In this episode of the Finding Impact Podcast I talk to Juliana Proserpio, Co-founder and Chief Design Officer of Echos Innovation Lab, on using Design Thinking in the needfinding process. Juliana talks about her work at Echos Innovation Lab and how it supports organizations and entrepreneurs to use the design thinking mindset for accelerating cultural change and creating new services and business models to create desirable futures.

On this podcast you will learn:

• How Echos Innovation Lab has built a for-profit business that works with organizations to create and foster innovation initiatives, as well as building the design capability of individuals and organizations to create better and human-centered services through its School of Design Thinking. (01:30)
• Design thinking is a way to understand people and people's needs that helps develop solutions which address these needs better. The design thinking mindset is thus based on empathy, collaboration and experimentation. (02:37)
• The double-diamond methodology of design thinking that focusses on using divergence and convergence methods for expanding knowledge of user needs (also called "discovery process" or "empathetic research") and then converging ("synthesis") upon real needs and specific ideas or insights that create value for the user. (04:15)
• Tools for synthesizing, such as systems map, personas, etc., that can help in developing insights by understanding information patterns and interconnections. (11:30)
• Key suggestions on how to manage the ideation stage of design thinking by thinking about quantity and not necessarily only quality (“you can only get to an amazing idea once you get some absurd ideas”). (15:36)
• That design thinking is an iterative process where you ideate, prototype and test, while iterating and going back and forth between the various phases. (19:27)
• Why social entrepreneurs need to have creative confidence for re-imagining how the world can be, and how design thinking aids in developing creative confidence. (23:21)
• Advice for students and young founders looking to develop social ventures on how they can use design thinking to identify challenges within their communities ("near their doors") - acting locally, starting small, and helping create value within the community first, and then aim at creating bigger impact ("dream big and start small"). (24:55)
• About the School of Design Thinking at the Echos Innovation Lab, that helps individuals and organizations become better innovators through classroom programs and online courses on various design thinking topics. (26:30)
• Examples of participants in the design thinking courses (such as Insecta Shoes) who have applied design thinking to their needfinding process and how it has helped them deliver the desired outcomes. (28:44)
• Advice for first-time founders and social entrepreneurs to navigate the lockdown and the post COVID-19 situation - it is an opportunity for each one of us to re-design our world, where every assumption is being challenged, and the need for businesses to pivot their product or service in order to remain relevant. (30:52)

Resources from this episode:

• Echos Innovation Lab website 
• Echos School of Design Thinking
• Insecta Shoes

Connect with Juliana:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

I'm very honoured to speak to Jack Lowe this week. He's come on share lessons learnt throughout his 40 year career in microfinance and the startup world.

Jack was asked to become CEO of BlueOrchard Investments in 2004 -- a microfinance fund that he grew from $40 million to close to $1 billion, stretching to 45 countries. It became the largest private microfinance lender in the world. Jack graduated from Stanford in 1965, joined McKinsey in 1969, and went on to grow a string of successful startups, from oil and gas to food distribution and restaurants. Jack is currently building another startup, Fit for Life Foundation, helping people stay active and age well.

On this show you'll learn:

• The fundamental difference between the business and non-profit sector (2.24)
• The experience of pitching the microfinance fund to pension funds, family offices and institutional investors (4.57)
• The two basic principles of fundraising (7.41)
• How to know when something's not working and to try something else (11.19)
• Professional intimacy and other insights from building teams (14.12)
• Using a network and calling on people for help and advice (18.45)
• Getting out of a tough spot and avoiding depression (24.15)
• Advice to his younger self (31.54)
• Why exercise and ageing well is the feature of Jack's next startup (36.31)
• 3 quick fire questions (44.08)

Links from this episode

• Mckinsey
• Stanford University
• BlueOrchard

Get in touch with Jack

• Jack Lowe on LinkedIn

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we’ve got Lemia Makkar and we're going to talk about Lamia's experience as a young founder, with the hope of inspiring and helping other young founders succeed at what they're doing. Lemia started her first non-profit Haiti: Hands On, at the age of 13, when at times she had to skip school to present to CEOs in Boardrooms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where she lived. Fast forward 8 years later, to today, and Lamia has kindly come on to share her experience.

On this podcast, you will learn:

• Why she started a non-profit at 13 years old
• Challenges she had to overcome because of her age:
• • Basic infrastructure to run an organization: couldn’t open a bank account or register as a 501c3 in the US until she was 18 years old.
  • Getting people to take you seriously: validity of being recognized as a serious stakeholder while still not being able to register with proper documentation; fundraising; buy-in from Haitians.
  • Opposition from parents: stigma surrounding Haiti; safety, etc.

• Advantages, because of her age: 
• • Able to answer questions about their doubt, ie. at their age, there was no social stigma around saying, “I don’t know.” Very easy for us to ask other organizations questions and interview them before building anything. 
  • High level contacts sharing information with us since they didn’t see us as a competitor nor us just trying to build our careers. 
• How to ask the right questions and who to reach out to:
• • Researching education nonprofits in Haiti and throughout the world

1. Sending out cold emails to ask how do you do what you do
   1. Practicing a phone script and writing a business plan and proposal 
   2. Getting people to understand your why, and understand that you’re serious, before they have time to ask your age.
   3. In the UAE and other fundraising markets, getting people to understand that this is something that is already happening; proof and a track record. 
2. Looking for potential partners in Haiti, and donors in the UAE

• Could not solicit donations online since they were not registered, but raised their first $100,000 over two years only from babysitting, tutoring, running events at school, bake sales, etc.
• Used that money to start building, then recorded a lot of pictures and interviews of the construction so they could then go back to some of the same corporations and funders to show that they are actually doing something. 
• • Raised $35,000 from that second round

• How they hired older team members:
• • First team member to help with operations and logistics was in his mid 20’s and someone Lemia had met during her first trip to Haiti and was involved since the very beginning. 
  • Others included construction workers who reported directly to the local coordinators. 
• Their balance and mix between cold calling, googling information, and having regular advisors.
• Lemia’s advice for other young people who have an idea for service to their community or other communities

Links to Resources:

• Haiti: Hands On

Connect with Lemia:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Carne Ross is a Skoll Awardee and TED speaker. He's a principled man, having walked away from his diplomatic career in the British Government in protest over the Iraq war. The non-profit he founded, called Independent Diplomat, is geared towards tackling the imbalance between the diplomatic processes and those affected by the decisions made in diplomatic processes.    In this episode, Carne talks us through nine principles for action that changemakers can use to create their own political strategy.

