Creating Social Value Blog / Social Innovation

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Bolstering Growth in a Global Healthcare Startup

Hacking a Challenge In April 2018, the Schlesinger Fund for Global Healthcare Entrepreneurship co-hosted World Health Day 2018 with Olin and Wellesley Colleges. One of the sessions during that day was Beyond the Hack: Brainstorming Solutions with Global Healthcare Entrepreneurs. We convened four ventures who were over one year into their startup phase, had the…

16 Books to Inspire How We Finance the Future

At The Lewis Institute, we’ve been having a lot of deep conversations about financing the future. Here are some excellent books for thinking about the true purpose of capital, understanding the unintended consequences of philanthropy, and exploring new (and sometimes radical) ideas and frameworks for financing. A special shoutout to entrepreneur-in-residence Sara Minard for not…

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Opportunities in Native American Healthcare

Flooring. That is the word that comes to mind when reflecting on the wealth of insights from our Global Health Learning Circle with Dr. Matt Tobey last November. The complexities and challenges of U.S. rural healthcare, particularly for the Indigenous American population, are harrowing. Dr. Tobey’s efforts are most admirable but there is a clear…

Teaching Entrepreneurs to Embrace Their Inner Geek

by Ken Accardi MBA’05, healthcare tech entrepreneur & Babson adjunct instructor   When teaching how to transform businesses with digital technology, one of the first things I tell students is that I was raised as a Geek and not as a business person, but that it’s important for them to become Geeks as part of…

Books for Positive Disruptors

Following up on our recommended reading for changemakers and social innovators, here’s a selection from The Lewis Institute bookshelves for people challenging the status quo. Memoirs & Biographies • Mindsets & Inspiration     Memoirs & Biographies Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose—Doing Business by Respecting the Earth Interface founder Ray Anderson shares…

4 Lessons Learned from Competing with Giants

written by Khanh-Linh Ha ’21   One question for all of the entrepreneurs out there: How many of you would say “no” and walk away from billions of dollars offered for your business? That was exactly what Tân Hiệp Phát (THP), the leading beverage company in Vietnam, did after receiving an acquisition offer at the evaluation…