Interview with La Mano del Mono's Maurico Martinez Miramontes
In the last 50 years, 50% of Mexico and Latin America's forest have been deforested. Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing activity in protected natural areas. Why not use ecotourism to protect the forests? That is what La Mano del Mono was founded on through providing experiential and environmental education.
We caught up with Maurico Martinez, CEO of La Mano del Mono, to talk about the company's growth.
"It was very exciting to work with MCN. I really enjoyed doing the business plan and reviewing the feedback. The feedback that the mentors gave us was really accurate and made us reflect on the commercial and human resources parts above all. Also, it made us improve the way we communicate our business model to the client."
What problem is La Mano del Mono trying to solve?
We have two problems to solve. We have lost half of our forests in Mexico and Latin America and half of the rural population is not living in their homes anymore; they had to emigrate to the US or other big cities because of the lack of opportunities. By providing them with a livelihood in protected natural environments we help them and the environment.
Why were you interested in solving this problem? What is in your background that made you be interested in helping these communities?
I grew up in Monterrey, a big city where I had the opportunity to be a scout and see many of the natural beauties of the area. Later, when I was in high school, I traveled more to different rural communities. I had the opportunity to interact with these communities and see their reality. In college, I started to take my friends to travel to the places I knew. At the beginning the purpose was only adventure, but after I noticed that most of the people didn’t know all these places, all these lakes, mountains, caves and waterfalls, I realized that they loved the idea but they just didn’t have the opportunity and the knowledge to travel to these places. At the same time, I thought about all the rural communities that lived there, that gave us food and a place to stay. I thought about their problems of poverty and migration and came up with the idea to join the people interested in meeting these places with the rural communities that lived there. This also helped the economy of these communities. All this transformed into ecotourism.
How successful were the past years for La Mano del Mono in terms of profit?
2012 and 2013 were constant in terms of profit. In 2014, the profit decreased because after learning from the accelerators we have been with, we started to focus more on the internal structure of the company rather than the sales, capacity, and consulting. We had so much work to do; we had 8 invitations to projects that we could not take. That business would have made up the profit similar to what we had in past years. So our profits decreased but we were able to strengthen our internal structure.
What are the biggest challenges for the future?
We have several. One is to strengthen the business model. In past years, more of the 70% of our profit came from capacitation and consulting. Our clients are the government and international associations. 30% came from programs for companies, student groups and some tourists, so the challenge is to have more mobility and profit coming from the programs we give. That way we would be able to have stable profit. Another challenge is to strengthen the way we get the public to know about our services, and the last one is to strengthen the team and make them more capable so that the services we deliver have the same quality.
Sometimes when a company grows it is difficult to maintain the same level of quality of service and attention to the client…
Yes, that’s actually what happened to us in the past year. We had so much work to do with the company’s internal structure that we couldn’t take some projects, and that was reflected in our decrease in profit.
Is there any milestone that La Mano del Mono feels proud of? Some kind of accomplishment or recognition?
The truth is that we have been very fortunate with recognition. The ways in which we do our work is a very particular one for Mexico. We had the recognition of best natural product by Secretaria de Turismo. We had recognition by the CONAP as best program that promotes culture within protected natural areas. We were invited in 2009 by the UNESCO to present the work model of education of nature. So in that sense we are very proud and grateful. Also, the fact that we have been accepted to several accelerators and including the Mentor Capital Network is a big compliment for us.
Is there anything else you would like to add or share?
Yes, we want to invite people to our new experience offering called Las Rutas del Agua (The Water Routes). It is a travel experience in which the client can learn about water core zones: where water is born and why we benefit from it. The client can also have the opportunity to interact with the communities that are there. Also, I want people to know that by making any of the programs of La Mano del Mono, they are helping the communities that live in these zones. They would be helping these people stay in their homes and at the same time helping protect these zones. These are experiences that transform lives.
For more information on La Mano del Mono, head to their website and follow them on twitter.
MCN’s Ricardo Velazquez caught up with Mauricio Martinez Miramontes, CEO of La Mano del Mono in April 2015.
An Interview with UpSpring & Advice for Multiple Bottom Line Companies
About UpSpring:
UpSpring (http://upspringassociates.com/) is a socially responsible consulting firm, enabling entrepreneurs to achieve their vision and implement their goals. Consultants specialize in growing values-based ventures in the U.S. and around the world. Since 2010, UpSpring has been a registered “B Corporation,” the first in New Mexico. UpSpring's expertise generates ‘triple bottom line’ returns – financial, social/community, and environmental.
About Drew Tulchin:
Drew Tulchin has 16 years of experience building start-ups and growing organizations. His specialization is in business planning, raising capital, implementing good ideas, and measuring impact for 'triple bottom line' returns. Drew’s work has market driven business success that generates social, community, and environmental value. His efforts have generated more than $100 million for clients, and consulting has taken him throughout the United States to Native American Tribes and 40 plus countries from A (Afghanistan) to Z (Zambia).
1. What is your company's greatest accomplishment to date in terms of significantly helping a Double Bottom Line #2BL or #3BL company?
Since our founding in 2003 as Social Enterprise Associates, our company has helped more than 100 businesses, non-profits, foundations and government entities. Our efforts have led to raising more than $100 million for market oriented social change.
Growing businesses and social ventures that build houses, preserve cultural heritage, and help people find and maintain solid jobs within Native American tribes and rural communities is one of our greatest accomplishments and honors. See our current efforts in New Mexico with the Native American Ohkay
Owingeh Housing Authority (OOHA, www.ohkayowingehhousingauthority.org) to raise philanthropic capital to restore housing in the historic plaza, the heart of the community where people have lived for 700 years.
2. What strategic advice would you give to a reader who is in the idea phase of the 2BL, 3BL, or 4BL company?
I am very supportive of people with ideas that want to grow social enterprises and triple bottom line efforts.
• My first recommendation is to make sure you have looked at the marketplace. Who else is doing this type of work or offering a similar service? Go speak with them, even if your idea is a bit different or better.
• Next, who is this innovation supposed to help? Make sure you have had extensive listening and conversations with customers/clients/users. Again, remember to listen– not sell or convince. What are their problems and challenges? What are their stated needs and under what conditions?
• For all social entrepreneurs, I encourage you to have your own ‘advisory board’. If you don’t want to be official, have it be a kitchen cabinet. It is okay, if it starts out as your family and friends, but there needs to be others involved. You can’t do change as a ‘solo-preneur’ you have to have others involved to vet ideas, build connections, and improve thinking.
3. What is the purpose of your organization?
UpSpring’s mission is to “Do Well by Doing Good,” leveraging the power of the marketplace for social, community, environmental, and cultural benefit. UpSpring’s activities extend beyond the triple bottom line to the quadruple bottom line - advancing people, profit, planet, and purpose.
As a testament to our purpose, for the last four years UpSpring has been a B Corps socially responsible certified business (www.bcorporation.net). Being a mission-driven business we are in agreement with B Corporation’s Declaration of Interdependence: We must be the change we seek in the world.
We practice what we preach and as such have been recognized by B Corps as ‘One of the Best for the World Small Businesses’ in 2014 and 2011, and a ‘Sustainable Business of the Year Honoree’ in 2012. We donate 1% of our gross profits to charity. All staff volunteer their time, and we source as many supplies as possible from local companies.
4. What makes UpSpring’s solution different from what is out there now?
In the big picture, UpSpring exists to help entrepreneurs and their organizations put their ideas into practice for a better tomorrow. Specifically, we find that we are often a bridge and translator, assisting entrepreneurs to advance in areas with which they may be less familiar. We team with (social)
entrepreneurs and managers to work as a team to advance into new terrain. We are a virtual company, saving people money with no overhead. And, we operate a virtual network of consultants to bring a laser beam of the right skills to address needs including building a business plan, developing new products,
exploring the market, measuring impact, and raising capital.
We leverage our consulting to provide educational resources to social enterprises, and we have written more than 50 publications. All are available for free online, and you can find out more on our website’s “Resources” page: upspringassociates.com/resources.
5. Who or what inspires your company?
Our clients inspire us. These are the entrepreneurs with world-changing products or services that lead social, community, cultural, and environmental change organizations and/or businesses.
