Sahana H S

Assignment 1

1511276

Guest lecture by Mr. Manoj Kumar - Reflection paper

Philanthropy + Innovation + Entrepreneurship = Social Impact As
rightly said by Mr. Manoj Kumar, the entrepreneurs and innovators with
right resources can create an irreversible social impact.
Currently, there are organizations that are for commercial purpose and
others for non-profit who are funded by VCs and donations by
philanthropist respectively. As commercial organizations are relying on
revenue model for creating shareholder value they are clearly focusing on
profits and dont bother about addressing the needs of Bottom of the
Pyramid people. Similarly, not-for-profit organizations rely on donation
model to create societal value which acts as a constraint as they might
not be able to fund their organizations for long term with charity. So, we
need something in between, not-for-loss organizations which attracts
capital and even with lower returns can be sustainable and grow.
Entrepreneurial needs are no different, but ecosystem is deficit in these
social sectors which discourages entrepreneurs from going ahead with
such ventures. That is when, Social alpha comes for their rescue with
its incubator/accelerator program.
The main idea behind starting the organization Social Alpha was to
create an eco-system where startups that needs help in terms of seed
capital, mentoring, platform to experiment with their ideas could be
nurtured. They believe in promoting social entrepreneurs through venture
philanthropy. They are trying to move the operating model from
conventional Non-Profit to a Non-Loss paradigm. They promote the
social entrepreneurial ideas by evaluating them based on the impact,
financials and scalability. They have already promoted few like Hasiru
Dala, Rang de, Habba, etc. that have been a success. The organization is a
support to the entrepreneurs in all stages starting from idea to growth
stage.
Why do we need social impact creating organization? There are a
lot of innovators whose ideas never get to the market. Innovations that
are funded by philanthropy are not sustainable and dont reach the
market that leads to a lot of social relevant ideas not reaching the people.
And NGOs that believe in betterment of community through charity may
not be able to create a long term solution for the unprivileged people. Mr.
Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank says When we want to help the poor,
we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid
recognizing the problem and finding the solution for it. Charity becomes a
way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty.
This tells that development of people in Bottom of the Pyramid can be

possible only through organisations that can identify issues in various

areas like health care, education, sanitation, etc. and do a sustained
innovation to bring in significant improvements in these areas. Though it
is very easy to say to build such organisations, unless there is an
environment for entrepreneurs there will always be a poor pipeline of
entrepreneurs who would bring in such ideas and be passionate about
taking it to market.
Why I think Social Alpha is doing something out of the way?
Though there are many individuals who would want to start a social
entrepreneurship, they have a lot of inhibition regarding funding and
growth. Social Alpha is helping them with funding and helping them in
being confident about their venture. The association with big names like
Tata Trusts has helped the philanthropist to trust them with their money.
Though, philanthropist would have given money to institutes, NGOs in the
form of charity they would never have known what is the impact created.
Social Alpha is able to help the philanthropist know where their money is
going and what is the impact that is being created. As Social Alpha is
very particular about funding only those organisations that are not loss
making, people can trust that their money is in right hands.
We, as individuals always tend to blame the society, government for lack
of facilities or reforms that will help in raising the standard of living of poor
and remove the asymmetry in the society. But, the learning in the lecture
helped us realise that as an individual we can create an impact by being a
person who could facilitate such an environment. Mr. Manoj, single handed
could create an ecosystem that provides social entrepreneurs access to
mentoring, capital, markets, talent, technology, network and service
providers. Mr Manoj talked about his life journey when he mentioned
about his journey from a small town to his life in the cities. Though he was
in a well-paid job he always felt the urge to do something for the society.
This drove his passion for exploring in social entrepreneurship venture and
started something like Social Alpha. This showed his conviction for the
society and passion for giving back to the society.
As students of one of the best institutions in the country, we should try to
work for such organizations that will not only help get the right talent and
skills, but also help us to learn the nuances of the world we live in. Risk
taking is something that we need to inculcate and try to be a part of
organizations that create impact in the society. Students are under a lot of
pressure of loans that they become so risk averse that they dont even
think of doing something in social entrepreneurship. But, I think, it is very
important for talented pool of premier institutions to make sure they
contribute a part of their life by working in such organizations. Srikanth
Prabhu, the alumni of IIMB can serve as an inspiration for people like us

who left his well-paid job of a bank in London to be a part of Social Alpha
and try his best to do his bit for the society.
This was an inspirational talk that helped us learn that it is not always
about money. It is not about the best career, the best place to live in, the
best car. But, it is more about what you have done in order to make
someones life better. It is not that you shouldnt aim for a good career or
job, but it is about how to make profits and still be able to help solve
fundamental problems of individuals in the Bottom of the Pyramid. In
order to make sure we live in a society that is a better place for us and our
children, it is important we take steps in that direction.