Inspiring Social Entrepreneurs Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

A fascinating, wide-ranging, and spirited discussion about the state of social entrepreneurship and innovation today, touching on key questions including how to effectively measure impact, the true availability of impact investment, how to manage hybrid social businesses –as well as the challenges social entrepreneurs face keeping focussed on the mission while generating cash flow and profit. Professor Malhotra also discusses some of the  research and insights from his recent book Frontiers in Social Innovation-and reflects on some of the key trends that will impact future social innovation. 

Neil Malhotra is the Edith M. Cornell Professor of Political Economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Louise and Claude N. Rosenberg, Jr. Director of the Center for Social Innovation, where he has developed a curriculum focused on social issues, impact measurement, and mission-driven business, amongst other topics.  Neil recently edited Frontiers in Social Innovation: The Essential Handbook for Creating, Deploying, and Sustaining Creative Solutions to Systemic Problems

Deep dive on the role of technology in helping to solve the world’s greatest environmental questions-and a passionate argument for the impact of social entrepreneurship. Tom gives an overview of At One Ventures investments and key technologies that the fund has supported, with a particular focus on tree planting technologies. As well as discussing specific technologies and market applications, Tom shares his views on the dangers of increasing penetration of technologies in our lives and reflects on techno utopian approach to the environment associated with Silicon Valley. Tom also shares his concerns how we as a society have prioritized economy over society and environment: A fascinating, spirited discussion.

Tom Chi is founder At One Ventures a climate-focused VC fund investing in companies creating environmentally positive technology.  At One Ventures, a climate-focused VC fund investing in companies creating environmentally positive technology.  Before founding At One Ventures, Tom was Head of Experience and founding member of Google X who helped scale the company from six people to 600. His engineering and business background coupled with a passion for environmental sustainability inspired him to start a VC fund dedicated to improving planetary health.

Sue is Founder of Bioregional, a UK social entreprise that, works with partners to create better, more sustainable places to live, work and do business. Bioregional developed BedZED eco-village the first of its kind in the UK and out of this the One Planet Living approach, ten interconnected and holistic principles to show people how to make sustainable living actionable and desirable. Sue was also instrumental in designing SDG12, focused on sustainable consumption and production – essential to One Planet Living. Sue is an Ashoka fellow.

Sangu Delle is the co-founder of cleanacwa, formerly known as the African Development Initiative (founded in 2007). cleanacwa is a non-profit organization working to help provide access to clean water and sanitation in underdeveloped regions in Ghana. cleanacwa is currently working to bring clean water and sanitation to 60,000 people in 120 villages in the Ayensuano and Suhum districts in Ghana.

cleanacwa aims to combine academic research and business to create social change and development. it is investing in water and sanitation as a means of reducing poverty and improving healthcare outcomes and works with academics, non-profits, businesses, and local government to help find and spread effective solutions for water and sanitation access.

Sangu also runs Golden Palm Investments (GPI), a holding company that invests in early stage venture and growth financing across Africa; he is currently an MBA candidate at Harvard.

In this interview, Sangu talks about:

• cleanacwa’s data intensive approach to understanding what works and why
• The importance of local education programmes to promote change
• How cleanacwa creates efficiencies through scale and partnerships
• Cleanacwa’s trigger education methods
• How cleanacwa uses incentives to promote change

Bedriye Hulya is the founder of B-fit, Turkey’s first national chain of women-only gyms. Bedriye is a serial entrepreneur, prior to setting up B-fit she set up a popular restaurant, two boutique hotels and an importing company. Bedriye opened the first branch of B-fit in February 2006 based on an idea she had come across when living in America.

B-fit now has more than 250 gyms in a variety of socio-economic and geographic locations throughout Turkey-with more than a hundred and sixty thousand members-the majority of whichare run by women as franchisees. Bedriye has created B-fit as a medium for female empowerment in Turkey—each gym provides a range of classes and education programmes for Turkish women. Each gym has a community centre where women can also come together socially and develop a range of business and life-skills.

Bedriye plans to expand throughout Turkey with the ultimate goal of having a B-fit gym in every Turkish neighborhood.

