ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO ADDRESS GLOBAL POVERTY
UGBA 195S
3 units
Spring, 2012
Thursdays 1:00pm-4:00pm
Cheit 220, Haas School of Business
Instructor:
GSIs:
John Danner, Senior Fellow
The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship
Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
email: danner@haas.berkeley.edu
Office hours: By appointment
Brittany Hume, MBA 2012
email: brittany_hume@mba.berkeley.edu
cell: (973) 981-9803
Zach Friedman, MBA 2012
email: zach_friedman@mba.berkeley.edu
cell: (773) 318-9872
Course Description
Background: Our world faces enormous challenges on many fronts. Some, like global warming, have
only recently registered on the agenda; while others, like widespread poverty, disease, poor water,
inadequate housing and illiteracy, have persisted for generations. Global poverty, for example,
continues to test the world’s conscience, stress its resources, compromise its future, and - most
importantly - confront billions of children, women and men with the harsh realities of sustaining
their lives every day in unforgiving, even hostile, settings. Roughly five out of every seven people in
the world today exists on $10/day or less, two on less than $2/day; and one on less than $1/day.
Although the percentage of the world’s population living in these conditions has declined somewhat,
the absolute number of the global poor living under $2/day has remained rather constant over the
past generation - a daunting challenge economically, morally and politically. In some places it’s
even worse. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa the number of people living on less than $1.25/day
almost doubled between 1981 and 2005, from 212 million to over 388 million.
The ripple effects of poverty are themselves profound and pervasive. The poor lack safe water,
decent sanitation and adequate food. They are sick more often. They are most vulnerable to the
effects of war, conflict and dislocation. And they die younger. Developing countries have tried
various approaches to address this problem among their own citizens. The developed world has also
pursued an array of strategies – including bilateral and multilateral international aid and loans to
help developing countries build critical infrastructure and increase capacity, private philanthropic
activities such as the Gates Foundation initiatives to improve health, religious outreach programs to
provide educational and other services, and corporate social responsibility efforts, among others.
Yet the problems persist.
More recently, new strategies and models have emerged that question traditional assumptions about
the poor as primarily needy recipients of aid and services. Exemplified by Muhammad Yunus’
pioneering work (for which he won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize) offering small loans to Bangladeshi
women, these initiatives look at the poor as potential customers, suppliers and creators of
profitable, innovative business ventures responding to their needs and wants. These efforts require
new ways of thinking about markets, organizing resources, developing solutions that people can
afford, financing and marketing. That’s entrepreneurship, and its intersection with major global
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challenges like poverty is the central focus of this course, “Entrepreneurship To Address Global
Poverty” (E2AGP).
Course Design: E2AGP is designed as a campus-wide course that takes an interdisciplinary look at
global poverty challenges from an entrepreneur’s perspective of designing sustainable venture
solutions that can turn those challenges into opportunities - rather than that of a policy maker,
advocate, researcher or professional service worker in the field. We will examine whether and how
poverty-related challenges like sanitation, water, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing can
be addressed through private sector entrepreneurial initiatives that complement other, more
traditional efforts such as government programs, private philanthropy and corporate social
responsibility activities.
Following an introductory class session to orient you to the overall course and its objectives and
structure, we will have a couple OVERVIEW classes on these global challenges and the landscape of
entrepreneurship. Then we will move to the heart of the course: two MARKET FOCUS clusters which
will first address water and sanitation, then energy and technology - examining their characteristics,
exploring technologies and other possible solutions, and showcasing examples of how entrepreneurs
are converting those challenges into viable business opportunities. Ideally, these are ventures whose
financial sustainability does not depend permanently on government grants, private philanthropy or
corporate altruism. These sessions will be interspersed with several POSSIBILITIES classes examining
entrepreneurial business models, potential technologies, first-hand accounts of what it takes to
launch a venture in these markets, and a look ahead at the prospects for E2AGP.
This course will highlight some of the most promising poverty-related research, technologies and
insights emerging around the UCBerkeley campus, and involve relevant faculty as expert guides as
the class moves its focus across disciplines. Although our primary geographical focus is on the
developing world, we may periodically discuss examples of American entrepreneurs who tackled
challenges similar to those presented by these global issues. The course can be a type of “academic
passport” across several disciplines on our campus to understand how exciting research and
technology developed here and elsewhere could support new venture creation elsewhere in the
world. Throughout the semester, we will also have the chance to meet entrepreneurs involved in
E2AGP ventures around the globe. Depending on student interest and guest speaker availability, we
may also be able to schedule optional conversations in other settings with additional participants in
the E2AGP marketplace.
Class Framework: Classes will consist of a mix of lectures, guest speaker conversations, in-class
exercises and student discussion of cases. A typical class might open with a brief explanation and
examples of one aspect of entrepreneurial analysis or business thinking, followed by a guest faculty
lecture/presentation on a particular poverty challenge with subsequent student discussion. We will
also examine various case examples of ventures and business models active in this particular domain
around the world, complemented by an opportunity – ideally in person, and if not, via Skype
videochat - to interact with individuals connected with one or more of those efforts. Our schedule
will be interspersed with sessions devoted to in-class exercises and possibly student team
background briefings on selected topics with potential relevance to our E2AGP agenda.
This will be fourth iteration of this course at UCBerkeley. I view it as a continuing work in progress,
and it has been shaped significantly by student ideas both here and at Princeton. I hope you will
volunteer your own as we explore this rapidly emerging field of human endeavor.
“Skills” Smorgasbord: During the semester, I hope to provide you an opportunity to see several new
technologies and resources in action in this E2AGP context, as well as a chance to try your hand at a
few “21st century tools” that can enhance your effectiveness as a prospective startup entrepreneur.
For example, one of our guests might focus on the role of design thinking, or we may look at a few
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“beyond PowerPoint” tools as well, like Prezi, gapminder, social network mapping or MAYA Design’s
new citizen software, Rhiza Labs, or other interesting techniques such as PechaKucha. These will
not make you experts, but should improve your familiarity with a broader keyboard of resources and
techniques to understand and explain. And if any of you have ideas and/or fluency with these types
of things, let us know – you may do a cameo teacher turn yourself.
Instructor(s)
John Danner, the lead instructor, He is Senior Fellow of The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at
UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where he usually teaches the core MBA course on
entrepreneurship, as well as other graduate courses on business model innovation and strategies for
startups. He is the Faculty Advisor to the Global Social Venture Competition, and launched this
campuswide undergraduate course on entrepreneurship and global poverty. This semester, he is
launching a graduate course on digital entrepreneurship at UC’s I School. Each fall, he teaches at
Princeton University as a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship. He began his entrepreneurial career
as an undergraduate at Harvard, and has since been involved in startups of various types as
entrepreneur, advisor and investor. In addition, he has worked as a management consultant, lawyer
or senior executive in the private, nonprofit and public sectors in fields from education and
healthcare to telecommunications and energy. A frequent speaker on innovation and
entrepreneurship at conferences and seminars around the world, he is also senior moderator with
the Aspen Institute’s executive and global leadership programs. For those of you are fans of TED,
he’s also the guy who came up with the idea for TED University; and gave a mini-TED talk at last
summer’s TEDGlobal event. He received his JD, MPH and MAEd degrees from UC Berkeley.
GSI Background
Brittany Hume is an MBA candidate in the class of 2012 at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. At
Haas, Brittany leads the student team that runs the Global Social Venture Competition, a
collaborative effort among 14 business schools around the world that provides aspiring social
entrepreneurs with training, mentorship, feedback, and connections to the venture capital and
impact investment communities. Most recently, Brittany worked at the Draper Richards Kaplan
Foundation, a venture philanthropy firm that makes highly engaged investments in scalable social
enterprises. She began her career at McKinsey & Company, where she provided strategic and
analytical support to Fortune 100 companies across a variety of industries as well as organizations in
the social sector, including foundations, multilaterals, and large nonprofits. After McKinsey, Brittany
managed Johnson & Johnson's HIV/AIDS contributions portfolio, working with NGO and communitybased partners to create and refine programs that supported J&J’s strategic giving priorities.
Brittany received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of
Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Zach Friedman is a second year MBA student at Berkeley-Haas focusing on entrepreneurship and
international development. While at Haas, Zach was the co-president for the International
Development & Enterprise Club, which focuses on harnessing business acumen to address
international development issues, and worked part-time for Kenyan mobile startup Kopo Kopo. Zach
began his career at Deloitte Consulting, where he worked in the telecommunications, consumer
packaged goods and healthcare industries, and after Deloitte, Zach launched a youth
entrepreneurship training program for Kenyan nonprofit Hope Runs. Zach later started and continues
to manage Tomorrow’s Leaders, which provides wide-scale entrepreneurship training in partnership
with the Kenyan government. This past summer Zach worked for Endeavor Global, a US nonprofit
that supports high-impact entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Zach has experience working in
Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Kenya and Tanzania. He graduated summa cum laude in Economics from
Washington University in St. Louis.
Customer Expectations
If you enroll in this course, you should expect to achieve the following objectives:
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Develop a basic working familiarity with global poverty and how it manifests itself in a
variety of domains and locations around the world
Gain a fundamental understanding of what entrepreneurship is and some of the tools and
frameworks entrepreneurs use in creating ventures
Discover, and gain an appreciation for, a broad variety of existing and proposed
entrepreneurial ventures and related business models in E2AGP markets
Understand how E2AGP ventures compare with other approaches to them, such as foreign
aid, philanthropy or corporate social responsibility initiatives
Learn about technologies and other research insights from across the UCBerkeley campus and
elsewhere that might be the foundation for promising new ventures addressing global
poverty, and be able to assess their potential
Get to know some of the individuals and organizations active in this arena
Experience some of the analytical, strategic and other challenges entrepreneurs face in
designing new ventures in these market settings
Learn what it takes to critique and develop a new venture concept, and assemble a credible
and convincing presentation of your analysis in a collaborative team environment
Instructor Expectations
I will assume you come to every class (unless excused in advance by Brittany or Zach) prepared to
discuss the day’s readings, engage in class dialogue about the topics du jour and hand in all
assignments on time. We will review our policy on laptops in class but be forewarned, I am not
favorably disposed to them in a discussion-centric course like this and never allow them when we
have guest speakers. Sometimes a laptop will be useful to take in-class electronic surveys, but
otherwise it should remain in your bag. If you have particular questions about assignments, readings
or other course matters, I assume you will take the initiative and contact Brittany, Zach or me.
I expect to have several interesting guest speakers/entrepreneurs in our class from many different
fields. If some of them are willing to stay after class, I would be happy to invite a few interested
students to join us for a more casual conversation. We’ll do that on a first-come, first-served basis
with priority given to students who haven’t attended one of these prior sessions.
I am a firm believer in the power of many minds collaboratively tackling an important and complex
issue. Our topic this semester certainly deserves the best we can each bring to this course.
Accordingly, I will expect students to take an active role in expanding our collective awareness of
useful resources and E2AGP ventures that will strengthen this course for future colleagues. For
example, I may ask several of you to prepare an informal summary of an interesting campus
program in this area, or help set up a class video conversation with a E2AGP entrepreneur in South
America or Africa. I don’t expect this will take more than 2-3 hours from you during the semester,
but want you to understand the spirit with which I approach things.
Prerequisites & Enrollment
There are no prerequisites for this course other than a curiosity about its focus and a willingness to
engage actively in class discussions and assignments. Students from across the campus are welcome.
Space is limited, but if there is a waiting list of interested students, we will try to find a way to
accommodate them.
If you are enrolled or interested in taking this class and have not already done so, please email me
and cc Brittany or Zach the following by midnight Sunday, January 22: a 1-page synopsis of your
background, including a brief explanation of why you are interested in this topic; and if you have
had any direct experience either in entrepreneurship or dealing with these E2AGP-related issues,
please also attach a 1-paragraph summary of that as well. Nothing fancy required, but please
include “UGBA195S” in the subject line of your email so it doesn’t end up in our spam file.
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Note: Students interested in exploring global poverty or specific related topics like micro-finance in
greater depth should look at IAS115/CP115 (Global Poverty: Challenges and Hopes in the New
Millennium) by Professor Ananya Roy or MBA 294.6 (Introduction to Microfinance) by Sean Foote, as