Partners like Mentor Capital Network “MCN” inspire us. As a MCN judge and mentor for more than four years, I am consistently motivated by not only the work MCN is doing, but by MCN’s double-bottom line, triple-bottom line, and quadruple-bottom-line companies that like UpSpring’s clients are making a significant impact in the world.
Interview with Morgan Berman and Jason Cox of MilkCrate
Sustainability is a big movement and trend that is sweeping America. However, finding sustainable businesses, markets and opportunities are hard to come by. Fortunately, MilkCrate is solving this by merging information and technology to provide people information and resources to live sustainably easier.
We caught up with Morgan Berman and Jason Cox, CEO and CTO of MilkCrate, respectively, to talk about what’s being termed as the “Yelp of Sustainability” to learn about MilkCrate’s growth and development in Philadelphia.
What is MilkCrate?
MilkCrate is an app that simplifies living more sustainably by making it fun and easy for users to connect with the local, sustainable businesses and resources in their community.
What problems are you trying to solve?
One problem we are addressing is the gap in user knowledge about sustainable living. People want to live their values, but there is no tool that is easily accessible to help them do that.
Another problem is business owners who run their companies in responsible, sustainable ways and want to be able to promote their business to consumers who care, but, there is no place for these two groups to get together.
Lastly, the third problem we are solving are municipalities, who do not necessarily have the freedom, expertise, or ability to promote them in an impactful way to a targeted audience.
How did you become interested in this problem?
It came from my own experience living in Philadelphia and wanting to live more sustainably. Working with a magazine company promoting sustainability efforts, I got excited, but also frustrated at the monthly issues and paper quality in which information was provided. I kept wanting to be able to draw upon this information while I was out living my life.
When it came time to design a project that had a meaningful impact, I designed a tool that tailored to the demographic I fit in, bringing together the municipalities, organizations, business owners, and consumers I knew where a part of the community, but just didn’t have a place to come together to interact and talk to each other.
Who are your customers?
We have a couple of different customer bases. First are the small business owners who are running sustainably-oriented companies. Another major customer is municipalities and civic organizations like the Philadelphia Water Department and Streets Department. Our third customer is large sustainable brands and companies such as Zipcar.
What is MilkCrate’s growth since your app launched last summer?
We are about to launch the next version. We have had tremendous growth in terms of the and the development of the product, building new partnerships, and raising money. The real growth has been building a strong startup company and building the replicable model for other cities.
How have you been able to connect with local businesses in Philadelphia?
I started with a small group of organizations and as we got them on board, they made introductions to other organization and businesses.
Local businesses and restaurants came through our partner organizations. We identify an aligned non-profit like Sustainable Business Network or B-Corp, who have membership directories with businesses that have met their criteria and we bring all those lists into one place.
What are some challenges you have faced?
Finding technical support that does not cost a lot of money has been a real challenge. We’ve had to fundraise to build enough reserve to be able to hire engineers. The only thing holding us back is the development of our technology.
What was the biggest milestone or accomplishment your team has achieved so far?
There are a couple. We raised 103% of our crowdfunding campaign. We were the 5 finalist of Forbes’ 30 under 30, which brought a lot of attention. I received a letter from Girl Scouts of America to talk at their annual convention as well.
How have the response been for your app and startup from your users?
We ran a survey after we launched the app and the feedback we got was exactly what we expected. They wanted to know more about the business and transparency of how they got into the MilkCrate system.
How does MilkCrate plan to scale and expand into other cities?
Do what we basically did in Philly, which is partnering with organizations to build our databases and do outreach for us. By partnering with national companies like Zipcar, we hope that will help us grow in new areas. We have a team member already in Colorado, building out our West Coast efforts. We are also working with graduate students at Wharton to help build our replicable business model.
What other resources have you found that are particularly useful for social entrepreneurs?
We are a mission-based company and people have been so willing to participate and lend a hand without any expectation of return, because they just believe in what we are doing. That is really how we got so far in many ways, because people have lent services, money, and time to help us grow.
What are you most looking forward to in the Sustainable Business Plan Competition?
We are excited to have the opportunity to prove the business model, proving that you can do well by doing good and having a self-sustaining business with a triple bottom line. We are excited to get that message out there and receive affirmation that we are on the right track.
We primarily have our HQ functioning out of Bangalore, India. Our COO is based on San Francisco and I’m based on NY. Our team is essentially based everywhere, but manufacturing and a lot of our distribution is in Bangalore. We also have units that have been deployed in 14 different countries. It is slowly expanding and it is a work in progress.
What is it that makes SunSaluter special for its market?
The design is very intuitive and very easy to use, it also very low cost, we can manufacture SunSaluter units for around U$15 to U$20, and the cost is continuing to go down as we continue to figure out manufacturing. When solar panels are so expensive, if you can get 30% more power out of every solar panel every single day, for a very small incremental one-time cost, there is a lot of economic value that can be offered to these people that are relaying on solar panels as their only source of electricity.
How did you become interested in this?
I’ve been working on solar since I was a kid, I built my first desktop solar car when I was 10 years old, and I started dabbling a lot in solar, I started exploring all different issues related to solar and why isn’t this technology more mainstream. As I stumbled upon this problem of tracking where solar panels aren’t being efficient enough, I started looking at different ways I could add values to this market, and I realized that one of the missing links right now is people in developing countries who are using solar panels just aren’t getting the resources and the innovation they need. I was particularly interested in helping out the developing world, simply because I think there is not enough innovation going on there, and that is realistic.
Would you say your costumers are everyone in the developing countries or do you have a specific niche?
I’d say we are specifically targeting underdeveloped, rural, off-the-grid areas in developing countries, and users that can benefit from solar home charging systems. We are also where they are starting to make that leap, from having no electricity to have solar, rather them trying to make them switch to fossil fuels.
What are some of your major challenges?
Distribution and access is always going to be the biggest challenge, it’s going to be hard to connect to the people who need the technology the most, finding ways to leverage our networks and build upon what we already have, to be able to find the right people who can get us connected in the right communities, but that is always challenging. Another challenge is also convincing people why the technology actually makes a difference, because when we show people and we actually give them the physical evidence, it is easy to prove that the SunSaluter works and is actually making an impact, but when you talk to someone on the phone, you aren’t there in person or you don’t have a demo unit in front of you, sometimes it can be hard to believe. But I think that when we show people and we have it in front of them, it makes sense. Sometimes it is hard to get to that point, of being able to sell people on it, but once they are sold on it, they become advocates for us, and that is fantastic.
How many people do you employ?
We have a team of about 10 right now.
How has the distribution of the pilot units been going so far? Are you going to be able to reach your goal of distributing 1000 units by the end of 2014?
Yes, we are on target to meet our goals.
Did you give any extra thought to the copyright/patent of your product?
We do have patents on our technology, but I’m not necessarily a fan of intellectual property protection. I think that if something is genuinely useful for the world, I should just put it out there, and be the fastest person to innovate, the fastest person to create it, and just continue to innovate. If other people catch up, I think that is a good sign, that means I’m actually on to something useful, but obviously, the world is not necessarily always a safe place, so we do have intellectual property protection.
How is your relationship with the manufacturers and distributors in India?
Our relationship is very strong, but it took a lot of time to develop that relationship. They first read about us when we were featured in an article in the New York Times a couple years ago, and we have been skyping, emailing, and corresponding back and forth for a year or so, before we actually formalized a partnership. I think that it is very important, that both sides feel like they are coming into something where they feel they can trust the other party. Because so much of what we do can be remote sometimes, it is about building a local team in India who can actually work with us. Having a local team to really watch over everything is important, and you have to make sure you pick the right people.
Has any competition and mentoring program helped you on your way?
Yes, I think the Mentor Capital Network, attending the Annual Gathering was really helpful, some of my connections that a made through the Thiel Fellowship as well as The Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, both of those were very helpful as well. And just living in both San Francisco and New York City, I’ve definitely met a lot of really interesting people, and they all contributed their expertise. One thing that is really important to keep in mind, is that a lot of the decisions I make for SunSaluter, are not decisions I made myself, they are a conglomeration of the advice that everyone gave me and I combined into something useful. That is how I chose to be strategic about decisions that I make for the organization, our board, our advisors, a lot of people have contributed to actually figure out what the future of the organization is.
