Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Thank you so much for that very kind introduction. Im really happy to be here. As you can tell, i have an amazing support team which includes three tiny people under the age of 3. It is a wonder that this book ever got written in the last few years. [laughter] but i told them id tell them thank you to cyrus and jasper do you want to wave . Want to wave . And asa, whos too little to wave, and my mom and the flannerys and so many of you who are familiar and my friends and my distant family. Thank you for coming tonight. So i was told that over the next 30 or so minutes that i should do a reading and speak for about 25 of those. Id like to make that a little more brief so that we can have a little more conversation if theres an interest there, and we can have some questions. But i would like to tell you, and im going to go light on the reading tonight, heavy on just the storytelling. I would like to tell you about the entrepreneurs that bookend what ive written here. One is named patrick and one is named fatuma, and patrick is the weapon entrepreneur for whom this book is named. Clay water brick points to a story of patrick, this entrepreneur that i met in uganda several years ago, about a decade ago, and he told me his story as follows. He explained how years earlier he had fled the Northern Area of the country because a rebel group had attacked his village, taken most of his family ill be careful with my language because of the little ones and he had basically fled with almost nothing except his brother. And he settled in a village on the border of kenya and you ugaa with this brother, unschooled, orphaned, hungry, homeless. He didnt have much of anything. He had some distant cousins that he found there, and they wanted to be close to family, any family at all, so thats where they settled. And patrick had to figure out what to do to support him and his brother. Sadly, this kind of situation isnt all that rare around the world, to have to wake up every day and figure out how youre going to feed yourself and your loved ones. And patrick told me how a few years before i had been there speaking with him back in 2004. He had decided one day as he woke up watching the sunrise, leaning his back against this mud structure where he and his brother slept, he had sort of a moment, one of these wonderful epiphanies, these bolts of inspiration, because as he sort of rested his hand next to him on the earth, he looked down and realized there was opportunity right in the ground beneath where he was sitting. And he started to dig, first with his hands, and then with a stick and a metal implement he found nearby, and he realized as he dug, he learned and he realized that some of the dirt actually was a little bit more clay. There was some xray deposit clay deposits, and if he mixed that with water, it could be shaped. He decided he would try to shape some of this earth into bricks, and he did that. And the first bricks were rough and misshapen and crumbled easily, be he kept at it but he kept at it and refined what he was doing, and eventually he was able to sell them. It was enough to be something, and he did that again and again day after day and got better and better at that. He saved his money, and over time he was able to buy a brick mold. Often when i tell patricks story, i can show a picture of the mold thats very similar to what he got. So he instantly doubled his production because he could make two bricks at a time, these basic mud bricks, but the bricks were better than the ones hed made by hand because they were smoother and more consistently shaped and sized, and he sold more. Soon he was able to afford a bicycle taxi into a nearby village so he could apprentice with a brickmaker there who baked his bricks in a selfcontained kiln. Patrick let his bricks bake in the sun which was free and easy. So he learned how to do that. Saved up money, bought some matches, started baking his brick, and those bricks sold for a little bit more. By the time he met patrick, he had bought a shovel and a trowel and replacing his homemade implements, but he had employed his brother, his neighbors, and he had a thriving business. And he showed me how the old mud hut where he was sitting when he had his moment of inspiration had now been replaced with a new home with bricks he had pulled from the earth with his own hands. And i always get goose bumps when i say that. If thats not an entrepreneur, im not sure what is. The thing is patricks story is special, and it is unique, but it is not rare. There are entrepreneurs like this all over the world, and i genuinely believe theyre entrepreneurs. Some people would warn not to conflate a person like patrick with a real entrepreneur, thats how they would like to talk about it, and you get to see really clearly what the entrepreneurial spirit is all about. Now, the person at the end of the book is more of a sobering warning and a contrast to patrick. Her fame is fatuma her name is fatuma, and when e met her, i was shocked. I met her 800 miles due southish of where patrick lived. When i met fatuma and asked her how her business was going and what she was doing and, by the