April Pinata: Random News and Notes

Early April Musings from the Optimist World:

More from the realm of MBA Business Plan competitions: Wake Forest's Babcock School expanded the field of its 2008 Elevator Competition to include Social Entrepreneurship after the 2007 contest featured about 30% social entrepreneur contestants. This year the field was slanted even more- 14 socially-motivated entrants and 12 strictly for-profit. Ever curious in how anyone defines "social entrepreneurship" (because my definition is at least inclusive of for-profits!) I'm wondering whether the new category was by strictly for non-profit; the WSJ suggests that criteria was entrants whose goals were "non-financial." Anyone know more about the WFU competition last weekend?

Its 2008 and Smart Cars are coming (in fact, I've already seen several on the road out here in Southern Cal and even know of a friend of a friend of a friend who rumoredly has one). Here's the Smart USA site that helps you find a dealership and even make a reservation for your own "Smart fortwo" for only $99.

March roundup of recent fundings for cellulosic ethanol biofuel start-ups from Red Herring - including $100M for Range Biofuels of Broomfield, CO.

In the ever-confusing realm of alternative transport, GoodCleanTech reports that a diesel BMW 5 Series outperformed in MPG a Prius during a 545 mile European test. Status symbol status aside, I love the Prius and was inspired to see a co-worker driving one as a rental yesterday; but is this an eye opener or just part of the backlash?

SANGONeT- a development portal for NGO's in South Africa - offers a manifesto on Social Entrepreneurs and leading change. An interesting read, if abstract. The author differentiates between "First Order Change," or "Shuffling the Deck Chairs on the Titanic" and "Second Order." But the gist is that First Order Change is changing the content of an existing system, while Second Order Changes (and real Social Entrepreneurs) transform the way people live- changing the system entirely. The point is well taken, although I don't see it so black and white; I've been convinced by enough modern change agents that there is room for (and a market for) incremental change and that even sinking Titanics can be kept afloat by what this author would call First Order Change. Then again, I'm sure the task of spurring development in South Africa tends to put one into a more dire frame of mind.

Check out this unique franchising opportunity with Enigin; the site is glossy and slick and of course doesn't cut right to the chase of what the EnergyMaps business opportunity actually is, but it appears to be a B2B energy-saving system.

Here's The Mount Airy News' preview of an apparently smash hit local TV show, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska. Aside from the topic - and to hear the hostess' quotes, she's apparently quite passionate about showing residents creative ways to live well while being "Frugal" AND increasingly conscious consumers and environmental stewards - I think this highlights a fascinating business opportunity to produce intelligent and timely media content in a local market. I don't know what else Urbanska's production company does, but she appears to have carved out a loyal audience.

Finally, an nothing particularly Optimist about this, other than that it's always fun to revisit past prognostication: Treehugger's Wayback Machine on 1968 predictions for 2008

More March Links: ThePoint.com

And a real start-up getting some serious funding: The Point raises $4M from New Enterprise Associates. We will be watching the Chicago start-up quickly to see if they Make Something Happen.

Here's another nice emerging company- this one from a 24 year old entrepreneur from the same high school as yours truly; Beth Doane, 24, of Whitehouse, Ohio, is having some success, according to the Toledo Blade, with Andira International, her eco-friendly accessories company. Beth is launching Rain Tees, her clothing line, at the Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Show during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles.

Nice Treehugger piece on reviving the "Rust Belt." The suggestions are appropo enough: concentrate economic activity downtown, and set up high speed transit between Chicago and Toronto (through Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, etc). For the former, I obviously love it - who wouldn't? - but easier said than done. In Detroit, Quicken co-founder Dan Gilbert is placing part of his company downtown and trying to get other companies to commit to doing the same. As for the transit idea, all the better to unify all the talent bases that still exist in the region; drive times between each of the big cities are only 2-6 hours each, so why not bridge the gap even more with some high-speed rail networks?

I have a more radical proposal, especially for the Detroit/Toledo corridor, but I'll pocket it for now.

Here's a nice press release from Transcend Equity Development out of Dallas; the capital firm is pioneering a financing method for commercial real estate energy improvements. They take over the utilities payments from the developer/owner, and then Transcend makes any improvements it can to the building and pockets the energy saved. Everyone wins! We love it and can't wait to see more..

