Social Entrepreneurship in the Philippines

"I never imagined InvestEd used technology because you're a social enterprise." - A startup entrepreneur once told me.

"Companies who have a social mission are not good investments." - A VC once said to me.

"Why do you charge for your services if you're a social enterprise?" - A Foundation once told me.

"What you're doing is great Carbs, but I don't believe anyone can do good without being rich first. You have to have money to help people." - A Rich person once told me.

Let's get things straight...

To startup entrepreneurs: You can do good and also be techy. Social missions aren't caged to old school brick and mortar non-profits. It's just unfortunate that this is the perception in our country. I can name tons of social enterprises already doing Series A rounds and up in other countries. There are also exits.

To VCs and Investors: Investments are hit and miss but you can't generalize social enterprises to a bucket called "Bad Investments." Just like any other industry, knowing what makes a "good investment" in the social sector takes experience. 

To Foundations: We charge for our services because we want to scale. We are not satisfied with 100 students over 10 years, which is what the lack of a business model will get us. There's nothing wrong with that but it just isn't our goal.

And lastly, to rich and especially non rich people like me- of course you can do good without being wealthy! It just takes creativity and grit. If you already have the money, even better. Money does make a difference but there's much more than that needed to create impact such as ecosystems, understanding the customer and industry experience.

There's much misunderstanding in the Philippines about social enterprises. And this is why we at InvestEd are beyond thankful to be invited in a social enterprise roundtable discussion on the state of social entrepreneurship in the country. Thank you to the organizers, ISIP, UNDP and AUSAID for giving us a safe space to talk about our pain points. 

Hands down, this was one of the best round tables I have ever participated in! It's thrilling that we now have ISIP lobbying for more support and understanding for the social sector. 

[Note: This Roundtable happened 1 year ago from this posting.]