Blog#4

Entrepreneurship and Maths

One thing that freaks me out is mathematics, not even the best at 2*2. So the real question lies, does my low understanding with numbers makes me a bad entrepreneur. More so, do I have to be able to interpret numbers like counting cards to be able to unleash the answers to have a successful social venture? 
The answer would be no, entrepreneurship is more than just math, it is interpreting the data, and understanding the larger picture. 

There are a lot of softwares in the market currently that do much of the actual math for you. For example, Business PlanMaker Professional 4.0 is a software that helps forecast project sales, expenses, and cash flows quickly and accurately. It is also very convenient to obtain profit/loss statements; balance sheets; cash plans; sales forecasts; expense budgets; ratio analysis; break-even analysis; sales by category; and expenses by category by simply feeding the software the required numbers.

As convenient as this sounds, where entrepreneurs take over software in the interpretation of these results. Having mathematical knowledge to authenticate these results also certainly proves more than beneficial. 

So all in all, as long as you know what is going on, you're good. 

As George Pólya, one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century, said that “mathematics is not a spectator sport”. 

References:

[1]http://www.gaebler.com/Entrepreneurship-and-Math.htm

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140708183646-131466034-how-can-mathematics-give-an-unfair-advantage-to-entrepreneurs

Blog 4 - Partners

An important part of my proposed venture is that the company will cultivate a network of people - doctors, lawyers, therapists - so that it can advise on both preventive as well as reactive measures for CSA with the correct information at hand.

While I believe it is in the best interests of everyone involved to be a part of this network, this is something I should verify before going forward. Thus I will be speaking with people from the following organizations in order to see if being a part of this network provides value to them:

1. Schools in Bangalore - National Public School Indiranagar (http://www.npsinr.com/) and National Public School Koramangala (http://www.npskrm.com/)
2. Criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors - I was initially under the impression that there might be lawyers who specialize in just fighting CSA cases, but I have been informed by friends who are studying law that this is far too specialized
3. Therapists - I will be speaking with the owner of a firm (https://1to1help.net/) which provides therapy to individuals as well as to members of organizations. The therapists at this firm have experience dealing with victims of CSA

I am very tempted to add far more people to this list, but I feel that I should be prioritizing how I will be spending my time

Blog #4

No matter how innovative or passionate a venture is, getting funding is still a challenge. There are more options out there for social ventures than for other ventures, but it is about choosing the best option for your venture. Trying to accumulate funding by going after every option is not the answer, developing a well thought out strategy is a must. This can be done by gaining an understanding of the best funding options for your venture and the funder's perspective. Once there is a solid foundation and understanding established, the best possible path to get funding will be more clearly defined. Some funding options for social innovation ventures are crowdfunding, fundraising, grants and fellowships, foundations for nonprofit ventures, incubators and accelerators. 

According to Paul Graham (http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html), getting funding for a venture is the second hardest part of a startup, the first being actually solving a problem and making something that people want. Paul gives survival techniques throughout the raising money process. Some of the techniques he gives are having low expectations, being flexible, to not take rejection personally, and knowing where you stand with VCs. Although all of these techniques are surely useful, the overarching survival technique is to know that raising money is hard. As Paul Graham states it "the biggest danger is surprise. It's that startups will underestimate the difficulty of raising money - that they'll cruise through all the initial steps, but when they turn to raising money they'll find it surprisingly hard, get demoralized, and give up". If this happens, none of the other techniques will be useful because there will no longer be a startup to fund. 

In the article 'The Re-Emerging Art of Funding Innovation' by Gabriel Kasper and Justin Marcoux (https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_re_emerging_art_of_funding_innovation), the difficulty of gaining funding is reaffirmed, but there could be hope. The difficulty of getting funding for a social innovation venture has increased because VCs have become less willing to take risks and are funding ventures that are more tried and true. However, the need for funding truly innovative ventures is reemerging. The wicked problems of the world are not currently being solved, so the solution to those problems could be in a risky and less explored territory, but without funding, these ventures cannot come to fruition and come to a state where they can impact the wicked problems of the world to then gain funding. The knowledge of this fact is giving VCs new insight to reintroduce risk-taking into their processes, this may in turn fund a breakthrough change. 