well as other course offerings of The Blum Center for Developing Economies, The Haas Center for
Responsible Business and other centers on campus, e.g., Center for Entrepreneurship in
International Health and Development in the School of Public Health; The Center for Information
Technology Research in the Interest of Society — CITRIS; or The Center for Global Metropolitan
Studies. And stay tuned for opportunities to involve yourself with the Global Social Venture
Competition this spring: www.gsvc.org. Information will be available later in the semester. This is a
great opportunity to learn more about the contestant teams, get to know social-minded MBA
students, meet social entrepreneurs from around the world and possibly network at an invite-only
dinner for the conference, so keep it in mind.
Readings
I treat each week’s readings as context for our class, and do not intend to discuss each reading per
se. Similarly, the questions listed for each week are suggestions of things for you to think about
while doing the readings, but we will not necessarily consider them explicitly in class. In short, I’ll
assume you’ve read all required selections and are prepared to reflect on what’s in them. The first
four selections will be the focus of a written multiple choice/essay-type test during our class on
2/2.
 Out Of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail, Paul Polak, BK Currents, 2008
[hereafter referred to as OOP]; see http://paulpolak.com/for more about Polak’s work.
Read the Preface, Introduction and Chapters 1-3 [73 pages]
 “The Fortune At The Bottom of the Pyramid,” by C.K. Prahalad and Stuart Hart, Strategy +
Business, 2002 [hereafter referred to as FBOP] http://www.strategybusiness.com/article/11518?gko=9a4ba [14 pgs]
 Portfolios Of The Poor, Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, and Orlanda
Ruthven, Princeton University Press, 2009 [hereafter referred to as POTP] [245 pgs]
 Emerging Markets, Emerging Models, Monitor Institute, 2009 [hereafter referred to as EMEM]:
http://www.mim.monitor.com/downloads/emergingmarkets_full.pdf [134 pgs]
Excerpts will be drawn from a few other core sources:
 The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It,
Paul Collier, Oxford University Press, 2007 [hereafter referred to as TBB]
 Business Solutions For the Global Poor: Creating Social and Economic Value, by V. Kasturi
Rangan, John A. Quelch, Gustavo Herrero and Brooke Barton, Jossey-Bass, 2007 [hereafter
referred to as BSGP]
 The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid,
International Finance Corporation and World Resources Institute, 2007 [hereafter referred to
as TN4B]: http://pdf.wri.org/n4b_fulltext_hi.pdf
 Innovative Approaches to Reducing Global Poverty, edited by James A. F. Stoner and Charles
Wankel, Information Age Publishing, 2007 [hereafter referred to as IARGP]
 How To Change The World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, by David
Bornstein, Oxford University Press, 2004 [hereafter referred to as H2CTW]
 New Value Creation: Entrepreneurship For The 21st Century, by Jeffrey A. Timmons and
Stephen Spinelli, McGraw-Hill, 2011 [hereafter referred to as NVC]
 Note: The readings listed next to each class in this draft syllabus are illustrative; watch for
emails and/or check BSpace for the latest week-by-week syllabus snapshot for the topics,
assignment deadlines and all required and optional readings for the upcoming 2 weeks. For
planning purposes, the course has a targeted average required reading load of roughly 75
pages per week. Also, if you notice any posted links are out-of-date, please see if you can
find a better one and let our GSIs know so we can share the fruits of your diligence with all.
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Guest Lecturers/Entrepreneurs
Over the course of the semester, we will have the opportunity to hear from other Berkeley faculty
working across various disciplines in areas relevant to our course, as well as entrepreneurs and
others active in global poverty markets. We will confirm our lineup and related topics as the
semester unfolds, as far in advance of each class as our guests’ schedules allow.
Brilliant ideas/technology surprises/etc.
If the past is prologue, we can expect our share of in-class technological glitches as we hook up with
various resources and speakers around the world. So be prepared and ready to pitch in if you are a
techie (or at least more of one than Brittany or Zach and most definitely me). Better yet, if you
have specific ideas on how we can creatively tap into the wonders of the web and/or other
technologies, don’t be shy about sharing them with either of us . . . we are SO techno-savvy.
Grading
Grading will be based on a mix of individual and collaborative assignments, as follows:
 15% Class Participation. We learn by listening, reading, thinking, doing AND speaking.
This is not a class for just taking notes. You wouldn’t be a student at UC Berkeley if you
didn’t have a questioning mind and pretty good ideas of your own. Your classmates and I
expect to benefit from both during our semester together, as will our guest speakers. I
love cold calling, too. I assume 100% attendance - out of sight is not out of mind.
 10% Semester’s Journal. We’ll be covering a lot of ground – both geographically and
intellectually – this semester. To keep track of that journey, please buy a Moleskine or
comparable journal (easily available at nearby stores in your choice of sizes: 3.5 x 5.5
inches or 5 x 8.25 inches; covers: black or red or feel free to design your own; and
formats: blank, lined or grid) in which to record your questions about the issues we are
considering, your ideas and/or reflections about those issues (sketches and draft
drawings welcome, if appropriate), and any specific resources (websites, people,
speeches, articles, books, etc.) you discover that are worth sharing with this and future
classes. Think of this journal not as a diary or place for class/reading notes, but rather
like a scientist’s lab notebook or artist’s sketch book for you to capture your observations
and speculations outside of class. As venture ideas come to mind along the way, please
give each some space in your journal so you can refine and develop them a bit. You’ll
hand in your journals for review and comment three times during the term, twice by us
and once by a classmate.
o First review (by John, Zach, and Brittany): Due 2/23, Returned 3/1
o Second review (by peers): Due 4/5, Returned 4/12
o Final submission: 4/26 (final class)
 15% Required readings tests. Many of our discussions will be heavily informed by, though
perhaps may not always directly reference, the required readings. It is important that
you read the “required readings” each week to stay up to speed. With this in mind,
there will be one 90-minute test and three short quizzes covering the required readings:
o Week 3 (2/2): Test covering the first four selected readings
o Week 6 (2/23): Quiz covering week 1-6 readings
o Week 10 (3/22): Quiz covering week 7-10 readings
o Week 13 (4/19): Quiz covering week 11-13 readings
 20% Country Focus Research portfolio. This will give you both an opportunity and
challenge to understand how E2AGP applies to a specific country and its circumstances.
Each enrolled student will be randomly assigned one of the group of countries whose
population comprises the world’s “next 4 billion”; each of you will also act as a
consultant/adviser/2nd opinion to another student working on another continent. Over
the course of the semester, you will be a kind of scout on behalf of our class – learning
about your new country, understanding its particular poverty challenges and
opportunities, and getting to know the types of E2AGP ventures and individual
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entrepreneurs who are active there. There are three deliverables as part of this
assignment:
o 5% - Summary of country’s most significant E2AGP-related challenges (template
will be provided) and list of 5 experts, in-country resources and/or E2AGP
ventures that you could interview for more information. Include 3 specific
questions you want to ask your in-country sources. During our 2/9 class you will
meet with class colleagues responsible for other countries on your continent to
compare notes on what you’ve learned so far, and share trans-border resources
that have proved helpful. DUE 2/16
o 5% - Interview summaries (1 page each) with 2 of your in-country experts [see
above], additional details TBA. DUE 2/23
o 10% - Based on your research, design a venture that you think could make a
positive impact in your specific country. Develop a 90-second pitch for your
venture that addresses the market need, opportunity, solution your venture would
deliver, and business model (how does it make money?). You will deliver this
pitch in class to a panel of angel investors (your classmates), who will vote to
determine which ventures are most promising. DUE 3/15
20% Team* 4- to 5-minute YouTube video presentation summarizing a E2AGP venture
idea of your own and why it’s a good idea. Team size will depend on final class
enrollment; all presentations will be peer-ranked as well as instructor-graded.
Remember: entrepreneurship is a team sport. DUE BY MIDNIGHT SUNDAY, 4/15
(submitted online) ; CLASS FEEDBACK & RANKINGS DUE BY MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY,
4/18
20% Team* venture launch strategy paper (10-12pages max) and presentation pitch
focused on a specific E2AGP venture idea of your own (topic to be approved by Brittany,
Zach or me). This will be a team assignment, with team sizes dependent on our final
class size. The team presentations will take place on 5/3, with the plan itself DUE WEEK
OF 5/7-5/11 (SPECIFICS TBD)
Optional: [If you would like to substitute for your lowest reading test grade, you have
another option. We will then count the higher of your grades on that test or this
assignment.] Written evaluation of the E2AGP venture contestants in the Global Social
Venture Competition hosted at Haas on Friday, April 20. Turn in a 1-paragraph/venture
synopsis for at least 4 pitches, plus a 1-page description of the reasoning behind your
forced ranking of the contestants; results may be shared with the GSVC contestants for
their feedback. DUE 4/23.
* Since two of the bigger assignments are team-based efforts, you will have the opportunity to
evaluate the fairness with which each of your team members carried his/her share of the work.
Following each team assignment, you will be asked to indicate your assessment of your team’s
collaboration as follows: an “=” for each member who did his/her fair share of the work (we assume
this will be the norm), a “+” for anyone who did truly exceptional work on behalf of your team, and
- conversely – a “-“ to anyone who did not carry their load. Thus, it is possible that a team
member’s grade might be a half grade above or below that of his/her fellow team members.
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CLASS SCHEDULE
Note: This schedule is a work in progress. Our class sequence and agendas are
subject to change based on availability of guest lecturers and entrepreneurs.
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Week 1
ORIENTATION: ENTREPRENEURSHIP & GLOBAL POVERTY
1.19.12
After a brief description of our course this semester, we will turn first to global poverty.
Poverty is not new, nor are concerns about alleviating it. Over the past century, societies have
tried various ways to address the problem – from religious missionary work, bilateral and
multilateral foreign development aid, charitable giving, corporate social responsibility
initiatives and a myriad of government programs to help the poor in their own countries. The
UN Millennium Goals, set in 2000, express a global goal of reducing by half the proportion of
people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) Yet
the problem and its human consequences persist for roughly three billion people worldwide.
More recently, a growing cadre of entrepreneurs have begun to look at the challenge
differently, viewing the poor as potential customers (cash-challenged, but customers
nonetheless) as well as producers of goods and services that can be offered profitably by those
willing to adapt their ventures to the unique risks and rewards of this poverty “market.”
Topics:
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Course introduction: objectives, design, class format & deliverables
Entrepreneurship: What is it? How does it differ from other efforts directed at global
challenges (philanthropy, public programs, corporate social responsibility initiatives, etc.)?
Why consider entrepreneurship to address global challenges?
Bottom-of-pyramid (BOP) opportunities: from "Village of 100" to "Market of 100" thinking capitalism as a surface phenomenon: creating wealth and value for <20% of the potential
world market
Models and examples of entrepreneurship: need vs. opportunity entrepreneurship in
different settings, with examples
A ventures framework for discussion: grassroots vs linked (remittances 2.0/ecotourism) vs
transplants (Grameen Phone/etc.) vs tools (MIT's $100 laptop/Bono's wire Ethiopia/etc.) vs
backscratchers (carbon swaps/environmental offsets) vs bootstraps (US tax-deductible
student loan pool for Indians) vs CSR initiatives (fair trade/sustainability/etc.) - a broad
keyboard of possibilities
Who are entrepreneurs: what makes them different?
Projects vs. ventures: what are the differences?
Class introductions: personal “elevator pitch”
Required Readings [NOTE: check latest syllabus on BSpace for final list for this week]:
 Global Challenges For Humanity, The Millennium Project, World Federation of UN
Associations: http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/challeng.html
 UN Millennium Development Goals: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
 TN4B, Executive Summary/Data Guide, pgs 1-11 [11 pgs]
 BSGP, Foreword, pgs xv-xvi; Introduction, pgs 1-11 [13 pgs]
Other Resources:
 Grand Challenges in Global Health: http://www.grandchallenges.org/Pages/BrowseByGoal.aspx
 Grand Challenges for Engineering: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx
 Rice University Smalley Institute Grand Challenges and ranking:
http://nano.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=246
 Solutions for the World's Biggest Problems: Costs and Benefits, edited by Bjørn Lomborg, Copenhagen
Business School, 2007
 High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years To Solve Them, by J.F. Rischard, Basic Books, 2002
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Week 2
OVERVIEW: ENTREPRENEURIAL BUSINESS MODELS
1.26.12
A business model expresses the fundamental logic of a venture. Who sells what to whom? Why
and how do they buy from you? What will make them buy more from you in the future? How
will you make money? Answers to these questions contain the strategic building blocks of any
business. A key skill of many entrepreneurs is the ability to not only identify new business
models in markets, but also to make them agile enough to survive in changing circumstances –
especially in unforgiving settings. The global challenge market, almost by definition, requires
new thinking about business models. This week, we will consider an array of existing and
emerging E2AGP models, with parallels from developed economies as well. And we’ll learn
about one promising model underway in Mexico City.
Topics:
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What are the key elements of a business model?
How can entrepreneurs make their business models compellingly distinctive yet resilient?
Picking the entry: remote solutions ($ transfer from US, Indian village scholarship bootstraps,
etc. to in-country grassroots ventures)
What's the value to focus on creating: $, time, skills, attitudes, other?
Treating the poor like customers: What do they need? What do they want? What can they
afford? What will they buy? How do they decide? - the TV vs new cart dilemma
"Long Tail" opportunities and the importance of creative segmentation
Do you have to make a profit to be an entrepreneur?
Can you scale small-scale enterprises?
Why do some people call social entrepreneurship “extreme entrepreneurship”?
Required Readings [NOTE: check latest syllabus on BSpace for final list for this week]:



