SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/211359
Digital Do-Gooders Bring Innovation to Social Change Efforts by Serena Kutchinsky efore it achieved buzz phrase status, "social good" was loosely centers and parks, saying: "If we can make downtown Vegas, the place defined as an action that has a positive impact on society, such voted least likely to succeed, a place of community and growth … as the provision of safe drinking water for developing world then it can be replicated in any city." communities. Thanks to the popularity of social media, it has Perhaps more accessible is the global charity model endorsed by become the charitable word du jour, with digital do-gooders emerging Lauren Bush Lauren, CEO of the FEED Project, whose company's as a real potential force for change. mission statement is "Create Good Products That Help FEED the The notion of harnessing the power of technology to help those in need World." Selling eco fashion bags and donating a large portion of has at least some of its roots in a 2003 speech by then U.N. Secretaryeach sale to the United Nations World Food Programme, FEED has General, Kofi Annan, who invited Silicon Valley to "bring more of its helped supply nearly 60 million school meals over the past six years. remarkable dynamism and innovation to the developing world." Bush Lauren has also forged relationships with global brands such Over the past decade, tech tycoons as Gap, Whole Foods and Disney, have risen to the challenge with the and has been showered with plaudits likes of Bill Gates, whose philanincluding the 2011 Fashion Group thropic foundation last year donated International Humanitarian Award. $3.4b to causes such as eradicating Even though she knows that FEED polio, and Google's Eric Schmidt who Project will never be as lucrative as a established Google Ideas, which has traditional fashion brand because she recently digitized the constitutions of can't ask retailers to split the cost of 160 nations. In addition, entrepredonations, Bush Lauren is satisfied neurs in the startup world have begun with her company's impact: "The oldto use innovative thinking to tackle fashioned way of nonprofits asking such global problems as hunger, health for money to keep the lights on has care and unemployment. to change, and nonprofits are realLauren Bush Lauren at V2V 2013 Social gooders come in several izing that, by finding new ways of guises. Some run community initiainnovation." tives alongside their main business Unfortunately, when social good interests, while others hand over most projects go wrong, they tend to grab of their profits to charity. Still others more negative headlines than your are using their political clout to try to average business disaster. Although drive the startup industry in a direcAOL co-founder Steve Case has done tion that reinvents the U.S. economy. much to help startups with a social All of this sounds inspirational, but good agenda get off the ground, he there has been skepticism and worry learned the hard way about false that the excitement and hype of the hype and unfulfilled expectations "big idea" will cloud the judgment of with the failure of the high profile investors. Africa-focused water initiative project Among those seeking to dispel this PlayPumps, which Case launched is Tony Hsieh. Once the archetypal with Laura Bush in 2006. Steve Case with Julia Boorstin of CNBC at V2V 2013 whiz kid who sold LinkExchange, The highly public and philanthe company he co-founded, to Microsoft in 1999 for $265 milthropic nature of the project meant that transparency in the face of lion, Hsieh is now spreading the gospel of social good. In his keynote failure was the only real option for Case. To his credit, he appears to speech at August's inaugural SXSW V2V conference, he revealed that have grown from the experience and has since advised the Obama power struggles among his friends and co-founders were the reasons administration on the 2011 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, his dream of running his own company came to an end. In response, known as JOBS, a bill that contained multiple sweeteners for techhe became CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos, where he established nology companies, including allowing them to raise money through an uplifting company culture. After Zappos was acquired by Amazon crowdfunding. "If you want to get that growth rate up, and you want for $1.2 billion in 2009, and Hsieh outlined his business philosophy to get unemployment down, Case explains. "You've gotta go all in on in a bestselling book, Delivering Happiness, he turned to more comentrepreneurs ... That is what's going to usher in the future." munity-focused initiatives. Social good might be all the rage in tech land, but it is still an His flagship enterprise, the Downtown Project, is transforming part emerging field with many lessons yet to be learned. Its bright young of Las Vegas into a thriving business and cultural hub. "Culture is to things should heed the words of Case, who called for them to abandon a company, as community is to a city," says Hsieh who has applied his the "move fast and break things" startup mentality and learn the value corporate principals to his new venture. He has invested $350 million of patience: "If you want to go quickly, you can go alone. But if you to the project with the aim of funding small businesses, educational want to go far, you go together." n B PA I G E S U N R I S E JESSICA COX SXSWORLD / NOVEMBER 2013 11