What other resources have you found that are particularly useful for social entrepreneurs?
I think for me personally, I recommend, build your product, build whatever it is, and make sure you solidify and understand your market before you go out to those conferences and before you go out and try to sell everything. I think it is important to have a very clear idea of why are you different, why is what you are doing not redundant, what are you actually contributing rather than adding excess into the world, especially in this social impact space. In terms of resources to keep in mind, I think sometimes going to these conferences can be helpful, so you know what else is out there, doing your due-diligence, but I think the most important thing is connecting with locals. Local people who actually are on the ground and experiencing the problems, and will be the ones evaluating the solutions you are trying to implement.
How can readers learn more about you?
Our website, SunSaluter.com, our twitter, @TheSunSaluter, we also have a Facebook page and a LikedIn page. I think all of that is in our website, and they can subscribe to our mailing list, there is a link in our website to do that.
Felipe Perini interviewed Eden Full to discuss how SunSaluter is doing.
Runa CEO and Co-founder Tyler Gage talks about big accomplishments and more growth & social impact to come
About Runa:
Runa is a Brooklyn-based social enterprise that makes beverages brewed with the guayusa (pronounced “gwhy-you-sa”) “super leaf” and improves the livelihoods of Amazonian farming families through its supply chain. When brewed, guayusa has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, double the antioxidants of leading green tea products, and a smooth, clean taste. Co-foundersTyler Gage and Dan MacCombie entered the Sustainable Business Plan Competition in 2011 and finished in second place. They left with cash awards, pro bono professional service prizes, and new relationships with their mentors.
Runa by the numbers:
Runa has 25 employees in the US and almost 40 in Ecuador.
You can find Runa products in 7,000 stores nationwide in the US.
Runa has helped farmers plant about a million trees to date.
Runa supports over 3,000 farming families.
Runa has purchased almost one million pounds of fresh guayusa leaves from their network of farmers.
Since producing for Runa, farmers have had an average increase of 25% of annual income.
Runa’s sales growth rate is on track to almost triple sales in 2014 over sales in 2013.
What problem are you trying to solve?
What is your solution to this problem?
Our solution is to use business as a way to bring native Amazonian products that are sustainably produced in the rainforest to the market. We use markets to gain consumer appreciation, consumer demand, and consumer dollars, driving the sustainable production of these goods, and thereby creating economic incentive to promote rainforest conservation and cultural preservation.
What significant challenges have you faced and how have you tackled them?
We built a supply chain entirely from scratch in the middle of the Amazon so we had to go through all the heavy lifting of immense amounts of R&D, bureaucracy, and export/ import processing procedures to get this product to market. As an entirely new product, it has provided a tremendous amount of room for innovation and also meant that we needed to fill in gaps. We’ve had to not only look at building an entirely new supply chain, but look at it through the Runa lens which is the value chain. We need to make sure that we are creating value and social impact for all the stakeholders involved and just the diversity of factors we have to constantly consider and evaluate is a big challenge.
Do you foresee any supply or production problems considering guayusa grows in a limited geographic area?
Not so much. It’s one of the nice things about Runa’s business model is that the sales really do create the social impact. The way that we grow the business and the way we get more guyausa is we plant more trees and work with more farmers. To date, we have helped farmers plant about a million trees and we are expanding into new provinces of Ecuador, to new farming communities, to new indigenous groups and taking a very proactive approach to building the supply.
What are some recent successes or milestones you have accomplished that you would like to share with us?
We are on track to purchase almost one million pounds of fresh guayusa leaves from the farmers. To think that 5 years ago there was zero pounds of guayusa being produced and bought, and then to go to about a million pounds is something that we are really proud of.
For brand milestones, we launched in Safeway a couple months ago and that’s a great milestone for us. Our products are not only are doing well in the Whole Foods and Dean and Deluca’s of the world but we are reaching more of a mainstream feel of the brand and the product. It’s really exciting because it shows a lot of growth to date, but even more importantly, it shows scalability and the potential of what we could do with the product.
How does Runa measure social impact?
Our primary metric is around the income created for farmers. We measure total dollars generated for families and the percentage of income that has been increased as a result of Runa’s business. We really believe that if you can drive sustainable income in the farmers’ pockets, that’s the most transparent, efficient, and sustainable way to create real impact. For us, it’s really about helping the farmers create a living for their families, and for their communities, so that they can earn the resources that they need to then invest in their own development.
Our goal is to have the income [of farmers who we buy from and their families] increase from 50 to 100%, as the guayusa trees that farmers have planted become productive. We are well on track to reach that goal and the current percentage is around 25% increase in income.
How is the line of Clean Energy drinks doing compared to the Runa tea beverages and bottles?
While the bottles are the majority of our business, the Clean Energy drinks are definitely gaining market share and starting to perform well but they are much newer. We have had them in the market for a little bit more than a year and we are seeing a lot of interest from consumers who want a clean energy drink that doesn’t have all the artificial ingredients [that are found in a lot] of the main stream players.
Can you tell me about RunaTribe and the role it plays in the overall business?
RunaTribe is one of the most fun parts of our marketing and our brand development. It’s our crew of athletes, artists, and innovators who live the clean energy lifestyle, and who embody the spirit of what it means to live fully alive through their heart, their work, and their sport. They range from people like a dogsled musher up in Alaska to rock climbers, skateboarders, and graffiti artists. We also have some big name nature enthusiasts like Channing Tatum and Kanye’s producer who love the product and are very active as RunaTribe members in that they help us share about the brand and our mission.
Have you remained connected with any of the mentors whom you met through the WJF/ MCN Sustainable Business Plan Competition?
We’ve stayed in touch with a lot of people. Our general strategy is that we have always honored the community based traditions of guayusa in the Amazon. It is a central part of how the communities come together between tribes and generations to share stories and dreams, and connect on many levels about what it means to be human. We have always taken that very seriously; it’s a very important part of what Runa means so we are constantly doing everything we can to share stories. For us, it’s about working with other entrepreneurs and other innovators to learn at every stage. We were college kids that started the company and we didn’t know a whole lot. That mindset of not knowing leads us into more and more spaces of collaboration and collective learning.
What is next for Runa?
More growth! We are trying to share guayusa with more and more people and to do more work to support the farmers. We are in a great place because we’ve got a great product and a great story. We just keep working hard, and staying caffeinated on guayusa as we get the product out there more.
The MCN’s Rachel Andersen caught up with Tyler on October 21, 2014 to hear about Runa’s growth since being a part of the 2011 cohort.
Mitra Ardron is a co-founder of Lumeter Network. They provide technology to solar companies to help people get electricity.
What is Lumeter network doing?
We provide technology to Solar companies in developing countries to allow them to work with the bottom billion. Lumeter’s Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) approach allows the consumers to pay upfront for the electricity they wish to use, enabling the electricity to flow through Lumeter meter.
Where are you located?
We’re currently selling in 11 countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Peru and Malawi.
How did you get interested in this problem?
I have worked in renewable energy. I am also a mentor for the William James Foundation/Mentor Capital Network and while mentoring innovators in developing countries we found electricity to be a problem, a problem that lot of people have and we were working on it. So we decided to go and solve this problem.
Who are your customers?
Our customers are solar companies and not the local people. We’re B2B and we support local entrepreneurs to expand our network and help us provide electricity to the local people.
What are your further expansion plans?
We want to expand to all the developing countries where electricity is a problem and we see that happening in couple of years. We expanded from 3 countries to 11 countries this year itself. Also our expansion is not that tough, we have no people on ground. There are entrepreneurs there who find us through the internet or word-of-mouth
What is the life expectancy of the meter?
It is an electronic gadget and it will break down someday. We expect it to work around 20 years like the solar panels.
Is the meter repairable?
The meter is not repairable because making it repairable it will double its cost and also will involve a supply chain to get the part to the market. These are cheap products and making them repairable will not be a good idea.
How do you develop a network of agents in another country?
The most effective way is to go to conferences. There are a number of organization and conferences on energy access and we are active in all these conferences. This helps us to tell people working in the energy access industry about what are we doing.