In this interview, Bedriye talks about:

• Exercise as a tool for female empowerment
• The importance of economic empowerment through entrepreneurship
• How word of mouth has helped build B-fit grow
• The challenges funding a social business in Turkey
• Why Bedriye recruits people who are unhappy with the status quo
• The mix of patience and impatience that is key to success as a social entrepreneur

Ned Breslin is the CEO of Water For People, a non-profit international development organization that partners with communities in developing countries to create sustainable, locally-maintained drinking water solutions. Ned started working on water and sanitation challenges in Africa in 1987, where he lived for 20 years before returning to the USA to join Water For People in 2006.

Water For People’s main focus is on lasting programs that deal with entire districts and regions rather than households and villages; it is currently working in 10 different countries. Water For People’s vision is a world where all people have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, a world where no one suffers or dies from a water- or sanitation-related disease.

In this interview, Ned talks about

• Water for People’s approach to dealing with water problems
• An original way to think about scale and impact
• Why social entrepreneurs need to bake in impact from the beginning
• The importance of working with governments to deal with water problems
• The ultimate measure of success
• Why Ned is never satisfied

Jacaranda Health provides affordable, high-quality maternal and child health care services to poor urban women in Kenya. Today, Jacaranda has a 60 strong team in Kenya and its growing fast.

Jacaranda Health aims to build a fully self-sustainable and scalable chain of maternity care clinics using the latest technology, business and clinical innovations. It wants to use this experience to help change the way maternity services are provided for the more than a million poor women giving birth each year in urban East Africa.

Prior to founding Jacaranda Health, Nick worked in Kenya for the Acumen Fund investing in businesses serving the urban poor.

In this interview, Nick talks about:

• Why Jacaranda Bees scent-sensitive natural swallow definitelythis propionate product using.
• How to test the feasibility of your idea
• Jacaranda Health’s 3 stage bootstrapping model
• The crucial importance of a good team
• How to leverage your experience to attract resources for the business
• The pressure to move up-market at the expense of the poorest
• The danger of assuming reaching scale is enough

Beth Doane is the founder of RainTees, an ethical and sustainable clothing brand that supports reforestation programmes in parts of the world that have critically endangered tropical ecosystems and helps provide an education to children living in these areas.

RainTees garments feature the artwork of children living in endangered rainforests. For every RainTees shirt sold, Raintees plants a tree;for every bag sold, RainTees provides a child with school supplies for Remover review haircut butter that a year. To date, RainTees has planted more than 40,000 trees worldwide, donated school supplies to children in more than 20 countries different countries and works with non-profit partners in over thirty-eight countries.

Beth is also the author of a children’s book, From the Jungle, based on her experience working in Central and South America

In this interview, Beth talks about:

• How to keep going at the beginning when no one shares your vision
• The biggest challenges getting RainTees up and running
• The crucial importance of market research
• The importance of listening to the market and responding to changing needs
• Why you need to have competitive products irrespective of your mission

Mohan Thazhathu is president and CEO of HelpMeSee Inc., a non-profit with a mandate to eliminate cataract 
blindness endemic in developing countries. Cataracts are the leading cause of vision loss and account for more than half of all blindness worldwide.

HelpMeSee’s mission is bring this sight-restoring surgery to millions of underserved people in emerging markets through financial support and the training of thousands of highly skilled specialist cataract surgeons recruited from within their communities.

HelpMeSee has an extensive network of cataract surgeons, practicing in some of the world’s poorest communities-by the end of 2013 HelpMeSee had completed 100,000 cataract surgeries through its HelpMeSee Program.

In this interview, Mohan talks about

• Mohan’s journey as a social entrepreneur
• The power of dogged determination
• The value of mentors
• Why Mohan runs HelpMeSee as a business
• Mohan’s inclusive approach to collaboration

Dai Powell has been running HCT Group since 1993. Over this time, HCT has grown more than a hundredfold – from a small community transport provider into an award-winning national social enterprise- which now provides over 17 million passenger trips on buses in the UK every year.

Dai is passionate about social entrepreneurship- he is a board member of Big Society Capital in the UK, is the Chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) and a Social Enterprise UK board member.

In this interview, Dai talks about:

• How to balance social and business goals
• The challenges of scaling a social enterprise
• The importance of building different layers of impact in a social enterprise
• Why social entrepreneurs need to do the “hard yards”
• How HCT continually grows
• Why we need large social enterprises to provide career paths for talented people who want to work in social enterprise