Social Entrepreneur: Conscious Companies | Benefit Corporations | Impact Investing

Tim Fargo might know a little something about attracting, converting and retaining new customers. He grew Omega Insurance Services from a three person operation in an extra bedroom to over 300 employees and with revenues in excess of $20 million. After selling Omega, Tim tried his hand at several businesses, some of which were not successful. Tim is the author of the best seller, Alphabet Success, an investor in numerous businesses, and an active adviser to several start-up firms. Today he is the founder of Tweet Jukebox, a software as a service (SaaS) content management system for your Twitter account. Tim launched Tweet Jukebox with only a freemium model. He initially built a user base of around 24,000 people. When he launched the paid model, he converted around 3% of his freemium customers to paying customers, which is an amazing conversion rate. In this interview with Social Entrepreneur, Tim talks about the bad, the good and the great of starting up a business and attracting your first customers. Key quo

Confidence in many institutions has been falling – Congress, churches, and, financial institutions. More than 90% of Americans surveyed do not trust the Financial Services industry to have their best interests in mind. And, it’s no wonder. When I say Financial Services, what images come to mind? For many people, they think of scenes from the financial crisis that began in 2008. They can see massive layoffs, failing businesses and millions of foreclosed homes. What they don’t picture is, financial institutions reaping the consequences of their misbehavior. There were no Bernie Madoff-style perp walks or massive fines. Barclay’s bought Lehman Brothers. Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch. Wells Fargo took Wachovia. And the band played on. For many investors, the game seems rigged to serve a small number of financially affluent people. In this episode of Social Entrepreneur, you’ll meet Joe Sanberg. When Joe was nearing graduation from high school, the bank foreclosed on the mortgage of his parents’ home. The h

According to Sunrise Banks’ CEO David Reiling, “The culture of Sunrise Banks is all about mission and innovation.” If you pull his statement apart, you’ll notice three components: culture, mission and innovation. These are the magic ingredients that have allowed Sunrise Banks to be recognized as “Best for the World” company. Sunrise Banks has been recognized on many levels for their purpose-driven innovation. They are a certified Benefit Corporation (BCorp). Their parent company was one of the first Minnesota Public Benefit Corporations. And, they are a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), one of only 100 banks in the US. They focus on underserved communities. More than 60% of Sunrise Banks’ loans are in low to moderate income communities every year. On the other side of the equation, they provide a socially responsible deposit fund. They also have innovative programs for the unbanked and for people who traditionally would be trapped by predatory loan practices. Resources: Five Key T

Tanyella Evans grew up in the highlands of Scotland, which she describes as “the middle of nowhere.” At age 16 she received a scholarship to study at a United World College in Vancouver, BC, Canada. There she learned alongside two hundred students from eighty eight countries. At age 17, the United World College sponsored her on a one-year trip to Uganda as a volunteer teacher. There she saw the difference that an education can make to an eager mind. Globally, five of the six billion mobile phone subscribers live in the developing world. At the same time, 250 million children cannot read and write. Library for All is building a digital library to take advantage of mobile devices in order to overcome global illiteracy. They are currently working in Haiti, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cambodia. Tanyella’s story is a story of serendipity, but also putting yourself in a serendipity-rich environment. It’s about community, but it’s also about building the community. It’s about moving developing countries

Early in the morning of December 26, 2004, an underwater earthquake sent a massive tsunamis along the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people in 14 countries. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. We have talked about this tsunami before, in episode 11 with Gayatri Datar of EarthEnable. In this episode of Social Entrepreneur, Shanil Samarakoon of Empower Projects relates his story of the same tsunami, but in this case, from the perspective of his native Sri Lanka where tens of thousands were killed. Empower Projects uses an asset-based community development approach. You may have heard this mentioned in the interview with Sasha Fisher of Spark MicroGrants. What is interesting about Empower Projects is that they make a five-year commitment to a community before they begin. This allows them to patiently work through the thorny issues of development. They train community facilitators who conduct a vision workshop, gathering the aspirations of the local community.

Where were you on September 11, 2001? If you were more than three years old at the time, there’s a good chance that you remember. Sasha Fisher grew up about five blocks from “ground zero.” At the time, Sasha was in middle school. This event caused Sasha to begin to think outside of her neighborhood, her city and even her country. She began to learn about people around the world who could not meet their most fundamental basic needs. As a college student, Sasha had a chance to visit South Sudan where she observed a disturbing pattern. Outside aide organizations had started many projects which were not sustained after the aid agencies left. And, the local community was not empowered in the process. Sasha began to think that there had to be a better way. Spark MicroGrants has worked with 126 villages across four countries in east Africa. Spark supports rural poor communities to design, implement and manage their own social impact projects. They provide microgrants between $2,000 and $10,000 to enable project impl

