PDX Events for Global Entrepreneurship Week

Get ready: Global Entrepreneurship Week is coming, and Portland is hosting a range of events. Whether you want to learn more about business for impact, start your own social enterprise, or launch any kind of new venture, we have the definitive list of upcoming events, workshops and conferences.

International Conference on Business and Sustainability
Talks from industry leaders and academic sessions on the latest research in sustainable business.
Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 7–9
Portland State University, all day 
$295

Social Innovation Re:Forum: Strengthening the Enterprise
Learn how to raise capital for your nonprofit or social enterprise.
Thursday, Nov. 8
Ecotrust building, 8:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
$25

PSU Solutions Generator Team Builder Event
Students and community members work together on sustainability projects.
Friday, Nov. 9
PSU Smith Memorial Student Union, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
FREE

Supporting Social Enterprise Startups Locally and Globally
A panel of local social entrepreneurs discuss how to make an impact through business.
Friday, Nov. 9
PSU School of Business, Room 130, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
FREE – no registration required

All-Stars of the New Economy Party
Supportland celebrates local business with dancing and Oregon beer.
Friday, Nov. 9
ADX, 6–9 p.m.
$5

Greg Dees on “The Open Solutions Society: Taking Social Entrepreneurship Seriously”
Don’t miss Greg Dees, the “father of social entrepreneurship,” at a free talk that previews his upcoming book.
Friday, Nov. 9
Pacific NW College of Art, Swigert Commons, 7–8 p.m.
FREE

Changemaker’s Night: Passion for Progress
Meet Kiva co-founder Matt Flannery and social entrepreneurs focused on children’s play and development.
Friday, Nov. 9
Hilton Portland, 7:30 p.m.
$30

Startup Weekend Bootcamp
Learn how to get the most from the upcoming Portland Startup Weekend.
Saturday, Nov. 10
Oregon Technology Business Incubator, 12–6 p.m.
$10

Startup Riot
Thirty startups pitch for three minutes to an audience of investors and peers.
Saturday, Nov. 10
University of Portland, all day
$15 for entrepreneurs

Tiny Startup Camp
Expert speakers and work sessions get you started on your own tiny startup.
Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 10–11
Urban Airship, all day
$175

Private Dinner with Greg Dees
Email impactentrepreneurs@pdx.edu for information on sponsoring a seat.
Monday, Nov. 12

Hacking Social Impact Unconference
Participate in hands-on sessions exploring impact investing and social entrepreneurship.
Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 12–13
Ecotrust Building, starts 5:30 p.m. Monday
$50 for students/entrepreneurs

Co-Founders Wanted Portland
Looking for a co-founder to help get your new venture off the ground? Create a free profile on cofounderslab.com, then network with other local members.
Tuesday, Nov. 13
Urban Airship, 6:30 p.m.
FREE

SBIR/STTR National Conference
Learn how to write a winning proposal for government business grants.
Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 13–15
Doubletree Hotel, all day 
$595

SBO Innovation in Sustainability Awards
Recognizing Oregon businesses leading the way in sustainability.
Friday, Nov. 16
Governor Hotel, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. 
$60

Portland Startup Weekend
Over 54 hours, form a multi-talented group to design and build a web or mobile application with the potential to become a full business.
Friday through Sunday, Nov. 16–18
Portland State Business Accelerator, starts 6 p.m. Friday
$85

Have one to suggest? Post in the comments.

Designing for the Developing World: How Corn Can Make or Break a Cookstove Project

By Amanda West, co-founder of EcoZoom

Since man discovered fire people have been cooking on open fires. For half the world’s population this practice continues today. My company, EcoZoom, seeks to change this behavior. But it isn’t easy.

Cooking over an open fire – an act that kills 1.9 million people every year and is similar to smoking 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day – is ingrained into the cultures of many. Although it is uncomfortable, dangerous and deadly, it makes the food taste like grandma’s cooking, it’s reliable, it’s readily available and it’s the tradition.

Designing with cooks in developing countries is essential for making products, training materials and marketing campaigns that are useful and accepted. This is a story of creating user uptake for EcoZoom cookstoves in rural Rwanda.

The Project
EcoZoom cookstoves are being used in a large-scale project in Rwanda. Over the summer the distributor, DelAgua Health & Development (which has ties to PSU professor Evan Thomas, director of SWEETLab), conducted a 100-stove pilot.