way, i should back up, i was there ten years ago, the first of many, many visits. But i was there with a nonprofit called village enterprise, and village enterprise provided 100 grants to entrepreneurs to start or grow their business. I was there to sort of do an impact survey, see how the money had been used, try to understand what kind of benefits it had provided to the individuals, if any. So they had this wonderful excuse to spend my days interviewing entrepreneurs like patrick and fatuma and so many ohs. Again, i had an excuse to ask them questions about their life and what was going on with their wellnd, their standard of living wellness, their standard of living. So she showed me proudly written records she had kept in blue books. Remember those blue books . Somehow she had these, and she had kept little notes about her business, quite detailed records, actually. And as i looked over those records, i realized, wait a minute, if these are accurate, this is phenomenal. This is a real ragstorushes sort of story. So i looked through other records and, indeed, those numbers were accurate. She explained how her charcoal business had been thriving over the last few years and how everything had started to change because of this 100 that she had been given. The thing was as i looked around fatumas home which, again, was a mud structure, very meager, not much inside of it at all except twofolding chairs where we were sitting, a small table and a mattress in the corner. I was very concerned, because anybody who had had that kind of drastic increase in profits could have a much more sustainable livelihood. I would have thought after id seen a number of other businesses that their life would look a lot different. She was dressed in tattered clothing, she had lost some clothing, she was very gaunt. She had told me outright that she wasnt eating very well and sickness was a frequent occurrence in her family. So i asked her, fatuma, where are the profits from your business . What have you done . Your business is doing really well. Do you not, you know why have you not invested in the basic things, food and mosquito nets, school for your daughters, things like that that i had heard again and again were priorities for individuals that id met. And she was a character. Well, she kind of smiled and looked around like other people were listening in [laughter] and she went, she said, went over to the other side of her mud home and patted the ground next to the mattress where she slept, and she said its all here in the world bank and cracked up. She thought it was so funny. She had literally buried the money in the earthen floor. I thought it was a great joke, actually, the world bank. [laughter] thats where she had stopped. Her journey had stopped. So theres a lot more the tell about both of those stories and about so many other entrepreneurs, but the thing is for years i asked the question to myself, whats the difference . What makes patrick different than fatuma . Are they both entrepreneurs . Did they both have that spirit that i so admire and long to nurture in myself and other people . And the thing is, i think, you know, the entrepreneurial spirit is not just about executing on a set of steps to build a great business, i think its about something more. I think its about constantly seeing opportunities, new opportunities. Not just out there in the world to, you know, create a great business, but in ourselves. And to want more for ourselves and others around us. I think fatuma, at some point she got quite far, but she stopped dreaming and seeing ways the world could be different, ways that the real world could be better. I would never want to create some sort of, you know, consumercrazy sort of person in fatuma. I wouldnt want her to suddenly have desired and want more than she could have in her life. I thought there could be so much more for her, and i saw her stop short. She stopped imagining a different future for herself. So as i thought about entrepreneurship over the last decade and as ive learned from my own journey, ive sort of come to this place. The last entrepreneur that i happen to have in here and throughout i talk about my own journey, and what i think ive come down so is i really love an existing definition of entrepreneurship from howard stevenson, a stanford graduate i try not to quote harvard professors, but whatever. [laughter] just kidding. He says that entrepreneurship is about the pursuit of opportunities without regard to resources currently controlled. Its such a, its like quite a romantic definition. Its about the pursuit, this movement forward, taking steps every day. Its about action. Not what we have, not what we possess, its about moving forward despite level of education or peld agree or pedigree or resources on hand, right . The cash that you have, you know, stashed away somewhere, maybe buried in the earth. Its about deciding to always look for ways to make things better in the world and to have value. Now, i did want to i thought about that, ive written, hope fully, well about that and in a way that can inspire anybody whether or not they see themselves as an entrepreneur to think differently about how they work and