Autism is the fastest growing developmental diagnosis. It is more often diagnosed in children than diabetes, HIV and cancer combined. About four years ago, Julian Maha and his wife received a diagnosis of autism for their son Abram. At the time, they were told that they would need to institutionalize their son. After a very brief period of shock and mourning from the news, the Maha family, both physicians and business people, made a decision that would change the course of their life, the life of their son and the lives of thousands of families who are dealing with Autism. They formed an organization, KultureCity. KultureCity has an aim of shifting how autism is perceived and how autistic individuals are treated in our society. They also have a mission to create a business model that allows them to sustain their impact over time through multiple revenue streams. In this episode of Social Entrepreneur, we discuss: The back story behind the foundation of KultureCity. Their goals and strategies. How KultureCity

Fred Rose grew up on a family farm a few miles from the Canadian border. It was there that Fred learned several life lessons that make him a good entrepreneur: self-sufficiency, a lack of need for permission, perseverance. He was also a bit of an odd man out. Imagine the audacity of a kid in a one-room school house who dared to dream of growing up to be a scientist. Fred told me that he’s always had a bit of chip on his shoulder: a need to prove that he could do what others did not believe he could do. Fred went to work in Silicon Valley in 1979, just as personal computers were on the rise. After a few years, he moved to Minnesota to pursue his degree from the University of Minnesota, where his love for computers began to bloom. After graduation, he went to work for Honeywell where he had the chance to develop radiation-hardened computer chips for space flight. Today, some of his chips are in the Smithsonian Institute. Fred also worked on cutting edge projects including synthesis, where they describe hardware

Every now and then, life surprises you. People, even complete strangers, have the capacity for kindness and goodness. They can sometimes surprise you in unexpected and wonderful ways. Carrie Rich had one of those experiences, and, in a smaller way, I had one of those experiences when Carrie told me her story. Of all of the interviews that I have done, this one caught me off guard more than any other. In fact, you will hear at one point in the interview, I told Carrie, “You could push me over with a feather.” In this episode of Social Entrepreneur, Carrie tells the story of the Global Good Fund and how it came to be, including the surprising power of strangers to do good in the world. The Global Good Fund identifies high potential leaders of social good organizations who are positioned for growth. They provide a proprietary 360 degree assessment, a fellowship program and ongoing mentorship. They are not an incubator or an accelerator. They are for leaders of social enterprises that are about two or more years

Special Announcement for this week: Because of all of the people who have subscribed, rated and reviewed Social Entrepreneur, we are trending in the iTunes store. We are New & Noteworthy in the following categories: Business Podcasts: #10 Career Podcasts: #6 Marketing & Management Podcasts: #5 Government & Organization Podcasts: #1 Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have subscribed, rated and reviewed Social Entrepreneur. As a thank you gift, I’d like to send you a special report, 5 Key Traits of Successful Social Entrepreneurs. To receive the report, you can text the word SOCENT to 44222. This only works if you are in the US or Canada. If you’re outside the US and Canada, you can still receive the report by going to http://tonyloyd.com/socent Today’s Episode: At age 16, Tom Dawkins was not fitting in. He attended an academically selective high school and was not performing well when compared to his peers. He scored 179 out of 180 students in math. He was being bullied at school and he w

When you visit a hotel, do you ever wonder what happens to the small piece of soap you leave behind? The average hotel generates somewhere from three to six tons of solid soap waste per year. What if that soap could be diverted from the landfill and used to lift people out of extreme poverty and prevent sex trafficking? Well, that’s what Stefan Phang of Sealed Air’s Soap for Hope program is doing. Soap for Hope was piloted in Cambodia in October, 2013. By September 2015, they have partnered with 300 hotel properties in 19 countries. They have diverted 630 tons of solid soap waste from landfills. They converted this waste into 5.3 million bars of soap, which were given to 450,000 people. In the process, they have raised the livelihood of 600 people who were previously in extreme poverty. And, as a result, they have reduced the incidence of sex trafficking of children. Soap for Hope takes the soap waste from hotels, converts them into new soap products, and distributes the upcycled soaps to people who currently

You may have seen shea butter as an ingredient, especially in high-end beauty products. But did you know that in Africa, shea butter is called “women’s gold”? Funlayo Alabi and her husband share a common problem, dry skin. They have a son who had kidney problems, and he also had very dry skin. Their second son had a severe case of eczema. After trying several over the counter and prescription remedies, they found no relief. So, they thought back to their childhood in Nigeria and remembered their parents and grandparents using shea butter to remedy dry skin. Funlayo’s husband experimented with different formulations over a two-year period until they developed their first product. Eventually Funlayo and her husband traveled to Nigeria, where they partnered with women’s cooperatives, an NGO and the Nigerian government to create a supply chain of shea butter. Funlayo’s company, Shea Radiance, provided equipment and training. By the middle of 2012, Shea Radiance had acquired more than 12 metric tons of shea butter

Tonya Surman is a master gardener of social innovation. Tonya’s journey began when she was four years-old. Her mother left and her father became the sole parent. Tonya, her father and sister struggled with poverty. She says “My father raised us on love and not food.” She points to this experience as the source of her resilience, strength and a need to create an impact. At the age of 19, Tonya left University and traveled the world. While she was living in a small hut on the Andaman Sea in Thailand, news arrived that a nearby village had been devastated by a mud slide. The primary contributing factor was deforestation. This helped her to draw a direct correlation between the environment and social / economic issues. She has been responsible for the founding of over a dozen social enterprises. One of the social enterprises she created was the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment (CPCHE), where she brought together 11 different organizations. There, she saw the power of collaboration to cre

