Cambridge Business Association
The Greater Good
Book

The Greater Good

Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World

Madeleine Shaw
Wonderwell, 2021
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Editorial Rating

8

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Entrepreneur Madeleine Shaw delves into businesses that make social impact their primary goal. She features a culturally diverse array of founders who have launched start-ups of all sizes. In her detailed manual, Shaw offers guidance on finding your social mission, constructing a business plan and attracting investors. She offers a new vision of capitalism that vests in collaboration and relationships.

Summary

Entrepreneurship can address social and environmental problems.

The contemporary paradigm of entrepreneurship usually involves a tech start-up with a gargantuan valuation that sets out to disrupt a known market and eventually scale up to become a major corporation. Any concern with social issues is probably an afterthought – the “giving-back” component of the new business model.

An alternative ecosystem of social entrepreneurs is emerging. For them, making a profit is secondary to benefiting society and the planet. These are grassroots outfits of varying size; they are not chasing a high growth model. But no matter how small an organization is, it can have a significant social impact.

Social entrepreneurship challenges the core principles of capitalism.

Establishing social service as a top priority is not the sole differentiator between social entrepreneurs and their conventional counterparts. Social entrepreneurs also find new ways to conduct their everyday operations. One of the most significant of these innovations is prioritizing collaboration over competition. Business...

About the Author

Madeleine Shaw founded Aisle, a pioneer in reusable menstrual-care products; G Day, a charity that produces rites-of-passage events for tween girls; and Nestworks, a family-friendly co-working space.

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