a more efficient (informal) job market in India...and beyond

"Babajob.com is job website and mobile portal dedicated to connecting informal sector workers - cooks, maids, drivers, guards, etc.- and employers to India and eventually worldwide."

What does babajob.com do and why is it cool?

It reduces information gaps and market inefficiencies in the informal job market by:

• Harnesses powerful networks of NGOs, MFIs, and internet kiosks to reach job seekers (who may otherwise be difficult to reach, especially since they have limited internet access)
• Allows job seekers to search via mobile phone and integrates with social media (Orkut)
• Connects jobs seekers with both opportunities and mentors
• Monetizes the service by charging a small fee for employers to access job seekers phone numbers
• Demonstrates the importance of academic research. Escaping poverty and becoming poor: who gains, who loses, and why? by Anirudh Krishna (download PDF) was the founder Sean Blagsvedt's inspiration.

I discovered Babajob.com through Hans Taparia's blog. Hans is a director of Preferred Brands International which owns and distributes Tasty Bite and he recently spoke at the Alleviating Poverty Through Entrepreneurship (APTE) Summit. Check out his blog which discusses social entrepreneurship and global issues.

"Life, at its best, is a flowing, changing process in which nothing is fixed. In my clients and in myself I find that when life is richest and most rewarding it is a flowing process. To experience this is both fascinating and a little frightening. I find I am at my best when I can let the flow of my experience carry me, in a direction which appears to be forward, towards goals of which I am but dimly aware. In this floating with the complex stream of my experiencing, and in trying to understand its ever-changing complexity, it should be evident that there are no fixed points. When I am thus able to be in process, it is clear that there can be no closed system of beliefs, no unchanging set of principles which I hold. Life is guided by a changing understanding of the interpretation of my experience. It is always in process of becoming."

Carl Rogers | On Becoming A Person | 1961

the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

(social) startUP 17.june.2009 Lower Lights Ministries | columbus (social) entrepreneurs

columbus (social) entrepreneurs goal with (social) startUP is to catalyze social change through meaningful entrepreneurship by harnessing the energy of the entrepreneurial startup community and the business acumen of venture capitalists. It's going to be the "Startup Weekend of Social Entrepreneurship" and it started here in Columbus, Ohio!

The goal of this first (social) startUP on 17.june.2009 was to help Lower Lights Ministries become more sustainable and break their dependencies on donor charity alone. The event was a success - we are collecting feedback to continually improve (social) startUP to be more effective and meaningful.

The 3 final innovations were:

• Urban Garden
• Recyclying/Sorting Facility
• Maintenance/Repair Business

all based in the struggling Columbus neighborhood of Franklinton.

action! plans were formulated [see worksheet] + columbus (social) entrepreneurs will facilitate accountable involvement with Lower Lights Ministries for entrepreneurs, professionals, and creative minds who choose to move forward with these meaningful (social) entrepreneurial ventures.

(social) startUP 17.june.2009 Lower Lights Ministries

• Photos (Flickr)
• Worksheets
• Thanks to NCT Ventures for the inspiration on the worksheets!
• Original Event Details

Special thanks to our sponsors Sandbox Columbus (for providing the space) and Barrio Tapas (for providing the delicious food). Please support our supporters!

Thanks,
Luke Barbara
Joe DeLoss

columbus (social) entrepreneurs facilitates accountable community engagement + investment. in seth godin speak, we're mobilizing a tribe. our tribe is of passionate, ambitious, and accountable folks looking to tackle social issues through meaningful entrepreneurship.

get at us and connect for further information:
+ LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/cbusSE
+ Twitter: @JoeDeloss + @LukeBarbara
+ Email: CBusSocialEntrepreneurs@gmail.com

(social) startUP | "open sourcing social change" | 17.june.2009

(social) startUP | "open sourcing social change"

presented by

columbus (social) entrepreneurs

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17.june.2009  |  6:00 - 8:00 pm
Sandbox Columbus | 851 Pearl Street, 43215

(social) startUP brings together a community of socially-conscious entrepreneurs, professionals and creative minds to create social change. (social) startUP participants will be charged with a simple, yet crazy, goal - to create an entrepreneurial solution to make a community partner more sustainable in 2 hours time.

our community partner for this event is Lower Lights Ministries, a non-profit focused on community development in the Franklinton neighborhood of columbus, ohio (near west side). Lower Lights empowers those facing social, economic, relational and spiritual barriers to overcome dependencies and move from "get to give." to learn more about Lower Lights and to get your creative juices flowing on the challenge they are presenting to (social) startUP, please review (click on) this CHALLENGE PROPOSAL.

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(social) startUP provides an outlet for professionals to create significant value in two hours of your time. have no doubts though, if you're interested, we will encourage and support you to engage community partners further as change agents. here's how your valuable time contribution plays out: 

• 6:00 PM - networking + arrival
• 6:15 PM - welcome + introduction
  
• 6:25 PM - Lower Lights presentation
  
• 6:35 PM - small groups create solutions 
  
• 6:55 PM - elevator pitches (1 min each)
  
• 7:05 PM - voting (top 3 ideas move-on)
  
• 7:10 PM - slightly larger groups create action! plans to solutions 
  
• 7:35 PM - action! plan pitches (2 min)
  
• 7:45 PM - conclusion + next actions
  
• 8:00 PM - event ends, (social) change begins

please rsvp here
(and/or sign-up for updates on future events)

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columbus (social) entrepreneurs facilitates accountable community engagement + investment. in seth godin speak, we're mobilizing a tribe. our tribe is of passionate, ambitious, and accountable folks looking to tackle social issues through meaningful entrepreneurship.  

get at us and connect for further information: 

    + LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/cbusSE
    + Twitter: @JoeDeloss + @LukeBarbara 
    + Email: CBusSocialEntrepreneurs@gmail.com
 

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George Carlin on the "importance" of stuff

George Carlin, astute observer of human behavior and comedic genius, on the "importance" stuff. Well said!

wtf is a "garage sale"?

What is a garage sale? Really think about it...

It's the consequence of having way too much stuff.

We've acquired so many physical possessions - that we no longer have enough space for - so we sell them. Surely some of these things were necessities at the time, that we're passing along to a new person who needs them. (Such as a baby crib once the children have grown up.) But I'd be willing to bet that a number of the items for sale are things we've simply become bored with and possibly never needed in the first place. Perhaps we're selling the "old" stuff so we can acquire more "new" stuff, which will later become "old" stuff which we'll sell to...well, you get the idea.

Is this a vicious cycle?
A sustainable practice?

We've been programmed our whole lives to buy stuff.
Does it make us feel good? Is that how we find meaning?

Think before you speak makes a lot of sense.
How about: Think before you buy.


What is this "garage sale" you speak of?


Inspired by a chat with Seth Godin and discussions at the Acumen Fund Student Leaders Workshop 2009. More on Acumen Fund and that experience in a future post.