Yes Nokia! No Kinnevik…
The arena for social entrepreneurship initiatives is not exactly a big one. But it is a rapidly growing phenomenon and even venture capital is beginning to find its way into social enterprises. When I started my social venture in October 2006 I found only about 10 social entrepreneurs (globally) that had been officially and seriously backed by venture capital companies. It took me about 15 months to attract investors to my company (Asaasco/GiverSign) and since then more and more VC-funded social entrepreneurs have been popping up.
Right now two Nordic companies have launched competitions for social entrepreneurs where the price is an investment in the winning idea(s)! That is in itself super-cool! But if you ask me I think one of these competitions is a joke…
The good news is that Nokia’s competition, the Growth Economy Venture Challenge, is super-inspiring and open for a world of ideas. Basically the only restrictions that Nokia are giving are that you need an idea that incorporates a super-simple mobile phone (duh…) and that the idea should enhance life for people in communities where the average daily income is less than $5. Other than that you can come up with ideas to treat illness and save lives, enhance business, educate, organize communities or whatever quality of life enhancement you can think of.
The price? A $1 000 000 investment in your idea!
(Requested stake in the idea is not stated.)
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The “bad news” then?
Well, it is not really bad; it is just really lame… Kinnevik’s competition, Playing for Change, is a social venture competition with 8 winners and that is really cool! All 8 will receive 1-3 years of personal income, access to Kinnevik’s network and business professionals and a desk at their social business incubator, etc. Nice!
But, here’s the lame part: You may only enter the competition with an idea that supports kids’ rights to play.
Is that lame? Yes, that is LAME!
Because that is restricting YOU, a possible future social entrepreneur, to start your career at a very low priority level in the world of social problems and needs. Let’s just say that we kept the restriction to kids and changed it to: “improve social conditions for children”. Below are some facts to consider:
- Today, and in fact any other day, 16 000 children die from hunger-related issues.
- Rotavirus and pneumonia is killing 9 000 children every day.
- Another 3 000 kids die of malaria today, tomorrow and the day after that…
- All in all a total of 25 000 children die every day as an effect of poor social conditions that we can solve with entrepreneurship and solidarity.
Don’t you think that those kids would rather live than die playing?
Causes of death among children under age five
Here’s another fact to think about:
- 100+ million children do not have access to education.
If they could choose between the right to play and the right to learn, what do you think would be their choice?
It gets worse though… As I read through the competition’s proposition I find this statement:
“We are looking for you that have an idea to enhance the world for Swedish children and youth…” (translated by me)
“the world for Swedish children”??? On top of the lameness above Kinnevik wants you to call yourself a social entrepreneur and submit ideas to help children play in the world’s 15th richest country (and no. 1 on Save the Children’s “Children’s Index Rank“). COME ON!?
Strangely enough I think that the description of social entrepreneurship on Playing for Change’s website is very striking and well thought through:
“A social entrepreneur is a person with innovative solutions to society’s most fundamental social problems. They are ambitious and persistent persons who address the most important and most critical social issues and find new ideas for radical social change.” (translated by me)
That is a great definition of the social entrepreneur even though I think it lacks some business focus and it also fails to include people that indirectly work for social change by creating tools for whole communities to do good (kind of what I do). Now, is Swedish kids’ access to play a “fundamental social problem” or one of “the most important and most critical social issues”? If your answer is YES I’d die to hear it!
Kinnevik, you should take a look at Nokia’s excellent initiative to inspire social ventures and really think through your strategy when you start schooling the Swedes in the art of social entrepreneurship (which I think in itself is GREAT). It is serious business and you have the power to set the level of that seriousness. Unfortunately, the level of social importance you have set for “Swedish Social Entrepreneurs” and their ideas, by making Playing for Change the biggest endorsement of social entrepreneurship in Sweden ever, is a joke…
Final note: I think that kids’ play as a TOOL for social entrepreneurs to carry out their missions is great! Around the globe children are educated, organized, inspired and probably treated for illnesses by incorporating play into their lives. Even in Sweden I think social ventures giving refugee kids or handicapped children etc. access to play would be cool. If play is used by social entrepreneurs around the world let it be AS MEANS to save lives, educate the uneducated or give hope to those that have none.
Nokia – #rules
Kinnevik – #fail (please try again!)
Posted on January 16th, 2010 by Linus
Filed under: Advocacy, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Personal
I aggree in every word, I am very impressed of you and I am also proud since I think that your struggle will give fruit in the end. And the children will benefit. Love and good luck!
Great retorical outburst – but one of the great things with the Rights of the Child is that it is an holistic approach to being a child. A child has the right to food, shelter, education – and play. All of it. The thing is that no one should have to choose.
The worlds leading social entrepreneurs working with children have also picked up on this. For example Somaly Mam, herself a slave to prostitution as a child, now fighting to free and help children who have been forced into prostitution in her homeland of Cambodia. She rescues children, gives them food and shelter, provide schooling – and time for both free play and play therapy to help cope with the violations they have been subjected to.
So giving a child everything she or he needs can start with play as well as with food, medical care or education. As long as it doesn’t end with the one thing.
Thank you Johanna.
I agree with you and I am a great fan and friend of for example http://worldschildrensprize.org/
My point is that with the resources at hand (the Kinnevik empire) the freedom could be so much higher for social entrepreneurs to start ventures to deal with the most critical social problems of the world. Saving kids from prostitution and slavery in the third world is such a problem. Providing play to kids in the worlds best country to grow up in is of less importance. It’s not bad by any means, it is just that one of Sweden’s most wealthy corporations could do so much more good to communities in much more need of critical services with the same resources. Kinnevik has the resources to inspire entrepreneurs that could give life to children that otherwise would die, but they choose play instead and I think that was a strange and bad decision.
In a way I must say that I don’t agree with you. If you approach a child that is sick, starving or illiterate you can’t say “let’s play first ’cause this company in Sweden made up the rules. Then you’ll get treatment, food or a education. (If you are still alive after playing.)” It’s against common sense. But I agree with you 100% that play is a right of the child!