founders

Our Top 12 Downloads of 2015

What a rush! The podcast, Social Entrepreneur launched on November 8, 2015. In the last two months of 2015, we featured 25 interviews with a wide array of social entrepreneurs and thought leaders. I spoke with founders from Peru, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Uganda, India, Rwanda, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, Kenya, Indonesia, Canada, and the United States. They ran for-profit, nonprofit, hybrid organizations and university programs. Some ran incubators and many came through an accelerator program. They made me laugh, surprised me (I’m looking at you, Carrie Rich!) and always inspired me. Social Entrepreneur Organizations In this article, I’ll tell you a little about twelve of them and invite you to hear…

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Azalea Ayuningtyas, Founder & CEO, Du’Anyam

Du’Anyam works with local women’s wicker weaving cooperatives. Du’Anyam markets these woven products to high-end hotels. The funds allow women to care for themselves during pregnancy with healthier foods and savings programs. Women Social Entrepreneurs As a graduate student at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, Azalea Ayuningtyas traveled to the slums of Mumbai to conduct research on sanitation. There, she was confronted by a woman who challenged her to push beyond research and to have a direct impact into the lives of others. After receiving her Master’s degree in Epidemiology, Azalea took a role in a prestigious consulting firm. Soon her days in a cubicle conducting market research caused…

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Pitch Me

I am often approached by early-stage entrepreneurs who want something from me, whether they are looking for quick advice, mentoring or an investment. I noticed that I was writing similar emails again and again. Eventually I copied and pasted the emails into a Google doc. When someone would contact me, I would send them a link to the Google doc. This helped clear up a lot of misperceptions. I also noticed that the quality of the pitches I was hearing was going up. So, I decided to turn this advice into a blog post (you’re reading it). Social Entrepreneurship Ideas If your business has a strong social or environmental impact,…

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