Blog 4: When your solution causes more problems

Assessing the social impact of a venture is a whole school of study which I had vastly underestimated. The assessment methods and techniques are extremely complicated and usually require a lot of assumptions, though are necessary to secure funding, show people that your venture is important and also to measure and assess performance. I am having some trouble doing this for my venture due to the lack of information. Reducing solid waste is definitely beneficial for human health, however the number of people who are affected by improper waste management is not an easy figure to arrive at. Firstly, the actual number of people in Kibera slum is not known, and neither is the physical landscape or characteristics of the slum. On Google Maps, the outline of the area is shown, but for a 2.5 km area, there are no further details and Kibera is a blank space. A NGO called Map Kibera has been working on documenting the area and gathering information in order to create a free digital map. This has been useful for some of my calculations, however the location of structures is not shown. The next issue I am having with measuring the impact is figuring out many people are actually physically ill because of solid waste, if this was worked out, I would be able to project how much money could be saved in medical fees and productivity. However illnesses in Kibera are also caused by poor sanitation, HIV-AIDS, illicit liquor, lack of access to healthcare and more. The residents often do not go to hospitals, and there are some clinics on the slum but their information is not available. Other NGOs working on solid waste do not seem to have assessed the impact in much detail and I am probably going to have to make some major assumptions and have a large margin of error. I am conscious of the issue brought up that some organisations spend more time and resources working out their impact then actually working on the cause.

When I was working at an organisation called Shelter Associates in India on sanitation in slums, a lot of work I was able to achieve was due to the fact that the mapping and information collection had already been carried out by the organisation, This had taken them a few years, and was a very complicated process. Having information on households, layouts and residents was vital in order to assess sanitation and plan recommendations. Some parts of Kibera have been mapped to this detail however there is a lot which still needs to be done. Reliable maps are needed to figure out bin locations, collection logistics and transport routes. If I was actually working on this venture, I would ideally map out these logistics on site. Another issue is human habits. By speaking to residents and observing their behaviour, I would be able to figure out which bin locations would be optimal, how to encourage people to segregate waste and how to avoid the bins being stolen. I am working on contacting Konkuey Design Initiative who works on rehabilitating areas of Kibera slum. I met the team and was able to see the work they do. A member of the team grew up in the slum and would have good knowledge of how to tackle some questions which are coming up. Bins being stolen is a concern, and though there are ways to secure bins to the floor, I have seen the resourcefulness of people who are desperate and do not think this would be a viable solution. I think community ownership and pride in the bins would be more effective. As the communities are closely knit, I think having them on board and protective of the bins would be a better solution.

As I work on the project, I realise how complex it is. Just the segregation and collection of waste is complicated enough, without even thinking about a waste to energy power plant. I have decided on waste incineration because of the nature of the waste and the difficulty in obtaining pure organic waste (especially because of the flying toilets mentioned in the blog 3). Briquetting or composting may be more possible in areas where there is good sanitation and the waste is easily separated, however in this case, it does not seem practical. There are some environmental concerns around incineration, and this is what is making the decision quite tough. I am torn between the solid waste management aspect which would improve the local environment on the ground and the incineration aspect which would cause some air pollution. It is tough to determine which is more important and if you are actually causing more harm than good. However I think that if the plant is designed well, air pollution can be minimised. Though incineration is not an ideal waste management strategy in terms of environmental impact, in this case it seems to be the most feasible. My question is if anyone else is finding they may be causing a new problem in the process of solving an issue, and how are they dealing with this? An even bigger concern, I think, is causing a problem which you had not even envisioned. I think this can be addressed to an extent by conducting smaller pilot projects and trials, though the unpredicted problems are much scarier.

Blog Post 4: Why Team Diversity Matters?

There are some golden rules to create a team for startups. For instance, it is highly suggested to have five members to start a team. Also, there are some essential roles that should be included in the first team such as the visionary, innovator, and accountant. I would like to add another rule to the list: create a diverse team.

