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A Call for Innovation and Collaboration
We often talk about sustainability in development or compose programs that aspire to that end, but far less often do we address or share instances of setback. In a recent trip to Swaziland I visited TechnoServe’s cotton program and was struck by the setback incurred when a prominent aid agency interrupted the efforts of this program.
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- Education
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Students: Start Your Social Ventures Today!
I’m a big believer in student-formed social ventures. Students are arguably in the best position to start a social venture. They have incredible support, access to unbelievable resources, and can take on risk that others can’t.
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Securitization: Increasing Liquidity in Base of the Pyramid Markets
How does one convert "credit" extended to low-income households into tradable "commodities?" Is there a way to use the best know-how of financial markets to transform an industry that makes small loans to low-income households? Securitization promises to be an answer to all these questions.
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Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellows: Who Are You Nominating?
In the fall last year I had a chance to meet the Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellows in person, while attending the conference in beautiful Camden. Nominations for the 2010 Class of Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellows are now open. So roll up your sleeves and nominate that someone you know has potential to effect meaningful change in the world.
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Using Knowledge from the Informal Economy to Create Sustainable Ventures
There’s huge potential for the knowledge of informal sectors to be leveraged and introduced into the formal economy. Once entrepreneurs and investors start realizing this and giving it due recognition, I’m confident that we’ll see India’s villages achieve growth at a much faster rates.
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So You Want to Create an HVC? Four Criteria to Help Get Started
As companies and social actors are approaching us to find out how to engage in HVCs, we have distilled our thinking into four main principles.
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The Role of Intrapreneurs in Building Base of the Pyramid Markets
To date, the track record of strategic, sustainable and successful engagement in BoP markets from corporations is extremely weak. In 2010, NextBillion readers will be looking for more companies with product development and R&D budgets, marketing skills and pools of enterprise-savvy talent to lead social and economic development at the BoP.
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Weekly Roundup: BOP Ubiquity
One of my roles as Editor is to scan the news for articles of interest to our readership. But my job is getting harder - because "base of the pyramid" is becoming the general phrase used not only in the context of market-oriented development strategies, but as a figure of speech to refer to this segment broadly.
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