Just finished reading The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz.  I had posted about her the other day.  She is the founder of The Acumen Fund, which is a non-profit venture capital fund.  I know that sounds a bit oxymoronic, but her idea is to solicit charitable contributions which are put to work in enterprises that bring needed services to poor and developing countries.  The fund “invests” (either through equity or debt infusion) in such companies.  In her view this works better than just donating the money with no accountability attached and she has been proven right many times over.  The book chronicles many of those successes.  Reading it I really felt like she was a “kindred spirit.”  Many of her experiences I could relate deeply to as someone with an intense degree of capitalistic training who had his “ideals shaken” after spending a considerable amount of time in a developing country.  One of the things that really struck me was Jacqueline’s discussion, I believe in Chapter 8, about the need to combine both love and power in order to really make a difference in this world.  Quoting from Martin Luther King, Jacqueline writes, “power without love is reckless and abusive, whereas love without power is sentimental and anemic.”  A nice tasty morsel to sink your teeth into, huh?  This whole idea got me thinking about the right balance between the two.  All too often we use our power only to enhance our position, to build our “castle of indifference and insulation.”  I guess it comes down to whether building your castle of indifference is more important that maximizing your potential to make a difference.  And to do that, I agree, one needs the right combination of love and power, or a toolbox full of “hard” and “soft” tools, if you will.  “Hard” tools represent those traits you possess that may (in the harsh real world) give you a leg up over others, even if it is a hard and unfair reality that they do.  Things like economic and social status, ethnicity, nationality, education, etc.  Hard tools can be acquired, i.e., they are not always simply “born into.”  However, the fact that you might have been born white in the U.S.A. to a wealthy family and had the privilege to attend the best schools does in fact give you a degree of power.  The question becomes, how will you use it?  Then there are “soft” tools, like your compassion, drive, ability to feel and impart inspiration, eagerness to learn, eagerness to help, etc.  I believe to have the right balance between love and power, one’s toolbox needs to possess both hard and soft tools.  Novogratz definitely had a full toolbox and she used those tools, and continues to use them, with a unique combination of love and power that is making a difference for countless people in remote and often forgotten regions of our world.

Novogratz on the POWER of Patient Capital

I was reading online about this new book, The Blue Sweater, by Jacqueline Novogratz.  The concept intrigued me so I delved a little deeper into Mrs. Novogratz and began discovering wonderful things such as that she is the head of the Acumen Fund, a “social venture capital” fund that seeks to place “patient capital” into startups that offer a social benefit in an area of high need, like food and water for the poor.  The term “patient capital” was a new one for me, but on the Acumen web site it is defined as follows: (1) Long time horizons for the investment; (2) Risk-tolerance; (3) A goal of maximizing social, rather than financial, returns; (4) Providing management support to help new business models thrive; (5) The flexibility to seek partnerships with governments and corporations through subsidy and co-investment when doing so may be beneficial to low-income customers. Points (1), (2) and (4) really are no different than your run-of-the-mill “vulture” capital fund.  However, point (3) is really and radically different.  So different in fact that it inspired me to write.  “A goal of maximizing SOCIAL, rather than financial, returns.”  As Lily might say, “imaginase!”  In a world where the myopic pursuit of financial returns has reaped much social destruction, it is refreshing to see the whole idea turned on its head.  Adam Smith must be turning over in his grave to hear such idealistic and economically illogical views.  But Mrs. Novogratz is no stranger to hard-core capitalism, being a Stanford MBA and having cut her financial teeth as an international banker for Chase Manhattan bank. I have not had the pleasure yet of reading The Blue Sweater, but apparently the story is that she was doing volunteer work in Africa when she encountered someone wearing a “blue sweater” that she had donated many years prior.  The whole event made her think about how interconnected we all are and inspired her to use her financial “acumen” to make a difference, rather than just a profit, hence the ACUMEN fund.  My hats off to Mrs. Novogratz for pioneering a revolutionary concept that is long overdue as well as much needed.