Nice story from Econpreneurist on financing a green business. Notice some of the ideas are possible because you're socially beneficial (like partnering with non-profits), while others are

The differences between Jackpot Rewards and any other shopping rewards/prize sweepstakes program is that this one sets aside a percentage of profits to kids charities AND that this one is backed by Peter Lynch.

The Onion reminds you that you've got to start small.

A good article from MSNBC on the still-"gray" parameters of green remodeling. I continue to think, and not just because I'm becoming an HGTV and DIY junkie, that the green remodeling market will be HUGE and that at some point there will be some standards and definitions in place- but that's not really the point! The point is to do what you can do when it comes to improving your current living situation; even if you rent, you can at least change the light bulbs!

Nice store not far from my neighborhood that resells appliances in support of Habitat for Humanity. The website is simple and effectively communicates how "everybody wins."

Check out GreenOptions, a network for green-themed blogs.

Thursday Links

Links early on a Thursday...

Wall Street Journal breaks the hope and promise of a New Year with the report of a Harvard study and its stimulating conclusion that businesses "doing good works" or pursuing "societal benefit" are only weakly correlated to reap shareholder benefit. (Save yourself the click- that's basically all it says.) The discouraging suggestion is that cash contributions to charities are a better indicator of a company's financial success than community projects, for example...or responsible corporate policies! Expect nothing less from Harvard and WSJ then the stunning philosophy of "Make your money first, and then give it away."

Admittedly my first reaction to news of Salesforce.com CEO Mark Benioff's book was skeptical; after all, I figured it was easy enough for a celebrity chief exec to cajole all of his/her buddies into writing an essay and throw them together and have them published. On second glance I decided I'd give this one a try, not for my dayjob allegiance to Benioff's web-based software, but for the diversity and star-studdedness of his essayist lineup.

This week's TreeHugger Carnival of the Green is a best-of-the-best of the green web by EBikeBlog.org, leading off with a link to a GreenLivingOnline.com story about "Pedelecs" on college campuses. I've never been a big fan of "motorized bikes" and any time I see one here in moderately temperate Southern Cal, I can't help thinking, "Why don't you just pedal yourself?" Of course the few times I have pedaled the 8 miles to work, I'm covered in sweat by the time I arrive; maybe that's an argument.

Double the wheels, but only multiply the cost of your average bike x 10, and you get the world's first $2,500 car, by Tata of India. It's actually closer to $3k at the moment- and I am fine that we continue to refer to Optimist innovations by their target price, whether it's achievable yet or not. Admittedly the "$100 Laptop" has a lot more cache than the "Buy Two $100 Laptops for $400" that the production economies currently allow...

Great local story from the Indianpolis Star about some Indiana farmers who began using roduce from there all-natural farms to create food products back in 2002 and have since grown Local Folks Foods 20x into a nice-sized (we don't know how nice) specialty foods company.

Another quick local story, this one from the Bismarck Tribune, about 2008 Marketplace Entrepreneurs of the Year winner SolarBee, a North Dakota company whose floating, solar-powered water circulator improves water quality in lakes, reservoirs, and water storage facilities. Another great story about local entrepreneurship with universal applicability- and yet another great (and, not that I could have thought it up, relatively simple-sounding) product marketed toward better water quality.

And finally, on Monday I was absolutely enlightened to absorb this perspective on why my all-time favorite lunch- the All-American Classic Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich (I am very particular about mine and make with Jif Reduced Fat Crunchy Peanut Butter and Smuckers Strawberry Preservers, both marketed by the JM Smuckers Company of Orrville Ohio, on whoe wheat bread with some tortillas inserted for added crunch)- is also far better for the environment than your average lunch! Check out the PB&J Campaign.

New Year's, 2008: Links and Resolutions

Welcome to 2008. New Year's Resolution: Post more than our recent rolling average of about four times monthly.

To get us started, some links from the web of Good Business:

BusinessWeek prognosticates 2008, with the lead prediction being a green backlash. Although I wouldn't forecast a "crisis," I do think this is the year that the green movement moves beyond the early adopters into the mainstream, savvy consumers (and unsavvy ones) begin to look under the hood a little more beyond just trusting a loud GREEN label, and posers/imposters are exposed, ignored, or called out on it. Which will be a good thing, because when we collectively move beyond the "Any green press is good" to a higher quality of green consciousness, that's progress.