A report published by McKinsey in 2015 explains why creating a diverse team is important for companies especially for those in innovative fields. Three articles, Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter, How Startups Benefit from a Diverse Workforce, and Why diversity matters in startups, also provide insights on the issue, referring to the report. Here are three key takeaways from the report and the articles.

1) More diverse, better performance

The biggest benefit that diversity brings to a company is better performance. McKinsey’s report clearly indicates that more gender-diverse companies are likely to achieve 15% higher returns than less gender-diverse companies. Likewise, more diverse companies in ethnicity are likely to have 35% higher financial performance than less diverse companies.

2) More diverse, more innovative

It is imperative for every company to stay innovative in order to be competitive, and innovation requires a “out of box” thinking. Let’s think about a newly created company with five members. If all of the members have the same background, for instance, all white, male with master’s degree in computer science, it is highly likely that the way each of the members thinks is very similar to each other and it is unlikely that “out of box” ideas are generated in such a homogeneous team. Thus, diversity is the key to stay innovative.

3) More diverse, more fact-driven

More diverse teams closely examine facts and stay objective than homogeneous teams. This is because it is hard for homogeneous teams to be aware of their biases. Team members unconsciously observe findings in the same due to their shared biases, which makes it difficult for the entire team to notice overlooked facts. Because a diverse team does not share such unconscious biases, each member perceive facts differently, which helps the team notice facts that a homogeneous team could overlook.

If you are going to create a team for your startup, don’t forget to think about the diversity of your team. It matters not only because it is politically correct but also because it actually brings various benefits including better performance to your company.

Culture and Measuring Social Value

     Culture is critical to the long term development of a social venture. I have been considering what kind of culture would be most effective in a social venture that targets human trafficking. Trying to be fun and cool may attract talent, but I feel it would not match up with the seriousness of the work. No one wants to take a slide down to the bottom floor for a meeting on slavery. I think someplace that is serious on the job with frequent opportunities to socialize with co-workers after hours would be the most effective culture possible. A culture focused on a mission everyone believes in, “freeing modern day slaves in the United States,” can foster intensity that is contagious. We are obsessed with rescuing victims of human trafficking, and will pursue all courses to that end.

     This past week, we discussed what it takes to measure the social value created by a social venture to show potential investors what progress is being made and why they should invest. Measuring the value we create may be easier than some other social ventures. Crime statistics will allow us to know if we are having an impact on states in which we operate. There will likely be a spike in arrests following some of our legalization and reallocation efforts but year over year there should be a decline. We can also measure success by the number of victims who are given refugee status in the United States and by estimating the amount of money traffickers are losing due to legalization of prostitution.  Finally, our social impact value can be measured by the number of policy makers we meet with, how they are voting, and how many pieces of policy we introduce or pass. As influence and connection grow, it should be easier to meet more policy makers and get legislation passed.   

Blog #4 - Victory Via Vivid Vision

Last week we examined what makes a team and/or organization effective in their social venture endeavor(s). In the lecture slides there was a diagram titled “Balanced Scorecard”, from The Balanced Scorecard Institute. In that diagram, there were four tables: Financial, Internal Business Processes, Learning and Growth, and Customer. In the center of the model was a box titled “Vision and Strategy”. Personally, I felt that this model fell short of properly connecting all of the stakeholders and organization members. However, it does accurately illustrate the importance and centrality of vision, and the leadership it takes to maintain such vision. Upholding a specific, vivid vision is essential to any organization because it allows them to preserve their core ideology, but stay flexible and adaptable with regard to their prospective future.

            One of our readings for week 5 was titled, “14 Ways To Be A Great Startup CEO” by Jason Baptiste. In this article, Baptiste talks about common, identifiable traits found in successful startup CEOs. Some of these characteristics included assuaging and diffusing stress and pain for the team, referring to specialists’ expertise, saying no to decisions that could potentially jeopardize the mission, etc. The reoccurring theme throughout the article was emphasizing the importance of vision. For example, one of the key traits for a great CEO was to “Be A Keeper of the Company Vision”. Great leaders have keen discernment of whether or not certain projects work well within the confines of the organization’s vision. But you might ask: Why must these leaders be so stringent with their vision?