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we are starting off a new series to help social entrepreneurs understand and navigate the whole gamut of services and service providers in entrepreneurial ecosystems and we are talking with Maryanne Ochola, East Africa Regional Chapter Manager of ANDE (Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs), based in Nairobi. Maryanne shares her views on the different players in entrepreneurial ecosystems, roles they play and services they offer to help social entrepreneurs succeed.

On this podcast, you will learn:

• Why entrepreneurial ecosystems are important - just like Silicon Valley for technology startups or Hollywood for films, these ecosystems increase the productivity of enterprises associated with the ecosystem, drive the pace of innovation and help stimulate the formation of new enterprises.
• Learn about ANDE, its focus on Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs), and its work in building strong local entrepreneurial ecosystems - with 8 offices in emerging economies, having 280+ members as service providers providing financial and non-financial assistance to social entrepreneurs and operating in 150 countries.
• About ANDE's 6x6 framework or key activity domains that underpin its entrepreneurial ecosystem services, such as: (i) finding entrepreneurs, (ii) training entrepreneurs, (iii) cultivating physical and virtual support spaces for entrepreneurs, (iv) funding support for all types of financing, (v) enabling entrepreneurs with legal, regulatory support, and finally (v) celebrating entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs.
• How entrepreneurs can find and make use of the different services provided by the ANDE ecosystem and its member organizations - such as networking events, acceleration programs, pitch competitions, funding support, legal services, etc.
• And finally, how it is also extremely important for investors and entrepreneurial support service providers to be embedded in the local ecosystem and possess an understanding of the local context, challenges, and opportunities in order to deliver maximum value to entrepreneurs.

 

Links to Resources:

• Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Global
• ANDE East Africa Chapter Website

 

Connect with Maryanne:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Sagun Saxena, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of KOKO Networks, is a company operating in Kenya and India that builds and deploys a dense network of kiosks inside local corner stores that distribute bio-ethanol for the modern cookers they sell. This is the third episode in our second 3-part series on invention-based entrepreneurs, supported by The Lemelson Foundation. The series aims to provide unique insights into some of the challenges and workarounds faced by entrepreneurs creating hardware products in emerging markets.

On this episode you will learn:

• A description of the physical product, and how KOKO customers use this on a day-to-day basis. 0:58.
  • KOKO deploys dense networks of KOKOpoints inside neighborhood stores across the city, which communicate real-time with the KOKO Cloud.
  • Customers can buy KOKO Cookers, refill their KOKO Canisters with KOKO Fuel, and access other useful products and services.
• The India team supports the engineering and manufacturing of KOKO Fuel, and the first commercial market they are targeting is East Africa, specifically Nairobi, which already has 700 KOKOpoint dispensers throughout the city. 3:10.
  • Target is to get around 200-250 households around each dispenser location.
• Long term goal is to be in at least 40 to 50 major metropolitan areas across Sub-Saharan Africa.
• How they move highly flammable liquid around the city and partner with large oil companies which already have the infrastructure in place at scale. 6:45
• Why they decided to manufacture in India versus locally in Kenya. 10:45.
  • Cost considerations, and many other factors including logistics.
  • Pros: engineering skills in product iteration, moving product in and out of India easier for global markets, density of suppliers, stable/cheap energy (electricity), and contract workers. 15:00.
  • Cons: Long logistics chain (India is far away), Kenya import uncertainty especially with import taxes of new products not yet categorized. 18:45.
• Top level tips on achieving compliance with regulations. 21:15.
  • Chose this market because clean cooking is a priority for the government, Kenya has a reputation of innovation, and other countries in the region respect how the Kenyan Bureau of Standards (KEBs) looks at new technology - a regulatory body that has a rigorous process for supporting innovation and making new products available.
  • Partnerships with established players adds to credibility. Organizations like gearbox (tied to universities), plus commercial partners like Vivo Energies (the Shell brand) which has world class facilities 25:17.
• How they mobilized capital for hardware with just a prototype. First, articulated a vision, then tried to demonstrate demand (ie. consumer appetite at their price points). 27:20.
• Co-founders had quit their other activities and their basic consumer demand pilot was self-funded 31:18.

Resources from this episode:

• KOKO Networks 

Connect with Sagun:

• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 

Simon Oshera is from Proteq Automation in Nairobi. We talk about Simon's invention that is set to propel manufacturing in Kenya to compete with the likes of China and other industrialised nations. Proteq Automation builds CNC machines, which are computer numerical control machines. CNCs control machining tools (drills, boring tools, lathes) and 3D printers by means of a computer to alter a blank piece of material (metal, plastic, wood, ceramic, or composite) to meet precise specifications by following programmed instructions and without a manual operator.   On this episode you'll learn:

• Simon was motivated to solve the problem of not being able to manufacture high--precision products in Kenya. 3.50.
• He realised he needed to approach bigger contract manufacturers who had existing contracts, and could help them achieve better per unit costs with his machine. 6.04
• Helping companies with their problem of long turnaround times of sending parts outside Kenya to be manufactured 8.59
• Simon started with an engineering degree, moved into programming, and making his own electrical circuits.  11.11
• He wanted to make enclosures for his circuit boards, so got into vacuum forming, which needed wooden moulds, and he needed a machine to make the high precision wooden moulds. He built one at home over the course of a year, whilst working a full time job 14.37
• His first client was a university who used it for educational purposes. He did a lot of research online to figure out what parts he needed to make his machine, and which suppliers to order from. He chose US suppliers because they contained alot of content and how-to guides on their website 20.48
• His first commercial client was a manufacturer with a contract from General Motors who had to improve their turn around time for custom parts  29.47
• Simon's proposal to the manufacturer included a design to improve turnaround time, which the manufacturer won the tender on. He received a 50% down payment to build his CNC machine for that client 33.04
• Training staff is key to the business, as it's a unique skill set, and he has a bespoke training scheme for new staff that takes a year. 35.12
• Simon doesn't have competition and he doesn't see it coming, because of the processes and training required for a successful service business 38.48