(PS: Always one step ahead of BW, we forecasted a green backlash in October!)

Quick story from Digital Media Wire on FreeRice.com and "philanthropic casual games." My thought: There's only room for a few such gimmicks in the public appetite, so let's hope the few that can muster an audience are good ones (this one is cute.)

Must-read Inc. article on Entrepreneur of the Year Elon Musk, who not only helped build (and cashed in on) PayPal, but now has THREE irons in the fire: Tesla Motors (high-end electric cars), SolarCity (looking to bring solar installation and service to the masses) and Space X, where he appears to spend most of his time, and whose mission is nothing short of spreading life to Mars. My favorite part of the Elon Musk story is his recognition of the idea of blowing conventional "alternative vehicle" pricing out of the water and creating a must have, $100k electric sports car that any sports car enthusiast may want...not just the tree-hugging variety.

PartnerUp lists 2007 Web/Technology Mergers and Acquisitions. Aside from the directly Good Business acquisitions- TreeHugger's $10M pickup by Discovery is testament to the passion of some real Green enthusiasts and the marketed they created for their distinctive content- the list is inspirational in that what's good for business must also be good for Good Business. In other words, hot M&A activity, plus increased investment in Clean Tech, is a good omen.

Cal Poly- Orfala College of Business Professor Chris Carr, upon returning from an annual b-school trip to China, on the "intellectual laziness" of students returning from the bursting-at-the-seams nation only to marvel at how big, messy and environmentally-unfriendly it is- without offering a business solution. Great take, especially his example of un-MBA Jill Buck and her Go Green Initiative. Carr may be ranting a bit when he drops the "All We Do Is Bitch" mentality, but in his arena of inspiring students to come up with entrepreneurial solutions, he's right onw.

Santa Clarita, CA Council Candidate Maria Gutzeit gives her Green SCV (Santa Clarita Valley) Wishlist for 2008. Interesting perspective from a local political candidate telling her local government to put their money where their mouths are. I especially like her stumping for including solar power as an option in new homes, an incremental cost that, if included in a 30 year mortgage, can be as low as the electricity savings are high.

Morganton, NC News Herald's Julie Chang on town entrepreneurs Bryan and Stephanie Cates, who launched (as of yesterday) Simply Green, a subscription curbside recycling pickup. I clearly don't understand the economics of enticing residents to pay $4 monthly to pick up recyclables, so let's hope they've done some solid analysis of charging for the service (and likely getting fewer "customers") vs. picking up for free and just cashing in on the materials (if there is such a thing in NC.) Nonetheless, if $4 monthly is the cost of good conscience for Morganton residents, that's a promising sign.

I always love the annual report on how many new magazines launched in the last year. 636, Folio reports, for 2007. Good Magazine is my favorite, if not for it's compelling content than for it's stimulating business model (the $20 subscription goes to the sponsored charity of your choice.) If circulation and subscription numbers are a loosely governed metric in the publishing world anyway, then why not make the fee really meaningful? My money went to Room to Read.

And finally, some thoughts on the mortgage bail-out, which was underdiscussed over the holidays.

BusinessWeek's Jane Sasseen asks whether the plan will go far enough, citing analysts who think that "broad criteria" aren't applicable and that mortgages (and ability to pay them) truly need to be looked at case-by-case. But I think one of her other points- the idea that only two narrowly defined groups- those with enough equity or income to refinance and those who meet certain standards before the freeze goes into effect- are to benefit is the saving grace. The plan essentially pre-qualifies qualified borrowers for an extension on their introductory rate. It's not bailing those who are already in trouble or weren't making their payments even when they were low. No one seems to know exactly how many home"owners" will benefit- most estimates are in the low six figures for both refinancing and rate freezing.

As a footnote I disagree with CNN/Money Joe Light's statement that subprime borrowers who will benefit from the rate freeze "are still being "punished" for reckless behavior in the past..." by being asked to continue paying their intro rates, which were typically higher than "prime" borrowers' in the first place. My thought: that's not new "punishment" in light of the freeze. That was already their "punishment" for having bad or no credit...per his logic (not mine!)

