categories
HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
poverty
Grameen on MicroFranchising
By David Stoker, Guest Author The Grameen Bank has been the leading institution in the field of microcredit and microfinance. They are also leading the way in the field of MicroFranchising as they have expanded into a Grameen Family of Enterprises. Perhaps the most impactful of their microfranchises has been Grameen Phone and its Village
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 3)
Here we delve into the philosophy behind Selco – what makes the company what it is. We explore not only the operations philosophy, but also some of the social and cultural philosophies of the company. SM: Can you explain the business of Selco at this point to us? HH: The whole philosophy of Selco is
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 2)
Harish focused on creating an energy solutions company in rural India. Here, we discuss locations and other issues of getting Selco off the ground. SM: When you moved back to India, where did you set your headquarters? HH: We headquartered in Bangalore. My mother is from Karnataka, so it was a choice between Orissa and
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 1)
Dr. Harish Hande is the co-founder of Selco, a rural sustainable energy company which has over 80,000 installations and 25 retail sales and service centers all over Karnataka, a state in Southern India. Among its many accomplishments, Selco has created India’s first rural solar financing program using regional banks. I recently talked with Harish about
The Vision of MicroFranchising
By David Stoker, Guest Author MicroFranchising is a development tool that seeks to apply the proven marketing and operational concepts of traditional franchising to small businesses in the developing world. The primary feature of a MicroFranchise is its ability to be streamlined and replicated. The businesses are designed for microentreprenuers and usually target development issues
Beyond Microfinance
By David Stoker, Guest Author After 2005 was declared the year of Microcredit and 2006 had the father of microcredit, Muhammad Yunus, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, microcredit has become a mainstream concept and strategy in poverty alleviation. (Even my eighty-year old grandfather is a lender on Kiva.org now) However, with increased attention comes
Micro-Franchise For Venture Investment
For those of you who have read my discussion with Prof. Raj Reddy at Carnegie Mellon, you are familiar with our debate over MicroFinance, MicroEquity and MicroFranchise. We continued drilling down on this topic last weekend, following Sequoia’s investment in Micro-Finance company, SKS. I also wrote a piece referring back to some ideas from 2
MicroFinance and Rural Development
When I first started writing this blog, I wrote a series of pieces on MicroEntrepreneurship. Today, as the world is making giant leaps in embracing the entrepreneurship potential buried in the lowest rung of the poverty pyramid, I want to showcase a few of those pieces for your reading. Tier 4 Market Definition : I
