News on The Edge
Welcome to the Social Edge update! Social entrepreneurs may be proud because they are able to tolerate significant risk, and even in many cases a high level of pain, but at what cost? We asked Sara Olsen, SVT Group’s founding partner, to look into our personal bottom line. She wonders where each of us would fit on a three-axis graph (with X=social, Y= financial and Z=personal). She knows that we are concerned about our long-term financial security because we don’t have significant retirement savings. She also noticed that in many cases, we are not able to sustain long-term relationships because of the work we do and the remote places our calling takes us. We usually tend to avoid discussing these topics, but Sara Olsen is fearless in her quest and she urges us to concentrate on the third axis of value creation: the personal bottom line. Join her in this very private conversation, then listen to Jonathan C. Lewis who thinks that social entrepreneurs spend far too much time talking at each other, not with each other: “Your entrepreneurial lifespan is short, fragile and filled with the unknown. Love your mission. Love the people around you.” This is echoed by Untangled, who describes the labor of love that is entailed in producing this newsletter every single Tuesday, regardless of whether the Social Edge team is conveniently together in California or traveling on far-flung continents. Dr. O thinks that fundraising is nothing but a metaphor for all things social entrepreneurship. He writes: “Stop begging. Be an entrepreneur. You are in charge. We are living in a perfect storm of change that can make that possible – crisis, technology and attitude are coming together in a way that will change your work forever." Stephen Goldsmith argues that a social entrepreneur with an appealing vision can undoubtedly act as a catalyst, but you need a “Vortex of Social Change” to truly ignite civic progress. And Magogodi Makhene questions philanthropic efforts among South Africa's new class of young professionals. Speaking of Africa, Alvin Hall visits eight leading social entrepreneurs for the BBC World News. The series premieres this week with Riders for Health in Africa. But wherever you are based, if your personal bottom line could use a boost of support, now is the time to apply to the Global Social Benefit Incubator. The final word goes to Social Edge member John Piermont Montilla who writes from the Philippines in the Fetishization of Metrics: “Social Edge is the most outstanding and unselfish online reference and knowledge sharing center I have ever encountered. This is a great service to humanity.”
Join this Week's Live Discussions  The Personal Bottom Line
Where do you fit on a three-axis graph with X=social, Y= financial and Z=personal? SVT Group’s Sara Olsen wonders what your personal bottom line looks like.
Death by Definitions
Social investment, mission-related investment, or impact investing? Rod Schwartz answers: "Let’s spend our time growing the sector and leave it to future generations to decide what to call what we did." What do you think? The Fetishization of Metrics
If the value of social entrepreneurship is not reducible to simple quantitative terms, how do we define and capture the impact we are having? Join Charles (Hipbone) Cameron in the conversation. Too Small to Fail: Debt Relief for Social Entrepreneurs
Peter Deitz wonders how we can we build debt relief into the social entrepreneurship ecosystem to ensure the growth and development of world-changing innovations, and the well-being of the social entrepreneurs behind them. Invest in Me, Take my Equity
Three social entrepreneurs (Kjerstin Erickson, Jon Gosier and Saul Garlick) are offering equity in their life’s earnings for an infusion of cash today. Should you invest in their future? Or follow their example? The Social and Commercial Two-Step
Are hybrids really innovative structures or simply stopgap measures? Join Mumbai-based Lindsay Clinton in the conversation.
Do you have suggestions for Social Edge or for this newsletter? Send us feedback. Hope to see you on The Edge and on Twitter @socialedge! Victor d’Allant
Executive Director, Social Edge
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Palo Alto, CA 94301 | 
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