Another innovative business model—shared access, in which an entrepreneur with a phone provides pay-per-use access to a community—has extended the social and economic impact of mobile phones beyond the subscriber base. In South Africa more than half the traffic on Vodacom’s mobile network in 2004 came not from its 8 million subscribers but from 4,400 [...]
Perhaps the strongest and most dramatic BOP success story is mobile telephony. Between 2000 and 2005 the number of mobile subscribers in developing countries grew more than fivefold—to nearly 1.4 billion. Growth was rapid in all regions, but fastest in sub-Saharan Africa—Nigeria’s subscriber base grew from 370,000 to 16.8 million in just four years (World [...]
We discussed Design Philosophy earlier. Recently, I asked around for people’s design philosophies, and here’s one answer that I want to showcase, to kick off this discussion. :: I like to keep it simple and pleasing to the eye. A teacher once said to me: “When creating something look at it like a mini skirt. [...]
The makeup of a private equity fund can be telling. Chris highlights the composition of the Unitus fund. SM: What is the source of the Unitus equity fund? SB: We have four equally significant investors. A quarter of our capital is provided by Omidyar Networks and Pierre Omidyar. A quarter is provided by an excellent [...]
The 4 billion people at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP)—all those with incomes below $3,000 in local purchasing power—live in relative poverty. Their incomes in current U.S. dollars are less than $3.35 a day in Brazil, $2.11 in China, $1.89 in Ghana, and $1.56 in India. Yet together they have substantial purchasing power: [...]
Jobs is one of the top segments online and contribute 25% of Internet ad revenues. Job sites like CareerBuilder, Monster, and Yahoo! HotJobs are fast replacing newspaper classifieds and becoming hot destinations for job seekers and recruiters. We have been reviewing the online job industry and have covered CareerBuilder, Monster, and Yahoo! HotJobs from a [...]
In June 2006, Yahoo! Video was launched to promote online video sharing. The service allows visitors to search online video clips produced by partners as well as independent content providers. Yahoo shows video content from associate sites including Discovery Communications, CBS News, Buena Vista Pictures and VH1. Yahoo also has exclusive rights to show clips [...]
Here Chris details Unitus’ switch from being a non-profit firm to a for-profit firm. Much of the current interest in microfinance is generated by the fact that the discipline is now being viewed as a sustainable “business”, not just charity. Thus, large banks, venture firms, and serious entrepreneurs are starting to wake up to its [...]
