Articles by Rob Katz
-
Monday
August 7
2006Dr. V, Founder of Aravind Eye Hospital, Remembered
Over at the Acumen Fund?s blog, Jacqueline Novogratz comments on the recent death of Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy ? founder of India?s Aravind Eye Hospital. BOP practitioners and international development experts may be familiar with the hospital, which revolutionized eye care by applying...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Friday
August 4
2006Friday Self-Props: Treehugger and Worldchanging
I?m not much for public ego boosting, but a couple newsworthy items regarding the NextBillion.net crew have come up today, and I figured some of y?all would be interested. First, Derek Newberry?s latest post, “TV Hit Proves Sustainability Will ’Win in China’” has been...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Thursday
August 3
2006Changemakers Contest – How to Provide Affordable Housing
Changemakers is at it again. Loyal NextBillionites might remember that Changemakers is an innovation-recognition initiative of Ashoka, the award-winning social entrepreneurship incubator. CM runs contests awarding the best entrepreneurs in a given sector ? previous competitions have included...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Thursday
August 3
2006The Ghetto Tax
In a report published last month, Matt Fellowes of the centrist Brookings Institution documents a “ghetto tax” paid by lower-income consumers in the United States ? essentially, proof that poor people in underserved areas pay more for basic goods and services. Sound familiar? In...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Wednesday
August 2
2006The Best Foot Forward
Feet are important to discussions of the BOP hypothesis. I?m not talking about feet as in the unit of length, but rather as those awkward appendages connected to your legs. From a base of the pyramid vantage point, which is the best foot forward?I did some thinking about this, and decided...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Friday
July 21
2006The Long Tail and the BOP
A lot of people are talking lately about ?The Long Tail,? a concept first put forward by Wired editor Chris Anderson.? (A lot of buzz was generated when his book of the same name was published earlier this month).? The basic idea, as described by Anderson, is that business is...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Thursday
July 20
2006NextBillion Interview: Creating Value in Underserved Markets
How much momentum does the ?base of the pyramid? hypothesis have behind it ? and at what point does hope become hype? I recently read Untapped, the latest business/strategy book to discuss underserved markets and their profit potential, with a wary eye ? would it live up to the hope, or...
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Wednesday
July 19
2006PCs for the BOP? GlobalVoices Reviews MiPC
Lost in the ongoing debate about low-cost computers and the digital divide is Argentina?s MiPC (My First Personal Computer) program. Global Voices? David Sasaki nicely summarizes the ongoing debate over MiPC?s technology options (Intel and Microsoft exclusivity vs. AMD and Linux...
- Categories
- Uncategorized