Your Mark On The World

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1USvdxZ. Author, attorney, podcast host and startup guru Neetal Parekh recently published her book 51 Questions on Social Entrepreneurship. She’s shared three of the best insights with me for this article. Neetal, founder of Innov8social, offered up these three keys: http://bit.ly/1USvdxZ. Legal Structures: There are legal structures and business models and fundraising options specifically designed for companies pursuing profit and social impact. For example, legal formation options such as benefit corporation and social purpose corporation and successful business models such as “1 for 1” and “sliding scale.” Timing: We are in a unique moment of timing where there is a shift in consciousness happening both in the new millennial workforce as well as in the desire of serial entrepreneurs to engage in businesses that create social impact. Additionall

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1XyWCvl. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Perspective comes from experience. Dan Clark, Hall of Fame Speaker and social entrepreneur, gained extraordinary perspective flying in an Air Force jet into space. (Disclosure: Clark and I collaborated on a book with 15 other authors but have no revenue or profit sharing arrangement.) Retired Air Force four-star General Hal Hornberg met Clark when the General attended a Senior Leaders Conference at Langley Air Force Base thirteen years ago. “It was probably the greatest public presentation that I had seen,” he told me. Thereafter, he went on to hire Clark to speak to leadership teams on multiple occasions. Social entrepreneur Rick Larsen, who now serves as the Marketing and Development Director at GIVE Salt Lake,

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1YeM1oT. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Impact investing is a rapidly growing field. Lauryn Agnew, President of Seal Cove Financial and the Bay Area Impact Investing Initiative, points out that focusing on a place provides opportunities for collaboration, increased impact and market returns. Lauryn and I met will participating in a panel discussion at Sustainatopia in San Francisco last month. She is a recognized thought leader in impact investing, focusing on helping institutional investors make place-based investments with an outcomes focus. She has provided me with three insights to serve as a primer on place-based impact investing. I’ll share them here: 1. Creating a financial intermediary that can channel a small portion of the ins

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/22NAzRt. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Most of us give little thought to the toxins we’re exposed to every day. For the most vulnerable among us, including our children, however, the potential hazards have lifelong implications, according to Amy Ziff, founder and executive director of Made Safe. Made Safe is an organization that aims to “democratize access to products that are made with safe ingredients for everyone, matter their age, stage of life or demographic,” Amy says. The problem she sees stems from the “unrestriced and widespread use of harmful chemicals in products we use every day.” “While everyone is impacted by toxic chemicals, for the most vulnerable population of children aged zero to six, toxic exposures can impact their

Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1TZspoE. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. The JOBS Act Title III provisions allowing the crowdfunding of investments from ordinary investors finally went into effect in May, four years after the bipartisan bill was signed into law by President Obama in April 2012. The Security and Exchange Commission issued “Regulation Crowdfunding” last fall with an effective date of May 16, 2016. Those wishing to take advantage of the new law are required to issue their securities through a FINRA-registered broker dealer (investment bank) or via a registered “portal.” Attorney Jenny Kassan helps social entrepreneurs, especially women, raise money under not only Regulation CF but other regulations that allow for similar offering structures, some that are easier to use. Jenny’s clients include Lynn Johnson and Jessica Nowlan, entrepren

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1OcoTVO. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Scott Hill, President of Clean Energy Advisors, sees climate change as the biggest challenge of our day and he’s doing something about it. Having already financed 67 megawatts of solar power in recent years, he’s eyeing another 300. Financing solar power gives investors an opportunity to earn a financial return while doing good, making them impact investors. Scott sees the need to broaden the base of people who have the opportunity to investor for impact, something that has been limited largely to high-net-worth individuals. He says, “Within the discussion around climate change, there is this issue of creating opportunities for a larger group of people to invest based on their values. There is an overwhelming percentage of people who like the idea of investing based on v

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Y34dBw. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Darya Shaked is an impressive women with whom I became acquainted three years ago when I visited Angola. She was part of the team at Vital Capital, which I wrote about for Forbes. Today, she’s leading Stride Ventures, helping other women from Africa connect with the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem. Darya says, “As I believe some of the biggest challenges of today’s world are the outcome of inequalities, either social or gender based, I was very much focused on ways to impact Africa and the gender gap.” She adds, “In the first years of my career I was an officer in the Israeli army, a spokesperson for the the Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Housing and Construction. In the nine years to follow, I was a part of a leading private eq

