For the longest time, I bought into the “exciting” startup life — colossal valuations, 80–100 hour work weeks with no time for interactions with family or friends, seed rounds, Series A, B, C investments, burnt out founders, no sleep, no time to eat, unnecessary hires, beautiful offices with “incredible team culture”, the same culture that disappears when you’re offered a …
Tessa Cook & Saasha Celestial-One are the founders of OLIO, a free app tackling the problem of food waste by connecting neighbours with each other, and with local shops & cafes so that surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. Based in the UK and founded in 2015, OLIO proves that whilst food sharing with a neighbour via an app …
Over the last decade, the progression of technology has equipped entrepreneurs with inexpensive tools to convert their ideas into successful businesses. Companies have been able to build large, overnight tribes of customers and product champions using very little capital. Although an early-stage company should prioritise bootstrapping as its means of financial sustenance, for some, this is not always a viable …
The Tote Project is based on a friendship, on a shared dream. It is a shared passion for empowerment, for restoration, for freedom. Fay Grant and Michelle Chavez founded The Tote Project because they believe that there is hope for the millions of victims of modern day slavery worldwide, and they want to do their part to support recovering survivors pursuing …
How did the idea for EcoAd come to you? In 2009, I was travelling from my home town, Bhopal to Pune, after my summer vacation. During that time, I was intrigued by the concept of entrepreneurship and the idea of creating something for people. I was travelling by train and I woke up in the morning and looked outside and saw …
Genevieve Boast is the Founder of Beyond Human Stories, its vibe and mission are a direct reflection of her own evolution and journey in life. It exists to remind us all that we have the potential to be every day hero’s. That the stories we believe about ourselves, those around us and the world in general are rarely ‘true’ and …
Andres Hammerman is the co-owner of the award-winning eco-lodge Black Sheep Inn. With extensive eco-building and design experience in composting toilets, adobe structures, natural roofs, woodstoves and chimneys, grey-water systems and rainwater catchments, he built his company to help develop and create a community tourist destination in the rural Andean village of Chugchilan, Ecuador. What was the dream when setting …
Last week we interviewed Wachira Kariuki, Founder and CEO of Classic Foods Limited, a food processing company. It was established in 2007 for buying and selling milk in- bulk quantities from farmers to milk processors. The company was further transformed to a milk processor in 2009 with capital contributions of over $5 Million. We expanded the business to fruit juice processing, …
Maryam Mohiuddin Ahmed is the Director of the Social Innovation Lab, Pakistan’s sole incubator providing mentorship and sustainable business practices for startup ideas related to poverty alleviation and rural development. She currently lives in Lahore and holds a LL.M. degree from University of California, Berkeley. What was the dream when setting up The Social Innovation Lab? The dream was to …
Let’s start off with a little exercise: try to analyse your life for a few minutes and identify the learning opportunities available in your environment. Try to think of the number of people that are or have been acting as mentors, the inspiration you can find in your surroundings and the number of supporters that help you through the steps …