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Disruptive Innovation in Service of Social Business Growth (Part 1)
Innovation in social businesses is not limited to development issues: it goes beyond the borders of sectors, creating disruption in the market, with the potential to generate a new wave of creative destruction. These posts seek practical answers to the reality of entrepreneurs that continue their battle to ensure the survival and growth.
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- Uncategorized
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Small Business Might Be Big Business for Mobile Money
Small business owners and entrepreneurs are getting in on the action of mobile money. This post summarizes conversations I had over the past few months, as well as two new research pieces that highlight some challenges ahead for the industry to cater this important segment.
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- Uncategorized
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Thoughts On Strategic Transitions From Humanitarian to Development Work
The Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF), outside of improving humanitarian aid practices, may present an opportunity for us to better examine this cross-section of modern change by innovating programs that consider the important transition from short-term (humanitarian) to long-term (development and beyond) ownership of projects.
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Unreasonable Institute Finalists Emerge
The 2011 Unreasonable Institute, an intensive six-week mentorship program that seeks to accelerate budding ventures serving the base of the pyramid consumers, fielded applications from 300 entrepreneurs who hoped to attend. The first test was competing with other applicants to raise $8,000 in tuition fees, while rallying support for their mission.
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Nexthought Monday: Social Impact Bonds? An Innovative Mechanism for Social Change
Cut costs and increase effectiveness of social programs? Any government would probably sign up to a deal that combines both right away! And this is one of the key thoughts behind the Social Impact Bond concept developed and recently piloted by UK-based Social Finance. A closer look at how they work and what they could mean for social impact.
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- Finance, Uncategorized
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- impact bonds
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Leading the Next Wave of Corporate BoP Engagement
Most multinational corporations (MNCs) just don’t find the social business at the BoP niche attractive yet - or at least not enough to hire a large consultancy to come figure out how to make it work for them. Those successful in developing financially viable solutions to social issues within a large organization are known as social intrapreneurs.
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Egypt’s 800-Billion Pound Gorilla
With an estimated 800 billion Egyptian Pounds ($136 billion) in domestic deposits, you’d think Egyptian banks should have plenty of loans and credit available for Egyptian small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs). Not quite; considering the fact that Egyptian government debt held domestically is nearly the same amount.
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Breaking New Ground: UM, Acumen Develop Social Entrepreneurship Course
In a new class (Acumen Fund @ UM: Leading Innovation through Social Entrepreneurship) offered this fall, the University of Michigan will be launching a curriculum co-developed with Acumen Fund on leading innovation through social entrepreneurship.
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