Posts by Nathaniel Whittemore
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Harnessing The Social Data Stream For Good
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Three Important Ideas from Real Time CrunchUp
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Failing With Humility
What a Startup Ecosystem Looks Like
Published November 19, 2009 @ 07:11PM PT
I'm a recent transplant to San Francisco. Before that, I was working just outside of Chicago, and before that, I was growing up in Maine. After even just a few months here, the difference in the nature of the startup ecosystem is unbelievable.
So what does that mean?
The first element of an ecosystem - perhaps the most important - is a critical mass of people who are in the same position. San Francisco and the larger Bay Area is sort of ground zero for startups - social and technology based particularly. In about a month, Assetmap will be hosting a mixer for startup-type people just based in our one neighborhood of the city and we've been able to find about 125 names to invite. This sort of surrounding means that the people around can commiserate, share, and collaborate.
To put a point on this...Last night I wrote about Supercool School, a very interesting new startup. Turns out their office is a block and half from mine and one of their founders lives one street away. This happens all the time.
The Most Interesting Startups in the World
Published November 18, 2009 @ 01:11PM PT
Of all of the fun lists that BusinessWeek puts together, their recent "World's Most Intriguing Startups" is my favorite. The idea of being intriguing is less about whether a startup is a hit yet, and more about what it understands intuitively about changing economies. While their list is pretty good, there are a few more I might include.
Their list is, perhaps unsurprisingly, filled with green companies. BioFuel Box reuses waste products to create fuel, BrightSource Energy is trying to do solar on a massive scale. ChargePoint is a network of electric car rechargers rolled out in a couple cities now and trying for more. If I were to add some of the most interesting startups in the environmental space, I would look to the Pop!Tech Fellows class of 2009. Lebônê generates electricity from microbes in soil to power basic LEDs and other basic electric needs in the developing world. re:char converts agricultural waste into renewable energy. Ecovative Design is working on a styrofoam replacement built using mushrooms.
Supercool School Is, Well, Supercool
Published November 17, 2009 @ 09:00PM PT
Education is one of the areas I think is most ripe for tech-minded social entrepreneurs to democratize learning and unleash talent. With the launch of the new platform Supercool School, anyone can set up a school, recruit teachers and students, and organize live classes.
The idea is pretty basic. Sign up for an account, plan classes, visit the education marketplace to see what is already available and what people are looking for, and go to it. Starting a school is a monthly cost, but the classes themselves are free for users. Everything is connected via video and text based chat.
The guys behind the project have a serious passion for education, and are clearly focused on enabling more people to learn. I wonder what type of people are going to want to pay for the ability to give classes without the ability to recoup the cost. I could possibly see companies like consulting firms using it as a tool for brand building, but it will be interested to see who else joins. It seems like part of the plan is to offset the costs of the general consumer facing tool with an enterprise service for internal corporate use.
The Need For Multigenerational Partnerships
Published November 17, 2009 @ 12:52PM PT
Regular readers know that I'm pretty big on the potential for the Millennial generation to make a serious difference. For those interested, two conversations in the blogosphere provide a great place for people to share whether they agree, disagree (and why) about Gen-Y's capacity to change the world.
Kari Dunn Saratovsky, who works with the Case Foundation as well as blogging at Social Citizen, writes a post reflecting on a recent study that suggests a number of trends that will reshape the nonprofit world, including demographic shifts, use of technology and more. More important than the trends the report identifies (which are pretty self-evident to those of us living it) is Kari's concluding question of whether there is space for better intergenerational partnerships?
Over on Social Edge, the founder of ThinkImpact, Saul Garlick, is hosting a conversation called "Gen-Y: The Social Innovation Generation." His basic thesis is that we want to do - and we want to do now - and we want to do real - things. We're actors who want to get our hands dirty solving problems.
One of the most important questions he asks at the end is about career development. How do we as a society help people who want to have lives in which their careers integrate their values find the right type of companies? How do we help companies be more responsive to those desires?
Applications Open for Unreasonable Institute (w/ Founder Interview)
Published November 16, 2009 @ 11:59AM PT
One of the more buzzed about new organizations in the social entrepreneurship space is the Unreasonable Institute, a ten week, Boulder, CO-based summer program for global entrepreneurs that includes mentorship, training, and a chance at part of a $150,000 seed fund, sponsored by First Light Ventures.
The program has a few distinct components that make it attractive for aspiring entrepreneurs:
- A curriculum based off of the raved about Transformative Action Institute program
- Mentorship with experienced entrepreneurs (or good fakers, like me)
- An experimental and super interesting approach to funding that gets entrepreneurs making decisions together about who gets what
The Institute is open for both non-profits and for-profits, although they are looking for organizations that can quickly pay for their own operating costs through sustainable revenue. They are targeting 20-30 somethings, although that's not a hard rule. Finally, they want big thinkers.
I asked Teju Ravilochan, one of the founders, three questions about the institute. Here were his answers
The Top Three Reasons That Global Entrepreneurship Week Matters
Published November 16, 2009 @ 08:48AM PT
This week marks the second annual Global Entrepreneurship Week, a worldwide extravaganza to help celebrate and encourage entrepreneurship among young people. Sponsored by Make Your Mark and the Kauffman Foundation, the week is an agglomeration of events from around the globe, with lead programs focused on mentorship, speed networking, and fundraising. I'm a huge supporter, for three big reasons.
1. The Opportunity Gap. When you travel to other parts of the world, its clear that talent is distributed pretty evenly. People are smart, ambitious, and creative in cities, villages, and everything in between. At the same time, the opportunities to use those talents just don't exist for many. I think this is one of the most important injustices for us to recognize and redress to build a healthier, more equitable 21st century. GEW's focus on global entrepreneurship is a great way to highlight that brilliant ideas and great organizations can come from anywhere.
2. Sense of Common Purpose. I think that entrepreneurs often feel a tension between the desire for creative freedom and the desire to be a part of something larger than themselves and their companies. Worldwide events like GEW have the potential to speak to that second desire, and in the process pull people out of themselves, even if just for a minute to discover new partners and new inspiration.
Weekend Entrepreneur Links: India, Sustainability, Net Impact
Published November 15, 2009 @ 07:57PM PT
Some good reads have popped up over the last few days, including some new opportunities for entrepreneurs looking for material and intellectual support for their projects:
Unreasonable Institute Applications are OPEN: The much anticipated Unreasonable Institute application is finally live and online for the next month.
The Funded Founder Institute: While Early Decision applications close tonight, the Funded Founder Institute is an interesting spin on the incubator model that involves a bit of mutual investment.
GWU's exercise in ground-floor entrepreneurship: An entrepreneurship contest and program at George Washington University gets some love from the Washington Post.
