April 2013
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VilCap/VentureWell - Louisville Agriculture &...
The 2013 VilCap/VentureWell – Louisville Agriculture and Cleantech Accelerator is a program designed to equip entrepreneurs utilizing technology and innovative solutions to some of the worlds most pressing agriculture, energy and environmental concerns. The accelerator, Village Capital’s 18th program worldwide, is designed to provide opportunity to high-potential startups that deliver more...
January 2013
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The Road to Abundance: Identifying the Problems...
So what is abundance and how will we know when its been achieved? Peter Diamandis explains that “abundance is not about providing everyone on this planet with a life of luxury…ultimately, abundance is about creating a world of possibility: a world where everyone’s days are spent dreaming and doing, not scrapping and scraping.”
Described as such,...
December 2012
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Is Abundance Closer Than We Think? (Part 1)
If you are like most people, you probably think Earth’s future seems pretty bleak. Between wars, famine, disease, and pollution, today’s problems don’t seem to give us much to look forward to. But is our planet really heading toward destruction as quickly as popular opinion suggests?
Abundance, Peter Diamandis’ acclaimed (and controversial) 2012 collaboration with bestselling author Steven...
October 2012
4 posts
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L3C vs. B-Corps: What is Best for Your Social...
Social entrepreneurs have the unenviable challenge of: 1) launching a sustainable business; 2) that solves or alleviates global afflictions; and 3) doing so while operating on a razor-thin profit margin. Severally, each of these elements create a difficult hurdle for all start-up to overcome; collectively, they yield what seems like insurmountable odds. Fortunately, start-up social...
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INFOGRAPHIC: Start-up Hubs Across the US
It may surprise you to learn that Silicon Valley isn’t the only startup hotbed in the U.S. In between Silicon Valley and Route 128 there are many pockets of growth and expansion in the startup world. We take a look at where startups are growing and where they are burning out.
See the full INFOGRAPHIC here from @columnfive
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INFOGRAPHIC: Where is the Next Generation of...
(via @GOOD.is)
http://bit.ly/TwNBD5
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Village Capital & Venture Well Team Up to Launch...
Village Capital and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance’s (NCIIA) Venture Well have joined to offer early stage IT and cleantech entrepreneurs the opportunity to win $100,000 in seed money. Teams selected from across the nation will take part in a two and a half month competition beginning with a conference for selectees the weekend of November 29, 2012 in Boston. The...
September 2012
4 posts
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Review of Bornstein & Davis' book on Social...
David Bornstein and Susan Davis’ Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know offers an insightful look into the field of social entrepreneurship and the critical role it will play in tackling the most significant challenges of the 21st century.
Bornstein and Davis describe social entrepreneurship as “a process by which citizens build or transform institutions to advance solutions to...
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In Its 5th Year, SOCAP12 Convenes Social... →
The convener of the social entrepreneur and impact investing community in the U.S., will host its annual gathering October 1-4 in San Francisco. The sector was recently estimated at $650 billion in marketplace potential – almost five times its estimated potential just two years ago. SOCAP, now in its 5th year, will focus heavily on the many aspects of impact investing, convening more than 1,000...
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Impact Capital Is The New Asset Class (via... →
One of the highlights from the Forbes 400 Summit On Philanthropy was the panel ‘Impact Capital Is The New Asset Class,’ and not just because I was the moderator (entire video below).
It was thanks to the intelligent panelists we brought on stage: venture capitalists Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz and Jim Breyer of Accel Partners, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff, and social venture...
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Seven ways mobile phones have changed lives in... →
“A little over a decade ago there were about 100,000 phone lines in Nigeria, mostly landlines run by the state-owned telecoms behemoth, NITEL. Today NITEL is dead, and Nigeria has close to 100 million mobile phone lines, making it Africa’s largest telecoms market, according to statistics by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Across the rest of the continent the trends are...
