Great article on the importance of metrics
Comments (0) Great article on the importance of metrics in the social drinking water industry: http://t.co/URDbl1AF (@GOOD stuff)
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Great article on Sarvajal’s business model
By Sameer Kalwani, November 15, 2011
Great article on Sarvajal’s business model, for those of you who are interested: http://t.co/3xcUjFA8
Popcast is now up…
By Sameer Kalwani, November 2, 2011
Popcast is now up… http://t.co/upTtMigl. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
Challenges
By Sameer Kalwani, January 23, 2011
Over the past couple of days I’ve been doing some inadvertent self-reflection and an obvious but unrealized idea came to me: I have a history of going out of my way to pursue challenges, so much so that I handicap myself with the gauntlet I purposely put myself through…
Agile Infrastructure
By Sameer Kalwani, December 23, 2010
It is a clear fact that the past 50 years have changed the world more than any other 50 year period before it. I am certain that the 50 years before that were just as influential to society 50 years ago. That is a key thing to recognize, we – as humans – incrementally build on the lessons of those before us. We piece information together and build off the innovation of past generations. In essence, innovation is incremental. There is no game-changing inventions. They are only small building blocks on what came before. In fact, typically invention is just piecing two disparate pieces together to come up with a solution to a problem, when there is something that is considered revolutionary, it’s spent after years of incremental build-up in a laboratory. Very few ground-breaking ideas (in my view) just appear.
Necessity quite honestly is not the mother of all invention. Many ideas are invented not out of necessity, but out of incremental build-up. Necessity is the mother of all market demand. If Apple’s iPhone emerged in the early 1990s and was sported by Saved by the Bell’s Zach Morris or Wall Street’s Gordon Gecko, would it have taken off as well? There was a market desire for an easy to use smartphone, which Apple met. Timing an invention with the market is a requirement.
In today’s sustainable world, there is a market requirement. People, whether they are at the Bottom of the Pyramid or at the Top of the Pyramid, are seeking for Gandhian Engineering solutions. Everyone wants to do more with less for more, but how do we do so?
Globalization Whiplash
By Sameer Kalwani, November 30, 2010
The past few weeks I’ve been doing some self reflecting … being food poisoned twice in 3 weeks definitely helps out. Somehow these thoughts were less about me, and more about global issues
- Is the joblessness rate really that surprising?
- Everyone wants affordable and accessible resources that encourage development, but how can we provide?
- How are these disparate concepts correlated?
While the severity of the recession may have been a surprise, the unemployment outcome should be considered somewhat expected – unfortunately. There are several reasons why: Continue reading 'Globalization Whiplash'»
Quick Update
By Sameer Kalwani, November 14, 2010
It’s been a few days short of a year since I’ve posted a full on blog post rather than the typical twitter feed. Some of it has been accidental due to just run-of-the-mill “hecticness” and other parts have been conscientious.
About a year ago, I had a lot on my plate. I was a few months into a new job, working to develop my non-profit, training for a marathon, writing this blog, writing a book, and many other things. I had too much going on for me to do well on any of it. I had to come back and focus. I put my blog, book, and marathon on hold and focused on 3 things: Sarvajal, Business School Applications and my non-profit.
The vision must be followed by…
By Sameer Kalwani, January 20, 2010
The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs. -Vance Havner
The Social Enterprise Paradox
By Sameer Kalwani, January 12, 2010
So the other day I was talking to a person who just joined Sarvajal. He is just completing College nearby, and is heavily interested in working in the social enterprise realm. Working with him makes me excited each day – you gotta love new blood in the system. But back to the point, during this conversation he asked me something I hadn’t thought clearly before until that point – “What experience do you recommend someone should have before they take on a job in social enterprise? What does it take to be successful in a Social Enterprise?”
From my standpoint, I like to look at examples. Who are great leaders, what have they done in the past? What are great companies, what have they done in the past? Not necessarily following them, but see their paths and what common attributes make them “successful”. The problem is that Social Enterprise is still primarily theoretical and not clearly defined. You ask 3 people what social enterprise is, you get 3 different answers. There are very few leaders in the space to see common attributes from. Some are successful socially, but are not “enterprise” level. Some are successful at showing great potential for “enterprise” level, and get the investment to deliver – but don’t. Can an organization actually deliver on their dual mission of a social cause and a beneficial investment?
It’s moments in life that give…
By Sameer Kalwani, December 27, 2009
It’s moments in life that give it meaning… but its an exhilarating experience when you know a moment has arrived that can change your life
Themocracy