How to Do a Quick Orientation (Desk Scan) for Your Social Enterprise Idea (Part 1 in the “Assessing Community Need” series) “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know that ain’t so.” —attributed to Mark Twain In the last post, we looked at why a Deep Dive was… Continue reading Diving In:
Author: Fred Estes
How to Do a Deep Dive for Your Social Enterprise Project
(Part 1: What and When) The student team that founded Stria Labs knew they wanted to create a product to help blind people with the challenges of everyday life. However, before the team designed a single prototype, they spent time on a deep dive. Several times they visited the Lighthouse for the Blind, a support… Continue reading How to Do a Deep Dive for Your Social Enterprise Project
When Interviews Go Astray:
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them Even the best-planned empathy interviews sometimes take wrong turns. You may prepare carefully, yet still find things don’t go as planned. Maybe your questions don’t come out the way you hoped, your interviewee gives short answers, or the conversation suddenly feels tense. That’s normal. Interviewing is a skill… Continue reading When Interviews Go Astray:
How to Interview for Empathy and Information
Jessica Jackley interviewed entrepreneurs over coffee, UCI students explored small farmers’ experiences in online conversations, and IDEO designers walked hospital rounds with nurses. How might you connect with your community partners to gain empathy insights? We know why empathy interviews are crucial for social entrepreneurs (as we covered in Part 1), so now let’s turn… Continue reading How to Interview for Empathy and Information
Interviewing for Empathy and Information
(Part 1: What and Why) Let’s say you’ve got a great idea for a social enterprise. Maybe it’s an app to help people manage stress, or a solution for food insecurity in your community. You’ve done your homework for this project. You’ve searched online, crunched the numbers, and used AI tools to gather facts. But… Continue reading Interviewing for Empathy and Information
How to Test Drive Your Social Impact Idea
Inspiration can come at any time. One evening, Jessica Jackley went to hear Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and modern microfinance, who was giving a talk at her business school. He spoke about the power of microcredit to change lives and help people with little money but big hopes become entrepreneurs. Excited by… Continue reading How to Test Drive Your Social Impact Idea
Getting Started as a Social Entrepreneur:
First Steps Jessica Jackley didn’t start Kiva with a business plan. She started by going out for coffee. After hearing Muhammad Yunus, the founder of microfinance, speak, the idea of starting her own microfinance organization inflamed her. She journaled about starting her own organization, had coffee with experts, and connected with people already working in… Continue reading Getting Started as a Social Entrepreneur:
Finding the Sweet Spot
Around the world, 15 million preterm and underweight babies born every year aren’t able to regulate their own body temperature and will die without support. In the developed world, modern hospitals have state-of-the-art incubators where these newborns can grow safely until they are ready for a world much colder than the womb. In the developing… Continue reading Finding the Sweet Spot
Work is Changing:
Why Some Grads Seek New Directions Maya Collins did everything “right.” She majored in biomedical engineering at a respected university, graduated with a 3.7 GPA. During college, she completed two co-op internships. One was at a healthcare startup, and she also did another in her university research lab. Her professors called her “resourceful” and “tenacious.”… Continue reading Work is Changing:
What Is Social
What Is Social Entrepreneurship and Why It Matters Now A Problem Worth Solving As a biochemistry student at Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, Isabel Pulido never imagined she’d tackle global food security through refrigeration. Her inspiration struck during a visit to a rural community, where she watched a mother throw away half-eaten food simply… Continue reading What Is Social