(*Insert innovative product here)

How many folks at the Bottom of the Pyramid woke up every morning lamenting the fact that their kerosene lamps weren’t eco-friendly enough, and wanted something more sustainable? Sure, the danger of kerosene fires was a real problem, but no one had yet introduced a way harness the power of the sun as a viable replacement.

People just knew that their current solution wasn’t optimal, but in the absence of anything better, they kept operating as normal. Even when companies like d.light introduced this new product, people were unsure about switching from what they’ve known.

In yesterday’s Sunday Morning Coffee, Bryan discussed the fact that companies exist to solve your problems. Well, what if you don’t know that you have a problem? Read more »

News on the ‘inhabit another planet’ front appears slow; meanwhile, the world’s population continues to increase at a staggering rate. One way or another, the world is getting smaller and we’re going to have to get used to sharing a smaller piece of the same pie.

As is typically the case with every challenge in life, obstacles provide an opportunity in other areas. Increases in the amount of energy used provides the scientific community with an opportunity to invent new efficient ways to reduce energy usage. Non-profits, social enterprises, governments, and big businesses alike are working (sometimes together) to tackle this ever pressing problem.

These institutions are pushing through some of the most innovative changes to solving global issues that we have seen in history. Yet, it is all for naught if we still intend to approach the outreach problem in the same manner. Albert Einstein famously quipped that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

As the thinking towards solving global issues from a scientific perspective is changing, personal behavior and outreach must change as well. Read more »

Many entrepreneurs face the trade off on where to spend their time.  Where is value added the most?  Should I spend time at this meet and greet event, hoping to grow my network, or spend the time buried back in the office with the team perfecting our product and discussing strategy?

Social entrepreneurs often enter a space where experience, competitors, and new entrants are sparse.  The level of documented intellectual property and lack of industry veterans to seek out makes succeeding even more difficult.  Yet these resources are critical to gaining tracking in the market and ensuring your idea lives to see the next day.

Triple Pundit wrote  a great piece on shifting more to collaboration between NGOs and businesses.  If values are aligned, – which is no standard clause; value misalignment can be the most critical downfall to partnerships  - the complementary skillsets can mean more impact. Read more »

As many entrepreneurs are familiar with, one of the must-reads when starting a business is the book The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.  It’s a useful read no matter what sized organization you’re with, and the principles that the book are founded upon can be applied anywhere.

I won’t go too much into the application of the Lean Startup Methodology in the social enterprise realm (as an aside, check out Social Earth for a good take on that).  However, I think that some of the principles that a startup can learn from can be applied when looking at the social enterprise industry or even sub-sets of industries.

Validated Learning Cycles (VLCs),  a term that is used to describe the rapid development cycles of building, measuring, and learning from your product, is typically done in isolation during your initial stages.   The energy put into spreading your product and gathering user feedback is tremendous.  But, what happens to the feedback that you’ve gained? Read more »

“Find a job that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”

- Confucius

When you’re passionate about your work or your hobby, the ‘work’ becomes less of a drag, and you’re eager to learn and produce more.  But what if that very passion gets tested by an outsider?

Sharing your work/passion with others is a critical part to evolving the idea and making sure it is as strong as possible.   No one can develop the perfect idea or product in a vacuum without seeking – and more importantly – incorporating feedback.  Hearing someone’s reaction about your passion can be a very humbling experience.

Read more »