Here's a powerful idea that's slowing going mainstream. During the International Conference on Social Entrepreneurship held at Chennai in 4-5th December 2008, I had the opportunity to meet some fascinating entrepreneurs. Since I played the role of the moderator, I got to meet them by default. (Yes I know... zilch effort!) The conference was organized by Richard Alderson and Pooja Warrier from UnLtd India and the folks of CSIM. I'll cover them in a separate post.
For now, I'd like to introduce you to Harish Hande. Co-founder of Selco India he was the essence of what's great about this movement. Selco sells solar energy solutions to the bottom of the pyramid - they are well on their way to a 100,000 installations. He's quite self-effacing and looks like an average joe. Look deeper, and you can see his fire and determination. He told this great story about how he convinced rural banks to loan money to his clients. How did he do it? Very simple... he took his sleeping bag and slept outside the bank for over a month, till the Chairman agreed to see him. And as soon as he got a letter of commitment, he went and beat all the other doors!
Was it radical? Of course.
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