What are barriers to entry for competitors?
It is more likely a competitor will copy our design than copy our product. Copying our product will be difficult for anyone because you have to copy both the code on the product and the physical product. It is not a very high end market and the cost of copying the product will be too high. You will need both the hardware and the software in the backend one has to redevelop all of that.
Did you face any unexpected problems? If yes, what are they?
The biggest problem was lack of money on the angel round. It is very difficult to find investors who are willing to invest in the second round. Angel money is not a problem in this space, there are many people who make small investment in this industry, but the money after that between hundreds of thousands and couple of million is very hard to raise.
Did you receive any help from the government?
No, we did not receive any help from the government.
What is your revenue model?
We generate revenue from the combination of sale of the product & more importantly from the energy companies. We provide the service of tracking the payments to the energy companies and in return we get paid by the energy companies.
How have mentors helped you?
I am both a Mentor and on board of Mentor capital Network. I see this from both sides. The most valuable thing is to get most critical feedback from the judges. The feedback on first round and the second round were both very helpful. The first version of feedback helped us to reframe our concept. The feedback is very useful.
How can readers learn more about you?
The readers can check our website’s http://www.lumeter.net/ news page. They can also refer to the newsletter.
The MCN's Smarth Kharbanda caught up with Mitra Ardron Co-Founder of Lumeter Networks in the fall of 2014.
Lauren Thomas is the director of Mozambikes (http://www.mozambikes.com/)
Where are you operating?
Specifically Mozambique, but we have a goal to reach Africa in a broader way
So as you said, people use this bike not only for work, but for all aspects of life
Correct, the bicycle is everything. About 70% of Mozambiquens are in the informal sector, which means that they are sub existence farmers or they are buying and selling here and there. For both of those types of profile, of person, a bicycle increases their strength and their speed, which basically increases their income.
Would you say your costumers in Mozambique are the low-income population or everyone?
The solution that we devised is branded bicycles, so that private sector and public sector find the bikes interesting as a bonus for their employees or as a permanent advertising. In that aspect, we are targeting procurement managers, sales managers, country directors, or middle-class Mozambiquens that have a need for a few branded bicycles. The end-users are more low-income Mozambiquens.
Have you been receiving feedback from the people in Mozambique?
Yes, we actually are doing a monitoring and evaluation program this year. We got some funds from the USAid and we are using consultancy that we met through the Mentor Capital Network. When we won the Africa Award, and one of our in-kind prizes was with the consultancy Change Matters, and we expanded our relationship with them with a proper consultancy agreement, where they are devising our monitoring and evaluation plan so we can really understand the impact we are having in Mozambique.
Did you ever experience any competition in the area you operate?
There is always competition. Anyone that says there is no competition is not thinking broadly enough, because in reality competition for bicycles are feet, but there are also other bicycles, motorbikes, cars. There are no other operators doing branded bicycles, but there are cheaper, lower quality bikes. If someone doesn’t see the value in the branding, or having higher quality, then by default they would just purchase this other poor bikes on the market. For us it is always such a shame, because, in reality, per useful year, our bike is far cheaper.
Do you think about expanding your operations for another country in the future?
Yes, we definitely do. I find myself always saying “soon, once we perfected this model here in Mozambique, we will expand to another country”, but I realize that it never becomes perfect, there is always more, a way to expand. We are looking for debt capital right now, but instead of just looking for inventory capital as we have been for a bit, I think we are looking for a mix of capital, debt and equity, so that the equity would be for this expansion. We can easily expand into South Africa, Swaziland, even Zimbabwe from our current office. The model is very scalable.
Have you been dealing with any unexpected problems recently?
Unexpected no, the general problems continue over the life of doing a business in Mozambique. A big problem is that investors are not interested in Mozambique, whether for language or residual Portuguese colonial system rather than their British system, the same investors that are all over East Africa and South Africa just don’t come to Mozambique.
Have you received any help from local companies or the government?
Local companies definitely, it tends to be more a client-partner relationship rather than just help from companies.
You recently started a crowdfunding campaign for $100,000.
What are your plans if you get that money?
A lot of it goes directly to the mission of the non-profit part of our company, which basically gives away bicycles to people that are earning below 2 dollars a day. So it bypasses the concept of finding the partners here in the market to brand the bicycles. It acknowledges that there is a large amount of people here that will never be stakeholders of branded businesses. Maybe they could be if they are in the community where the business is still aiming to operate, but is more difficult. So the non-profit goes directly to the poorest community and gives away bicycles to the people that we screen, and it often ends up being women single mothers that work in the agriculture or vulnerable families.
But the other thing that we wanted to do with the fundraising was to do a bit of branding overhaul. People in the world love bikes, and if there is a charity that they should really identify with, it should be one that is putting people in bikes. It should be easy for bicycles to raise money, and I think that there is definitely a connection that we are not necessarily making, because we never had anyone professional really writing our story and helping us out with this. So we found a very nice group out of London called Within and they are very eager to help us, and they will do some pro bono, but some of their work would need to be funded.
How have you benefited from your contact with mentors and feedback?
We perhaps have benefited more than most. One of our in-kind prizes was a consultancy with ChangeMatters, and they suggested a few different grants that we should apply for, and a lot of them were already on my list, and we weren’t eligible, and I wasn’t sure that it was going to go anywhere. But then they came up with one I’ve never heard of, and together they helped us write the application, and we won. It is a 100 thousand dollar facility, it’s our largest grant, it’s with USAid, and the woman from ChangeMatters, Amy Kincaid, has a very good relationship with them, she knew the team, she knew everything about the grant. I’d say that relationship has been worth at least 100 thousand dollars.
Do you still keep in touch with any of those mentors?
Yes, we keep in touch with ChangeMatters, certainly. We actually are using part of 100 thousand to do our first monitoring and evaluation in social impact report, and ChangeMatters is our consultant that is handling that.
What resources have you found that are very useful for social entrepreneurs?
We have been very fortunate to participate in some of the session with a group called Thousandseeds. They do coaching for social entrepreneurs, and they are quite good. We are on Practitioner Hub, which is a nice portal that gives some information about social enterprises. I always read the Mentor Capital Network emails, I think the links Ian (MCN ED) share are really interesting, he’s got a good sense of what would be interesting for me to read, so I like clicking down and seeing what news links he is sharing. The Stanford Review, the SSIR (Stanford Social Innovation Review), also has some really neat articles from time to time about SRI (Social Responsible Investment) and social enterprise here and there.
Do you exchange ideas and talk to other social entrepreneurs about different projects?
We do by participating in all of those types of conferences and competitions. We went to the Innovations Against Poverty conference in Zambia last year with Sida, since we won a Sida award, and just last month I was in Kenya at the Seed Symposium.
How many people do you employ?
12 more or less full time paid employees
How can readers learn more about you?
They can go to our website, or even check our blog, which is great and has all the impactful stories of people who got bikes.
Felipe Perini interviewed Lauren Thomas in the fall of 2014.
2014 Interview with Greenease's CEO Vanessa Ferragut
The Greenease website and app is a resource that connects sustainably savvy consumers with restaruants that buy local and/or offer sustainble food options.
What problem are you solving?
Today when we buy foods from our local farmers markets or subscribe to a CSA program, we know where our food comes from, but when we dine out, we have no idea where that food comes from. Greenease is a resource for consumers to support restaurants that buy local, and learn about the farm and purveyors providing the food on their plate.
How did you get interested in this problem?
Where are you located?
We started in Washington, DC and have now launched the app in New York City. We are currently working out of a startup accelerator in New York City called Food-x, but we plan to return to DC in the winter of 2015.
Do you have any expansion plans? If so what are they?
Yes, we are planning to expand. On the east coast we have plans to expand to Philadelphia and Chicago. Then we will be expanding to west coast. In west coast we plan to expand to San Francisco and Seattle. They look like the usual suspects for local food, sustainability, etc.
What is your target audience in a city?
Our target audience is the savvy, sustainable consumer who cares about where their food comes from. These are the locavores that patron local farmers markets, the health-conscious consumers looking for gluten-free foods, or hormone-free meats, etc.
Who are your potential customers?
