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“Did you learn anything today?”  My mother asked me that regularly when I was growing up.  She valued learning and being a child of the depression and a WWII veteran, she was keen that I find my place in a changing world both as a Jesus follower and a productive citizen. I did learn something […]

Throughout the month of May I have been following the progress of mallard duck incubation, hatching and early stage development in the lake not far from my house. As I observed the little ducklings in their new environment and their relationship with their mother, my thoughts turned to the similarities and contrasts with incubation and

I just completed teaching a university winter semester course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  All such courses in the last decade or so teach the lean startup canvas made popular by Steve Blank, Eric Reis and Ash Maurya.  This distinctive tool for startup businesses is different than traditional business planning as it starts with a search

Most of us are probably aware that LinkedIn has some amazing articles.  Also, we have heard of the Shark Tank, and one of the sharks named Robert Herjavec.  This is a reprint blog of his recent article which I used in my university class on entrepreneurship. See the original article entitled “My Five Commandments for

Recently I was invited to teach on Business as Mission (BAM) at a Midwest Christian university.  One of the sessions was a combination of classes, plus members of the community, and I was asked to talk on trends and best practices in BAM.  There are many ways one could approach this subject, so I chose

Uganda is typical of many African countries in that a valuable resource is at risk. According to the ministry of Energy, “close to 100 per cent of rural households and 98 per cent of urban households” depend on firewood and charcoal, respectively, to cook food and heat water.”  However today “Uganda’s entire charcoal value chain

There are several related terms which touch on the Business as Mission world so sometimes sorting out distinctions can be helpful. Philanthropy is defined as “an act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes” and “private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life”.  A recent example was highlighted in our community

A few years ago, I was invited to an event in Los Angeles, CA by Mr. Jeffrey Lee, CEO of SfK Ministries.  Since then I have followed the growth of this BAM company and the various businesses connected with it. In a recent memo I learned of Hesed Cambodia, which was started by Bong Rae

“Patient capital is money invested in entrepreneurs who are building companies and organizations that solve tough problems like healthcare, water, housing, alternative energy.”1  It is traditional investment which could be equity, debt, or other instruments and the investor is willing to forgo high financial returns in exchange for social impact with a focus on the

I was invited to give a one-hour introductory BAM workshop at a conference in the United States recently.  The facilitator, whose name was John, was very involved with and informed about BAM. He wanted to make sure I met his expectations, so he handed me a sheet of important things to keep in mind.  This