July 2012
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May 2012
3 posts
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VilCap Recap on Impact Investing in Action... →
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Success and Social Value →
Check out this great post on #socent from @Forbes. I would love to hear your thoughts on Drucker’s quote as well: “success is maximizing shareholder value, and social value would result.” What does this position presuppose?
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WatchCheck out the new promo video from @NadusFilms. They recently returned from India and a scouting trip and have launched a kickstarter campaign to complete their project: “B Boys for Life” which is about the breakdancing community of Guatemala City as an alternative to gang life. Check out the campaign and consider donating.
March 2012
8 posts
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Venture Philanthropy - Risky But Rewarding →
“Venture capital takes financial capital and expertise and provides it to high-potential, high-risk, startup businesses. Venture philanthropy uses the same approach and applies it to philanthropic donations in the nonprofit or social enterprise sector. Both VC and VP involve a commitment of time and resources, carry a high degree of risk and can produce outsized returns.” READ...
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Where Did Social Enterprise Come From, Anyway? →
“Businesses, even those outside the realm of greedy corporate drones, are designed to earn a profit. Other priorities, like environmental sustainability or job creation, are reached only through happy accidents or marketing ploys to help companies make more money. Surely, if you’re raking in the dough, you can’t be making a difference—at least not on purpose.
This outdated vision of...
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VaxTrac Update: An Overview of their Benin... →
VaxTrac is “working to provide developing countries with the technologies and services they need to maximize the effectiveness of their vaccination programs. They envisions a world where every child, regardless of background, has equal access to life-saving vaccines.”
There latest project takes them to Benin to perform a field test funded by The Blue Sky Foundation. The actual project...
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What Africa's Entrepreneurs Can Teach the World →
“In a sense, African entrepreneurs run profit ecosystems rather than business units. These ecosystems interact with other ecosystems in a culturally elaborate manner that can produce extreme robustness, resilience, and flexibility.”
(via @HBR from @echoinggreen)
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Strengthen Your Workforce Through Volunteer... →
“Time-crunched employees are increasingly looking to their jobs to provide opportunities for the good deeds that they don’t have the hours for outside of work, and companies are responding…Data from the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) shows that the vast majority of college graduates want to amplify their commitment to good causes through their employer. According to...
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The Silver Lining to Scarcity: It Drives... →
“When times are good, businesses tend to stick with what’s working. “It’s served us well so far,” goes the reasoning, “so why mess with success?” We fall into ruts where we don’t question whether the approach we’re using is truly the best one—we just work to push it further. It’s during these periods that needless layers are piled on:...
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How Giving Contests Can Strengthen Nonprofits and... →
“Giving contests are becoming an increasingly common tool for cities and regions to increase donations to nonprofits. One recent contest—Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington—was conceived to strengthen the area’s nonprofit community, not only financially, but also through improved online fundraising skills and better donor-nonprofit relationships.”
February 2012
8 posts
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Why Tech Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries... →
“So what can entrepreneurs in the developing world do? Follow the model of most South African companies — incorporate your business in Europe or the U.S. and run it from your own country. Doing so positions you to legally tie your assets to highly-liquid funding environments, and your exit path will be expanded. What’s more, if you incorporate in these markets, it will be easier for...
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The World Needs More Social Entrepreneurs →
“We need to teach our youth that they can help people; that they can lead; that they can make lasting and important change in their communities and across the globe. Society, employers, educators, and parents need to recognize that our kids’ successful personal and social development must start with a mastery of several complex skills — empathy, teamwork, leadership, and change...
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The Lean Startup Methodolgy →
“Startup success can be engineered by following the process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught.” - Eric Ries
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Why Social Change Is Good for Business (via... →
“What’s the best way for your company to have more influence on the social issues that are affecting its business? Consider asking yourself these questions:
What social issues are most relevant to who we are and what we do?
What social issues are containing our growth or hurting our competitive positioning?