Resources from this episode:

• proteqautomation.co.ke
• buildyourcnc.com

Connect with Simon:

• Twitter @ProteqAutomate
• Facebook @proteqautomationltd

 

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we are continuing our second series on hardware entrepreneurs, this one with Mike Hahn of PayGo Energy about his hardware development journey. This is the first episode in our second 3-part series on invention-based entrepreneurs, supported by The Lemelson Foundation. The series aims to provide unique insights into some of the challenges and workarounds faced by entrepreneurs creating hardware products in emerging markets. As many will know, from episode 44 with Mike's Co-Founder Fausto, PayGo Energy has created a smart meter that sits on an LPG gas cylinder, that lets customers pay on a PAYG basis.

On this podcast, you will learn:

• How the idea of PayGo came about: started in 2015 with an observation that, on a daily basis, lots of people were lining up at petrol stations to buy kerosene or diesel fuel for cooking and they were bringing small vessels to carry this fuel home, despite there being a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) option 10 meters away. This spurred our question about why aren’t people cooking with LPG? It’s clean, fast, and convenient.
• • This idea came about while all of the co-founders were working for different organizations within the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. 
• What their first basic prototype looked like: technical discovery "can we turn gas on and off with a text message?"
• How their diverse group of co-founders with diverse skill sets helped: technology development, understanding the market/operations, etc. and this blend of personalities and experiences gave them an advantage early on.
• For their first prototype they used BRCK components (see episode 111 with Erik Hersman, Co-founder of BRCK https://findingimpact.com/fip-111-hardware-entrepreneurs-3-3-creating-a-modem-cum-router-device-aimed-at-solving-last-mile-connectivity-issues-in-africa-with-erik-hersman/)  in order to test how to get some level of accuracy of measuring gas vapor (actual flow) to the stove, and then send that data remotely to a server while including the ability to shut that gas flow off. 
• Why he uses SolidWorks for designs and recommends GrabCad for downloading files that other people have made based off of the real object. It makes it easy to plug into My Assembly so you can build something around it, and spatially you are in the right ballpark. 
• Why he decided to buy a 3D printer instead of using 3D printing services: it’s incredibly fast and convenient to do it by yourself, especially if you aren’t sure how many iterations will be needed, and you’re learning about the design as you’re making it. 
• How they raised their seed round: having a physical prototype and a real functioning unit in someone’s home along with comprehensive market research and a business modeling effort prepared them for that seed round. Also having a couple backers from very early before the seed round helped instill confidence. 
• When working with manufacturers it’s a good indicator when you get to meet directly with the CEO. 
• Advice for those in the hardware development process: get yourself into it, fake it until you make it. (But his design background at Rhode Island School of Design also helped.) Don't be afraid to ask for help. Talk to people, work with in the past who are willing to pick up the phone. i.e. how to do contract with a contract manufacturer. 

Links to resources:

• PayGo Energy https://www.paygoenergy.co/ 
• SolidWorks http://www.solidworks.com/ 
• GrabCAD https://grabcad.com/

Connect with Mike:

• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhahndesign/ 
• Twitter https://twitter.com/paygo_energy?lang=en 

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we are talking to Solonia Treodos, Co-founder of The Change School, who describes why social entrepreneurs need a clear fundraising strategy and goal before starting their fundraising activities. Solonia shares her journey of fundraising for The Change School, with lessons from her experience of almost closing a fundraising deal, changing course and walking away from the deal and coming back to it later with a clear strategy.

On this podcast, you will learn:

• How Change School helps transform organizations and individuals by helping them re-connect with their values, re-design their work and re-define success as authentic leaders. Change School thus equips and empowers people to navigate uncertainty and embrace change during the transition or transformation that they are going through.
• About Change School's journey of testing various offline business models such as: creating immersive retreats for people to re-connect with themselves while enabling a peer-to-peer and community learning experience; to creating Change School mind gyms for bite-sized learning to develop mental resilience; and creating bespoke experiential transformation programs for organizations.
• How the founders encountered the growth and scale challenges of Change School by evolving and developing an online delivery model of working with its vast pool of trainers and experts while drawing from the expertise of its offline immersive retreats and retaining the Change School brand personality.
• Why social entrepreneurs should have a strategy of pro-actively approaching investors for funding and alignment with business growth plans rather than just nosediving into fundraising re-actively in trying to impress investors, while not losing focus on the business vision and operating matters such as managing cash flows properly.
• Finally, you will learn about Change School's online courses and tutorials for anyone needing resources and additional support to managing change and transitions. Check out the free online course at https://findingimpact.com/changeschool, which is a 5-day visioning challenge for teams or individuals to help find clarity of vision in careers or lives.

 Links to Resources:

• The Change School
• Personal Website of Solonia Teodros
• Free Online Course – Vision Your Bold Career Move

 Connect with Solonia:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

This week on the Finding Impact podcast, we will be speaking with Caroline Bressan, the Director of Social Investments at Open Road Alliance. This incredible service at Open Road Alliance provides capital (loans or grants) to social impact organizations (non-profit and for-profit) facing an unexpected roadblock during implementation.

