What if Money were no objective?
Have you ever asked yourself that question? What would you do if...?
Aside from setting up my own impact investing fund, I am fairly confident I would continue to do what I do now: Guide purpose-driven entrepreneurs on their journey of launching, managing and growing socially responsible businesses. That's what I'm in this world to do. It challenges me, and it gives me the best possible reason to jump out of bed in the morning. Why would I do anything else?
I have worked with 100+ social entrepreneurs and 20+ certified B Corps from around the world; I spent over a year researching best practices and common challenges in social enterprise support through my self-funded study trip through Western Europe, the US and Australia. Read all about it on Social Venturers.
The space of social innovation, social entrepreneurship and startup acceleration evolves daily. To provide the best possible services to my clients means staying on top of international research and best practices (see Insights). Continuous education and training are a central cornerstone of my business. At least once every three months, you will find me offline for a week to attend conferences, run strategy sessions and study up on the latest trends in human-centered design, startup acceleration, design thinking for social change, Lean Startup etc. I seek to be a social enterprise expert both in terms of depth (subject matter expertise) and width (international perspective).
Aside from setting up my own impact investing fund, I am fairly confident I would continue to do what I do now: Guide purpose-driven entrepreneurs on their journey of launching, managing and growing socially responsible businesses. That's what I'm in this world to do. It challenges me, and it gives me the best possible reason to jump out of bed in the morning. Why would I do anything else?
I have worked with 100+ social entrepreneurs and 20+ certified B Corps from around the world; I spent over a year researching best practices and common challenges in social enterprise support through my self-funded study trip through Western Europe, the US and Australia. Read all about it on Social Venturers.
The space of social innovation, social entrepreneurship and startup acceleration evolves daily. To provide the best possible services to my clients means staying on top of international research and best practices (see Insights). Continuous education and training are a central cornerstone of my business. At least once every three months, you will find me offline for a week to attend conferences, run strategy sessions and study up on the latest trends in human-centered design, startup acceleration, design thinking for social change, Lean Startup etc. I seek to be a social enterprise expert both in terms of depth (subject matter expertise) and width (international perspective).
Who I love working with, and who not.
I work with founders who are driven by a desire to make a difference, not just on their income statement but for the communities they live in. Anyone who wants to work with me should be aware that they are still the ones doing the work. The success of our collaboration depends on their commitment to their success. Following my proven method of the Lean Startup for Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurs is an adventurous but safe route to success, if applied as intended.
I can tell within the first fifteen minutes of a meeting whether a founder and I make a good match. Here are some characteristics of entrepreneurs that I know I just don't vibe with:
I can tell within the first fifteen minutes of a meeting whether a founder and I make a good match. Here are some characteristics of entrepreneurs that I know I just don't vibe with:
- Creating the next app filter, dog bar, online shoe store. If your motivation to start a company is profit without giving back to the community in a meaningful way, I think you are better off working with a conventional business coach.
- Heropreneurs who are launching a business to be admired, wealthy and boost their ego. The founders I work with put themselves in the service of their target audience, they seek to understand their customers' pain points and aspirations to build a product or service that has the potential the truly solve a real problem. They listen, they ask for feedback, they develop solutions with their target market, instead of for them. Heropreneurs are quite the entertaining subject, learn more about them at Tackling Heropreneurship!
- Founders who don't care about financial sustainability. Very few of the founders I have worked with to date are non-profits. Being a financially sustainable non-profit is hard work and I believe that many of today's challenges can be solved through entrepreneurial approaches. That includes making a living and being able to pay your bills.
- Founders who never want to go full-time with their business. I hate to break it to you but starting and running a company is A.LOT.OF.WORK. It's nothing you do on the side if you are serious about creating meaningful social and/or environmental change. Again, if this is a hobby or side project for you, that's great. I just don't think that you can put in the hours to bring it to fruition while trying to hold down a full-time job.
- Founders who expect all support should be free of charge, since they're saving the world and all... I get it. Money is tight for any startup venture, especially if you are catering to underserved communities. And for those who absolutely can't afford my services, please dive into my Insights where a lot of my knowledge is accessible free of charge. I try to make merit-based scholarships available where I can. My general rule is: If I can't pay my bills, I'll go out of business (and set a bad example) and can't provide any services at all to anyone. Everyone loses. Please, follow my example. Make sure your jug is always full so you can pour into everyone else's.
- Founders who lack manners. I am constantly surprised that some entrepreneurs seem to have lost common courtesy somewhere along the way of starting a company. It's simple: Show up for meetings, say thank you, follow up. Yup, it's THAT simple.