What issues can we address directly by improving what we’re already doing, and...
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Mobile Money Slowly Turning East Africa into... →
“In an analysis of the national payment systems in the region, the value of transactions done through cheque and other debit and credit instruments is far larger than the payments through credit cards.
In Uganda, payment by real time gross settlement (RTGS), which allows for funds in accounts in two different banks to be transferred in an hour or less, posted the highest value as a payment...
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The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility →
“What are some of the trends you’ve observed in corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship?
Stephen Jordan: There are many, but let me zero in on three. One is a huge shift toward transparency and communication. In 2000 there might have been a dozen Fortune 500 companies who issued a CSR or sustainability report. Now almost all of them do. Second is a big shift away from...
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Are Mobile Solutions for Combating Global Poverty... →
“There are now over 5 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, according to the International Telecommunications Union, with global mobile penetration at 87 percent. In the developing world, where landlines are especially scarce in rural areas, mobiles have been used for governance, banking, agriculture, education, health, commerce, reporting news, political participation, and reducing...
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Is the Social Enterprise Bubble About to Burst? →
“Over the past two months, GOOD has profiled organizations in Africa using market solutions to solve water and sanitation challenges, improve agriculture, and promote public health. Social enterprises like these are transforming development work, and social entrepreneurs are being hailed as rock stars.
But social enterprise isn’t the first trend to hit the development sector. From women’s...
January 2012
5 posts
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The Trouble With Impact Investing →
“For all the hoopla, the definition of impact investing is still a dog’s breakfast. Inclusive definitions throw in everything from small donations (huh?) to investments that provide a market rate of return or above (which sounds a lot like plain vanilla investing).” (via SSIR)
Some interesting points…thoughts? What’s the problem with a both/and approach instead of...
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The Rise of the Charitable For-Profit Entity →
“Many Americans, and millions of business owners, want to do more than simply turn a profit — although they certainly have nothing against making money. Their goals also include improving the environment and developing communities. In the classic model, these social purposes had to be pursued in a non-profit corporation. But some regulations on tax-exempt non-profits such as limitations...
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Should Philanthropies Operate Like Businesses? →
“What should you expect of your charities? Businesslike efficiency? Or something more intangible, less-easily defined?
Charles R. Bronfman and Jeffrey R. Solomon, chairman and president, respectively, of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, favor businesslike thinking. Michael Edwards, a distinguished senior fellow at Demos, a social issues think tank, argues that social values...
December 2011
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5 Skill Sets Impact Investing Managers Should... →
1. Technical: Specialized knowledge bases, including, but not limited to social sectors (health, housing, education, etc), technology and systems, operations. The greater the breadth and depth of knowledge, the better the chances of finding & exploiting hidden synergies and opportunities.
2. Tactical: Think of tactical skills as the “how” response to a technical challenge. What financial...
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The Hopeful Continent: Africa Rising After Decades... →
(via http://www.economist.com/node/21541008)
November 2011
3 posts
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We Need a Battery Miracle →
All the batteries on Earth store just 10 mins of world electricity needs. This new battery may be key.
(via @BillGates)
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The Silicon Valley of Shit: Nairobi Is Ground Zero... →
“Yet while the government lacks funds, initiative, and directive for innovation in sanitation, a unique blend of social entrepreneurs have flocked to Nairobi, all seeking one noble goal: Profiting from peoples’ excrement.”
(via @good.is)
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“The just person lives a life of honesty, equity, and generosity in every aspect...”
– Tim Keller, Generous Justice
October 2011
13 posts
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“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and...”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
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Mobile phone: Weapon against global poverty →
“The advent of the mobile society may have brought convenience and a cultural sea change to the U.S. and Europe, but in the poorest regions of the world, affordable mobile phone access has caused a quantum leap in services — like calling for medical help, sending a quick letter to loved ones or starting a savings account — that Americans and Europeans have taken for granted for...
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