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The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook. Phase One: Pressure Test Your Start-Up Idea

Ian C. MacMillan,

James D. Thompson

3.52 · Rating details · 50 ratings · 2 reviews

Does Your Social Enterprise Start-Up Have What It Takes to Make a Difference and Become Self-Sufficient?

With more than 26 years’ combined experience developing and studying social enterprises in the field across Africa and in the United States, Wharton professor Ian MacMillan and Dr. James Thompson, director of the Wharton Social Enterprise Program, have found that social Does Your Social Enterprise Start-Up Have What It Takes to Make a Difference and Become Self-Sufficient?

With more than 26 years’ combined experience developing and studying social enterprises in the field across Africa and in the United States, Wharton professor Ian MacMillan and Dr. James Thompson, director of the Wharton Social Enterprise Program, have found that social entrepreneurs do not face greater risk than traditional entrepreneurs in launching a social enterprise; they face greater uncertainty.

In The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook, MacMillan and Thompson provide a tough-love approach that guides aspiring social entrepreneurs to systematically decrease uncertainty and significantly increase the likelihood of a successful social enterprise launch. They offer critical frameworks and tools to help them take the next step when they are ready.

Filled with inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs, The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook is a must-read for any aspiring social entrepreneur, as well as philanthropists, foundations, and nonprofits interested in doing more with less.

Why Is This Ebook Free?
This book project is itself a social enterprise: it seeks to generate modest, self-sustaining revenues from book sales while helping social entrepreneurs start up their ventures successfully. For that reason, the authors are following their own advice.

MacMillan and Thompson have developed a proven method for testing, launching, and scaling a social enterprise, which systematically reduces uncertainty ahead of major resource commitments. Rather than rushing to publish a book about the three-phase method, the authors are distributing the first phase as a free ebook. They are inviting readers to help them shape the Fall 2013 expanded edition, which will cover all three phases of testing, launching, and scaling a social enterprise.

This free ebook focuses on the first phase: defining the social problem and articulating the revenue-generating solution, developing a qualified advisory group, defining and segmenting a target population, identifying the most competitive alternative, and addressing the operating realities. At this stage, you will be testing whether your proposed solution meets a well-defined social need.

The Coursera Ebook Edition includes:
Introduction: The Creation of Social Wealth Out of Poverty
Chapter 1. Articulate Your Targeted Problem and Substantiate Your Proposed Solution
Chapter 2. Specify Performance Criteria
Chapter 3. Define and Segment Your Target Population
Chapter 4. Understand the Beneficiary Experience
Chapter 5. Analyze the Most Competitive Alternative
Chapter 6. Identify Operations Realities
Chapter 7. Address the Inevitable Sociopolitics
Chapter 8. Develop a Concept Statement ...more

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ebook, Coursera Ebook Edition, 92 pages

Published June 18th 2013 by Wharton Digital Press

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The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook. Phase One by Ian C. MacMillan

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Start your review of The Social Entrepreneur's Playbook. Phase One: Pressure Test Your Start-Up Idea

Aug 23, 2015 Desiree rated it really liked it

Good book, definitely leaves you wanting more!

This book give you the step by step in how to turn your social startup idea into a living breathing thing. It lays out the three major steps, then takes the first one and breaks it down into bite size pieces. Well done!

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