On this episode you will learn:

• The story behind why it was set up: founded in 2012 by psychologist and philanthropist Dr. Laurie Michaels to address the need for contingency funds and the absence of risk management practices in philanthropy. It originally started as a grantmaking organization and then moved on to recoverable grants, and finally in 2018 launched Loan Fund Open Road Ventures which is a $50 million dollar commitment towards short term loans on solving this unexpected roadblocks and cash crunches. To date they have put out $18 million towards that $50 million target.
  • Half of their portfolio is in East Africa.
• Fast response: from initial request to decision being made, it’s a period of 6 weeks.
• Examples of:
  • Some organizations receiving bridge loans for accounts receivable and / or the large purchase order, and 
  • Open Road Alliance speaking with actual investors to say that they can help and to not back out.
• The Roadblock Analysis Report which has around 150 data points which shows (among other things) that about half of these cash crunches are caused by funder created obstacles.
  • E.g. An agricultural social enterprise in Kenya can look to see what are the top three risks likely to occur so that they can put a contingency plan in place.
• Caroline’s advice from the entrepreneur side: when talking to investors, first make sure they have already raised their funding and ask if they have made their first deal out of their new fund. Impact investors, particularly in East Africa, could do a better job about being clear and transparent regarding their application process, their timeline for disbursement, and criteria they use to make decisions.
• Open Road Alliances criteria for social entrepreneurs:
  • 1) It has to be mid implementation (ie. you had all the money you needed and then something happened).
  • 2) An “unexpected” criteria (ie. something external outside of the management teams control, like a funder pulling out, the government changing a policy, or an office being robbed, etc.).
  • 3) Discreet criteria (ie. need to be able to fully solve the problem at hand, for example, the average loan is $300k and if you have a million dollar gap, Open Road Alliance won’t be able to fund you until you find that first $500k).
  • 4) Catalytic impact criteria (ie. does this model have the potential to be system changing either in design or scale, and what is the probability of achieving that impact?)
  • **Geography is not important.
• The process: an entrepreneur-centric approach. It typically takes 4 to 6 weeks, although the fastest they have ever moved is 7 days. You can connect through an existing investor or reach out to the OpenRoadAlliance.org email to start an initial conversation to talk through your model, ask questions about the roadblock(s), and Open Road Alliance can give a diagnosis to how well things are fitting into their criteria. The next stage is the application which is 4 pages and asks about your model, the roadblock, the solution, and the impact. Open Road Alliance can have a 1 hour call to give feedback to make the application as strong as possible before moving to the investment committee. Then a decision is made after that within a week. In between Open Road Alliance will check references, talk through repayment structures, etc.
• Open Road Alliance has only had 1 loss out of 60 loans.

Links to Resources:

• Open Road Alliance website 
• Open Road Alliance funding inquiries email: funding@openroadalliance.org 
• Roadblock Analysis Report 

Connect with Caroline:

• LinkedIn 
• Twitter 
• Open Road Alliance Twitter

Many social entrepreneurs will consider applying to an accelerator to help grow their business, so we reached out to a range of accelerators to hear what tips they have for people putting an application together. These tips come in three buckets - one on selecting the right accelerator, next on what will need to go into your application, and third on how to deliver a great application.

• Allie Burns - CEO of Village Capital: get clarity on the key milestones to grow your business i.e. building your team, validating your value prop, refining your product or sales process. Then ask how an accelerator will help. And then do your research to find out which accelerator will help you reach those milestones.
  • Check out https://vilcap.com/programs/ to check out their active and recruiting programs, and they're tweeting at @villagecapital
• David Bartram - Director of Ventures at UnLtd: Three key things. 1- be really clear what you want to get out of programme; 2- think about what you can give back i.e. to other cohort entrepreneurs or the accelerator organisation; 3- don't change your idea to fit the needs of the accelerator.
  • Check out https://www.unltd.org.uk/ and they're tweeting at @UnLtd
• Siobhain Dullea - CEO of MassChallenge: Be clear about what problem you're trying to solve and why your product is the solution. Share your numbers (churn, revenue, profit), traction (interest and demand), go-to-market strategy or product development process. And your team - why they're the winners.
  • Check out https://masschallenge.org/ and @MassChallenge
• Ben Powell - Founder and CEO of Agora Partnerships: Articulate three things. Your market opportunity or idea (sustainability), quality of your team, quality of your impact. Be sure to highlight your core values and the kind of culture you hope to build. Talk with maturity, and openness and some vulnerability on how to build culture and attract the best people.
  • So check out https://agora2030.org/ and Ben is tweeting at @BenAgora
• Paul Miller - CEO of Bethnal Green Ventures: Tell us something about the problem we don't know. Explain why you're the people that understands this problem, in a way that people haven't understood it before.
  • Check out https://bethnalgreenventures.com/ and they're tweeting at @BG_Ventures
• Luni Libes - Founder & Managing Director, Fledge: Applying to an accelerator is like an elevator pitch. Balance giving enough information in a clear and concise format. in just a few paragraphs. also convey how far along you are. where you are. how fast you want to grow. where to get to.
  • Check out fledge.co/ - Luni is tweeting at @lunarmobiscuit.
• Ryan Kushner - The Accelerator Guy: put yourself in their shows. How you'll be evaluated. Are you in scope for that program. Do you tick the boxes. If so, lay out the team, technology, promise and your social impact. Put it in their language. 
  • Check out https://acceleratorguy.com/ and Ryan is tweeting from @KushyKush
• Tom Rippin - CEO and Founder of OnPurpose: demonstrate your interest, tailor your application, and don't just write a me, me, me cover letter. Say why you're interested in doing this and why you. 
  • Check out https://onpurpose.org/ and they're tweeting at @OnPurposeUK

This is part three of a 3-part series on invention-based entrepreneurs, supported by The Lemelson Foundation. The series aims to provide unique insights into some of the challenges and workarounds faced by entrepreneurs creating hardware products in emerging markets. This third part episode is with Erik Hersman, co-founder of BRCK, which creates a modem-cum-router device aimed at solving last-mile connectivity issues in Africa. We're going to talk about the early prototypes, how they funded manufacturing and validated the market, some of the challenges they had along the way, and how the product evolved into what it is today.