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1Uhe6Kt. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Jill Vialet, one of Forbes’ Impact 30 in 2011 and founder of the national nonprofit Playworks, takes us inside the organization to look at key financial metrics and the mission it serves. Vialet stakes her claim to being a social entrepreneur, saying, “I’ve spent more than 25 years in the nonprofit sector, focusing entrepreneurial skills on creating and developing two successful nonprofit organizations for kids.” Prior to founding Playworks in 1996, she founded the Museum of Children’s Art. Playworks works to solve big problems in public schools by helping kids have more fun. Vialet explains, “Ask any elementary school principal what the toughest part of the day is, and most will answer with one word: recess. Teasing, fighting, bullying, the injuries, and the disciplinary referrals

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/25Ll7ac. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. The CAPROCK Group, led by Matthew Weatherley-White, has recently launched a new tool for their family office clients to help them better see the impact they have with their investments. The tool, called iPAR, allows clients to drill down on their investments to see the impact in a simple, easy-to-use format. CAPROCK has about $3 billion under management, about 30 employees and five offices. The firm’s revenue model is to charge clients fees for managing their money. Weatherley-White adds, “The only people who have the privilege of paying us are our clients, on either a flat fee or a percentage of assets advised. We accept no compensation from any other source.” He says the firm is profitable and generates a gross operating margin of 25 percent. Of the firm’s $3 billion, $1 billion h

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1WCFV1K. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Alex Thaler is an entrepreneur who saw a problem and immediately saw a solution. Ordinary investors are now allowed to invest in startups and other private issuers via crowdfunding portals, but need help. He created Stratifund to solve the problem. Today, he offers five free tips for evaluating crowdfund investments. Thaler, with an MBA from Wharton and experience with Life Time Fitness and Boston Consulting Group, says that Stratifund was formed in 2015 and just started operations coincident with the effective date for Regulation Crowdfunding (JOBS Act Title III) investing last month. The revenue model is a monthly subscription that costs participants just $10 per month. As the first revenues are just being recorded, he says he can’t yet measure margins meaningfully. He approaches

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Y3c1TT. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. “Emerging markets throw up all sorts of surprises. Roughly 20 percent of the planet simultaneously use mobile phones (20 year old technology) and candles for lighting (2000 year old technology). But don’t be fooled – the same consumer aspirations exist everywhere and the last 20% represent a new and rapidly developing market for the latest technologies,” explains Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO of Azuri Technologies. Simon has been doing business in Africa for 30 years and has made some interesting observations about selling to the people living at the base of the pyramid. 1. Aspiration is the same, regardless of income: In rural Africa, Azuri is providing affordable solar power. In stages, households add lighting, radio, TV, fan and productive devices enabling households t

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1TKQVI7. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. U.S. Bank recently kicked off the Community Possible Relay, a three-month tour of community volunteering in response to a long-term trend of declining volunteerism. The goal is to inspire thousands of volunteers across the country. Reba Dominiski, President of the U.S. Bank Foundation, explains, “U.S. Bank is issuing a national challenge for Americans to address the 25 to 50 percent decline in volunteerism that has taken place over the last four decades in our communities. The Community Possible Relay is a three-month, nearly 12,000-mile, 38-city, 25-state cross-country journey to inspire individuals across America to give back to their communities.” “We’re challenging all Americans and businesses to join us in this massive collective effort to revitalize the spirit of

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1RrjZyp. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Helaina Hovitz is one of the relative few journalists focusing on what has come to be known as “solutions journalism,” the art and craft of covering the solutions to societal problems. This is a club to which I, too, am proud to belong. Helaina got her start at a young age. “When I was 18, I was given the opportunity to cover a story for the local paper about a teacher in a challenging school environment who was legally blind and only had one arm, and inspired his students to stay in school. Then, I was given the chance to cover the lives of homeless men making new starts for themselves at the New York City Rescue Mission. It was off to the races from there,” she says. Solutions journalism is at the opposite end of the media spectrum from TMZ, meaning that the audience

Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1ViH39z. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Seed Equity Ventures, one of the sponsors of this site, operates an SEC/Finra registered broker dealer and crowdfunding site for seed stage companies. The firm’s founder, Todd Crosland, shared with me the firm’s investment process. The process has six discrete steps: First Contact: Most contacts come through the firm’s network of venture capitalists, accelerators, angel investors and entrepreneurs. Getting introduced via one of these sources is the most effective way to get your deal in front of the firm. Screening: Before getting serious about an opportunity, the firm conducts a brief evaluation of the company’s technology, business model, founders, market and financials. If everything looks good on the surface, the firm moves to step 3. Due Diligence: At this stage, the firm

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Wk3pZp. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Last month, I visited the Dominican Republic on a Fathom service cruise. It was great. On the cruise, I met fellow journalist Renee Farris, who (unlike most of the travel writers on the cruise) is also an impact journalist. Renee is also a co-founder of United Cause Agency, a consulting firm that helps companies optimize corporate social responsibility programs. Renee has shared with me some insights about using some of the latest technology for social good storytelling that I want share with you: Virtual Reality Creates Empathy: When someone straps on VR goggles they are able to see through the eyes of another person. This is a step towards developing empathy that can tear down racial barriers, help people who are suffering, and end violent conflicts. 360 Films Bring

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1TDUigz. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Privately-held dōTERRA is a rapidly growing direct seller of essential oil-infused products with $1.2 billion in annual revenue. Three years ago, the company launched an effort to use its supply chain to reduce global poverty by creating economic opportunities for rural communities in developing countries like Nepal, Somaliland and Madagascar. [Jump to page 2 to watch the live interview.] While founder and CEO David Stirling declined to provide gross margin data for the business, he suggested that the margins of publicly-traded direct sellers, about 80 percent, would “provide a broad approximation.” So the margins are good, giving the company some wiggle room for developing its supply chain for impact. Emily Wright, the company’s Executive Vice President over sales and marketing, n

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1QZ165O. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. You’ve heard it before. It may not be polite, but it makes a clear point–usually a critical one–to say “the inmates are running the asylum.” It may not be much of an exaggeration to think that the first person to think of putting high school students in charge of their own education might need to be committed. But that didn’t stop them. This fall, their grand experiment will begin. Thirty students will participate in an independent micro-school directed by the students. The program has grown up within a broader, student-led initiative called One Stone in Boise, Idaho. Current chairwoman Simone Migliori explains that “the lack of student voice incorporated into community issues” motivated the creation of One Stone. Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1T5xFEQ. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Jean Krisle is a miracle worker. She observed a problem we all seem to recognize–a lack of free drug treatment beds for those who most need the help. Unlike the rest of us, Jean did something about it. Jean launched 10,000 Beds, Inc., a nonprofit dedicating to finding free treatment beds for addicts who have no resources and no where else to go. The beds come from treatment facilities around the country, which Jean asks them to donate. Jean has learned some lessons from her efforts and shares three tips that will help any social entrepreneur make miracles happen: 1.Collaborate. There are myriads of problems in our world that seem overwhelming, but solutions are available if we can simply think creatively, be proactive, and increase collaboration between organizations.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1OnRlhO. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Emma Maenhout, a 16-year-old girl originally from Belgium, and who goes by “Emma Moonwood” because no one in America can say her last name correctly, has an idea: a golden buzzer. Her idea is that there should be a universal “like” button on the internet that we can hit that will signal our strong approval for a thing we observe there. She calls her button the golden buzzer and envisions that brands will adopt it in order to collect instant karma from loyal fans to drive more sales. In turn, Emma plans to charge the brands for the likes and to use a portion of those proceeds to help people doing things like curing cancer. Emma explains the challenge she sees. “The problem is that we – the teens of this generation – see so much negativity on the internet and in the news

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1NFVOSf. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Septuagenarian Tom Chappell, founder of Tom’s of Maine, the natural toothpaste company that became a national phenomenon and was sold to Colgate Palmolive in 2006 for $100 million, is up to good again with Ramblers Way Farm, Inc. The new $1 million revenue company makes “premium quality” casual apparel from merino wool or pima cotton produced sustainably in the U.S. The company has a consumer direct model, selling both online and via company stores. Chappell says the company has a five year plan to reach $20 million in revenue. While the company is not yet profitable, he says, they generate gross margins of 60 percent. Those look like healthy margins in just about any industry where the product can’t be delivered via the internet. Read the full Forbes article and watch the intervie