how they live, to constantly be looking for entrepreneurial opportunities and to be able to seize them and take steps forward and be confident that they can do so regardless of the excuses and the ways that we can feel stuck every day. Hope this can be a book that gets people unstuck. And the part that i thought i wanted to read tonight because a handful of folks here i know from Development Work, and Development Work is a whole other book probably someday, but its full of really awkward moments. And i thought the entrepreneurial stories ive told you are representative of others that are in here. But heres just one other piece that i think is just something ive had to come to terms with and to reconcile as a white middle class girl, woman from, you know, pennsylvania. Ive gotten a lot of questions over the years about why did i go to africa, and why havent i done other things right here in the United States . I can talk about that too. But ill read this little piece and tell you one more thing about the organization that these entrepreneurs and my whole journey inspired. So this is a section right at the end called cutout. A few years ago i flew to miami for a big conference as my involvement with the large Microfinance Organization hosting the gathering mandated. As i entered the four seasons hotel, a blast of airconditioning instantly made my teeth chatter. I clenched my jaw and tried to force a smile. I followed the shiny, laminated signs with cursive scrolls and gloved hands, icons, pointing the way to our meetings, and meandered through the hallways. The sound of music and laughter got louder. I chuckled to myself, inside the luggage were clothes for miami weather, but now i wished i had brought along gloves and a jacket and a scarf knowing i had to spend the next few days sitting inside one of these frigid, windowless conference rooms. Men in pastelcolored polo suits, khakis mingled with women in skirts and sun dresses that could have come straight from a commercial for island wear ensembles. Nearly all held ice cold cocktails or glasses of wine in their hands. These were familiar faces to me, beloved faces, some fellow board members, some staff of the organization and just some other High Net Worth individuals that supported the organizations work. All were crucial contributes to the organization, and as i scanned the room, i realized those present were probably responsible for funding the majority of the years operating expenses. I was a contributor of time much more than money, younger and less experienced by decades, quite uncomfortable and unused to chic hotel ballrooms. But in addition to bringing folks together to conduct board meetings, these gatherings were crafted to tell a particular story to attendees, one of need and opportunity that would culminate in a series of invitations to the people in this room to become heroes to the story by giving generously. Despite my genuine love of the individuals there, i was tired, cold and thirsty, so i made a beeline for the open bar. [laughter] i turned to face the group looking at the crowd of friendly faces, but what caught my eye was an unfamiliar, darkskinned face that stared at me unblinking from the other side of the ball beroom. In fact, as i looked, there were several unfamiliar faces, all of them seemed turned in my direction with eyes that stared right into mine and fixed smiles that seemed to remain in place, though not without effort. I blinked, not completely sure what i was seeing. I craned my neck to get a better look, and as i did, his face suddenly reflected a flash of light from the photographers camera, and i understood. Along the perimeter of the room were lifesized cardboard cutouts, each representing a kind of different business activity. Some of the cardboard people stood among props and equipment. In one corner was an older woman from east africa smiling and holding chickens, and on a rustic looking chicken, someone had placed a brown basket with a carton of plastic eggs. A cutout of a younger, darkskinned woman with a secondhand tshirt and a long skirt held some kind of grain in her hands and stood among several potted plants. On the ground were heavy sacks of rice from a local grocery store. A cutout of another Woman Holding tomatoes and onions stood behind some wooden crates filled with fakepainted vegetables. A cutout of a middleaged man from somewhere in south america, barefoot and in rolledup jeans, leaned against one of the walls. Mercifully, he had no props. I turned my gaze away from the cardboard cutouts and walked into the crowd to talk to the living, breathing, real, live pastelclad people around me all of whom were there to serve the kinds of entrepreneurs whose lifesized images encircled us. It had been a long time since id first learned about poverty. Sadly, some of the stories about poverty and the thinking that motivates those stories hasnt changed much. I tried to filter the good from the bad, the factual from the manipulative, the realistic from the overly dramatic but still, once in a while, these stories get to me. Like when im surrounded by cardboard cutouts that are supposed to make me feel closer to real people when, in fact, they were