            Building off this question, I came across a piece in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) called, “Mission Matters Most” by Kim Jonker and William F. Meehan III. In the article, it talks about recent social ventures have adopted overly broad mission statements lacking clarity and specificity. It also mentions how most volunteers, employees and even customers in some cases fail to fully grasp the mission of the organization, which usually causes lack of enthusiasm/commitment to the cause. Going back to answer the question posed above, the reason that great leaders feel the need to be strict with their vision is because many organizations tend to overextend their operating capacity to programs and initiatives that are often unrelated to their original vision. My argument, in congruence with these experts, is that the wisest CEOs know the innate value of their vision and constantly strive to preserve it. I personally relate to this argument because my social venture idea, Impact Youth, was initially an ambiguous youth program; it had a straightforward mission, but the vision itself was not very apparent.
            This brings me to my final and most important takeaway from this past week: clearly articulating my organization’s vision. In James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras’ Harvard Business Review article titled, “Building Your Company’s Vision”, they discussed what exactly a strong vision is comprised of. Basically, a vivid vision is split into two primary parts: (1) Core Ideology, which is the defining nature/character of the organization, and (2) Envisioned Future, which describes what the future will look like when the organization’s objective is realized. Within Core Ideology, there are the two sub-categories of core values (internal, intrinsic principles justified within the org) and core purpose (an org’s reason for being and what difference they hope to make). It is essential that, before we move any further with our social venture ideas, we must establish this clear vision. I would like to conclude these blog posts with one final question: Is your vision, regardless of how outlandish it may sound, enticing enough to attract loyal followers and supporters?

Social Venture Founders – setting values, building culture, and the extension and evolution of self

Founders of social ventures are driven by a sense of urgency to affect positive impact in the world. Their attitude is perhaps best summed by the saying of 19^th century British politician Benjamin Disraeli: “Life is too short to be little.” They conjure up big audacious visions that attracts others to work for that cause with high intrinsic motivation. As social venture startups grow, the founders’ values, whether implicit or explicit, take on a life of their own within the organization. Their actions build a culture that provides ques for other employees’ behavior. In that sense, the social venture becomes an extension of the founder’s self. Therefore, it is important for founders to be mindful of their values and how congruent their actions are with them. But what if what is important for the founder is not to be mindful of self today, but what one could become in the future?

Stating values for a startup is important. Corporations do it all the time. But their actions sometimes belie those proclaimed values. Remember Enron? It had a 64-page Code of Ethics manual and among its four core values was: Integrity. Yet, Enron’s scandal has made it synonymous with anything but integrity. What shaped employees behavior was not the explicitly stated values, but the implicit values in the culture shaped by leadership’s actions. As the Journal of Values Based Leadership puts it, “While senior leadership worked to create a statement of core values that upheld the highest ethical standards, their actions shaped a culture that would not meet these standards.”

Although we embody our values, they are difficult to state and rank “core” ones. Take a look at How to Find Your Values, where you will find a list of 50 values, Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues, and other resources. But values cannot be represented by rigid words. You can put them into sentences, or build context around them. Take for example the values of Social Ventures Partners- Tucson, where there is a description for each of the following values: engaged venture philanthropy; entrepreneurial spirit, community and collaborative action; lifelong learning; and mutual respect. Or consider those of 500 Startups: be bold, be humble; move fast, break things; challenge yourself, and others; be diverse, be diversified; have fun, make money. Values are presented differently, so state yours your own way.

I am a fan not only of stating values, but of the Values-Driven Leadership literature as a whole. Here is a good read on the framework with visual representation. A social venture founder takes an important leadership role that embodies implicit values. Leadership actions will build the culture that trumps explicit values. Those values should be mindful not only of the area of impact, but also of employees. As the founder of Seventh Generation says “Your employees are one of the key stakeholders at a social enterprise, so make sure that your values are reflected internally as well".

