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The Sales Mistakes That Are Holding Back Africa’s Solar Enterprises – And How to Fix Them
Selling solar energy products is challenging, so you'd expect solar enterprises to focus on making their sales departments as effective as possible. But in fact, as Whitten & Roy Partnership CEO Scott Roy points out, most solar companies are underemphasizing sales, harming not only their businesses but the broader industry's growth. He shares essential tips for how they can create truly effective sales teams.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Viewpoint: Venture Financing For The Bottom 99.98% Of The Pyramid… And When You Don’t Know Where You Rank
This top-down view of the venture capitalist (VC) works for about 20/100,000 entrepreneurs. But even these 20 could keep control of the venture and of the wealth created by delaying VC – and by letting the VCs come to them, as Jan Koum of WhatsApp did.
- Categories
- Investing
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Designing for Social Good, Not ‘Feel Good’
Designing products for multinational corporations and their affluent target markets is very different from designing products for low-income, rural consumers. Jordan Westerberg, industrial designer with social venture development firm Factor[e], has worked in both of these worlds. He discusses a recent project that redesigned a solar conduction dryer for Indian farmers, and cautions against being drawn to simplistic, feel-good products when designing for social impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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Three Ways Technological Disruption is Fighting Inequality in Asia – And One Challenge it Hasn’t Yet Overcome
A wave of economic development is transforming Asia. But along with its many benefits, this growth is straining the region’s natural resources and leaving many poor communities behind. However, Sangeetha Watson at AVPN highlights some good news: Sustainable, tech-based solutions can help address these inequalities, particularly in financial inclusion, health care delivery and gender equity. She explores technology's impact on these areas – and flags one problem that tech has largely failed to address.
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- Technology
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Unlocking the Power of Informal Retailers: Mobile Solutions for Commercial and Social Impact in Emerging Markets
More than 61% of the world’s workers earn their living in the informal sector – and 93% of those are in emerging markets. This can lead to unique challenges for both informal retailers and their customers - and for the companies whose products these retailers sell. Analysts at Every1Mobile explore these challenges, and share how their organization and its partners are utilizing mobile-based platforms to help modernize informal trade and unlock economic welfare for low- and middle-income populations.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology
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Here’s Why Social Startups in India Fail to Attract VC Funds
Social startups in India haven’t been able to get the spotlight of investors to attract billions of dollars much like regular technology startups. Moreover, the number of social startups pales in comparison to the number of technology startups.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- South Asia
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Big Data, Big Opportunity: Is Data Science the Key to Universal Energy Access?
Rural dwellers at the base of the pyramid are living largely "data-less," un-digitalized lives – but that's changing quickly with the spread of pay-as-you-go energy and the financial access it enables. In spite of the dangers of wrongly screening out customers as potential credit risks, denying them both further electrification prospects and access to credit, Guilhem Dupuy of GAIA Impact Fund and Thibault Lesueur of Solaris Offgrid take an optimistic view. They discuss why new off-grid energy data is an opportunity for increased investment, industry growth and economic justice.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology
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The Hard Reality of Sanitation: Why Public Sector Support is Key to Entrepreneurial Success in Emerging Markets
Roughly 2.3 billion people lack basic sanitation, and over half the global population lack a safely managed service. This spells opportunity for social entrepreneurs – but as Sam Drabble at Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor points out, these businesses face huge systemic challenges and cannot succeed without support. He highlights some solutions that could boost these companies' chances of success.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, WASH
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