On this episode you’ll learn: 

• Erik’s mantra about why “Experience is knowing what not to do.”
• “Managing expectations.” It took 15-16 months to get a prototype working, then another 12-18 months to build it for the market.
  • It could be done quicker if you: 1) really know what you’re doing (ie. what materials should be used, 2) if you’re well capitalized (have the money), and 3) if you’re not based in Africa (increases costs and time).
• How to validate the market to make sure people will buy it? Kickstarter, the crowdfunding platform, is a great way to find out.
  • Raised $170,000 then created a for-profit company to raise additional capital.
• Early stage companies (particularly in hardware) have to find a balance of when to pull the trigger on shipping.
  • Internal message was that it is not acceptable to miss deadlines.
  • External message to stakeholders that you try to deliver when you say you’re going to.
• Some of the initial problems (that went wrong) and why initial timelines were pushed back: “end of life” manufacturer (ie. they don’t make it anymore), testing at scale, user experience, etc.
• Internal conversation within the company on whether they are solving the real problem of how do you get people online?
  • Resulted in business model innovation (more so than technology innovation) which led to Moja wifi in Kenya and Rwanda which serves up free internet to half a million people.
• Linear versus non-linear growth: when you’re getting venture backed finance or choose to take venture funding, they are looking for non-linear growth.
• Why they became a vertically integrated company—discovered value in building everything in house—helps with risk mitigation, agility, and the ability to respond to customer needs.
• How Moja wifi is funded.
• What Erik knows now that he wished he knew back then:
  • Realize earlier that they needed to build a platform on top of the hardware since the hardware is just a means to an end.
  • Focus more capital on the super brck earlier (their next generation device) since it was delayed 6 months.
  • Hiring the right people: maybe hired too fast in some positions and didn’t get the right people.

 Links to Resources:

• Company website https://www.brck.com/

Connect with Erik:

• Email: Info@brck.com
• Twitter https://twitter.com/brcknet?lang=en

This is part two of a 3-part series on invention-based entrepreneurs, supported by The Lemelson Foundation. The series aims to provide unique insights into some of the challenges and workarounds faced by entrepreneurs creating hardware products in emerging markets. This part two episode is with Mary Mwangi of Data Integrated Ltd., and we are going to hear about her electronic hardware development journey on manufacturing products to improve security in public transport, and to reduce financial leakage. Data Integrated Ltd. is creating electronic hardware products for businesses in East Africa to help business owners keep track of money, whether that is transport companies keeping track of passengers, or point of sale (PoS) devices for retail businesses taking cash and mobile money payments.

On this episode you will learn:

• The biggest problem that most small businesses in Africa face is a lack of data. There is not enough information around their payments, about their resources, and services they are being paid for--there is no digitized or automated way of keeping this and it has been very manual and not very productive.
  • Cash leakage and loss of revenue for owners
  • Insecurity
• Her easy and affordable point of sale (PoS) device for retail businesses taking cash and mobile money payments, particularly small restaurant owners, and making sure it would work for the local African market.
  • Integrates with mobile money providers, card payments from the bank, and cash payments all captured in one place.
  • Keeps track of inventory that has been paid and gives data back to the owners in an easy to read dashboard so they can make better decisions.
  • Raspberry pi - premade hardware kit for simple programming.
• One of the biggest challenges she faced was the long development cycle, having to send electronic boards to China, create a prototype, test, iterate, and send back again for testing. Each iteration can take over two months to get the next version back.
  • No PCB manufacturer exists in East Africa that can create such small PCB units.
  • Mary recently bought a 3D printer to shorten casing time.
• Her struggles with sourcing good local talent so people can help create these PCBs. Since there is no industry in East Africa, there is not as much local talent nor expertise, and people are finding the tools online to teach themselves, so there is a lot of trial and error going on. Her advice is:
  • Get referrals from local universities
  • Recruit young people keen to learn
  • Accessing experts on LinkedIn, YouTube videos
• How she is financing her business with this long development cycle. It is really difficult to get funding for hardware development, so they label themselves as a software company, since they create connected devices for software solutions.
• How she creates partnerships in order to find hardware solutions and to iterate the product with them, then sell it onto other customers. Once you are able to do it with one company, then you find similar ones that also want the same solution.
• Finally, you will learn about the new actionable playbook for invention-based entrepreneurs based on interviews and discussions with leaders in the field, delving into the challenges of bringing physical products into the market. The playbook prepared by Finding Impact will provide actionable content around issues such as workarounds, hiring teams, raising funds, creating minimum viable products and launch strategies, to help entrepreneurs on their invention journey. Click here to sign-up for the playbook.

Links to resources:

• Data Integrated Ltd. (company website)
• Videos of how their products work (fleet management, eticketing, cctv, cashless cards, etc.)
• Mara phones in Rwanda: “Rwanda Is Set To Open Africa's First Smartphone Factory In April 2019.”

Connect with Mary:

• LinkedIn
• Company Email: Communications@DataIntegrated.co.ke
• Twitter

This episode is about the one thing that changes everything -- mindset. Or attitude. We're living in tough times, and often, our mindset, our attitude, our outlook, can hold us back. With fear, worry, panic, stress, all these different emotions entering our day at some point. All these things hold us back. But, with the understanding of how our minds work, and with the tools to shift our attitude, we can accept this new reality and choose to take action.

I'm joined by Scott Roy, CEO of Whitten Roy Partnership. Scott is an expert in the art of selling and sales management. And since attitude is the most important component of successful selling, they are experts in attitude and how people can change their mindset to generate optimal results for their organisation.

