Defending Social Entrepreneurship
March 25, 2008
David Brooks recently wrote an excellent column for the New York Times on social entrepreneurship.
Then my friend, Alexander Russo, popular blogger from Scholastic and formerly from Education Week, had this to say:
The best part of last week’s NYT column on social entrepreneurs is the reference at the end to just how annoying (if hard-working) these folks can be. Indeed. Basically, what’s being described is a fad. Dressed up as something new and shiny, social entrepreneurship isn’t that different from regular old philanthropy and reform. It works outside the system. It’s generally small-scale. It relies on outside funding. There’s an awfully cozy, clubby feel to it. It doesn’t, far as I’ve ever heard, close down failing efforts or even admit to failures like you’d see in the “real” world of venture capital. It doesn’t really have any big successes, measured in terms of broad and positive impact, in education.
In a few words – I totally disagree. Social entrepreneurship is not a fad – it represents a major development in our capitalistic system. Private enterprises have historically solely made decisions based on the interests of its shareholders. In social enterprises, the interests of all stakeholders are taken into account ranging from shareholders to employees to communities to the environment.
B Corporation is a new rapidly growing venture that aims to categorize social enterprises. They represent a legal framework for: “a new type of corporation that are purpose-driven and create benefit for all stakeholders.”
The entrepreneurial thought leaders podcast series has a series of highly talented entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, and leaders who are shifting to the social enterprise space.
As a personal example, one of my best friends left a lucrative career in the Hedge Fund industry to work at the International Finance Corporation.
The IFC measures return in terms of social and financial return. They incorporate environmental and social factors into their models and allocate capital in ways that do not necessarily yield the highest financial return.
Even five years ago, this would not have been a popular career path.
Business Schools across the country from Northwestern to Harvard to Columbia all have strong and growing social enterprise programs. Again, five years ago, these programs were in their infancy. Now they are mature, popular programs that are attracting a new class of knowledge workers into this space between profit and non-profit.
My good friend from graduate school, Anna Beard, currently works at Wireless Generation. She also started free-reading.net, which is is a real educational success in the social enterprise field.
An emphasis on financial and social return is completely new in our playbook, and appears to be a major development in our capitalistic system.
Monetizing Web 2.0
March 22, 2008
One repeated challenge that we face in the educational technology industry is: how do you monetize Web 2.0?
In the Web 2.0 world, a 21st Century Literacy Specialist from Bangkok can rise to prominence and social networks exist with the sole purpose of integrating technology into the classroom. Therefore, Web 2.0 is not conducive to traditional resellers pitching products.
Also, most services in the Web 2.0 world are free! What does the educational technology business world look like in the era of free tools such as free-reading, ning, pbwiki, twitter, and blogger? Chris Anderson just wrote a major article in Wired about how $0.00 is the Future of Business.
Nobody seems to know the answers yet. Some would argue that monetizing Web 2.0 requires a platform such as Sharepoint. I am confident that there is a platform independent business model to partnering with school districts to bring innovative solutions using free tools.
The only certainty is that the world of IT and education is transforming. Those that do not consider the influx of Web 2.0 will be left in the past.
If you are interested in exploring these questions with me, please do not hesitate to drop me a line, comment on the blog, or message me on Twitter sharing your thoughts.
LaunchTown Announces Second Annual $20,000 Northeast Ohio Student Entrepreneurship Competition
March 3, 2008
I have been participating in the Second Annual Northeast Ohio Student Entrepreneurship Competition. It is a great forum for College students in NEO to pitch their business ideas to a panel of experts. I have not been as active in this organization as I would have preferred, but I still encourage you all to come to the competition at John Carrol on April 7.
Here is the press release:
LaunchTown is pleased to announce the Second Annual Northeast Ohio Student Entrepreneurship Competition to be held April 7, 2008 at John Carroll University. The winners for the best idea for new business, product, or service will receive more than $10,000 in cash prizes and $10,000 in business services.
LaunchTown has been made possible by generous grants from the John P. Murphy and Burton D. Morgan Foundations. Nancy W. McCann, President and Treasurer of the John P. Murphy Foundation said, “We are delighted to be sponsoring the LaunchTown Competition. This region originally blossomed because of the creative entrepreneurship in the early 20th century. Encouraging future entrepreneurship is vital to the economic health of our region in this the 21st Century”.
There are additional LaunchTown sponsorship opportunities available. Interested organizations should contact Ali Manav at Ali.Manav@launchtown.org.
The competition is open to students of any Northeast Ohio four-year college. Students, individually, or in 2-4 person teams, submit a 5-10 page essay describing their new business, product, or service. The best ideas will receive $10,000 in cash prizes, including a $5,000 grand prize, and over $10,000 in business services to help them bring their idea to reality.
Complete competition rules are available at www.launchtown.org.
Colleges participating in this competition include; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Baldwin Wallace College, Ashland University, Kent State University, The University of Akron and John Carroll University. In addition there is an Open Category for any student of a four-year college in Northeast Ohio. Contacts and detailed submission information for each college and the Open Category are available at the www.launchtown.org site.
Dr. John C. Soper, Professor of Economics and Chair in Entrepreneurship at John Carroll University said, “Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, Triangle Park, and other booming regions all owe their success directly to seeds planted and nurtured in local universities. Most of our graduating college seniors will find jobs in relatively small, fast-growing enterprises that were created by entrepreneurial business owners who plan on staying in Northeast Ohio. We need to reach these students before they graduate with the idea that entrepreneurship is vitally important to our region, that it is rewarding to active participants, and that they can be a part of the growth process through entrepreneurship.”
For additional information on LaunchTown, contact Charles Stack at cms@flashlinepartners.com or visit www.launchtown.org. LaunchTown is presented by the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium of Northeast Ohio www.eecneohio.com . LaunchTown is sponsored by Akron ARCHAngels, NorthCoast Angel Fund, The Tom Barratt Companies, Thundertech, Flashline Partners, Meyers Roman, Squire Sanders, Ohio Venture Association, Omniasoft WebDev, Carney, Gluntz & Associates, PCT Law Group, Entrepreneurs Association, Concierges Connection, Marsh USA, Palitto Consulting Group, MedXSales, InSpire One Consulting, Smart Solutions, Campus EAI Consortium, and NorTech.
LaunchTown is a business idea competition and an example of what happens when a select group of successful Northeast Ohio business leaders and area colleges and universities put their minds together to encourage brain gain.CONTACT:
Charles Stack
LaunchTown Committee
Phone: 216 220-4580
cms@flashlinepartners.com
Website www.launchtown.org