doing the opposite. And i feel pangs of the confusion and the anxiety that i did back then when i was a little kid who was told that poverty could never be fixed, that the poor would always be with us. Once in a while i do still feel overwhelmed, and the great rift between the people that i want to serve and myself seems vast no matter what i do. There are still moments when the magnitude of the problems plaguing so many people on this planet feels crushing. But i have learned how to fight back. I now know never to turn away from the issues that scare me. Ive learned not to conflate difficult issues with the people they affect. Ive learned to ask hard questions and to get answers for myself firsthand, and i know now it is always worth getting closer to the people i want to understand so i can hear their truths from them directly. I know not to wait for permission to explore or to learn to do the things that im passionate about. While my efforts are never perfect, ive learned it is always worth it to keep trying, and most importantly, ive become absolutely convinced that real, positive change is possible. Ive become sorry, poverty does not have to win in the end, and anyone who wants to participate in making the world better can. Even the most unqualified individuals can contribute great things, even the most humble efforts can end up improving the lives of thousands or millions of people. I know that without a doubt this is true. Despite everything, we can still serve each other in ways that have a permanent, lasting effect. And the stories that i heard, like patricks, like fatumas, inspired me and my cofounder, matt, to found kiva, as was mentioned. And ten years ago the motivation was to tell a different story about poverty and to focus instead the sadness and suffering, instead of on that, on the strength and empowerment and selfrealization that these individuals were striving for. And additionally, not just to tell that new story, but to provide a different way for people to respond. Not just throw their change in the jar, be thanked and go on with the rest of their lives, but to truly have a lasting, meaningful connection, to be engaged over time and to be an equal partner perhaps through a loan. So what kiva started doing ten years ago and continues to do today is to provide a way for people to contribute 25 or more on a web site to a specific entrepreneur, joseph, a goat hearder from you can r began da, is chicken farmer from ghana, specific individuals that need two, three, four hundred dollars, sometimes a bit more. And over time that loan of 25, 50 in aggregate with a handful of other peoples, gets repaid. And its a lovely experience for people. And that 0 loan product has disrupted the loan industry because its difficult to find a more friendly source of that capital. Its also difficult to take the risk that kiva lenders are likely to take, so you can have 25 at a time going out to reach this long tail of institutions serving individuals in very unreached places. Over the last ten years, kivas just about to hit 750 million in more cubs than the u. S countries than the u. N. Recognizes which is fun in terms of lenders and borrowers, and its in these little 25 bids. And the most important part of that statistic is all of that capital has people behind it, people who have made, i hope, a different kind of connection with the person living on the other side of the planet. Maybe somebody they otherwise would have had a different impression of and maybe wouldnt have, had the chance to know in the same way and to believe in in the same way. So thats a little bit of a glimpse into the last ten years of my life. Ive started other ventures, very grateful for all the experiences ive had, but kiva and getting to really connect with entrepreneurs who do the most with the least has been the most lifechanging thing that ive experienced in my work. And i hope that this book can share that experience, those experiences with people and convince everybody, especially the people in this room, people reading this book, that there is Great Potential always, great opportunity. Sometimes even in the ground beneath our feet and always in ourselves. Thank you. [applause] [inaudible] thank you. We are going to do a q a. Theres a microphone here so everyone can hear your question, and cspan can also record it. So we can start, just raise your hands, ill come to you, and you can ask your question. Well, its not really a question, its, my husband when i turned 60, my husband gave me a 300 Gift Certificate to kiva. [applause] thats awesome. Because our daughter who traveled, you know, in africa and other countries made us aware of it. So at first, i picked all the, you know, because i have a special yeah, how did you choose . How did you choose . Because i have a special feeling for bolivia, i picked everybody in bolivia. [laughter] wonderful. So that was you . No, kidding. [laughter] mostly women. And then later on as i got repaid, then i started branching out, and i even started to lend to men [laughter] god forbid. [laughter] you know, all in all, its just been a really great. So when his birthday came, he got a kiva. He got one too . [laughter] fantastic. Its