Schwab Foundation’s 3 organizational models:
http://www.schwabfound.org/sf/SocialEntrepreneurs/Profiles/Abouttheorganizationalmodels/index.h
tm [1 pg]
“Profitable Business Models and Market Creation In The Context of Deep Poverty,” Christian Seelos
and Johanna Mair, IESE Occasional Paper OP no 07/6: http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/OP-07-06E.pdf [12 pgs]
Case studies [35-40 pages total]:
o Amul: http://www.amul.com/story.html [2 pgs est];
http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/23spec.htm [2 pgs]
o E-Choupal: http://www.itcportal.com/ruraldevp_philosophy/echoupal.htm; case:
http://www.nextbillion.net/lib/assets/documents/eChoupal_Case_Study.pdf [31 pgs]
o Hindustan Unilever Limited: http://www.hul.co.in/;
http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/chris.trimble/osi/downloads/20011_h
industan_lever.pdf (pgs 2-4)
Other Resources [see additional suggestions in the companion section at he end of this syllabus]:
 Alex Osterwalder Business Model Canvas:
http://www.businessmodelalchemist.com/2006/11/business-model-template-designing-your.html
 Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work For The Poor, Report by the Commission on the
Private Sector and Development, UN Development Programme, 2004, Chapter 4-5 (pgs 29-42) [13 pgs]
 BSGP, Chapters 1, 2 & 24, pgs 15-39, 271-278 [31 pgs]
 “Decoding the Next Billion Consumers,” Boston Consulting Group:
https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/consumer_products_retail_decoding_next_billion
_consumers/ [3 pgs]
 IARGP, Chapter 1: Social Venture Business Strategies for Reducing Poverty, Lisa Easterly and Paul
Miesing, pgs 3-25. [22 pgs]
 Skoll Foundation’s ”Six Trends in Social Entrepreneurship”:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/05/skoll-foundation-six-trends-in-social-entrepreneurship/ [2 pgs]
 Kopernik: http://www.thekopernik.org/; background story: http://bigthink.com/ideas/20067
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
9
Week 3
OVERVIEW: GLOBAL POVERTY – ITS LANDSCAPE, DEMOGRAPHICS AND ECONOMICS
2.2.12
NOTE: The first half of class will be an exam on the OOP, FBOP, POTP and Monitor Institute readings.
Poverty looks different around the world. Its geography ranges from remote rural villages in
inaccessible mountains and nomadic desert enclaves to shantytown slums in the world’s
megacities on virtually every continent. Its demography cuts across traditional racial, ethnic
and religious boundaries. Its face is most often female and/or very young. One of the most
important tools of any entrepreneur is that of market segmentation, the ability to
disaggregate large markets into discrete groups of customers who behave and buy
differently. This is a big reason why entrepreneurs can often discover a new way to define,
reach and sell to customer “segments” ignored by others. So how can we begin to define and
understand this global poverty marketplace? How big is its potential relative to today’s
market economy? This class will consider the “Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid” (BOP)
argument, put forth by C.K. Prahalad. How are entrepreneurs rethinking our traditional
assumptions in tapping this market, estimated in TN4B at $5 Trillion? Is global poverty
entrepreneurship an oxymoron? How is it that people who have little money, can't buy much,
can't always pay on time and can't be easily reached can represent a potentially large and
attractive market for entrepreneurs? In this regard, we will discuss a vital task in
entrepreneurship: opportunity recognition.
Topics:










What do we mean by "global poverty"? Absolute (ex: $2/day) vs relative (ex: Gini coefficient
disparity) definitions; global vs local contextual definitions
Who's poor?
Where are they? From high altitude to close-in views of the global poor
Becoming a 50% urbanized planet: what are the implications?
Why are the poor poor?
What are the ripple effects of poverty?
Is the problem of global poverty getting better or worse?
What do we mean by “solving” poverty? More $ vs fairer distribution vs skill empowerment vs
quality of life improvement vs other?
Why should we care?
Is there a “fortune at the base of the pyramid”?
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):
 “Globalization, Inequality, and Poverty: An Overview,” by Pranab Bardhan, University of
California at Berkeley, May 2005:
http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/webfac/bardhan/papers/BardhanGlobalOverview.pdf [35
pgs]
 “The Mirage of Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid: How the Private Sector Can Help
Alleviate Poverty” by Aneel Karnani, California Management Review, Summer 2007:
http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/Mirage.BOP.CMR.pdf [23 pgs]
 TN4B, Chapter 1: Introduction and Market Overview, pgs. 1-33. [33 pgs]

“Village of 100”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIUCTbi_XZs [3:15 min]
Other Resources:
 “Poverty as Capability Deprivation,” pgs 87-110, Chapter 4, in Development as Freedom by Amartya
Sen, Oxford University Press, 1999. [23 pgs]
 Income and Poverty 2005, World Resources Institute EarthTrends:
http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/data_tables/ecn3_2005.pdf [6 pgs]
 David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Others So Poor (New
York: W.W. Norton, 1998), chapters 1 & 2, pgs 1-28. [28 pgs]
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
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Week 4
2.9.12
INTRODUCTION TO WATER AND SANITATION
This week we begin to look in more detail at the first of two major challenges we’ll examine
that may be susceptible to innovative entrepreneurship. We’ll start with one of life’s
necessities: water.
According to the UN Human Development Report 2006: “...almost 2 million children die each
year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of women and young
girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities
and their choices. And water-borne infectious diseases are holding back poverty reduction
and economic growth in some of the world’s poorest countries . . . Beyond the household,
competition for water as a productive resource is intensifying. Symptoms of that competition
include the collapse of water-based ecological systems, declining river flows and large-scale
groundwater depletion. Conflicts over water are intensifying within countries, with the rural
poor losing out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing, though there
are large potential human development gains from increased cooperation ... 1.2 billion
people [lack] access to safe water . . . ” http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/
Water is an excellent example of the importance of systems thinking, about which we will
learn more this semester. FYI: TN4B estimates the bottom-of-pyramid water market at $158B
worldwide. In 25 years, two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed
countries.
Topics:







What are the primary challenges related to water that people living in poverty may face?
o Lack of clean drinking water
o Lack of water to irrigate crops
o Lack of access to sanitation facilities
o Other?
How are these challenges interrelated?
What are the "ripple effects" of these challenges? E.g., health, time, women’s opportunities?
Which of these water challenges might lend themselves to entrepreneurial solutions?
What models of entrepreneurship are there in this domain? What success are they having?
Where do you start? E.g., with interventions that target individuals? Households? Entire
communities? What are the pros and cons of each of these approaches?
How do these challenges—and their solutions—differ in urban poor vs. rural poor settings?
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):
 TN4B, Chapter Four, pgs 53-59
 UN Water, Statistics: Graphs and Maps: http://www.unwater.org/statistics.html
 UNDP: “Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis,” pgs 1-21.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2006_Overview.pdf
 Millennium Development Goals 2011 Update, Pages 53-56:
http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2011/1131339%20(E)%20MDG%20Report%202011_Book%20LR.pdf
 Case studies:
o Aqua-Aero Water Systems: http://www.aaws.nl/
o Kickstart: www.Kickstart.org
o WaterHealth International: http://www.waterhealth.com/
Other Resources:
 World Business Council for Sustainable Development, “Water Facts and Trends,” 2009 version.
Download here:
http://wbcsd.org/Pages/EDocument/EDocumentDetails.aspx?ID=137&NoSearchContextKey=true
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
11
Week 5
2.16.12
DRINKING WATER
Globally, 884M people still lack access to safe drinking water. As a result of this, the global
death toll from diarrhea is greater than that of HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Each year,
1.8 million children die from diarrhea—all of which could have been prevented.
Despite this health crisis, the water challenge continues. Why? In addition to the complex
and interrelated nature of water systems that we began outlining last week, there are issues
around land tenure rights (Whose land is that body of water on? Do others have the right to
access and use it?), human rights, corruption, and failed international aid efforts that breed
community skepticism and donor fatigue.
This week, we will continue our investigation into water by examining several ventures that
have had recent success. As you examine them, think about their market (where are they
working? Who are their customers?), their scope (what slice of the water system are they
addressing?), what makes them successful, and what challenges they likely encounter.
Assignments Due:
 Summary of country’s most significant E2AGP-related challenges and list of 5 experts, in-country
resources and/or E2AGP ventures that you could interview for more information. Include 3 specific
questions you want to ask your in-country sources.
Guest Speakers:
 Carlos Orellana and Javier Okhuysen, SalaUno.
o Website: http://salauno.mx/ (Use Google Translator to read the page in English)
o If you speak Spanish, check out their Press page: http://salauno.mx/prensa.php
o Facebook page (like them!): https://www.facebook.com/salaunosalud
 Additional materials may be emailed out prior to the class
Topics:



What are the various approaches being taken to “solve” the water crisis?
How do these differ in market approach? Customer segments? What are their relative strengths and
challenges?
Is access to clean water a fundamental human right or a luxury? If it is a fundamental human right, is
it wrong to charge consumers for water? In other words, are for-profit water ventures the best way to
scale up distribution—or completely unjust?
Required Readings and Videos:
 Make sure you’ve read the water readings assigned to the prior class session
 Water for People – winner of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship
o Video: http://vimeo.com/24844769
o Website: http://www.waterforpeople.org/
 NextDrop – 1st Place Winner, 2011 Global Social Venture Competition
o Pitch at the GSVC 2011 Global Finals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzGstdn6_KY&feature=BFa&list=PLA51EEF6A8A1C138B&lf=
plpp_video
 Wello Water – 2011 Unreasonable Institute Fellow
o Video: http://vimeo.com/27724804
o Website: www.wellowater.org
 DayOne Response – 2011 Unreasonable Institute Fellow
o Video: http://vimeo.com/27422984
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
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Week 6
2.23.12
SANITATION
Consider this: while 884M people lack access to safe drinking water, 2.6 billion
people, or 40% of the world’s population, lack access to proper sanitation. The
result is not just a public health catastrophe but also a crisis of human dignity.
In addition to the systems challenges intrinsic to water, sanitation challenges are
further limited by something far more straightforward: the simple unappealing
nature of the topic. Sanitation is a topic that few people (who have other, more
appealing options) seem to want to work on day in and day out, and few
organizations’ board members are excited to hear about, cut checks to, and promote
publicly. Slowly, that is starting to change, but in the interim it remains the world’s
top public health problem.
This week we will turn our attention specifically to this aspect of the global water
challenge. We will be assisted by two guest speakers related to sanitation, today
and on March 8.
Assignments Due:
 Short 3-minute reading quiz at the beginning of class, covering readings for classes 4-6
 Interview summaries (1 page each) with 2 of your in-country experts
 Journal (1st turn-in)
Guest Speakers:
 Kara Nelson, Associate Professor, Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley
Topics:
 Is the sanitation challenge one of supply or demand?
 Behavior change is often the riskiest and most difficult part of any new project, product, or
business. How have sanitation solutions been hindered—or helped—by factors related to
behavior change?
Required Readings and Videos
 “World Toilet Crisis,” Vanguard by Current TV. Beware: this is a VERY blunt report.
http://current.com/shows/vanguard/92482205_worlds-toilet-crisis.htm
 “Missing: Proper Toilets for 2.6 Billion,” His Royal Highness, The Prince of Orange, Chair of
the United Nations Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation.
http://www.sanitationdrive2015.org/missing-for-billions.html
 “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge,” The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
o Video:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/videos/Pages/default.aspx#video=/watersanitation
hygiene/Pages/reinventing-the-toilet.aspx&pager=0&filter=&autostart=true
o Overview of the initiative:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/watersanitationhygiene/Documents/wsh-reinventthe-toilet-challenge.pdf
 Sanergy pitch at the GSVC 2011 Global Finals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzkQNSrMMjc&list=PLA51EEF6A8A1C138B&index=2&featu
re=plpp_video
 Ecotact video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F83-1HdUAu8
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
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Week 7
3.1.12
DESIGN THINKING FOR WATER CHALLENGES
John will be out this week, so we will use the opportunity to speak with another
entrepreneur, Brian Busch, for the first hour of class in our normal classroom, then
travel as a group to the Design Lab on campus to hone our design thinking skills.
Assignments Due:
 N/A – Journals will be handed back
Guest Speakers:
 Brian Busch, Haas MBA 2012
Topics:
 Testing a technology and developing a business plan for a water purification technology in
India
 Design thinking
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):
 Review our discussion from Class 2 about the Business Model Canvas by
o Watching this 2-minute video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QoAOzMTLP5s#!
o And exploring the website here: www.businessmodelgeneration.com
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
14
Week 8
3.8.12
IRRIGATION
This week we will end our water unit by coming full circle, returning to the topic of
irrigation from weeks 1 and 2 (remember treadle pumps?). We will close the session
with a Skype discussion with Jack Sim, the founder of the World Toilet Organization.
Assignments Due:
 N/A
Guest Speakers:
 Jack Sim, Founder, World Toilet Organization. www.worldtoilet.org
 http://www.focusforwardfilms.com/films/5/meet-mr-toilet
Topics:
 What are the primary needs of the global poor related to irrigation?
 How, if at all, does irrigation overlap with the other aspects of the water space, like drinking
water and sanitation?
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):
 The rest of Out of Poverty (Chapter 4 to end)
 driptech: http://www.driptech.com/
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
15
Week 9
3.15.12
CLASS PITCHES + BRANDING
This week we will wrap up our individual country projects with a rapid-fire set of
pitches from each of you to the class. You will be voting to determine the winners.
We will also be joined by three esteemed guests: Paul Polak, author of Out of
Poverty, and Michael Cronan and Karen Hibma, graphic designers.
Assignments Due:
 Based on your research, design a venture that you think could make a positive impact in your
specific country. Develop a 90-second pitch for your venture that addresses the market
need, opportunity, solution your venture would deliver, and business model (how does it
make money?). You will deliver this pitch in class to a panel of angel investors (your
classmates), who will vote to determine which ventures are most promising.
Guest Speakers:
 Paul Polak: http://www.paulpolak.com/
 Michael Cronan: http://cronan.com/michael.html
 Karin Hibma: http://cronan.com/karin.html
Topics:
 How do you deliver an effective pitch for a business idea?
 How do you brand a venture to effectively communicate its value and mission to customers?
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):
 Tentatively none—some readings may be emailed out that week.
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
16
Week 10
Readings for this coming Thursday (3/22):
Here are the readings for next week. We'll be joined by David Green the second half of class. As you read these
articles, the key issue to think about is how to control and eliminate costs.
Explore Aurolab:
http://www.aurolab.com/
Making Sight Affordable (Part I):
http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/policy_library/data/MakingSightAffordable1/_res/id=sa_File1/INNOV
0103_p25-41_ibrahim-et-al.pdf
Better Vision for the Poor:
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/better_vision_for_the_poor
Reading Quiz for this coming week:
The reading quiz scheduled for this coming week is being postponed until after the break.
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
17
Week 11
4.5.12
The Business Plan: Essential or Obsolete?
The business plan has long been a staple document of the startup experience. But
what is a business plan? Why do you need one? What are the necessary components?
Today we will look at a couple business plan examples and discuss their approaches.
We will also consider how this relates to the final team assignment in class. The
readings include several good resources for developing and writing your own plans
when the time comes.
Assignments Due:
 Reading Quiz (class 7-10)
 Journals due (quick in class swap)
Topics:
 What is a business plan?
 What are the components of a good business plan?
 When are business plans valuable?
 What are the problems with business plans?
 Does anyone actually read your business plan?
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):