The Product
Rural Rwanda primarily uses wood for cooking so the Zoom Dura cookstove was the best fit. Before the pilot we learned that people in Rwanda use bigger pots than other places in Africa so our typical 26cm stovetop wouldn’t be big enough. Ok, easy fix. We put a 32cm top on the Zoom Dura and modified the handles to accommodate. Now we needed to get the stove into the hands of cooks to see what else had to change for wide-scale adoption.

The extensive follow up during and after the pilot distribution revealed some small opportunities to improve durability. Mainly screws. If a screw loosens in rural Rwanda most end users don’t have a screwdriver to tighten it or are afraid to tighten it because they don’t want to harm their new stove. Again, easy fix. All new stoves use rivets instead of screws.

Besides the screws the product was a hit. We suspected it would be because we’ve already made lots of product modifications based on feedback from other countries in Africa and have a history of high user acceptance. But entering a new market can be challenging and its unique characteristics have to be taken into consideration.

The Training
Once the stove is ready for the market, we have found that most gains to user uptake can be realized through user training. If you just drop a stove off at someone’s house with no explanation of how to use it then you can’t expect high and/or sustained uptake rates. (Sounds obvious, right?)

Before distributing the stoves I worked with native Rwandans on the DelAgua staff to modify our stove training images and materials. We tweaked graphics and added new ones until we all felt like we had a comprehensive training presentation and poster that could be understood by everyone regardless of their literacy level.

The training presentation was for Community Health Workers (CHWs) – government-affiliated residents in the villages where we’d be distributing stoves. The CHWs personally visit each house to provide one-on-one training on how to use the stove.

The poster was made to hang in the cooks’ house. Besides being easy to understand, the poster ended up being popular for its colors. Cooks felt a sense of pride in the poster and wanted to hang it prominently in the main room for all to see. While printing a larger poster in color costs more, it was worth it in the long run since cooks (and their friends) will look at it often and be reminded of proper stove use.

The Corn

The washing station family using a traditional three-stone fire

The base of distribution for the pilot was a coffee washing station. Apparently, it was well known and strategically located, which made it ideal as a distribution site. During the distribution the owner and his wife received a stove. They took it out of the box and started cooking beans on it immediately. Both of them were elated to have the new stove and thanked me profusely for bringing it. So, I walked away happy and kept helping with the distribution.

About an hour later Emmanuel (the owner) came up to me and said there was a problem with the stove. I went to investigate. He said that it was great because cooking beans on the open fire used to take two hours and they did it on the EcoZoom stove in 45 minutes. But they don’t know how to roast corn on the new stove. He was wondering if they should just keep using the three-stone fire for that cooking task.

I have to admit it I was stumped. No one has ever asked how to roast corn on the stove. I didn’t even realize that roasted corn was a traditional food in Rwanda. Was it possible to roast corn on the stove?

The washing station family with their new EcoZoom stove

Emmanuel and I spent the next 20 minutes strategizing about how to roast corn on the stove. Turns out it’s easy. All you have to do is put the stove on low power (i.e., one stick) and lay the corn over the stovetop. Roasting this way takes the corn from being in a vertical orientation, like on the three-stone fire, to a horizontal orientation. We both thought it was a simple change and we wondered if other people would know what to do. But no need to wonder with proper instructions!

We revised the training presentation and poster so it would be more comprehensive. They now include information on cooking corn, using clay pots and other lessons learned during the pilot, which will definitely increase user uptake for future stoves placed.

New EcoZoom Benefits
It’s well known that to sell a product you need to market its benefits to potential customers. The same goes for cookstoves. Many of our partners gather feedback about EcoZoom stoves. For example, cooks like that the stove cooks fast, saves fuel, emits less smoke, and that it looks modern. Others say it is easy to light because the wind is blocked or that the pots stay cleaner so they don’t have to spend as much time cleaning. In Rwanda, we learned about some unexpected benefits that speak to cooks on a more emotional level.

1. Husbands will not be ashamed to cook now because the EcoZoom stove is sophisticated, unlike a three-stone fire.

2. Husbands will want to be around their wives more now because she will not be covered in ashes like when she cooks on the three-stone fire.

So, surprise…the EcoZoom stove is also an aphrodisiac. Husbands will help with the cooking (which we all know is sexy) and wives won’t be covered in ash.

We are learning about new benefits all the time and how our stoves impact daily life beyond the obvious. I wonder if it will be the same in the next market we enter.