just really great organization. That makes my day. Thank you for sharing that. Question on oh, okay. Well, thank you. Thank you. Hey, i really appreciate that. But i did have a quick question. Yeah, great. I was always curious how you vet the people that will be the recipients yep. Of the funds. This is good. [laughter] great question. Classic kiva. The way it started and the way it continued for many years, this is still a main piece of how kiva operates today is as follows. Theres lenders, theres kiva itself, staff mostly in san francisco, but all over the world at this point. Theres partners, many of which are microfinance institutions, but theres all sorts of ngos, nonprofits, institutions that are just somehow providing a loan to individuals. Again, traditionally its billion for business been for business creation, but theyre all entrepreneurial opportunities, but some focus on clean energy, and i know ive explained, but you know this stuff. The field partners are the ones that exist, you know, before kiva arrived. Theyre already out there. There are 10,000 some of them, give or take a few thousand of them depending on how you slice it. Theyre providing loan, collecting repayments, troubleshooting, helping people and hand holding if they need help, if they cant repay on time, figuring out what to do in those scenarios. Often providing a ton of education, because the ones that kiva prioritizes working with have a social impact as well whether its focusing on women or vulnerable groups in vulnerable areas or providing just a really missionfocused sort of strategy. So those institutions, theres 200 or so of those right now working with kiva, and they are the experts on the ground. Yeah. So, now thats part one. I will say this, too, because its fun to think about where things are going. Kiva has been pioneered over the last few years thats really been a great way for the organization to have, make some bold steps and conduct some really, i think, cutting edge experiments about making the whole supply chain there, right . Lenders, kiva, guild partners and borrowers for making it even lighter, tighter and more dynamic, more mobile. Sorry, my ears are tuned to that little person. [laughter] so kiva, for example, the field partners replaced with a trustee, a person. It vouches for the reputation of the end borrower. And theyre experimenting with money transfers and all kinds of great stuff. Kiva zip and perhaps where i think banking will be going more and more. Quality control, my answer. Did that answer it . Okay. [inaudible conversations] thank you very much for your presentation which was very inspiring. Thank you. I was thinking something missing in your presentation, and this is the fact that kiva in itself is an act of [inaudible] im sorry, can you speak a little more into the mic . The creation of kiva oh, yes. Its an act of entrepreneurship. Yes. You put together the needs, the passion, the technology. Yes. So i think that this should be part of your presentation. Oh, i appreciate that. Well, so is i studied poetry undergrad. It was, like, my favorite thing. I never studied business. This is a whole other part of my story. I was sort of a hater. I thought business is bad, its about making money, i want to help people. That seems to involve giving money away. So i feel like a little bit of an accidental entrepreneur, first of all. Thats one aspect. And also i hope that the stories kind of show as opposed to tell. It feels strange to get up and say im an entrepreneur too. Theyre my heroes, thats what im trying to be. If he gets real bad, i can just cover him. I may breastfeed my son while im talking to you, which i feel great about. I have a question for you. If i understand your model, youre quickly using technology to crowd fund something that kind of exists, the ngos are in place on the ground. So what percentage of my 100 donation is going to go to keep kiva alive, and the ngo have to receive something too. So the way it works and the ngos dont get anything either . So they get, its a tricky im not trying to give a trick answer, i promise. When you lend, you lend your 50, again, to the seamstress this cambodia, it all goes to that seamstress. As she repays, she will repay with interest if its not kiva zip, but its set by that field partner. Kiva doesnt work with field partners that we feel are abusive in their practices or charging an incredibly high amount of interest. So on average the Interest Rates can be 2530 in the sector. Thats because it requires a ton of work often to reach borrowers and to serve them well and even still a lot of these ngos barely make ends meet, right . They need other subsidize canned dollars to do that. So the seamstress repays with a little bit of interest, maybe its 25, 30 , maybe its lower, and that institution keeps the interest and passes the principal back into the hands of borrowers. Now, that said, kiva asks folks at the point of purchase right when youre about to say yes, take my money and lend it, and i probably will get it back. We say would you like to also donate to operating expenses to help kiva cover costs . I know its not exactly what you asked, but often people do, and theres 2, 3 million going through the site every week. So even to get a tiny percentage on top of that is huge and make a big dent in the organizations sustainability. And for the record as we talk, you know, buzz, nonprofit, i think there could be good happening in all factors, i know that now. Its funny, because sustainability is the word for profitability in the social sector, and kiva has been profitable at moments in the past and i believe will be more and more over time which is kind of crazy as a nonprofit. It stays in the organization, thats the difference. When youre dealing with that much money flowing around every day, you should, you know, i think the organizations done a pretty good job of taking, big smart about that. Does that answer your question . Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So speaking of sustainability from a kind of different angle, slightly longwinded question, so i apolo apologize. Thats okay. I am a climate activist and ardent environmentalist and have been for a while, and im a student also, and and so a lot of my fellow environmental act vests activists feel very strongly that capitalism and Climate Change go hand in hand and that we really cant hope to, you know, save our planet with the current economic model that we have. The traditional strictly for profit structures in the world, not social enterprises, nonhybrid organizations. I think the big problem with those traditional structures is literally requires to always make decisions to maximize benefit to shareholders. Everything else being equal visit and even though it costs 1 dollar more to get the product or whatever, is going to make a much less damaging sort of impact on the environment. The good news is i think not only are those all those hybrid structures and new structures cropping up before they will ask and answer questions about the social impact including their environmental impact, i think in general its not going to even be a factor in future. All organizations will have to be accountable whether they want to call themselves, get ahead of the game and call could not say when you think that are sold in fact, we need to get additives and try to make that a positive thing and prioritize that, well have to ask and answer those questions. What the system is somewhat along the way, to ask the questions about whats enough which i feel is a real problem if you ought to be down on capitalism. Thats the real problem, the endlessness, the quest for more and more and more. I think because organizations will have to as i said i dont want to repeat myself too much blood will have to be very transparent about their impact, good, bad, ugly, everything and hopefully improve those latter two. There will be more good outcomes because everyone laugh to be this with your i have lots offensive used socially responsible investing, social investing, impact investing, the one i was talking to two weeks ago, its not even a thing. I think everyone is now, you cant avoid this stuff. Is not unique anymore to have a socially positive lens, a positive lens on how your investing and looking at companies. I hope, to summarize, the world is moving in the direction and companies will have to get, really have to step it up in terms of prioritizing and just being open about the impact theyre having. So hopefully. Thank you so much. First, i want to thank you for grading this organization your like way back in college, the impact work, its like kiva. We can help kiva. My question is, you talked about that entrepreneurship, the ability to see more opportunity. Inevitably, you will have setbacks. Years ago had a lot of idealism before encountered more other world. And encounter more you get disenchanted i think. On this one if you have an example from your years of experience of something that was all a bit of a setback at and how you overcame that and did made, did it drive you . All right. Heres this prolonged, the biggest one ive experienced a thing. There came a point i felt like kiva started to inhabit and work in the world started attention to the little side project that would to a nights and weekends. As it started to take off i really just dont in my heart that this is what i was more to do. This is it. Im doing this forever. The point at which years later i shall not kiva as a fulltime staff person to do something else, and its all in the book, but leaving was really difficult transition and ask everyone. Again id sorted retroactively looked back consider myself a consummate entrepreneur. I guess this is happening. It was really an attempt to solve a specific set of problems in the war bu but it turned it s ago, while the dreams. So realizing, because i love, kind of the moment, at that time would have wanted, editor not to be the best thing in the world for me because it forced me to have a bigger perspective and to not just have my identity mostly tied up in a to do something, doing something to this and, as with everything in my life has, did you. I had to say look, entrepreneurs figure out what to do next when that moment comes. It really forced me to recalibrate. In fact, in true form i took nine months and traveled around the world is in Different Countries