Bootstrapper's Green Entrepreneur's Toolbox

Bootstrapper (the blog of BusinessCreditCards.com) is a great blog for start-uppers. Rich McIver sends along a great late-August post for Green Entrepreneurs authored by Jessica Hupp.

Check it out: The Green Entrepreneur's Toolbox: 100 Networking Resources, Guides and Links

There is so much material here that I can't possibly highlight all the gems, from sources we've covered (CSRWire, The Bainbridge Institute, Treehugger) to countless books, helpful resources, online tools and links to success stories in green entrepreneurship.

Interim Pundit: Seth Godin

Since there's not currently a permanent, high profile pundit for the "businesses that also do good" industry, as I ranted yesterday, I nominate Seth Godin as the pundit pro tempore.

Here's why. Today's post on what the Red Cross should do in the wake of a lawsuit by Johnson & Johnson- who tried to do some good over a century ago by giving their now-ubiquitous symbol to the Red Cross- is vintage Godin. Short and sharp commentary on a today issue, stylishly written, and smart. Even though he doesn't always state it as bluntly as he did today, his "What I would've done" moment usually boils down to what's right over what's wrong, or what's good over what's purely money-driven.



See also: SURVEY: 2o Questions About Considerate Consumers

Where are the Good Business Pundits?

Any discipline, any movement, any subject matter needs some GOOD punditry before it can be taken seriously.

Politics have it; such an overload it's not even worth mentioning, but there must be some good material out there.

Sports have it; buried beneath a smog of repetitive chatter on talk radio there are the occasional witty gems commentating away on your favorite sports. Bill Simmons from ESPN (aka the Sports Guy) is my favorite example. His punditry is so good you get the feeling he actually could be a GM, although he's mysteriously stopped posting columns in recent weeks. Where have you gone, Bill?

FastCompany (surprise surprise) uncovered and labeled and glamorized a new era of business starting with the first dotcom craze, and I'm a huge fan of The Motley Fool for savvy and yet witty investing commentary. Other areas of business have it to different extents: Donny Deutsch, Tom Peters, etc. These pundits all make persuasive proposals in entertaining ways; there's a reason they command huge audiences (huge, relative to the new era of media, with 400 cable channels and 1,000+ new magazines segmenting the audience more than ever).

What the Good Business Movement needs is a good pundit. "Green" is the most ripe segment of the Movement for pundit coverage. It probably gets more media than all other aspects (ethics, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship) combined (we've certainly slanted a bit too much toward Green so far). And don't mistake my point; there are some excellent sources of green coverage; see to the right for links to TreeHugger and Grist, among others. Grist.org founder Chip Giller is an intelligent and witty voice for the environmental movement, to be sure.

What the discussion of Businesses That Do Good to bring some more legitimacy and exposure, much the way that VC investment brings legitimacy to a new area of technology, is a strong, witty, cross media voice- one with some level of an established Q-Rating (but not TOO much of a Q-rating that we question their business acumen in exchange for their shameless self-promotion)- to get on his or her soapbox and tell businesses HOW to make money by doing good.

I'd also settle for a good lampoonist- of which Politics already has plenty. Even Steve Jobs has his own shadow prankster, outed this week as a Forbes writer (the Fake Steve Jobs).

Ethisphere

MediaBuyerPlanner reports on the launch of a new magazine covering all things corporately ethical: Ethisphere.

It's a timely idea, but, named like an inflight magazine and targeted at only directors and CEOs, it could struggle to make the broader influence that a magazine grading the responsibility of corporate leadership could. Why not send it out to lower level employees: those dealing with the workforce, choosing suppliers, preparing financial reports, creating packaging, and otherwise getting their hands dirty with the aspects of business that are most commonly called into ethical question?

The Green Magazine Issue and Good Magazine

I love magazines, and in my constant perusing of the newsstand at my neighborhood bookseller (operated by two neat local chaps, Misters Barnes and Noble) I notice the increasing appearance of dedicated “Green issues” from a cross-section of editorial genres.

Some are natural fits, like the April Outside magazine, with a preppy/outdoorsy Governor Arnold on the cover and a fantastic Tim Dickinson article about the humorously compelling Grist.org, founder Chip Filler and Grist's irreverent approach to all things green.