Listen to this episode to learn:

• About the process you can take to shift your own attitude and the eBooklet that WRP are offering free to download on their website.
• Understand the different forms of attitude, from overwhelm to possibility, so you can recognise which you're in and then what you can do with it.
• We talk about for the four states of overwhelm, which are compulsion, obligation, survival and impossibility.
  • Compulsion: Panic buying is a form of compulsion. It's the feeling that you have to do things to fix this, to get ahead, to make it go away. It's an obsession. It saps alot of your energy. An example is having to watch the news, to not miss anything - to see how many people had died and what was happening next.
  • The next state is obligation. This is where you're so overwhelmed and exhausted, that you give up on trying to change things, you just put up with it. Like you're now in quarantine, you complain about it, you moan about it to your friends, etc. There's not very much you can actually do, other than muddle your way through it
  • Next is a state of survival, which is like running around like a headless chicken
  • Next is a state of impossibility, when you think there's nothing you can do, you're frozen, and you hold up your hands in resignation.
• To understand these states of overwhelm is to know how our mind works. It makes conclusions, demands and predictions, and we can interpret our thoughts through these lenses.
  • Conclusions: this is the worse crisis the world has ever known...
  • Demands: this has to stop, things have to get back to normal, someone has to do something, I have to do something...
  • Predictions: things will never be the same again, we will never recover from this, my business will never recover, things will be much harder...
• Then, once you've understood these states of overwhelm, take some deep breaths, in through your nose for 4 seconds and out 4 seconds. Do this 3-4 times. Feel yourself settled. Then say out loud "This is really happening, we're in a pandemic, this is real. And I accept it."
• The next step is deciding what you're going to do about this. It's about choosing your response to those things you care about, rather than being led or blindly following an automatic response from your brain.
• And finally, the last step is aiming. Say "I want this because.... And I want that because I want..." and keep repeating this, and find what's possible.
• So in summary:
  • First step: Recognise youre in overwhelm. That you have to be transparent, not just show the brave face, but share your nervousness, that you're not feeling confident about the future.
  • Second step: inquiry -- to understand why you're in overwhelm. What conclusions-demands-predictions am I making?
  • Third step: generating brilliance -- to boldly and confidently choose what you're going to do about the situation, which is within your control.
• WRP are offering free live public experiences throughout May. You can book or download the eBooklet by visiting the link below. Or you can get in touch and request a lead consultant lead your company through this free of charge.

"We can't make PPE. But we are experts on attitude and we know how people can change their mindset."

Resources from this episode:

• Download the eBooklet and book a live public experience: wrpartnership.com/booklet

Connect with Scott:

• connect@wrpartnership.com

 

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we are kicking off a new series on hardware entrepreneurs, this one with William Maluki of Gearbox about creating tools for manufacturing in Africa. This is the first episode in a 3-part series on invention-based entrepreneurs that aims to provide unique insights into some of the challenges and workarounds faced by entrepreneurs creating hardware products in emerging markets.

On this podcast, you will learn:

• Why and how William invented a marvellous machine called KunjaBot that is an automatic pipe bender specifically designed for people in the Juakali (informal manufacturing) sector in Kenya. The KunjaBot provides the Juakali sector with access to mass manufacturing capabilities at affordable costs while improving quality and profit margins and allowing them to compete against imported products.
• About the pay-as-you-bend (akin to a pay-as-you-go) business model of the KunjaBot that enables the Juakali to avoid expensive purchasing costs of manufacturing equipment and absolves them of the costs for operating and maintaining the equipment.
• How William has dealt with barriers while building the KunjaBot such as customer demand, lack of awareness among the Juakali, business model changes, manufacturing challenges, commitment and lead times from suppliers and contractors, as well engineering and accounting skills to get his project off the ground, etc.
• About the Gearbox initiative in Kenya and how it enables and provides incredible support to hardware entrepreneurs and inventors to design and build their products through capacity building, maker spaces and engineering and technology support.
• Finally, you will learn about the new the actionable playbook for invention-based entrepreneurs based on interviews and discussions with leaders in the field, delving into the challenges of bringing physical products into the market. The playbook prepared by Finding Impact will provide actionable content around issues such as workarounds, hiring teams, raising funds, creating minimum viable products and launch strategies, to help entrepreneurs on their invention journey.

 

Links to Resources:

• Gearbox
• Kasp3r Technologies (William’s venture for the KunjaBot – website to be launched soon)
• One Man, His Machine, and a Mission to Take Kenya’s Manufacturing Jobs to the Next Level
• Modern technology for "Juakali", the informal sector
• Sign-up Page - Playbook for Invention-based Entrepreneurs

 

Connect with William:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

This is part three of a 3-part mini-series on last mile distribution. This series is a collaboration between the Finding Impact Podcast and the Global Distributors Collective (GDC). The GDC is a collective of last mile distributors around the world, with over 140 members in over 40 countries, who cumulatively have sold more than 8 million life-changing products to last mile households.

The GDC is dedicated to supporting and representing last mile distribution companies to help them reach underserved customers with life-changing products like solar lights, clean cookstoves, water filters and nutrition products. The purpose of the GDC is to make last mile distribution the first priority so that life-changing products can be made affordable and available to all.

This episode is with Washikala, Founder and CEO of Altech, who operate in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Altech is a distributor of solar lamps, working to enable off-grid households and institutions to have access to modern energy. 

On this episode you'll learn:

• Washikala got started by focusing on cash sales in his own village, but found the upfront cost of the product too high for the target market;
• They focused first on selling to schools and their teachers, and to health centres and their health workers, giving credit for two months, and the school administrator would be responsible for collecting cash. Insight here is to start with the most trustworthy groups in the community to build traction.
• Next they opened it up to all households through a solar ambassador model, recruiting young people from the communities, to recruit households on credit, and collect money on a daily basis. This was essentially an early PAYG model without the technology. They encountered significant 'leakage' (cash disappearing), and it was a cumbersome process.
• They heard about PAYG in early 2017, and an enabler called Angaza. Altech were selling d.light lanterns but back then, they had no PAYG solar lamp option. So they selected suppliers for a pilot and ordered a small batch of PAYG lanterns.
• They started the pilot in Jan 2017 in two areas in the DRC, with 50 products, 10 sales agents/solar ambassadors, 5 products each. The Angaza app was managed in the office, and solar ambassadors had the app on smartphones.The payment collection process was end-to-end. i.e. No "leakage".
• Some initial problems included having to buy smart phones for solar ambassadors, but it later became part of the recruitment criteria; data is expensive; needed to connect the lamp to the smartphone using bluetooth, but initial equipment was faulty and didn't connect so had to replace; there were regular internet shut downs, so when customers called they couldn't go and activate lamps; sending money using mobile money was a challenge, as some agents had no liquidity so they couldn't deposit money.
• Previously, their office would send daily sales reports to sales manager, who checked collected money agrees with report and collects money from solar ambassador; then sales manager sent money to the Altech office via a local bank branch. It was a very cumbersome process but now they're using mobile money.
• There was a close collaboration between the tech guys and people in the field, so they could change inputting errors to eliminate differences in the app and cash collected. They setup Whatsapp groups so they could connect on issues immediately.
• Angaza were very much involved in the training of their team, which included technical info and how to market the product to households.
• Altech competes with international companies in the same space by having more local people on their team who know the market very well. Also they focus on distribution, not the design of new products. Solar technology is changing so fast, and it's not easy for vertically integrated companies to change product tomorrow but Altech can switch suppliers very easily.