case studies on what thats when you to recalibrate. I needed to remind myself what that spirit was. I needed to be immersed independent let me see myself not just as this person who sent to give kiva uncharted make it work but as entrepreneur more generally. Even better to put my work in its place. Acid evidence now violence several guests here tonight, travel like that for me included other things that also provide me with so much meaning and the other spaces, it can be. I think work is not in his place in the right weight in a healthy way. No one tells you youre a youre saving the world. Really. If you just working hard on something that helps people, usually a positive pray that can be restrained. This is a whole other topic may be but the social sector is interesting because the currencies are getting paid and a roadside on a straightforward and this will put to such as financial. Its about control and empowering feelings like your ideas respected and have influenced. Anyway theres a lot to unpack their i think and is easy to get sucked in and have worked even when it is your dream job, even when its beyond your wildest dreams and things went beautifully. Its easy to stop wron start frs takeover identity. I feel like today i have all sorts of conditions. To go, lots of ideas. Ive been in the mama cave lately which is great but work is in its place. Work is always still just work. Helpful . So you are doing a startup, how do you start your own funding . You know, friends and families our customers, too. That lady, my mom conference in to become a lot of people in this room but the first round of those with seven entrepreneurs who need a total of 3100. We said we think this is a legal. We please to this social experiment and see what happens . Basically overnight that money came in and were able to lend it out to seven entrepreneurs. Indeed, money came back and we were repaid, everyone was repaid, got more and more rounds close. Into very beginning which is relied on people that loved us and wanted to see this get a shot at doing are trying. I think a lot of people find entrepreneurs have the same speed. Its a beautiful thing. The Second Coming i started which had its own lifespan and i shut it down when the twins were about three months old was an early crowd funny platform. We were not calling it crap funny. Certainly the beginning of the kiva through using that language in the thats exactly what it is. But profound, lets attempt to provide Community Funding from friends, family, community. A lot of art of your stories really begin when those close to them take a risk invest in a person and give them their first shot at getting going. That frame dollar bill on the wall is usually from mom or dad. [inaudible] i have a question for you. Im curious about how your experience as a social entrepreneur and, of course, all your exposure to all these entrepreneurs has shaped your thinking as a parent of young children. How has that played out for you . So thats a great question. Congratulations. First of all i feel incredibly lucky because i didnt realize how much flexible and autonomy i would have. If you show me im experimenting with work, integrating work and family. With the twins i couldnt breastfeed in public. I was usually topless on the couch for six months. So anyway, in terms of how i think about sorry, just pause one sack. This is a great question. Thank you for your patience. Okay. So im going to linger in terms of how my entrepreneur friends affected my parenting, someone i flexible and autonomy that everyday im grateful for. Its not about, you are always serving somebody. Give a little bit of a different amount of control into how and who you serve entire deciding on your own venture. But i guess i feel, i just have such an epic at such, my belief in the idea that so much is possible always. It really affects how i treat my kids and i see them. I think i would want them to know that their dreams are not just cute things to talk about but its really possible for all of us, whatever kids are and what if what you want to go out and make those things happen. Whatever your work into thing in the world, whatever they choose to do if you dont to nation if they dont want to go start businesses thats fine. I know. Sorry. Its a little hard to see. Hold on. Cool. With that, sorry, i think he is really tired. High, but he. Sorry. Does anyone else have any questions . I have a lot more to say. Sorry. Go right ahead spent what is your biggest piece of advice for women who want to start their own businesses whether from the field or otherwise . For women . I was to be clear about what you really want and dont, you do, dont be afraid to write your own rules. Be clear about, i mentioned courtesy, the combination of things you want. Flexibility, autonomy and they could work with people that a lot and if you like the work i do everyday is inspiring. Financially ended up being more rewarding than i ever expected by think to be really clear about what you want, which want to get out will help you create the right boundaries for life in the end up waking up one day and saying mama, what have they given up to give your . Owner who have i become to