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A test for your passion

February 6, 2012

“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.

Sunday Morning Coffee: Hello, I Read Your Blog

February 5, 2012

By Bryan Farris

This week I met a candidate for the Acumen Fund Fellowship and the first thing out of her mouth was “Hello, I read your blog!”

I loved the introduction because it captured two very interesting concepts in one go:

A) Drawing Connections:
I’ve always marveled at the tremendous connectivity that exists within the social enterprise space. Through overlapping & shared networks, it seems as if you are never separated from another #socent geek by more than two social connections. Read more »

Give Me A Reason To Cry

February 2, 2012

By Bryan Farris

One of the most beautiful aspects of poverty is the joy that so many amongst the poor share. Happiness seems to spread through communities like light through a prism.

The first thing I notice when I enter a poor area or a slum is usually the laughter, often of children. Inevitably I always see groups of people with interlocked arms and neighbors gathering around shared TV sets.

Last year, in the flood affected areas of Pakistan, I played cricket with our residents and ball toss with their kids. The community is truly a family, with everyone working together in a trusting, jovial way. The happy survive.

Those who might be poor in monetary terms are a far cry from poor in spirit. Read more »

Introducing Microfinance Monday

January 30, 2012

By Christopher Cuellar

Today marks the last Monday of January and the first monthly Microfinance Monday on Rising Pyramid. Each last Monday of the month, we’ll take a look at the growth and trends emerging from the microfinance industry. We plan to offer a holistic and balanced look into an industry poised for a critical year. Enjoy!

Time for Microfinance to Retool

As venture capitalists maintain their distance from MFIs and large for-profit organizations continue to report poor results, it is clear that now is the lull in the industry lifecycle where MFIs must go back, retool, and change the way business is done while investors take a sideline role.

Microfinance’s reputation in the past few years alone has pushed the industry to its bounds and essentially made it too sexy too fast. The rewards and opportunities that microfinance presented were overblown from both the investor and consumer side. As bold MFIs drank the kool-aid, the IPOs began to trickle out, met with great surprise, trepidation, but spurred on by hopeful confidence. Read more »

Sunday Morning Coffee: The Tide Will Always Come Back In

January 29, 2012

By Bryan Farris

New beginnings & change are inevitable…we are constantly spinning, moving forward, moving backward. Life is happening—there is no such thing as a constant or a ‘forever’. Practically speaking, ‘permanent’ is a word that can never quite mean what the dictionary claims it does.

Life is one big golden coast line, with each wave slowly washing away intricate sand castles and footprints of passersby. One wave at a time, paving the way for something new.

New beginnings & change can be sad…something is always lost, the moment is gone, the memories start to jumble with reality and eventually they fade too. But the waves open the door to a whole ocean of possibility. Read more »