Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

cents for a sachet that could purify 10 liters, Pur achieved penetration rates of 5% to 10% in its test markets — strong by almost any yardstick — but in 2005 the company gave up on Pur as a business, because the numbers simply hadn't worked. The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance Prahalad Bottom-up Banking 13

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

It is unthinkable, for instance, to imagine a social entrepreneur treating research on the health effects of tobacco use the way the tobacco industry, market analysts, and investors did in the 1960s and '70s. But the evidence shows that over time they generate completely new value classes. They can be more analytical.

Entrepreneur 9

Entrepreneur Microfinance Supply Chain Prahalad 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 2, 2014

applied for Teach for America—including 10% of the graduating classes of Dartmouth and Yale. Or consider Kwabena Darko of Ghana, who helped found that country’s microfinance sector by forging a collaboration between global NGO Opportunity International , his national startup Sinapi Aba , and a myriad of village- and town-based trust groups.

Entrepreneur 12

Entrepreneur Microfinance NGO Mission Statement 12

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

To gain traction with that upper-middle class — and their disposable income — entrepreneurs need the ability to blend international quality standards with African design. Top of the Pyramid. An unfortunate reality of many African economies is that only a tiny fraction of the population participates in the formal economy.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Hotels Entrepreneur Incubator 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 17, 2014

An estimated 250 funds are actively raising capital in a market that the Global Impact Investing Network estimates at $25 billion. Akin to the Morningstar Style Box , such a framework would allow an investor to easily identify best-in-class social and financial performance across and within the various sub-sectors of impact investing.

Development 8

Development Microfinance Biotechnology Exit Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 28, 2016

According to the Global Impact Investing Network, the market for impact capital, currently sized at $60 billion, could grow over the next decade to $2 trillion, or 1% of global invested assets. There is no right or wrong impact class—what matters is identifying preferences. Everyone agrees that impact investing is on the rise.

Class 8

Class Microfinance Supply Chain Education 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 9, 2011

Second, the marketing pitch for focusing on women and girls increasingly is stereotyping men in the effort to combat the stereotyping of women. The Indian study, one of the few high quality studies of microcredit extended to women, found no increase in household spending on clothing, food, or education.

Microfinance 14

Microfinance Globalization Long-term Class 14