Our target market of consumers are smart phone users age 25-35 who live in, and around, the DC metro area – and now also in New York City. These are health conscious, locavores, who dine out at least 2-3 times a week and care about the source, and quality, of their food.
What are the major challenges you are facing and how are you solving it?
One of our biggest challenges was finding a developer. We first began with using a company in India who created the website. The experience was frustrating – the time difference, language barriers, expectations, etc. Then I started searching for a developer local to Washington, DC. I realized that since Greenease was all about a product that supported the local living economies, I had to find a technical expert in the area. I was referred to a few developers and finally contracted Craig Daly of The Grand Scheme. Between him and my designer, Sherry San Miguel, we created a beautiful product that is the Greenease app today! Craig has also accompanied me to New York City to work out of the Food-x startup accelerator, and is now a shareholder in Greenease.
Currently we are planning to expand and raising funds for growing and expanding Greenease is our biggest challenge.
How is your idea different from other players in the market?
We have so many competitors in the market like Yelp, Urban Spoon, Clean Plates, etc. Companies like Yelp and Urban Spoons are widely used apps for locating restaurants, and Clean Plates is focused on healthy restaurants. We take it one step further and share our restaurants’ farms and purveyors. We recently incorporated FourSquare reviews and hope to integrate Open Table in 2015.
How do you engage with the mentors? Has Mentor Capital Network helped you change that?
I stayed in touch with some of the mentors that happen to be in the New York City area when I moved here.
William James foundation/Mentor Capital Network’s mentor Greer McPhaden shared with me some of the restaurants in New York that buy local. Mentors at the William James Foundation/ Mentor Capital Network were really helpful and many were interested about our launch in DC, our progress, etc.
For readers who want to know more about your company, where can we send them?
IPhone users can download our app on App store for free. For Android user we are launching our next application in November. We will be revising the website in the coming weeks too.
The MCN's Smarth Kharbanda caught up with Vanessa Ferragut, founder of Greenease.
Interview with 2Armadillos' co-founder Jimmy Edgerton
2Armadillos (http://www.2armadillos.com/) sells roasted chickpeas. They entered our business plan competition in 2014.
Tell me about how 2Armadillos has grown in the last few months.
In the last few months we have not focused on topline revenue and instead really focused on solidifying our vendor relationships and our strategy for cash flow for the next two years. We’re trying to get a little bit more out back to day-to-day and just make sure we’re ready to rock and roll January 1st 2015. I mean factoring and packaging and supply chain, so that we have the cash and resources in place to grow this business, in order to have the effect that Greg and I really want. It’s been very exciting to develop these relationships, understand the scale of food, and the huge supply chain and inertia behind it that these big companies have, and realize we’re really on the precipice of being able to be a thorn in the side of processed, crappy carbohydrate snacks.
How have you been able to connect with these vendors? What are some steps you’ve taken?
A lot of that is asking questions constantly to everybody you get in contact with, but knowing not to overwhelm them. So, having a feel that “Oh this guy at some point was in food” or this guy consulted for a company that helped a food company. And building relationships with all the people you’re with. It’s important to understand people you normally talk to and what their lives have been previously. You can sometimes build relationships more quickly that can actually help you out in strong ways.
Will you continue to produce the chickpeas in DC?
It depends what manufacturer we can find. Some part will always be in DC, as planned, but to really produce at the scale of Lay’s potato chips, you really need to find somebody that is adept, skilled, and efficient at a level beyond what I see on a day-to-day basis.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced?
Everybody has an opinion, and none of them are necessarily wrong, but only one person sees the whole view. I’m very lucky that I have a business partner that basically sits in the back of my head and has a 30,000 foot view at all times, but it can be difficult to decide which nugget of feedback from people you respect you will run with.
What is your business partner’s role?
Greg gives me ten to twenty hours a week, his primary role is my mental handler. From strategic projects, he handles a couple relationships, and jumps in and out of PR.
I know that you hire people from underserved areas. Can you tell me about some of the value that your employees have brought to 2Armadillos?
It’s building a stronger community. Having people that have had different experiences in their lives on your team creates different perspectives. Whenever you’re doing something if you’re only doing it with your own blinders, it’s not going to be as successful as when other people jump in and give feedback. The trick is making sure everyone feels respected along the way. We really have a stronger team based on the various experiences that our staff has. And when we’re looking at our vendor relationships, we prioritize the folks that have a very similar scope to us and have also done it a whole lot better, hiring folks that have had challenges previously, and getting those people into healthy and productive workplace environments.
Is there any feedback that you’ve gotten specifically from your employees that you’ve adopted?
One really specific one deals with my attempt at putting a very simple non-mechanical apparatus in place to help with our packaging. Our folks currently scoop the product in the bag. I continue to try to find a very basic funnel and gravity system to help reduce the amount of human error that through iterations from them and feedback, we realized that it just wasn’t going to be practical, that it interrupted them before a mobile button system could go into place. So it was actually based on their feedback that that project is instead focused on finding environments where they can physically be as comfortable and productive, rather than using tools to help them.
Tell me about the relationship you have with your mentors.
Two come from food backgrounds. I’d like to say my relationships with them are jovial and productive. I hope they’re having fun. Some are CEOs of companies that have absolutely nothing to do with food, some are CEOs of food businesses. Some are previous CEOs of businesses, and some are just smart people who I trust and respect. It’s important to find people who can understand my thought process and then provide different perspectives. Instead of me going down a true north path, and this thing goes south, I might end up going northwest to a much better solution than it was previously.
Are you planning on expanding your product line, creating new flavors?
Yes, we’re planning on producing some new flavors with Whole Foods. Already, we introduced a store-specific barbecue flavor for their opening of their Columbia, MD location. And we’re planning on one or two additional seasonal flavors within the next year, as well as reintroducing barbecue for the spring, given the feedback we were able to receive along the way. We are currently in 32 Whole Foods, visiting four more today. By the end of the month, we should be above 35.
When you reached out to Whole Foods, did you know someone there initially or is there a process that they have?
They have a process. At that time, Union Kitchen was the shared food incubator space that we were in, I was lucky enough to have known one of the cofounders, Jonah Singer, for a long time, so we had a really positive work relationship. I knew that he had talked to Whole Foods along the way and he offered to make an introduction and from that introduction, about 20 businesses went in front of Whole Foods. We were one of two or three that they decided to roll out. We are now the fastest growing product as a local producer Whole Foods has ever had in their store. We picked up over twenty five stores in just a couple days and they describe that growth as incredible.
Do you have a moment that stands out to you as one of your proudest moments that you’ve had through this or some sort of recognition or milestone you’ve reached that you were proud of reaching?
It’s such a continuum. I think there was a day when we received something like 8 or 9 Whole Foods recurring orders in the same day. That was really satisfying. Also, we’re able to really have some conversations that are going to lead to the impact we’re looking to achieve. This is going to lead to [farmers] dedicating all this additional farmland to just make organic chickpeas, and growing the size of the organic-loyal market. We can grow this business so we can really have an effect so that other companies can stop using industrial seed vegetable oils and stop using non-organic seeds, and also scale the impact along with us as we bootstrap.
We now buy our chickpeas in lumps of like 40,000 pounds a pop. That means that we have to find somebody who can supply 40,000 pounds of chickpeas. That’s not a normal order in the market. As we dedicate and solidify our supply chain, we’re better able to grow the market for chickpeas.
Where do you get your chickpeas from now?
All our chickpeas are grown on American soil, they’re primarily harvested from the southwest because you want a bigger bean, and their environment yields a larger diameter bean. We also source from the Southeast.
You must have done a lot of research to figure out where the beans grow best, that sounds pretty specific.
A lot of that is talking to people. I am really talking to the folks that live the bean business and sell beans.
Is there anything else you feel we haven’t touched upon that you would like people who visit our website to know about 2Armadillos or about your growth process?
Really focusing on surrounding yourself with good people like Ian Fisk at Mentor Capital Network and folks that will actually take a liking and take a care to you and make sure you’re growing a business that’s about being inspirational, first and foremost to your customers and your consumers, but also the people that surround you. Staff, vendors, providers. We’re here on earth to be happy and we want to have those relationships be positive and productive.