Others unsurprisingly sex-up the topic with celebrity focused coverage of the Green attitude, like the April Vanity Fair (not their first annual Green issue), with a preppy/outdoorsy Leo DiCaprio (and the assertion of his taking the Green baton from Al Gore), and Robert Redford and Prince Charles and water activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Green anti-hero Rush Limbaugh on the inside, plus a fantastic Robert Levine spread on electric cars.

(For the record, you won’t find an ounce of cynicism here toward the celebrity pandering that featuring Leo and others exemplifies. Every movement needs a poster child and fortunately the Green one has several, and counting. Any awareness is good awareness, one would think, at least at this point.)

And still others size up the investment potential of the Green business opportunity, like the April Fortune, with big-business slanted coverage of "Green Giants" and a fantastic Susan Casey profile of cover subject Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia and legendary outdoor lifestyle entrepreneur (plus more Green Governor coverage).

There have also been plenty of more topical magazines diving deeper into specific aspects of Green, like Dwell and it’s emphasis on modular housing, including a story on LivingHomes, one of the original inspirations of The Optimist, in one of my favorite issues of any magazine, the November 2006 issue.

One final magazine honorable mention: Good, which isn’t directly focused on green, business, or green business, but is worth mentioning. Good itself is a good company: it is for-profit, but donates all subscription revenue ($20 annual) to organizations like Room to Read, Generation Engage and the World Wildlife Fund. While in business school last year at Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business and Management, some students and I co-founded an organization that we were going to call The Good Business Lab. More on school and the student group to come, but in short we didn't go with "Good" because founder Ben Goldhirsh and co. had already scooped it up. "Good" is a word that still resonates strongly with us at The Optimist, and you'll see it used often because there's no better word to describe what it means, so kudos to Good magazine for laying it out with a word that hopefully becomes ubiquitous in business (as in: that's a Good company!) and elsewhere.

Fast Company: Nau

Happy Memorial Day...

Fast Company has been the voice of the new business attitude for a decade or so, since it was an inch-thick, ad-stuffed rag documenting the rise and inevitable fall of the dotcom gold rush. Flip through it today and you'll still be inspired by tales of businesses new and old (from SunTechnics to Disney in the June issue) masterfully story-told by Chuck Salters and Alan Deutschman and Jennifer Reingold, who have been doing it for years now.

You'll also notice an increasing chunk of real estate in each passing issue that's dedicated to green, clean tech, socially entrepreneurial and otherwise good and inspiring businesses. For my money, it's still the editorial voice of progressive and change-oriented business leadership (completely off topic: check out Deutschman's 2005 article Change or Die- one of the two or three most influential articles I've ever read.)

The June issue is no disappointment, with a great profile of Nau, the Portland-based offspring of several Patagonia, Nike and Marmot alums and an upstart high-end clothing company built on redefining the clothing business, from production and labor practices to a whopping 5% philanthropy pledge. (FC points out that a typical business' philanthropy is .047% of sales, and even Patagonia's is about 1%.)

It's not just an Optimist business; it's a great start-up story, reminiscent of the start-up story of Keen Footwear, which FC rival Business 2.0 (another reliably inspiring mag) profiled two years ago. Like Nau, Keen was created by thoughtful, well-connected industry vets (footwear, in this case) who were presumably successful and clearly inspired to do even better than their current employers- a not-too-shabby group of corporate citizens in their own rights- were doing. Keen launched in an incredible 60 days, according to lore, while Nau raised substantial capital to fund it's unique "Webfront" retail model, which encourages customers to order online, even from within the store, to cut down overhead. (One complaint: Nau.com is striking but flash-heavy, in my humble opinion, for a transaction-oriented destination.)

I can't wait until I can outlay for Nau's Courier windshirt (nor Keen's Portsmouth kicks, for that matter). In the meantime, I'll proudly wear their stories.

The June FC also asks who will emerge as the Home Depot of the green shopper- a great question that I wish I was in position to answer, because I agree that it will be a lucrative and honorable big box retailing opportunity. They also point out three cool green-leaning blogs- the top three at right. Check them out.

The Optimist Company, in name, is not a borrow from FC (our name is in the spirit of traditional "Massachusetts Bay Trading Company"-style names) but I nonetheless throw a big, hearty nod to Fast Company, which has been inspiring for a looong time.