To Sum it Up
Initial field results of the 100-stove pilot were great. Almost all (86%) of the cooks completely stopped using the three-stone fire and use the EcoZoom stove exclusively. The remaining users cook on the EcoZoom stove 50% of the time and the three-stone fire 50% of the time. With the improved user training and posters being used in future distributions, we know we will improve beyond 86% and get that much closer to 100%. This experience was truly a great lesson in the importance of working WITH your customers to create the best results!

This post was updated to include the name of the PSU SWEET Lab Director, Evan Thomas. 

Developing a Nonprofit Brand: Lessons from the Business Leadership Program

Marketing strategy, once considered the exclusive domain of business, has now become an essential tool for successful nonprofit campaigns. To effectively engage a new generation of supporters, nonprofits must develop unique brands, compelling messages, and results-driven social media strategies. The good news is that most nonprofit organizations already have a great story to tell; they only need to know the best way to share it.

Impact Entrepreneurs provides leadership training to the staff of corporate clients through our Business Leadership Program (BLP). Each year, a group of employees from The Standard complete the program by performing a service leadership project for a local nonprofit organization. One team worked with Portland Habilitation Center Northwest (PHCNW), which provides education, training and job opportunities for thousands of people with developmental, physical and mental disabilities.

PHCNW was in the midst of developing a proposed new charter school, but needed comprehensive branding and marketing support. Like any marketing strategy, there was a clear customer adoption goal—in this case, to encourage completion of a student interest form among potential applicants. The Standard team worked with PHCNW staff to fill out a brand identity map, helping them understand the unique value proposition the school would offer to local students and their families. They then used this brand identity to drive development of a marketing plan and the final logo and name: READY Public Charter School.

The same marketing concepts that The Standard staff had learned in the BLP, and applied in their regular jobs, helped PHCNW build a more compelling brand. Brian McCarthy, a PSU MBA marketing professor who teaches in the BLP, says

The core concepts of marketing apply equally well to for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises. Great marketing starts with asking the questions, “Who is our customer, and what problem are we solving?” From there, marketing is all about execution: Developing a compelling value proposition, wrapping a brand identity around it, and getting everyone in the organization involved in delivering consistent value to those we serve.

Through their service leadership project, this BLP team was able to deploy marketing tools originally developed for business in service of a nonprofit cause. Other teams helped local nonprofits improve their accounting practices or redesign donation campaigns. In return, they learned that their business skills can be used to create value not just for customers, but for their broader community as well. It all comes back to our mission in creating the Business Leadership Project: unleashing the power of business for social impact.

Brand identity map

Apply to the 2013 Social Innovation Incubator Circuit Program

Here’s a quick quiz. Are you:

• Obsessed with a business idea that will make the world a better place?
• Open to taking a hard look at your ideas and making them better?
• Addicted to improving lives?
• Bored when things are easy?

If you answered “yes” to all four questions, we want you! That is, we want to help you gain the skills you need to turn your concept into reality and make your startup a success, through membership in Portland State University’s Social Innovation Incubator Circuit Program.

The Circuit is a six-month incubation program that seeks to help you become a leader of social change. Small group meetings every other week alternate between workshops delivered by local experts and facilitated peer-mentoring sessions. The program uses the Lean Startup methodology, Business Model Canvas, and customer discovery process to guide development of successful social enterprises.

With a team of coaches, mentors and like-minded entrepreneurs at your side, you’ll learn about business law, planning and strategy, marketing and sales, financial estimates, impact measurement and other essential skills, all with an emphasis on the unique approach of social entrepreneurs. Program graduates walk away with new skills, experience delivering a pitch, a supportive network of peers and mentors, and visibility in our community.

Circuit Program graduate Amelia Pape, co-founder of My Street Grocery, spoke to an audience of 1200 last week at the Oregon Social Business Challenge after being introduced by Mayor Sam Adams. That same week, a partnership between My Street Grocery and fellow SII member Central City Concern was covered on the front page of The Oregonian’s Metro section.

The SII was selected by Fast Company as one of 51 bold ideas helping to build the cities of America’s future and has been written about in Sustainable Business Oregon, Neighborhood Notes, Oregon Business Magazine, the Portland Business Journal, Sustainable Industries.

Learn more about the program at our website, or watch the video below about the 2012 Pitch Fest for Circuit Program graduates.

How to Apply – Open to All

Both students and community members are encouraged to apply. Applicants must have a social enterprise concept or existing venture, either for-profit or nonprofit, that uses business tools to address a major social or environmental problem such as poverty or its contributing factors, such as access to healthcare and education, human climate change resilience, or social equity. Innovations and inventions are encouraged.