I first met Ian six years ago, with a business plan that was focused on a gym that would harness human energy beyond standard renewable energy technology throughout fitness facilities. From there I became a judge, created a different perspective, and this year I was back with 2Armadillos, my second submission, and the strength of Mentor Capital Network has definitely been a positive force on our business.
Today we're hearing from Sarah Lin, Co-Founder and Chief Blankie Crafter, of Ellie Fun Day. Ellie Fun Day is a business committed to working with women artisans in India to create organic baby blankets.
What is your role in the business?
I am the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Is Ellie Fun Day in business?
Yes, we started in March of 2012.
Where are you located?
We are located in San Jose but our artisans are in India.
How many people do you employ?
Right now it's two people: my husband and myself.
Who are you customers?
Our customers are two main groups. The first group is mothers between 29-40 with small children who are socially and environmentally conscious consumers. Our second type of customers are family and friends of a family with a newborn. All of these people are looking to make more sustainable consumer choices. They are also willing to pay the premium of exceptional quality and environmental and social benefits the blanket helps create.
What problem are you trying to solve?
I think that, simply put, we’re trying to solve the problem of lack of fair wages for marginalized women in India. We are working to empower these women who don’t have another opportunity to leverage themselves out of poverty.
How did you become interested in this problem?
Three years ago my husband and I went to India and worked with a mission dedicated to empowering and creating opportunities for the untouchables. It was there when I saw that the only way to empower and help them improve their lives was through creating a way for them to earn a fair wage. On top of realizing this I saw the need to create self sustainability through a business or livelihood rather than a band aid approach.
I have also been a designer in the field for a long time and so after my time in India I saw that there was an opportunity to have design be a form of empowerment. I saw a number of NGOs that were producing handicrafts but that they weren’t at a level that was ready for the US market. So began thinking about how to bring the work I saw to a US market. Using my marketing and design skills I went to work on Ellie Fun Day to cater to a global market and help really create change and empower our women artisans to become sustainable.
What do you see as the solution to the problem?
I see the work being done with Ellie Fun Day as a way to provide a particular group of talented and hardworking women with a safe and positive work environment. Through their work they earn a livable fare wage. I also see our model as having the potential to incorporate other sewing centers in the area as we scale.
What are your major challenges?
Our biggest challenge has been sourcing. Organic fabric is very hard to find and because we are a small manufacturer we have to compete with bigger companies who can get a better price for fabric.
Another challenge comes from the cultural differences and communication barrier. For example in the US we take for granted that everything is high quality or that we get what we’re expecting. In India that isn’t the case so we have to work with our artisans to make sure that no subpar products go out. Its really important for us to have good quality management on the ground..
How has your time with the William James Foundation helped you?
It was just incredibly valuable to get the information from the reviewers. They gave us really good feedback that we could incorporate into our business model and practices.
We are also in the process of scheduling some meetings with readers.
What other resources have you found to be helpful?
We have found very useful information from the Skoll Foundation, Stanford Social Edge and other ethical clothing networks.
You can find more information about Ellie Fun Day's work and products on their Website, Twitter or, Facebook page.
I am the CEO and I focus on business strategy, partnerships and funding.
Is Juabar in business?
Yes, we launched commercially a few weeks ago, in the first week of July at the biggest trade show in East Africa. My co-founder, Sachi DeCou, and I have been working on Juabar full time for the past year.
Leading up to our launch we co-designed our first prototype with our Tanzanian colleagues then made a few iterations of our prototypes prior to launching a 9-month pilot to test the business case of the product for our end users/operators.
How many people does Juabar employ.
We currently have five employees. This includes myself, my two co-founders and two partners on the ground in Tanzania.
Where is Juabar based?
Juabar is based both in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and in Oakland, California. My co-founders and I split our time evenly between the two places and our operations are primarily in Tanzania.
Who are your customers?
Our customers are business-minded individuals in Tanzania. The ideal customer is a community leader, organization or someone who has multiple income streams and can understand how to optimize Juabar as business opportunity and community resource.
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Providing a reliable and consistent energy source to charge devices, like mobile phones, and save individuals time and money using other options. Right now people are spending money and time traveling to a charging location, we come in to provide a local alternative. We are also working in the economic development sphere on a broader level as we are providing energy access as a service for a business-minded individual. As a franchisee, we want to make it easy for these individuals to continue to grow their business.
How did you become interested in this problem?
I was involved in development work in Mozambique early in my career and had an opportunity to go back to Africa during the summer of 2011 as part of my MBA. My colleagues and I went to Tanzania to research solar energy and better understand the energy energy experience of Tanzanians at different socio-economic levels. This trip reinvigorated my interested in working in Africa. After I completed my MBA we had an opportunity to prototype the concept we developed from our research, which was the early idea of a Juabar charging kiosk, and just never stopped. Juabar is centered in Tanzania because of our networks, both professional and personal, as well as the favorable conditions of promoting solar energy adoption in that market.
What is your solution to the problem?
Our solution is an electrified pop-up charging kiosk and service distribution point designed to be run as a local business. As a product it is a charging and connectivity hub for off-grid communities, as a service it provides reliable local charging and energy access and as a business it is a leased franchise that sells not only the service of charging but other products as a distribution hub.
What are your major challenges?
On the ground our main challenges is not having a firm grasp of Swahili. When using a translator, on the spot communication is a bit difficult and some things get lost in translation. We are learning the language, but unfortunately there’s no way to just enter a chip into our brains. Also, we are hopeful that we can use local manufacturing for our kiosks but exploring and sourcing materials is a laborious task that can be very time and resource consuming.
Has the William James Foundation helped you?
The WIlliam James Foundation has been really helpful with the feedback. I don't think we realized in the first round how thoughtful and high quality the reviewers would be and we were blown away by the extent of the feedback. After reviewing our first round feedback we really stepped up our game for the second round and cleaned up our business plan to represent it as best as we could. The plan competition also acted as a timestamp to show where we were and how far we've come in our company’s evolution.
The competition has been the best review process that we've been apart of because of the quality and accessibility of reviewers, who have been generous enough to provide contact information for further follow up.
What other resources have you found that are particularly useful for social entrepreneurs?
Since we won the Stiefel Family Foundation prize I'm excited about the pro-bono consulting services we will be receiving. As we recently pivoted our business model, its will be nice to access consultants who specialize in sales, financing and business plan development.
For readers who want to know more about what you're up to, where can we send them?
A talk with Joe Fernandez, founder of TWBHK Limited
In an interview conducted a few days ago, Joe Fernandez reflects on the role of supply chains to access existing clean energy technologies from global suppliers. Joe shares with us how TWBHK addresses this challenge.
When was TWBHK founded?
We have been in business for about 3 years.
Where is your business based?
TWBHK is a Hong Kong low-profit entity (there is no legal structure for B-Corps. or L3Cs in HK).. I am based in Hong Kong. However, TWBHK is affiliated with Trade Without Borders (TWB), a U.S.A. non-profit. In tandem, the U.S.A. and Hong Kong entities comprise a global, hybrid Social Enterprise.
What problem are you trying to solve? What is your solution to the problem?
What we know is that access to energy is essential for development to take place, and access to clean energy is essential to mitigate the effects of climate change today. The problem isn’t the lack of clean energy technologies, but the lack of adequate supply chains so local clean energy businesses in developing countries can efficiently access those technologies. It is actually a huge problem. We are working to address the problem of more cost-effectively and efficiently accessing existing clean energy technologies from global suppliers. Longer-term, we hope to also contribute to development of new clean energy technology solutions to meet unmet needs.
How did you become interested in that problem?
Well I guess I would say it’s been a journey. I have spent 17 years in Hong Kong providing global trading services to a global clientele, helping to supply products to the likes of Walmart and Tesco. While working with such companies, I got to know the entire global supply chain for products from manufacturers in the Far East to the shelves of retailers. While engaged in this work, I realized that most of what I was doing was for customers in developed countries, and that there was a huge gap in product access to developing countries. Beyond the major cities in those countries there was even a bigger gap. So TWBHK Limited grew out of my passion to address the needs of those in developing regions of the world. That passion first developed when I served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. Through TWBHK, I was able to leverage that passion together with my practical knowledge of global supply chain management. TWBHK actually started working with school supplies, but shifted to clean energy products as we received more and more requests for such products. With lower cost solar and LED products, there was an opportunity for a leap of technology access, similar to what we have seen with mobile phones, which have leap-frogged landline connections.