Links to resources:

• Altech
• Angaza
• d.light
• Omnivoltaics
• Global Distributors Collective

Connect with guest:

• Email address: info@altech.rdc
• Washikala on LinkedIn 

This is part of one of a 3-part mini-series on last mile distribution. This series is a collaboration between the Finding Impact Podcast and the Global Distributors Collective (or the GDC). The GDC is a collective of over 140 last mile distribution companies around the world, which helps them reach underserved customers with life-changing products like solar lights, clean cookstoves, water filters, and sanitation and nutrition products. The GDC has two main pillars of activity:

• It provides services that help distributors save time and money, adopt best practices and facilitate new partnerships; and,
• It works to build a collective voice for and raise the profile of last mile distributors, and works with key stakeholders to help them better support the sector.

The GDC is hosted by Practical Action with implementing partners Hystra and BoP Innovation Center. Visit the GDC’s website at www.globaldistributorscollective.org to find out more.

This episode with EcoFiltro, a distributor of water filters in Guatemala, focuses on how distributors can improve their sales efficiency by pivoting their distribution model.

On this episode you'll learn:

• EcoFiltro started with a micro-consignment model in which they'd give hundreds of community entrepreneurs across Guatemala five filters to sell in their community, and they'd earn 10% on each sale.
• The model proved unsustainable due to the cost of pre-financing the filters which would often be paid back over two years, the cost of collecting the money from customers, and the low sales volumes achieved by community entrepreneurs.
• They tried a number of different things to try and improve sales, such as training, offering incentives and encouraging referrals, but all their efforts only yielded a few extra filters sold per month.
• They spent 18 months designing a new model, which involved speaking to retailers all across the country, and ultimately selected a few to be key distributors of the filter.
• Retailers were happy to sell it because the filter had a strong brand, since it had been sold for a long time in big shops in urban areas and received good PR from a school donation programme.
• Retailers were required to invest in 20 filters at a time for a $500 investment, so were motivated to recoup their investment.
• The school donation programme, where filters were donated to local schools, was channelled through the local retailers, so they received the attention and drove customers to buy from them locally.
• They now have around 100 local distributors and they're targeting 270 by June 1st, 2019, which will be about 20-25 distributors per sales agent.
• They've strengthened the brand by investing in their sales and marketing collateral, so all retailers are giving the same message to customers. This enables them to more easily measure sales of each distributor every month

Links to resources from this episode:

• Avon
• EcoFiltro

Connect with Philip

• Email address provided in the interview
• Philip on LinkedIn
• EcoFiltro on Twitter

 

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we will be looking at the insider's view of accelerators with Fhiwa Ndou, formerly of Mass Challenge, well known venture accelerator in Boston, US. Fhiwa previously also helped setup the Mass Challenge accelerator in London and is currently Growth Manager at Lambda School. This is episode #3 in the 4-part series about accelerators for early stage social enterprises. In this episode, we look at various aspects of choosing accelerators such as: the role of accelerator alumni network in attracting social enterprises, and non-profit versus the for-profit (equity-based) models.

On this podcast, you will learn:

• About the MC accelerator and its ethos and non-profit business model. MC does not take any equity from its start-ups and rather focuses on community as one of the best levers for helping start-ups grow and succeed. MC accepts around 100-120 start-ups in every cohort across various industries that makes it very different from most start-up accelerators.
• How MC selects and operates start-ups as franchise model in different regions and it leverages the local business community while starting and operating a start-up accelerator at scale, through funding and other resources.
• Examples of successful MC alum such as Flywire in Boston and Handy in UK, that went on to raise lots of funding for scaling and built successful businesses.
• How the no-equity, non-profit model and wide alumni network of MC presents a very powerful proposition and is big consideration for very early stage start-ups while choosing accelerators. MC also helps entrepreneurs unlock opportunities by helping them ask for stuff they need and providing support to access resources such credits for Amazon Web Services, other free tools, office space, introductions to experts such as patent lawyers, investors, etc.
• Finally, Fhiwa shares his views on future models of accelerators, such as corporate style accelerators and other accelerator models that support entrepreneurs through their journey - from teaching entrepreneurs to code early on (coding schools) to teaching entrepreneurship and what it's like to be an entrepreneur, through summer internships.

 

Links to Resources:

• MassChallenge
• Lambda School
• Examples of successful MC alum - Flywire, Handy
• TED Talk by Amanda Palmer
• Books - Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, How Google Works by Eric Schmidt

 

Connect with Fhiwa:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

 

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we have part 2 of a new 3-part series about accelerators for early stage social enterprises. We are talking with Navalayo (Nava) Osembo-Ombati who is Co-founder and CEO of Enda Athletics, a Nairobi based running shoes manufacturer designing footwear to inspire customers to run like a Kenyan. Enda Athletics recently attended the SHONA accelerator program based in Kampala and just recently finished their second and final residential bootcamp. So we’re looking forward to digging into that with Nava.