Note: You may need to create a free account at REDF to access some of the readings
“An Enterprising Failure: Why a promising social franchise collapsed”:
http://www.redf.org/system/files/Case+Study+-+An+Enterprise+Failure_0.pdf [5 pgs]
Seahorse Power Business Plan (with annotated comments by its founder):
http://images.businessweek.com/story/07/popup/1203_seahorse_buisnessplan.pdf [19 pgs]
“Creating A Social Enterprise Business Plan” presentation (JUMA sample using REDF format):
http://www.redf.org/system/files/REDF+-+Create+a+Business+Plan.pdf [18 pgs]
“A Business Planning Guide to Developing A Social Enterprise” (an excellent all-around
resource), pgs 38-59: http://www.sel.org.uk/uploads/New_BusPlanGuide.pdf [21 pgs]
Resources
 Sample GSVC Business Plan and Executive Summary Format:
http://www.gsvc.org/the_competition/resources/business_plan_format_example/;
http://www.gsvc.org/the_competition/resources/executive_summary_format_example/ [2
pgs]
 REDF Guide to Business Plans:
http://www.redf.org/system/files/REDF_Business_Planning_Guide.pdf [45 pgs]
 “How to write a great business plan,” HBR, William A. Sahlman
 Stanford’s sample ILumina Mexico Business Plan: http://ses1.stanford.edu/reports/mexico.pdf [41 pgs + appendices]
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
18
Week 12
4.12.12
Putting The Recipe Together: The Cookstove Example
So how can an aspiring social entrepreneur put all the pieces together for a
successful, scalable and profitable venture to address poor customers: customercentric design, solid and affordable product, culturally acceptability, efficient and
reliable supply chain, patient financial support, effective marketing strategy, strong
team, positive “multiplier effect” in customers’ lives, etc., etc.? This week, we’ll
look at a few examples in the cookstoves marketplace, an especially important
setting that affects maternal and child health, women’s safety, household
productivity, global warming and nutrition.
Topics:
 Why are improved cookstoves so important to addressing global poverty?
 What are the various elements of the cookstove business?
 What are the leading contenders in the emerging cookstoves marketplace?
 What factors are most significant for success in this market?
 Why haven’t these newer designs reached scale yet if they’re so much better than
traditional alternatives?
Guests:
 Prakti Design founder Mouhsine Serrar
 Daniel Wilson, PhD candidate, UCBerkeley
Required Readings (Note: check latest syllabus on bSpace for final list for this week):
 “A rough guide to clean cookstoves,” DIFFER Group report (2012): downloadable at
http://www.differgroup.com/analysis/p/A-rough-guide-to-cleancookstoves?ctl=Details&did=2&mid=6116 [7 pgs]
 Prakti Design Intro video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv-nuwbyUBU
 Familiarize yourself with Prakti Design: http://www.praktidesign.com/
 Familiarize yourself with The Darfur Stove Project: http://cookstoves.lbl.gov/;
http://darfurstoves.org/
 Igniting Change: A Strategy for Universal Adoption Of Clean Cookstoves and Fuels, Global
Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (Nov 2011), pgs 4-20: downloadable at
http://cleancookstoves.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/11/UNF_IgnitingChangeReport_4.2MB.pdf [16 pgs]
 Household Cookstoves, Environment, Health, and Climate Change, The World Bank, ch 4,
“Potential Game Changers: New Approaches and Opportunities,” pgs 17-30:
http://cleancookstoves.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Household-Cookstoves.pdf [13
pgs]
 “Cookstove dissemination in Haiti: Improving collaboration and information-sharing,” Ashok,
J, Gadgil and Kayje Booker (2010), pgs 5-7:
http://cookstoves.lbl.gov/haiti/2010HEDONCookstoveReport.pdf [3 pgs]
 Carbon Finance: A Guide for Sustainable Energy Enterprises and NGOs, David Disch, Kavita
Rai and Shachi Maheshwari, Ashden Awards and GVEP Foundation (Dec 2010), pgs 4-10:
downloadable at
http://www.gvepinternational.org/sites/default/files/carbon_finance_guide.pdf [6 pgs]
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
19
Week 13
4.19.12
Financial Inclusion & Technology
As with physical products, the business models developed to provide financial services
in developed countries are often not viable in emerging markets. Yet financial
services such as savings, credit, payments and SME financing are crucial to the lives of
the poor and the development of successful economies. How can financial services
business models be structured to extend these much-needed services to the base of
the pyramid?
Assignments Due:
 None
Guest Speakers:
 Dylan Higgins
 Ben Lyon
Topics:
 What is financial inclusion?
 What are the financial services that facilitate our lives?
 What services exist in developing countries? Which ones exist or don’t exist?
 How did microfinance break this problem?
 How can we redesign business models for other areas of financial inclusion?
 What is mobile money?
 How has mobile money changed the commercial landscape?
 What is the role of larger companies?
 How does technology affect the cost structure of a business?
 What opportunities are created from technological disruption?
Required Readings:
 Kopo Kopo Website: www.kopokopo.com
 McKinsey Global Financial Inclusion [“From millions to billions” pages 6-15]:
http://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/EconomicDevelopment/GFI_v13_complete.pdf
 Visa entering Rwanda: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/12/06/visa-in-rwanda-atesting-ground/#axzz1frkvDf4O
 Crop Insurance in Africa: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=makingdevelopment-less-risky-extended
 How Tech is helping the recovery in Haiti:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/152/out-of-the-rubble-into-the-lab.html
 Cash in Cash out [Executive Summary 15-19; MPesa’s Market Segment 33-37; The Value to
Users 61-69]: http://www.microfinanceopportunities.org/docs/cash_in_cash_out_kenya.pdf
1/19/12 Syllabus
UGBA 195S: Entrepreneurship To Address Global Poverty
20
Week 14
4.26.12
One model that’s stood the test of time and scale
We’ve considered various business models throughout this course, from pure
nonprofits to for-profits and hybrids in between. This week, we’ll take a look at the
co-op model, specifically the $17+B Mondragon enterprise in Spain. While not
focused on BOP challenges per se, its approach might suggest a way to achieve social
results beyond traditional bottom-line fixation. In fact, it’s been the inspiration for
economic development strategies in other distressed areas of the world, including
Cleveland. As such, it’s a solid model to add to your repertoire of social
entrepreneurship models.
Assignments Due:
 Journals to turn in
 Reading Quiz (11-14)
Topics:






What are the key features of the co-op business model?
Why and how has Mondragon been able to accomplish what it has while other co-ops have
not been as successful?
Is the Mondragon model the answer to scalable social entrepreneurship that achieves
financial sustainability, scale and social impact?
What are the weaknesses in this model?
Review of your questions from the beginning of the semester
Lessons learned/insights gained/questions remaining after this semester’s exploration of
social ventures to address global poverty
Required Readings:
 “The Mondragon Experiment,” by Greg MacLeod, Harvard International Review:
http://hir.harvard.edu/the-mondragon-experiment [2 pgs]
 “Social Entrepreneurship in the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation and the Challenges of
Successful Replication,” by Christina A. Clamp and Innocentus Alhamis, Journal of
Entrepreneurship Sep 10: http://joe.sagepub.com/content/19/2/149 [28 pgs; click on “Full
Text” button on the right]
 “The Case For Worker Co-ops,” by Nancy Folbre, NYTimes, Nov 23, 2009:
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/the-case-for-worker-co-ops/ [1 pg]
 “All in this together: How is the co-operative model coping with the recession?” Economist,
Mar 26, 2009: http://www.economist.com/node/13381546 [1 pg]
 “Assessing Mondragon: Stability & Managed Change in the Face of Globalization,” by Saioa
Arando, et al., William Davidson Institute, UMichigan, Conclusions, pgs 37-41:
http://wdi.umich.edu/files/publications/workingpapers/wp1003.pdf [5 pgs]
 “The Cleveland Model,” by Gar Alperovitz, et al., The Nation, Feb 11, 2010:
http://www.thenation.com/article/cleveland-model [2 pgs]
Optional GSVC Assignment:
[If you would like to substitute for your lowest reading test grade, you have another option. We
will then count the higher of your grades on that test or this assignment.] Written evaluation of
the final contestants in the Global Social Venture Competition hosted at Haas on Friday, April 20.
Turn in a 1-paragraph per venture synopsis for at least 4 pitches, plus a 1-page description of
the reasoning behind your forced ranking of the contestants; results may be shared with the
GSVC contestants for their feedback. DUE 5/3 (note this is extended since the videos will not be
available until potentially this Friday).
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Our syllabus will be refined based on students’ questions and issues of particular interest. We
expect to devote Weeks 10-13 to Affordability & Access issues, including microfinance and “last
mile” challenges/technologies.
Check bSpace for the latest syllabus.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Other Policies/Mechanics
Name Tents/Seating/Absences/Etc.
Please create a personal name tent and bring it to each class (feel free to be as creative as you’d
like, as long as I can read your first name from the front of the class). We’ll use assigned seating
around week 2 in order to get to know your names faster and make it easier for Brittany or Zach to
track attendance. Speaking of which, I expect you to notify Brittany or Zach in advance (using their
absence form at http://bit.ly/wsN7OK) if you cannot make a class due to illness or family
emergency, and get confirmation that you are excused. Your absence will always be regretted; but
if not excused, it will also be noted.
Cellphones
If yours rings in class, I answer it. And vice versa.
Assignment Logistics
Please submit all written assignments in 2 forms: via the “Assignments” section on bSpace, and a
printed version (if possible, copied on both sides) to yours truly, with your autograph to confirm
that your work complies with UC’s Academic Integrity standards. Make sure your papers are proofed
thoroughly and cite your sources appropriately. All papers: Helvetica/Ariel/comparable 11-point
font, space-and-a-half spacing, 1” margins all around. Page limits [and the 5:00 minute YouTube
limit] are not just guidelines; they’ll be strictly enforced. The deadlines, unless otherwise noted,
are beginning of class on the designated day.
Extra Credit Opportunities
If you have one in mind, please discuss it with Brittany or Zach first. No guarantees, but I’m open to
the possibility based on their recommendation. Possibilities:
 Attend an on-campus event related to a topic discussed in class and participate in some way:
ask a question of the panelists, network with other attendees before or after, get a business
card and follow-up with an email, etc. In whatever space you want to work, it is important
to be involved in the community of like-minded folks. Going to events is a great way to
network and may even lead to a job (feel free to ask Brittany, Zach and/or me about our
experiences). Topical events happen almost everyday around campus. Good resources to find
an event are:
 Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative (BERC) calendar:
http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/berc.html
 Blum Center for Developing Economies calendar:
http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/blum.html
 CITRIS calendar: http://www.citris-uc.org/events/upcoming
 Campus-wide calendar: http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php
Please email a GSI before attending (or before doing the write-up) to confirm the event is
appropriate. To receive credit, turn in a 1-page brief of the event: tell us your impression of
the crowd, the caliber of speaker(s), detail your participation, and any other observations.
Your lowest quiz score will be replaced if you demonstrate your effort to engage and
thoughtful reflection in your write-up.
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“Make Up” Options
I have conflicts with a few class sessions this semester. In some cases, Brittany and/or Zach will
assume responsibility for those days. In others - depending on scheduling and room availability
logistics - we may simply reschedule those with advance notice. Or, if that is not a viable
alternative, I will designate a limited number of backup options to make sure we have our allotted
f2f time together. For example, I will schedule a few time slots during which you can sign up for
either 1:1 or small group office hours. Stay tuned, but don’t worry – we’ll get our full measure of
time somehow or another . . .
Class Reps and Feedback
By week 2, I’d like 1-2 of you to volunteer as informal class reps for the semester. Your job: listen
to your classmates’ reactions and ideas as the course unfolds, meet with Brittany, Zach and me at
least once around week 6-7 to share their/your unvarnished (anonymous) feedback about how the
course is going and suggestions for improving our collective journey this semester, and help
coordinate final course evaluations. Your reward: eternal gratitude from your classmates PLUS an
all-expense-paid lunch at the Faculty Club with the three of us. Thanks in advance to whomever of
you volunteer; and the rest of you should feel free to contact him/her/them with any confidential
feedback you’d like them to share with us; although you should feel free to also communicate with
us directly if you’d like. We have pretty thick skins and are eager, given the urgency and magnitude
of what we’re discussing, to make this course one of the best on campus.
Peer-to-Peer Feedback, Fairness and Accountability
In addition to my grading and feedback from our GSIs, you will both give and receive three flavors of
peer-to-peer assessment that will be shared as well with Brittany, Zach and me. The first will be
your client’s assessment of your helpfulness as his/her consultant for the Country Focus Research
portfolio effort; and vice versa as a client yourself. The second will be your classmates’ forced
ranking, comments and suggestions on your team’s YouTube video. Third will be your own
teammates’ assessment of whether you played a notably exceptional role on your teams (YouTube
and final project), carried your weight fairly vis-à-vis the rest of your team or simply failed to do
your share of the work. The first two will not affect your formal grade, but the last one can on
either the upside and downside extremes. So you can expect a fair amount of commentary on your
work throughout the course.
Writing Resources
While this class will not have a heavy writing load, I expect you to be able to present your ideas
clearly and professionally. This means checking your work for tpyos, common grammaticle errs
which can undercut you’re credability (subject/verb and noun/pronoun agreement, its vs it’s, their
vs there, affect vs effect, e.g. vs i.e., et al., etc.). The basic message: alywas profraoed yuor wrok.
If you need help with your writing skills, please let Brittany or Zach know soon and they can suggest
resources on campus to support you.
Honor Code
All written assignments, exams, tests, and quizzes will be conducted under the Student Code of
Conduct. Cite your sources; be proud of your own ideas. Enough said.
Late Assignments/Extensions
The best advice here is don’t. Talk to Brittany or Zach about it if you must.
F2F Meetings With Me
I’m happy to meet with you individually or in teams. If I don’t get back to you promptly on your
emails, don’t take it personally; just be persistent. We’ll figure out a time and place to get
together.
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Questions?
If you don’t ask, we can’t tell. Just speak with Brittany, Zach or me if you have any other questions
about the course along the way.
We’re looking forward to a great class! Thanks for making it so.
John Danner
Senior Fellow
The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship
F457
Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley
danner@haas.berkeley.edu
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OTHER RESOURCES
(crowdsourced portfolio to be expanded by students and faculty as semester unfolds)
Week 2-OVERVIEW: ENTREPRENEURIAL BUSINESS MODELS


David Bornstein How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, ch. 1,
pgs 1-10:
http://books.google.com/books?id=aprgAZP5hz8C&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=bIS_0cjx3t&sig=Ag0cCI511vSRKEL
u5RYmUaJYdM&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fq%3Dbornstein%2Bhow%2Bto%2Bchange%2Bthe%2
Bworld%26start%3D0%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26client%3Dfirefox-a%25#v=onepage&q&f=false [10
pgs]
NVC, Chapter 1: “The Entrepreneurial Mind: Crafting A Personal Entrepreneurial Strategy,” by
Timmons & Spinelli. [23 pgs]
Week 3-OVERVIEW: GLOBAL POVERTY – ITS LANDSCAPE, DEMOGRAPHICS AND ECONOMICS




The White Man’s Burden, William Easterly: Chapter 1. pgs 3-33 [30 pgs]
The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs, Chapters 1 and 3. [44 pgs]
“The Five Mysteries of Capital,” Chapter 1, pgs 1-14 in Hernando DeSoto, The Mystery of Capital,
Basic Books, 2000. [14 pgs]
Kofi Annan’s Facts: http://www.countdown.org/end_articles/fam_kofi_annans_astonishing_facts.htm
[1 pg]
UNIVERSITY RESOURCES:





Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE):
http://www.caseatduke.org/knowledge/
Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell’s BOP Learning Lab:
http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/sge/boplab.html
Harvard’s Social Enterprise Initiative: http://www.hbs.edu/socialenterprise/resources/
NYU’s Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Program in Social Entrepreneurship:
http://www.nyu.edu/reynolds/resources/
Stanford Social Innovation Review: http://www.ssireview.org/
BOOKS











