Two companies really caught my eye at Y Combinator Day this year. They are both blending profit and purpose, and if successful they will create significant impact in the sectors of health and employment. (more…)

A good deck is central to fundraising. It frames the conversation in a familiar format for investors and serves as an important visual aid while pitching. There are hundreds of well discussed approaches to building a deck but many founders still struggle. Here are 10 slides that work well at the seed stage.

The Basics

Slide 1. The Problem — Grab investor attention by immediately presenting a specific problem, which they’ll agree should be solved urgently. Don’t begin with a personal story detailing the source of your passion. Support your assertions with data and focus on the customer pain. For example, don’t say: “Travel industry software is bad”, instead say: “A TripAdvisor survey found travel agents waste 40% of their day on bad software workflows”. (more…)

Deciding the best legal structure for a social enterprise can seem like a daunting, high-stakes task. 

This post is designed to help social entrepreneurs and their attorney progress through a clear process for understanding how to structure their organization to maximize their social / environmental impact. I’ve developed and refined this method by working with hundreds of social entrepreneurs, getting input from fellow attorneys in the field, research and teaching the topic since 2008. Though this decision is never simple, the goal of this process is to reduce complexity, confusion and give the social entrepreneur a few clear options.

Progressing through the process will help narrow down the potential legal structures from 7 to 2 or 3. (more…)