What are your major challenges?
Our single biggest challenge is on the financial front. TWBHK Limited is starting to see some revenues but it is about trying to stretch our resources until they become sustainable. For example, we're trying to build an online marketplace for clean energy technologies to better serve local clean energy enterprises globally. Building that online marketplace, however, requires funding.
So, we are working to better define and communicate about the online clean energy technology marketplace to prospective stakeholders.
Who are your customers?
Our customers -- those who pay us -- are primarily organizations that operate networks of small and medium clean energy enterprises in developing regions of the world. We also sell clean energy technology products to NGOs. In addition, we also generate revenue from work we do on behalf of clients. This might include product development, manufacturing representation, and logistics coordination out of Hong Kong/China for a client based in another part of the world. We essentially serve as the client’s eyes and ears in China.
One of our clients is a US based organization called Unite to Light (UtL). They are a nonprofit affiliated with the Institute for Energy Efficiency at UC Santa Barbara. The Institute developed a solar LED light for the Department of Education in Ghana that was intended to serve students living in off-grid areas. UtL was set up to distribute the lights globally. TWB has helped UtL access lower cost manufacturing, coordinates global shipments of the lights from China, and is now helping to expand global distribution of the lights.
One of our customers, Solar Now, is a Dutch organization operating in Uganda. Our relationship with them is that they place orders for products such as rechargeable or low-power DC appliances directly with TWBHK. We procure and ship such products to them, ensuring the quality of the products supplied, and also ensure delivery to Uganda at the most economical rates. We are now also getting involved in pre-certification of products for Solar Now, which the Uganda Bureau of Standards now requires.
How many people do you employ?
We currently employ three people but we have numerous partners and advisors and a large network who provide support and help us fulfill our mission.
What are your annual revenues?
This year we expect to see revenues between $500k and $1m. This is a big shift from our first and second years, which saw minimal revenues.
How has the William James Foundation competition and mentoring program helped you?
In the social enterprise space, there are two types of organizations focused on developing regions of the world that are usually recognized. These are organizations with an innovative product, or ones that are working on the ground directly with their target audience in a developing country. So for us, getting recognition for our work was more challenging because our work lies in between those two types of organizations. The recognition provided by WJF has been very helpful.
Participating in the WJF Sustainable Business Plan Competition has helped us to better communicate what we do and what we are looking to create.
The specific feedback from the judges has also been great. They gave us wonderful grains of wisdom and knowledge.
Another great thing is that we are currently in contact with a former WJF semi-finalist from last year, Maternova. They supply essential products to maternity clinics that also need access to clean energy. So, we're hoping to collaborate in the future.
What other resources have you found that are particularly useful for social entrepreneurs?
Lean Startup Machine, an intensive workshop for entrepreneurs was a great resource. They work on a global scale and we participated in a workshop in Hong Kong. I gave a short 5-second pitch about TWBHK at the beginning of the workshop. I then had a chance to team up with 4 other workshop participants to refine the pitch. It was an exciting program and we ended up getting third place.
TWBHK had also been accepted into an incubation program at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park for web and mobile app development companies. This was to focus on development of our online clean energy technology marketplace. We were the first Social Enterprise accepted into the Science Park. The incubation program has allowed us to work with other like-minded enterprises and individuals.
Today we have the opportunity to learn more about Next Step NewCo. from Stacey Epperson, President and CEO. Based in Louisville Kentucky, they are working to provide low income and first time home buyers with quality affordable prefabricated homes.
What is your role in the company?
I am the president and CEO.
Where is Next Step NewCo based?
We are based in Louisville Kentucky but we have other contract employees in Delaware and California. Our customers are in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Who are your customers?
Next Step NewCo’s customers are nonprofits who are members of our network. We supply the home that they then provide to the consumer. So in the end our customers are low to middle income families who are mostly first time home buyers.
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
There is a large problem concerning the lack of affordable housing solutions. We are trying to create a more efficient, scaleable solution that provides energy efficient housing units. We are also working to help nonprofits minimize their costs and save funds through our reliable and affordable distribution channels and breakdown barriers to entry in the prefab housing markets. Next Step NewCo is also working to help replace earlier model mobile home units that are not energy efficient with affordable energy efficient units.
How did you become interested in this problem?
I'm from rural Kentucky and I have also worked the last 10 years in Appalachian Kentucky providing manufactured houses. While doing this work I saw that there were no high quality affordable homes on the market and that my, then, position was contributing to that. So I started looking at what it would take to not have this problem persist and instead deliver these homes to the families that need them. In doing this I thought about what it would take to deliver this service right for these families. This led to the development of Next Step’s principles:
Homebuyers prepared and supported through certified homebuyer education programs;
ENERGY STAR homes on FHA Title II permanent foundations;
Life-cycle pricing that is transparent to the nonprofit and to the homebuyer;
Mortgages with fair terms that enable families to earn wealth and/or preserve assets; and,
“A Home is a Home” policy commitment advocating that owners of manufactured homes have the same rights as owners of site-built homes.
What are your annual revenues?
They are between $100k -$1mm. And as far as making a net profit we have been generating a surplus but as a nonprofit it's different how we deal with the excess.
(Primavera Foundation Staff on site of Next Step Home set in Arizona, November 2011.)
What are your major challenges?
Globally the nonprofit sector has a black eye with affordable housing sectors, and are incredibly skeptical of the prefab housing industry.
For us personally as a startup there is always the challenge of raising capital, and for our customers it is finding the most appropriate mortgages for the consumer.
How has WJF helped you?
I would say that the recognition we've received has been a great asset. It will help us combat the challenge of raising capital.
Are there any other resources that you've found to be helpful?
I'm an Ashoka Fellow and they have been great in identifying resources and providing a network. Another great resource has just been having discussion with other social entrepreneurs.
Today we're talking with Mitra Ardron, CEO and Co-Founder of, second round finalists Lumeter Networks. Mitra shared with us the new technology his team has developed to provide affordable off grid electricity to NGOs and consumers.
Where are you located?
We are based out of San Francisco but we operate in various markets, including India, Zambia and Peru.
How many people do you employ?
We’re a pretty small team with three to four employees at one time. Currently its three full time employees, two engineers who work for a separate company, and then two people working part time in India.
Are you currently in business?
Yes, we just completed a trial run with four of our units in Peru. Eight shipped to Zambia earlier this month and we’ve just received an order for 77 from an Indian social enterprise.
Who are your customers?
Our customers are renewable energy companies who serve BOP markets. In our philosophy, we're a second generation socent, in that we build a service for companies in the field (who are themselves Social Enterprises) to deliver to a customer base which they are familiar with. Our customers are the companies themselves because it is through this model that we feel our impact will be the largest. This way we can impact multiple regions and cultures where if we were distributing the products we could only work in one or two regions.
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
We are aiming to provide answers to three main problems:
-How do you collect small amounts of money from lots of poor people on a weekly basis? Right now you can’t send a paper bill, this market doesn’t have access to a bank or mobile money account.
-How do you deal with management of small electricity grids, through security and providing the lowest prices.
-Where does the finance come,though we don't directly provide finance we're talking with partners who do. who's gonna make a loan if you not gonna get.
How did you become interested in this problem?
I was running an incubator that was helping people solve problems in developing countries and I saw this as a repeated problem that I knew how to solve.
What is your solution to the problem?
Lumeter Networks’ solution are the meter and sms enabled cloud system that we’ve developed.
What are you major challenges?
I would say the the biggest challenge is raising capital from investors who don't understand the technological innovation that we have. Many impact investors simply don’t understand the whole process of technology development.
Our non investment related challenge is that this is concept of mini grids is a new technology in a sub market and so its hard to explain to people why it is so small at this point.
(Customer making a mobile payment)
How has your time with the William James Foundation helped you?
I have been a judge with WJF before and its been a useful to interact with people who are solving these types of problems. With that experience it was really interesting to come in as an entrant. I know that this experience will affect my judging and give me a better idea of how to relate to entrants. Its difficult to fit your idea into the page limits so now that I know that I will be more tolerant of missing information.