build this thing that i thought of what it . Thats one thing. I think also find other women who can be your support system. At all different phases of life. I think mentorship is the thing these days. I think actually, a lot of women i meet are like so into mentorship, like its the end all be all solution it reaches have a mentor all the doors will fly right over im serious, thats all some people talk about. The rails is much more for me, have i guess mentors i think that to your great when you need it and i hope you see things realistically and give you a reality check. Sorry. We are going to get a new plan. One more costs. Pause. I think he might be tired. Good effort. Okay. Im almost done with his answer. But if you find, so think there are mentors that encourage you that are more about helping you will personally, i can understand your strength and weaknesses. There are also mentors that understand opendoor suite and organizations in championing, champion you as you move on up in your organization. I really havent had those myself but what about its benefit peers were entrepreneurial going through the different phases of their own ventures end up helping me figure out what i need along the way and feel supported more than anything else. Im a part of the few formal groups, one based in l. A. , one is based on. That is focused them all over and a lot of what is called the lift. One of my heroes. The women on the group are really there to help each other out. I think you can create your own not just friendships, you can have conflict handful of people who will support you but also go out and take it upon yourself to form a group of 20, 50 people that you know even casual, casual as the want to each other and work over the next decade. Lets figure it out. Totally have a commercial for, the list. People all the time to put out there hey, my book is coming out. Will you help me spread the word . Or im raising funds for my venture. Cannula got my paycheck and giving feedback . Real things that help people succeed. So there you go. Thank you very much for sharing all your experience. Its really interesting, what you just said, is there any set up for mentioning for some of the kiva entrepreneurs . Thats a really great question. Within each organization i think together support system. Let me step back a little bit. A lot of microlending is denigrates. Theres thinka, a handful of like grandfather organizations of modern microfinance and thinka way back in the day 30 pushes ago started a practice called village banking. In village banking people are grouped together because theres no other collateral we have besides social climber. Lets say 10 of those meet a lot of we could get and if i dont repay you are on the hook for me and vice versa. Savas and frequent. I think theres a lot of peertopeer learning that would integrate other things are other folks that also work like is it with these institutions that do form a relationship. We have had, the organization has had conferences and gathering of some of those partners to ensure best practices, especially working with the kiva they could have used the technology to make it work the kind of thats been Helpful Organization to organization. People get so excited which i love, to get so excited about the entrepreneurs they have learned, they want to mentor them themselves are somehow connect with them. For whatever its worth, i actually think we can learn something from everyone will have something to offer. Thats the beautiful thing. Often you see a person that does not have an expertise or skill in a particular area that may be relevant. Just want to connect and i just, i think its best when that is put in the right framework, i think its wonderful for entrepreneurs and letters to connect. I think that will happen more and more with kiva. More direct, more mobile. Mentorship is a different story at it happens best when it is happening locally with people surrounding that entrepreneur. These are great questions, thank you. Lets give just a round of applause. [applause] thank you very much. And i will be here to sign books. Day too, right . Ive not done this before so i think thats what happens next. Thank you all very much. Here are some programs to watch this weekend on tv. Joining me right now is news director for publishers marketplace. What is publishers markopolos . It is an information and industry resource for the Book Publishing industry. We produce two newsletters five times a week, publishers lunch which go out to 40,000 subscribers. Also have had data deal space and other databases. Essentially if you looking for information on the Book Publishing industry publishers markopolos is the place to go. So what do you cover . So, for example, a we are at expo america. Im looking for news, anything that strikes me or my team has particularly newsworthy. Today for example, James Patterson announced he is launching a childrens book. Once i heard that i knew it was newsworthy and we need to cover. We are looking for information on what publishers are doing. What authors are doing and getting a false within the very broad spectrum. So those who are
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