My interest in this may reflect that I am personally motivated more by affiliation than by achievement or power, as per the Human Motivation Theory (check out what drives you). I am also a firm believer that through trials and tribulations of founding a social venture, founders evolve. While focused on achieving goals, they should be mindful of their personal being through that evolution. As T. S. Elliot is quoted to have said “The journey, not the destination matters...” (and if you like poetry, read Ithaka for why that is so). The values one holds today are a great start, but what really matters is: what are the values that will help me withstand the journey and become an even better person. Not only what is my vision for the social venture, but what is my vision of my evolved self? Jim Rohn explained it so well: “The greatest value in life is not what you get, the greatest value in life is what you become.” What are the values which drive you now, but which will help you become a better person, while in the process building by your actions an organizational culture that affects positive impact? 

Blog #4: Raise money or bootstrap your startup?

One of the fundamental questions that perplexes many startup founders is whether to raise money through venture funding or to bootstrap their startup. In short, there is no golden rule that states which method is the best to grow your company, the solution is dependent upon various factors such as financial health of the startup, scalability, market need, company’s vision, etc. This blog explores the merits and demerits of each option: raising money, and bootstrapping.

Raise money to accelerate growth

While the answer depends on the type of business and business model, it's often critical to raise money instead of bootstrapping if you really need to accelerate growth or invest in product development. For example, many SAAS businesses require large upfront investment in the product before they ever make a dime, so raising money is critical for those types of companies. [1]

Raise money if you are first to market

If your startup is in a space where you are first to market, then raising funds to quickly gain majority market share will make it difficult for others to compete against you. [1]

Raise money if your business has network effects

Network effects occur when a business becomes more valuable with each new user. For any business with network effects, there is usually one major winner (YouTube, LinkedIn, Dropbox), and many obsolete losers who will be worth next to nothing. In these markets, you should raise as much money as you can and aim to dominate the market. If you don't, your business will eventually erode. On the other hand, if you are running a more conventional business (consulting, retail, business services), then network effects are not as relevant and you are much better off bootstrapping your company. [1]

Raise money only when absolutely necessary

It is always tempting for founders to raise money at a high valuation, but raising more money than you should could cause more harm than good for an early stage startup. As Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, states in his blog post: Venture funding works like gears. A typical startup goes through several rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take just enough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the next gear. [2]

Bootstrap to emphasize on making money, rather than spending it

The fact that bootstrapped companies need a business model that will produce cash immediately forces you to focus on how to make money, rather than how to spend it -- which would be your requisite focus with loans or VC funding. You learn immediately to appreciate your hard-fought-for money and are more inclined to spend every working hour figuring out how to make more of it, not spend it. [3]

Bootstrap to remain in control

Bootstrapping your startup will help you stay in control of the company’s direction since you won’t be swayed by investors pressurizing you to execute their exit strategy. Often investors think about their short term gains through an exit over the long term benefits for the startup.

Bootstrap to stay focused on the product

Bootstrapping also enables the founders to be focused on the product rather than trying to raise venture funding which often consumes a lot of your valuable time. Successful companies are built by launching successful products and not by successfully raising large amounts of venture capital.

To conclude, I would like to state that knowing how to bootstrap your company is crucial for any founder as it enables you to focus on making your company profitable which is of paramount importance for establishing a successful company. Bootstrapping also allows you to prolong your runway and burn less investor money. Do you agree with me and think that founders must know how to bootstrap their company? In which cases do you think that knowing how to bootstrap is not necessary?

Sources

[1] http://mashable.com/2015/05/21/pros-cons-raising-money/#NxAh9VBf4GqX

[2] http://www.paulgraham.com/startupfunding.html

[3] https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272540

Blog#3

Building a team / Team building 

We all know the importance of team and collaboration, the power of "we" over "I" and the result of an efficient and well functioning team. Now the question that I have always had is where do you find such people and how do you evaluate them based on having the same vision as you do, the passion for the subject and the drive and commitment to make this dream a reality. 
So here are a few things that could be implemented to build an entrepreneurial team and hiring your first employee. Interview questions : What are you passionate about? Tell me some of your experiences that have been challenging or difficult. What is the change you want to make in the world in your lifetime? How would you describe yourself to an alien? Tell me about your failures. 