The application process consists of two steps:

1. Fill out this form before November 2, 2012 to attend the Business Model Workshop, held November 16 from 7:30-10:30 a.m. The workshop is your chance to get to know us, for us to meet you and for you to make real progress on your business model. You will be notified of your acceptance to the workshop by November 9.

Workshop cost: $25, payable at door.

2. Using a Business Model Canvas you develop in the workshop, apply for the 2013 Circuit Program. All regular workshops are scheduled for Fridays at 7:30–10:30 a.m. from January through May, 2013. Up to two company founders are permitted at meetings, but one must commit to attending at least six of nine sessions, as well as the demo day in June, for your venture to graduate.

Subsidized circuit cost: $600 (about $20 per meeting hour) payable on acceptance or in two installments. Unlike other incubators, we take no equity stake in your business—you retain full control. And if that weren’t enough, many meetings include food! Scholarships are available for students.

Calendar of Sessions:
Jan. 18, Feb. 15, Mar. 15, Apr. 12, May 10: expert-led workshop sessions
Feb. 1, Mar. 1, Apr. 26, May 24: Business Model Canvas and pitch practice sessions
June 21: Demo day

2012 Circuit Program graduates, L to R: Lindsey Newkirk, Jon Zintel, Ahmed Abidine, Caren Prentice, Arnold Strong

Preciva Revolutionizes Cervical Cancer Screening

Impact Entrepreneurs: How would you describe Preciva in a single tweet?

Anaïs and Craig, Preciva co-founders: Seriously, one tweet?

Preciva is an impact-driven startup developing a field robust, accurate, electronic cervical cancer screening test that can be delivered anywhere for less than $2 per test.

What is the social problem you’re trying to address?

Cervical cancer usually develops slowly and is easy to treat; women who regularly screen, even with imperfect tests, are likely to be treated and survive. The problem is that in many parts of the world, affordable tests aren’t available, health workers with enough training aren’t available to deliver or interpret existing tests, or women live too far from clinics to make repeat visits. This results in over 270,000 deaths every year, over 80% of them in low-income countries. Even in the United States, low-income women face barriers to screening. To address these problems, we’ve designed our test to be field portable, easy to use, highly affordable, and independent of the lab infrastructure needed for current tests.

How does your product work?

It generates a detailed visual map of the cervix by measuring tissue response to electrical stimulation. This map will show the probability of tissue being abnormal or cancerous with much greater detail than is currently available with cervical screening tests.

What’s the process for developing, testing, and commercializing a product like this, and how far along are you in this process?

All of the basic science developing the method has already been done by academic researchers over the last 20 years. Craig (our founder) had worked in the field previously, designing cervical cancer screening technology, and he drew on his experience to develop an innovative design that overcomes the technical limitations of other people’s earlier attempts. That’s where we are now. The next step is to conduct clinical testing at multiple sites (we have several research partners lined up), and ultimately submit our clinical data for FDA approval. You don’t need FDA approval to sell in our initial market, which will be India, but because we believe the advantages of our test will make it attractive in the US market as well, we will seek FDA approval.

You’ve persevered through a number of setbacks. What is about your concept, and the problem you’re trying to address, that keeps you motivated?

We’re motivated by two powerful ideas. One is that our technology really does hold promise to bring greater equity to a particular area of women’s health — if you can make a product that is more affordable and delivers better results, why shouldn’t it become the standard of care for all women? And there is no justification for the fact that cervical cancer deaths are so heavily concentrated among poorer women.

The second thing that excites us and keeps us going is the opportunity to innovate as a social business, and contribute to defining what that term means. Few medical innovations are developed this way — out of a small, for-profit but socially driven company — and we’d like to show it can be done.

You’re currently running a crowdfunding campaign through StartSomeGood. What are your targets, and how will the money be spent?

Our tipping point — our minimum goal — is $10,400, which is what we need to put all the pieces of our prototype together in a working model we can take to clinics and show investors. Ideally, we want to raise $20,600, which will pay for some necessary legal, accounting and other work that we need to do to prepare for raising a more significant amount of funding.

What can our readers do to support Preciva?

Contribute to the campaign. We have a lot of clinical partners and potential investors very interested to hold a working prototype in their hands. Once we have that, a lot will start to happen very fast. With many people giving a little bit of support to the campaign, we can get there and take off.