MyRain distributes efficient irrigation equipment to small plot farmers in India. It is not an innovation of technology; drip irrigation has existed and been a proven technology for many years. By using drip irrigation, you can increase crop yield by 50% to 100% and decrease water consumed between 20% and 50% when compared with flood irrigation. Increasing yields can drastically improve the quality of life for small plot farmers. Globally, 70% of fresh water is used for agricultural purposes. It has been estimated that by 2050 the world population will be around 9 billion. With the emerging global middle class, the demand for food will double. This places tremendous pressure on our fresh water resources. In the arid region of southern India where MyRain is working, the water tables are falling rapidly. This could reach a crisis level within 15 to 20 years. The problem the technology. Drip irrigation exists. The problem is distribution. This is where MyRain innovates. This year, the irrigation systems that the

When I say “early stage entrepreneur,” whom do you picture? A hungry young person in a hoodie, eating Raman noodles and cranking out code? While this might be the prototype, more and more social entrepreneurs are looking more like Jim Smith. Jim is an academic and a scientist. He spends most days in deep research and in the classroom at the University of Virginia. However, thorough a series of synchronous events, Jim was jarred into the world of hands-on entrepreneurship in some of the most underserved communities of the world. Jim Smith is an advisor and serves on the board of PureMadi, where they developed a sustainable, ceramic water filter. They built a factory in South Africa where they engage local women potters. Therefore, not only are the water filters effective, but they create a revenue stream for women. Today Jim is the Cofounder and Chief Scientist at MadiDrop PBC (Public Benefit Corporation), bringing a safe drinking water solution to communities throughout the world. Growing up on Long Island, J

Roger L. Martin has spent his career attacking models that don’t produce the desired results. I first became aware of Roger L. Martin’s work when I was the Global Head of Learning & Development for Diversey, Inc. My CEO at the time, a former Proctor & Gamble executive, taught me Roger’s cascading choices framework as a method for setting and maintaining strategy. He had first learned it from A.G. Lafley, the CEO of P&G. Later, Roger Martin partnered with A.G. Lafley to write Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works. It is one of the books that I have most often recommended to others. With his deep expertise on strategic thinking, Roger has served on several boards, both for profit and non-profit. It was in his capacity as a board member for the Skoll Foundation that he began to think about the work of social entrepreneurs. Roger helped the Skoll Foundation to clearly define their audience and their mission. This led to the seminal article “Social Entrepreneurship: A Case for a Definition,” co-wri

When Devin Thorpe was 11 years old, he volunteered to clean up in the aftermath of a flood that devastated an Idaho town. This experience left an impression on him and a craving to be of service to others. Over the years, Devin had held a number of positions, working in banking, financial planning and as a Chief Financial Officer. After Devin lost his job in 2011, he took the opportunity to move to China and to teach. While there, he wrote Your Mark On The World: Stories of service that show us how to give more with a purpose without giving up what's most important. This led to many opportunities including public speaking and writing for Forbes. Devin has an online show called Your Mark on the World, where he has conducted over 600 episodes. In this episode of the Social Entrepreneur podcast, we discuss: Devin’s early years and the power of starting over. The childhood incident that set his life’s course. Lessons learned from Polio eradication. Some of his favorite interviews with Social Entrepreneurs and wh

David Gluckman’s career as an entrepreneur started when he was 8 years old and worked in a market booth in Johannesburg. But growing up in South Africa, he could not escape the obvious inequality of society. By the time he reached university in Cape Town, he became determined that he wanted to be part of changing the system. After a short career in banking and as a consultant for EY, David decided to take a break from corporate life and return to Cape Town. He stayed with his friend Emily Vining. As it happens, Emily was working with Francois Petousis and Samuel Ginsberg to start Lumkani. Lumkani manufactures low-cost fire detectors for the urban poor, starting in the urban slums of South Africa. Once a fire starts in one informal home, it quickly spreads, displacing tens of thousands of residents each year. Lumkani’s clever device alarms in a home. If the fire is not put out, the device sends a radio signal to all of the other homes within 40 meters. It also sends a text message to the home owner. This allow

When Pedro Domingos was growing up in Lisbon, he loved to read and to learn. In fact, when he was 13 years old, he decided that he wanted to learn everything that there is to know. It did not take him long to decide that it might be a little more useful to, instead of knowing everything, to become deeply knowledgeable about a few topics. His university studies led him to computer science in the 1980s, just as personal computers were beginning to catch on. Today, Pedro is a professor at the University of Washington and the author of The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World. In this book he describes the five schools of thought on machine learning and advocates for a grand unifying theory. In this episode of the Social Entrepreneur podcast, we discuss: The benefit of deep expertise in one field of knowledge, when balanced with a broad interests in other fields. The exponential growth of computer processing power. The equally explosive growth of software. The p