This sums up not only knowing the level of passion an individual comes from but also one's level of creativity and self-awareness that helps entrepreneurial ventures grow. 
In addition to this, there are lot many things one can do as a leader to make an ideal employee. Coming from a design background, I have found these things most helpful in generating more ideas.

- Be assertive, yet flexible
This must be established initially to get things going but also be approachable, have an emotional connect but also create a sense of respect, not fear, among employees.

- Observe behavioral traits

This is essential to understand that credit is given where credit is due. Behavioral traits help in making communication, every human is wired different. Once you recognize the reactions and actions of people, it gets easier to tackle difficulties and deploy tasks. 

- Smaller notes of appreciation, in person and publicly can be a driving force for a lot of good work

Respect the work done for me and the company and express this appreciation, this not only builds confidence among employees but also forms a long-lasting bond with the company. When people feel attached, the tasks don’t fall under the realm of company but personal projects; this formulates a community, a life style brand, rather than and individual venture.

- Understand failure

If you feel that employees are getting stuck of falling behind about a certain task, initiate a conversation, make a connection, address issues, resolve issues, there is always a reason for short comings of people. I would try to understand the root cause of these and assert my future actions based on these feedbacks.

Collaborative Leadership

The most important one, I strongly believe in a collaborative leadership module. When people are given responsibilities, and awarded for good work, they aspire to be more. This injects ambitions in them. I would let people take certain leadership decisions, let them step into my shoes in a small way, limit them, but still let them feel the importance and aspirations of growth and responsibility.

As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart said:" Individuals don't win in business, teams do."

References:

[1]hiring-an-entrepreneurial-leader

[Additional Facts]
As I am deciding the features of the social venture and the roll out plan in the future, and since I had already designed a product, I wanted to look at how the venture could deal with low cost resources at the beginning and the move forward towards a product, if necessary. Following are some excellent examples of ventures that have a huge impact with minimal but extremely efficient resources. 
Current mental health social entrepreneurs: Competitive Data Search
- La Fageda, founded but Colon Cristobal is a dairy in Italy with 280 workers, of which 160 have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness or disability. It provides housing, work and peer support opportunities comprised of a group of psychologists that overlook the worker's professional and personal rehabilitation. 
- National Institute of Behavioral Sciences in India founded by Kedar Ranjan Banerjee emphasis on mental health services in non-elite neighborhoods. They deal with stigma and embarrassment attached to illnesses by integrating care and rehabilitation into their daily lives. 
- Adalberto Barreto, Brazil has successfully overcome emotional and psychological troubles through community therapy, using lay people as opposed to expensive professionals with more than 3 million people participating in these sessions and 88% successfully overcoming their problems. 
- Vicki Bernadet in Spain founded FADA which is the only organization in Spain that provides support for adults sexually abused during their childhood. Additionally it also recognizes the root cause of sexually abuse among children and works for preventing the same.
- Ricardo Lopez in Bolivia has a rather different approach to community therapy. This community focuses on bringing people together through music in a joined musical activity. This approach is viable and feasible as well as empowering on many vertical levels  that can be implemented across a wide spectrum of the population.
- Another interesting organization is the one by Paul Rieckhoff who is trying to develop communication between the general public and veterans which is a two-way beneficial stream. It equips the veterans with a mode of communication thus facilitating a conversation about future military conflicts amongst the future generation but also provides the veterans with a way to tell their stories and expertise and not suffer in silence the effects of combat. 
- And lastly, for now, there is Survivor Corps network boy Jerry White, that supports the survivors of conflict through peer support, public awareness, advocacy, re-bulding through collective action by utilizing[the power of inclusive development. 

References:
1] https://www.madinamerica.com/2012/04/why-we-need-mental-health-social-entrepreneurship/