What other resources did you find to be particularly useful?
We're in GSBI which has been great. I have also found the SOCAP, Sankalp (India) and IIX is great.
For readers who want to know more about what you're up to, where can we send them?
www.lumeter.net and especially sign up for our newsletter, or
This past weekend we had our 10th annual Gathering. Over the course of three days we were able to see top notch entrepreneurs present their businesses, hear two wonderful keynote speakers, and connect with people with a common passion.
Our Gathering kicked off on Thursday night at Arent Fox with our DC/Affinity Lab finalists presenting. Triea Systems and Clovest both gave thoughtful and well-crafted pitches. While the judges deliberated to select the winner we were joined by Allison Shapira on the guitar at our evening reception. During this time we were able to listen to wonderful music, speak with others in our field and meet some true legends like Barbara Pyle, co-Creator of Captain Planet. Our evening came to a close with the exciting announcement of the judges awarding Triea Systems first place for our DC/Affinity Lab prize.
Friday built upon the excitement and momentum created on Thursday as we heard updates from former WJF entrants Mitra Ardron of Lumeter Networks and Ali Cherry of Snack Packers. our two keynote speakers and watched our Green Grab presenters pitch for actual investments. Seth Goldman, T-EO and co-Founder of Honest Tea, and Jigar Shah, Founder of Sun Edison and former CEO of Carbon War Room, spoke back to back about their exciting careers in the social enterprise sphere. Seth shared about how to navigate the grey area faced by social entrepreneurs, like Honest Tea's work as being a social enterprise owned by Coca Cola. Jigar challenged us to work towards truly systemic change when starting a social enterprise. With Seth and Jigar's words we took a break to discuss their ideas over lunch and Honest Tea. Friday's lunch also featured a meeting of the Impact Accelerator Network.
Friday afternoon was centered on a very exciting and educational Green Grab event. Green Grab featured three companies, Juabar, Sun Edge, and Greenbean Recycle, who pitched to investors for on the spot investment. During each presentation the presenter had a time to pitch and then received feedback from judges who either gave or denied investment on the spot. Through out Green Grab we were fueled by some green snacks from Peeled Snacks and Snack Packers. Following Green Grab we enjoyed an evening at the home of longtime WJF supporter, judge, and friend Dr. Wayne Curtis and his wife Dina Curtis. This was a great way to create more connections and continue the discussions started throughout the day.
Saturday morning we transitioned to the World Resource Institute offices to see our Idea and Venture Phase finalists present as well as engage in a number of workshops. Our Idea Phase finalists, First Access , Colectivo 1050, and MoWoza, took the stage first. Each of their presentations were well executed and centered on very different businesses. While we waited for our judges to announce the winner Tami Kesselman gave a thought provoking talk about the negative implications of scale for social entrepreneurs. With the exciting announcement from our judges who named First Access the winner of our Idea Phase category we enjoyed some tasty Runa Tea and a discussion filled lunch. During lunch we were also joined by William James Foundation's co-Founder, Chuck Dell. Mr. Dell, at 95, shared many stories about the history of the William James Foundation and his lifelong passion for changing the traditional business landscape.
Following lunch we watched our three Venture Phase finalists, Morale Fashion Group, Access Afya, and Wecyclers, present. All three of their presentations were excellent and opened up a great dialog between the presenter, the judges, and the audience. With their comments made and questions answered our judges went to begin the difficult process of selecting the winner while the rest of us took part in a variety of workshops and practitioner gatherings ranging from: 'career paths in impact investing' with Mrim Boulta, to a discussion about the many support networks available to social entrepreneurs called 'Who are our friends?' led by Ian Fisk. Taking a break from our discussions on these topics our judges called our attention to announce Access Afya as the winner of the Venture Phase category.
Despite the fact that our official events concluded with the announcement of our Venture Phase category winner many of us continued our dialogues and created more connections until late into the evening. This passion for working together to solve problems and a real interest in forging genuine connections with those in our field is an amazing thing to witness. The WJF team is honored to have provided a space to encourage these connections and conversations and would like to thank everyone who attended and our in kind sponsors. We would also like to thank Arrent Fox and the World Resource Institute for giving us the wonderful meeting spaces that helped facilitate important discussions and connections.
A summary of WJF's 10th annual gathering. Over the course of three days we were joined by all nine of our finalists for this years Sustainable Business Plan Competition as well as so many talented and passionate individuals who are all working to build and sustain the field of social entrepreneurship. We were honored to be joined by such great company and have some incredibly constructive discussions about issues facing those in our our field.
About a month after weBike decided to close down the doors of our station-less bike share company, we received an email from a prestigious university asking to see a proposal for our system. A month later, another email from a different school came in. Week after week, inquiries showed up in our inbox.
Thus, it didn’t take us long to realize the idea behind weBike was not a failure – it was our business model that hadn’t worked. We’d toiled for five years trying to sell our system as a contracted software service, speaking to over 70 administrators at universities & small towns, but convincing only two of them to open their wallets. It seemed that we were always an “auxiliary” expense, one that they would be ready for in a year or so … even when a year or so had already passed.
Eventually the thousand plus hours of unpaid work led us to a breaking point, and last December we decided to pull the plug. (A nugget of advice when launching a business: don’t wait so long to pay yourself. There is a fine line between bootstrapping and burnout).
Yet with the strong interest we continued to see after “shutting down,” (we had not taken down our site), it was apparent that people were still attracted to weBike’s simpler, flexible affordable bike sharing; we just needed a better way to deliver it to them.
Our answer has been to open source weBike’s technology and share it as a free DIY (do-it-yourself) model that anyone can follow to set up in a community. For a fee, we are also available to support the process, however it is essentially up to the community to create, launch and operate their own system - benchmarking the tech templates, best practices and launch guide we distilled from our experience operating programs.
It was certainly strange that the moment we made this shift, we had the clients we’d been chasing come our way. Where were they before? I believe it was because we had now found a business model that fit.
The new weBike, though not a ticket for getting rich, actually makes a lot of sense. For one – it truly lowers the cost of bike sharing to the nuts-and-bolts expenses. Because the only cost to using weBike is our optional support fee, the community can focus their spending on bikes, locks, servers, staff – the actual costs of a bike share system. It is now the most affordable way to launch a bike-sharing program (and we can actually be paid for the smaller amount of time we put in – win!)
Most importantly, we are still fulfilling the mission we set out when we developed weBike in 2007. We wanted to offer a fast, effective and sustainable way to move around campus, which integrated the community and encouraged a fun, innovative, healthy lifestyle. I would argue we are now doing that in a more powerful way by empowering communities to design something that fits their unique environment – to be creative and run the system so that it flourishes under their ownership.
As social entrepreneurs, we deliver impact in addition to revenue, and it’s a tough balance to make. From my experience with weBike, I learned when you keep your mission in the forefront and become flexible in the way you deliver your mission to the market (by listening to the market) you can fulfill your promise to do both.
And as for the five years of unpaid time I “gave” to building weBike up to now, they were hardly a donation. I was transformed in the process of getting here– through rich, experiential learning, through humbling failures, a myriad of speakers, events, conferences and inspirational mentors and peer groups who helped me slowly evolve into a more sophisticated entrepreneur. I now understand every point where we made the wrong turn, but I earned that knowledge through my own effort and mistakes.
And so, perhaps as social innovators we should also get a bit more comfortable with the notion of “failing” and understand that because we are doing something so difficult, we may not get it to work the first or the second time. And that is okay, because with every failure, we have the opportunity learn, grow and share our insights to help us all collectively figure out how to make that balance work.
About the Author
Allie directed marketing efforts for weBike, the company she co-founded in 2007 with three classmates at the University of Maryland to offer a simple, flexible, affordable model of bike sharing for small towns and campuses. She now works at the Entrepreneur's Organization in Alexandria, VA, where she builds platforms for Mentorship to engage the 9,500 entrepreneurial members around the world in healthy, powerful relationships. Allie sat on the board of the William James Foundation for one year, regularly judges in the WJF business plan competition, and is actively involved a variety of young entrepreneurial groups including Hub DC and Sandbox. She graduated from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland in 2008.
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