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A Mini-MBA Program for Social Entrepreneurs

Posted by: Steve Hamm on November 04

One of the tough things about being a social entrepreneur, I’m told, is that it’s lonely out there. Unlike regular entrepreneurs who can readily find other people in their geographic proximity and share ideas and experiences with them, social entrepreneurs tend to be widely scattered. They commune via social networks or at infrequent and typically short gatherings of the clan.

A group of four friends in Boulder, Colorado, has come up with an inventive way to address the loneliness of the social entrepreneur. These folks, founders of The Unreasonable Institute, have created a 10-week mini-MBA for promoters of social change. No, check that. The metaphor isn’t quite right. That’s because the 25 or so young entrepreneurs who participate in the program next summer won’t just be learning the skills of social business; they’ll be putting them to work, too. The idea is to come up with ideas, develop them into business plans, vet them, divide up a small pool of venture capital, and connect with a support network—all in the span of an intense 10 weeks. It’s like packaging Silicon Valley in a box. “We want to give young social entrepreneurs the skills, training, and networks to help their ideas grow wings and create a lot of impact,” says Tyler Hartung, the Institute’s community tactician.

The four founders, all University of Colorado at Boulder grads, scan like a mini-United Nations. They refined their ideas for the Institute last summer when they were widely scattered: Teju Ravilochan in Boulder; Vladimir Dubovskiy in India; Daniel Epstein on a bike ride down the West Coast; and Hartung volunteering for a microfinance outfit in Uganda. “It was a most unreasonable time for our founding team,” quips Hartung.

For sure, these guys are having almost too much of a good time, but their idea seems to be both ingenius and practical. All experienced social entrepreneurs themselves, they’ll do a lot of the training in the program, but they’re also planning on bringing in 50 mentors from around the world who are experts in everything from business formation and venture capital to international development and poverty alleviation.

The whole process gets started on Nov. 15, when they begin taking applications from people who want to be Unreasonable Fellows. (www.unreasonableinstitute.org) Applications close on Dec. 15 and a list of finalists will be posted on Dec. 20. Then it’s time for philanthropists and social investors to get into the act. They’ll vote with their dollars for the entrepreneurs who seem to be most promising, and every applicant who raises the $6,500 tuition by Jan. 31 that way will be invited to the summer program. “We want market forces to determine who will come,” explains Hartung.

Now for my part: I’m supposed to help the group round up applicants and funders for the program. So, how about it?

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Reader Comments

Vlad Dubovskiy

November 5, 2009 12:13 AM

Steve, thank you for the post! I love your style of writing - so upbeat and exciting!

This is Vladimir (co-founder and creative expert) from the unreasonable institute. Looking forward to the future!

Vlad

Tyler

November 6, 2009 12:41 PM

Steve, great stuff. Keep the great Globespotting articles coming.

Mike Del Ponte

November 8, 2009 12:51 AM

The Unreasonable Institute is amazing because the guys who run it are truly unreasonable. They live out the values that they'll teach at the Institute.

I know that one day, we will look back on many of the world's greatest social ventures and celebrate the fact that they took flight at the Unreasonable Institute.

Thanks for highlighting this important group, Steve.

Allison

November 10, 2009 03:47 PM

Great spotlight article! I will definitely look into the U.I.! More articles like this would be such a pleasure to see and read!

mmullen

November 11, 2009 11:17 AM

Sounds like a great program--but why limit it to "young entrepreneurs" when there are millions of Boomers out here longing to (or financially required to) strike out and do something worthwhile?

Tyler Hartung

November 11, 2009 05:09 PM

Great question Mmullen:

You are correct. The Boomers are such an important piece of the social entrepreneur space. At the Unreasonable Institute we focus on young entrepreneurs because, in general, they lack the essential skills, networks, mentors and access to capital that is needed to launch a social enterprise and because of this we feel that the youth will gain the most value from what we offer. Of course, we will remain agile in all we do so if it makes sense in the future to offer a program for Boomers, we are not going to remove it from the table.

emily tavoulareas

November 13, 2009 12:41 PM

you guys are awesome. totally unreasonable... and awesome :)

Rahul

November 13, 2009 04:12 PM

Nice article. There certainly is a buzz. Good luck to all unreasonable fellows.

Teju Ravilochan

November 13, 2009 07:03 PM

Steve, this is Teju Ravilochan, yet another co-founder of the Institute. Thank you so much for this incredible article! We really appreciate it!

Mmullen, I want to add to my dear partner's comments about why we focus on young entrepreneurs. As young entrepreneurs ourselves before starting the institute we found a lot of difficulty in starting social ventures. We had no experience, no money, and no credibility. There are indeed a number of entrepreneurship incubators/supporters for more advanced or older entrepreneurs (like Ashoka and Endeavor). There is simply an underserved niche amongst young entrepreneurs.

Additionally, launching a social venture takes tremendous commitment. It's not everyone that can take 10-weeks off to participate in an entrepreneurship incubation program. We are targeting people who have the ability to devote themselves entirely (for 14 hours a day if necessary) to their ventures - we were trying to catch them after they graduate from college and before they settle down and have families so they can really devote themselves to their work.

katrinah

November 18, 2009 04:14 AM

Great post, thanks Steve! I had the absolute delight to do a quick video interview with Teju and Daniel, two of the co-founders of Unreasonable Institute. Their enthusiasm and passion are contagious! Here's the vid in the event you and readers would like to hear Teju & Daniel speak directly about this truly amazing program for young social entrepreneurs:
http://bit.ly/1lteuj
Thanks! : - )

Pamela Hawley

November 24, 2009 06:54 PM

So pleased to see social entrepreneurship actively reach our new generation of leaders and social entrepreneurs.

We need these new resources, guidance and inspiration.

Go Unreasonable Institute. Anything's possible!

Pamela Hawley
Founder and CEO
UniversalGiving
http://www.universalgiving.org

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