On this podcast you will learn:

• How Nava used her management consulting background in putting this business together even though her and the co-founder had no prior experience in making shoes.
• Her initial impression of accelerators (she initially got a lot of feedback from entrepreneurs), and the guiding factor as to why she joined one primarily to get the skills).
• Her selection process for selecting an accelerator: looking at the skill sets that they needed, which accelerator had the most positive feedback from entrepreneurs, and the cost (monetary and time).
• • Cost considerations: finders fees, and equity.
• How she shortlisted accelerators: quality of mentors/expertise, and the cost (whether they were asking for equity and if so, how much). Her experience participating in SHONA, which has a residential component: taking three weeks off / away from her company in order to participate was worth it and she came out having a birds eye view.
• Nava’s top key things in order to get to an accelerator that is right for you: know yourself (as in what you want), really understand the costs, and read the contract! (especially if you can’t hire a lawyer).

Links to resources:

• Where to find the shoes: https://www.endasportswear.com/
• Kickstarter campaign for model 2: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1723798662/enda-lapatet-the-game-changing-running-shoe

Connect with guest:

• Twitter:https://twitter.com/navalayoosembo?lang=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navalayoosembo/

This week on the Finding Impact Podcast, we are kicking off a new 3-part series about accelerators for early stage social enterprises. We are talking with Emily Eastman, Global Partnerships Manager at Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI), who has been working on the leading edge of accelerators for social impact. In this episode, we look at the overall evidence on the effectiveness of accelerators in helping entrepreneurs grow early stage companies - what makes for a great accelerator, how entrepreneurs can choose the right accelerator and the pros and cons of accelerators.

 On this podcast, you will learn:

• How GALI was formed as a collaboration between the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and Emory University, to do research on the effectiveness or true impact of accelerators across the globe. GALI works with individual accelerators to track their specific programmatic impact as well as study the larger research questions on how accelerators are working and how can they be made better.
• How accelerators help in the growth of start-up businesses by running programs for early stage ventures through a selection process and providing support in areas such as finance, marketing, raising investments, business model, etc.
• GALI collects standardized baseline data on accelerator applicants and performs analysis on accelerator cohorts versus the un-selected applicants to figure out the progress of the each of these groups - do cohort ventures grow faster and quicker than their un-selected counterparts. GALI publishes insights and reports from such research periodically as well as the full anonymized data set from over 19000 applicants to accelerator programs across the world.
• Why it's important for social enterprises to choose accelerator programs aligned to their needs and goals, such as: business growth focus, or social impact focus such as creating jobs, or environmental impact, etc. Online tools such Conveners.org provide an accelerator selection tool for social enterprises to filter accelerator programs based on sector, geography, and focus areas.
• GALI’s research points out that accelerators grow ventures much faster than their un-selected counterparts. The best accelerator programs have a perfect combination of 3 things - knowledge, networks, and capital and the greatest benefit that accelerators bring to ventures is their ability to challenge business models and help ventures fail or pivot faster.
• A study conducted by GALI with Village Capital found out that high performing accelerator programs emphasized quality over quantity and had the following similar characteristics: smaller applicant pools, more targeted in recruitment, more practical and hands-on guidance than mere lectures, thus leading to stronger cohorts compared with the lower performing accelerator programs.
• How accelerators such as Echoing Green have been able to recruit and build stronger cohorts because of a blind selection process, that removes biases in selection, such as gender, ethnicity, etc. Similarly, YGAP, a development accelerator based in Australia considers various aspects of gender biases across their applicant pools, mentor pools and actively looks out to recruit women across all program areas. Another example is that of SheEO that builds women-only cohorts as part of their accelerator programs.
• Finally, accelerators themselves are constantly pivoting and changing their programs just like startups to address different focus areas or emerging markets, while providing pre- and post-acceleration services tailored to their markets. A healthy dose of competitiveness and collaboration is thus extremely important within accelerator programs to improve their overall effectiveness.

 Links to Resources:

• Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI)
• Conveners
• Village Capital
• ANDE
• Emory University - Goizueta Business School
• Echoing Green
• YGAP
• SheEO

 Connect with Emily:

• LinkedIn

 

Fiona Mungai joined endeavour with six years of experience working in Private Equity and Asset Management in East Africa. Fiona started her career at British American Asset Managers and then at Actis — a leading pan emerging markets private equity fund, She he been a founding member and Board Director of the East Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association that has 100+ members.

On this episode you'll learn:

• Endeavour supports high impact entrepreneurs. Why? Because high impact entrepreneurs are able to create thousands of jobs, can come up with a business model that is scalable, and can create millions of dollars of revenues.
• High impact entrepreneurs will also support the entrepreneurship ecosystem, by creating an entrepreneurship culture within their organisations, empowering their employees to think about spinning off to create their own businesses, are willing to mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs and re-invest capital back into the ecosystem.
• There are very few venture capital or early stage funds operating in East Africa. Even those that do label themselves as venture capital, have the risk profile of private equity funds. Which means they do less hand holding and have a lower risk tolerance.
• As a result, many entrepreneurs in East Africa have to look for investors aboard, for example in the US or Europe, and growing their networks and relationships with these investors from afar can be a challenge.
• Endeavour connects businesses with international investors, by organising roadshows for entrepreneurs and networking events with investors in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the US.
• International investors have a certain expectation for how companies should be packaged, which companies in East Africa need to know about. This includes things like governance structures, leadership and HR structures, business model optimisation, and business model valuation.
• There is alot of soft money (grants) supporting entrepreneurship in the East Africa ecosystem. Those providing the soft money may also be advising the entrepreneurs, but don't necessarily have experience running a business that has scaled. The prevalence of grants to scale businesses can create a dependency, that hinders the ability of the business to scale.
• Endeavour also advocates for entrepreneurs to pay it forward in (a) investing money back into the ecosystem after an exit / liquidity event, and (b) mentorship, by supporting up and coming entrepreneurs with advice and access to networks.
• Relationships takes time, so you need to be on the road meeting potential investors at least 12 months before you need the funds. The feedback you receive from investor conversations can feed back into your business and will serve you well as you go back on the road.

Links to resources:

• Endeavor.org

Connect with guest:

• Fiona on LinkedIn