Emerging Markets, Emerging Models:
http://www.monitor.com/Expertise/BusinessIssues/EconomicDevelopmentandSecurity/tabid/69/L/en
-US/Default.aspx
Enterprising Nonprofits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs by J. Gregory Dees, Jed Emerson, and
Peter Economy
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein
Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs by J. Gregory Dees, Jed Emerson, and Peter Economy
Social Entrepreneurship: The Art of Mission-Based Venture Development by Peter C. Brinckerhoff
The Bottom Billion: http://bottombillion.com/
The End of Poverty: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/pages/endofpoverty/index
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid:
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1020
The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson. (Anderson’s blog: http://www.thelongtail.com/)
The Power of Unreasonable People:
http://www.sustainability.com/aboutsustainability/article_previous.asp?id=1316
White Man's Burden: http://www.amazon.com/White-Mans-Burden-Efforts-Little/dp/1594200378
BOOKS - by Social Entrepreneurs





Banker to the Poor: http://www.bankertothepoor.com/bankertothepoor/
Creating a World Without Poverty: http://www.muhammadyunus.org/Publications/creating-a-worldwithout-poverty/
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/
Three Cups of Tea: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
The Blue Sweater: http://www.thebluesweater.com/
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PUBLICATIONS






Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab Network: http://www.bopnetwork.org/front_page
Good magazine: http://www.good.is/
NextBillion.net--Development Through Enterprise (World Resources Institute Development Through
Enterprise): http://www.nextbillion.net/research
Social Entrepreneurship Abstracts: http://ssrn.com/update/erpn/erpn_social-entrepreneurship.html
Stanford Social Innovation Review: http://www.ssireview.org/
World Microfinance Forum: http://www.microfinanceforum.org/en/p66000178.html
COMPENDIA/READING LISTS







Ashoka compendium of social entrepreneurship resources: http://usa.ashoka.org/resources
Draper Richards Foundation list of resources: http://www.draperrichards.org/resources/social.html
Skoll Foundation’s Social Edge compendium of resources: http://www.socialedge.org/resources/edgewiki/SocialEntrepreneurship
Social Enterprise (Social Entrepreneurship) compendium of resources:
http://managementhelp.org/soc_entr/soc_entr.htm
“Social Entrepreneurship: Resources for 'Patient' Capital,” April 3, 2009, BusinessWeek:
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/mar2009/sb20090330_647056.htm?chan=top+news_
sr+--+sb+social+entrepreneurs+2009_special+report%3A+social+entrepreneurs+2009
Sundance: www.sundance.org/pdf/2008-07-01-resource-guide-social-entrepreneurship.pdf
Unitus recommended reading list on poverty: http://www.squidoo.com/unitus#module2525188
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS



















Acumen Fund
Ashoka
Business In Development Network: http://www.bidnetwork.org/
Echoing Green
Fair Trade Certified
FLOW
Good Capital
IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development
(ICTD2007): http://research.microsoft.com/workshops/ictd2007/
International Network of Social Entrepreneurs
New Profit
Nonprofit Finance Fund
RSF Social Finance
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Skoll Foundation
Social Edge
Social Enterprise Alliance
Social Venture Network
University of Michigan Base of Pyramid Conference: http://www.bop2007.org/
World Resources Institute Development Through Enterprise: http://www.nextbillion.net/
OTHERS


“The New Heroes” hosted by Robert Redford, PBS miniseries on social entrepreneurship, available on
DVD. Visit the site for stories and slide shows about social entrepreneurs around the world.
Tweeps (recommended by http://socialentrepreneurshipwork.blogspot.com/)
 Social Entrepreneurship: @socialedge @skollfoundation @poptech @civicventures @echoinggreen
@ashokatweets @changemakers @AshokaGenV @acumenfund @nextbillion @UnLtd @UnLtdWorld
@SchSocEnt @socialcitizen @casefoundation @thinkchangeind @socialearth @BeUnreasonable
@socialentrprnr @ideablob
 Social Entrepreneurs: @socialedge (the source of these next 99 suggestions) @skollfoundation
@poptech @civicventures @echoinggreen @ashokatweets @changemakers @AshokaGenV
@acumenfund @nextbillion @UnLtd @UnLtdWorld @SchSocEnt @socialcitizen @casefoundation
@thinkchangeind @socialearth @BeUnreasonable @socialentrprnr @ideablob
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 Others in the field: @global_x @tomjd @jnovogratz @rodneyschwartz @jongos @slboval @Montero
@judechia @Kevindoylejones @AmiDar @emeka_okafor @trielly @tomwatson @dnbornstein
@davepeery @peterdeitz @EncoreTerry @mdangear @stevecase @zyOzyfounder
 Philanthropy-related gurus: @Philanthropy @OnPhilanthropy @p2173 @tactphil @Philanthropy411
@philosopher20 @pndblog @fdncenter @gatesfoundation @Grameen_Fdn @idealist @worldchanging
@sustainablog @davos @takepart @e180 @startingbloc @atlascorp @dosomething @globalgiving
 “NP/VC/Tech/social media for social good geeks”: @kanter @bbravo @afine @mashable @webb
@jessicashortall @hildygottlieb @TechSoup @appafrica @afrigadget @socap09 @SVNetwork
@newprofit @SVTgroup @nesta_uk @socialgood @Ventureneer @socialbusiness @socialactions
@netsquared
 Name - Erik Hersman
Twitter - @whiteafrican
Why You Should Follow - Founder of Ushahidi, blogger at AfriGadget and WhiteAfrican, all around
smart guy and great tracker of the African technology and innovation
 Name - Guy Kawasaki
Twitter - @guykawasaki
Why You Should Follow - Founder of Alltop, social media evangelist and best selling author on
entrepreneurship, tweets regularly with practical advice for traditional and social entrepreneurs
 Name - Vanessa Mason
Twitter - @vanessamason
Why You Should Follow - Blogger and tracker about all things global health, international
development, and creative solutions to poverty and inequality
 Name - Marc Dangear
Twitter - @mdangear
Why You Should Follow - Founder of Entrepreneur Commons and general advisor to social
entrepreneurs
 Name - Joe Solomon
Twitter - @engagejoe
Why You Should Follow - Social media consultant working with Social Actions, Joe's Twitter stream
is a hub for all online social innovation
 Name - VCTips
Twitter - @vctips
Why You Should Follow - An aggregator of great tips for those entrepreneurs who are pitching or
looking to pitch to venture firms and angel investors
 Name - Jon Gosier / Appfrica
Twitter - @appfrica
Why You Should Follow - Jon's Appfrica project does a phenomenal job keeping track of social
technology innovations with ramifications for the developing world
 Name - Social Entrepreneurship at Change.org / Nathaniel Whittemore
Twitter - @socialentrprnr
Why You Should Follow - Our official Socialentrepreneurship.change.org Twitter account - get
updated about new posts and interesting projects
Organizations Active in Social Entrepreneurship:

DAI: http://www.dai.com/work/
Investor$/Funder$:


Draper Richards
Skoll Foundation
Media Coverage – print, tv/radio, blogs:


http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/
Heroes from a Small Planet: PBS Frontline series on social entrepreneurs:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/socialentrepreneurs.html
Inspirations (profiles of social entrepreneurship pioneers):


Barefoot University
Bill Draper
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

Muhammed Yunus
TED Talks
Tools for Entrepreneurs

“Writing the Social Venture Business Plan,” Jeffrey Robinson, NYU:
http://svpri.org/files/Writing%20the%20Social%20Venture%20Business%20Plan.pdf
Conferences






Opportunity Collaboration
Skoll World Forum
Schwab Social _______
Socap:
IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development
(ICTD2007): http://research.microsoft.com/workshops/ictd2007/
University of Michigan Base of Pyramid Conference: http://www.bop2007.org/
Competitions/Fellowships:







Global Social Venture Competition: www.gsvc.org
Changemakers
UTexas
UWashington
Hull
Dell
Etc.
Technologies:

From MIT Developmental Entrepreneurship course:
 Design That Matters: http://www.designthatmatters.org
 HalfBakery: http://www.halfbakery.com/
 Sristi Innovation Database/Honeybee: http://202.71.129.184/nifindia/innovation_database.asp
 Technology Transfer Database: http://www.sristi.org/cms/en/ict_initiative
 ThinkCycle: http://www.thinkcycle.org
 GIAN: http://www.gian.org
 http://journeytoforever.org/at_link.html
 Innovation Foundation: http://www.nifindia.org/
Odds and Ends:

Peter Drucker, virtually anything he wrote
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