bamboo treadle pump has sold over 1.7 million copies and generated over $1.4 billion in farmer revenue in Bangladesh.

Paul has encapsulated his learnings in a book Out of Poverty that describes a number of these technologies. More recently, Paul has posted an interesting video on You tube that summarizes his Twelve Steps to Practical Problem Solving.

Some of the observations are commonsense ones but it is remarkable how often people forget them in their eagerness to push technology.

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Posted in Agricultural Development, BOP, international development, non-profit, Poverty, Rural Development, Rural Entrepreneur, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, sustainable development, Water, Water resources

Tagged appropriate technology, bangladesh, BOP, innovation, international development, Paul Polak, Poverty, poverty alleviation, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Social Impact, social Innovation, treadle pump, youtube

First-hand Village Level Perspectives

Posted on August 16, 2008 | Leave a comment

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit the Deshpande Foundation’s Social Entrepreneurship Sandbox in the Hubli/Dharwad area. The Foundation was established by Desh Deshpande, who is well known in the US as a serial entrepreneur, and his wife Jaishree. In India, they have focused on their home town of Hubli/Dharwad in Northern Karnataka to conduct an innovative experiment in accelerating social entrepreneurship in rural India. Continue reading →

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Posted in Agricultural Development, Hygiene, non-profit, Philanthropy, Poverty, Rural Development, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, water and sanitation

Tagged Deshpande Foundation, Foundation, Hubli, India, Karnataka, NGO, Sandbox, self help groups, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Impact, social Innovation, Social Investment, toilets, village life

Models for Early Stage Funding

Posted on August 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

Several outfits, that I am counseling, are looking at the traditional VC route to raise funds. Sometimes people find this at odds with a socially focused business. The term Social Entrepreneur provides a broad umbrella that covers a number of different types of organizations – ranging from non-profits, to socially focused businesses (as defined by Yunus) to for-profits that have solutions that address a social issue in a major way. Continue reading →

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Posted in Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, Venture Capital, venture philanthropy

Tagged angel investor, Early Stage Funding, for-profit, foundations, grants, new business model, non-profit, philanthropist, Philanthropy, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, social entrepreneurship, Social Investment, startup, Venture Capital, venture fund, venture philanthropy, Vinit Nijhawan

Books Page

Posted on August 13, 2008 | Leave a comment

I just added a books page with a sampling of books in various areas of entrepreurship, development, environment and social entrepreneurial ideas – plus some random stuff 🙂

https://socialecosystem.wordpress.com/resources/books/

Will add as I get a chance. Let me know of any interesting ones you come across in any of these areas.

Enjoy

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Posted in Education, micro-finance, Poverty, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur

Tagged books, resources, Social Ecosystem, social entrepreneurship