SOCIOPRENEUR: Building Conscious Social Sustainable Startups - Synopsis of the Book

Sure, we are all creatures of cosmic dust, part of the infinite cosmos. But we’re equally creatures of commerce and technology, producers and consumers in the same breath. The first man who figured out that he could barter his food- growing or tool-making skills for goods and earn a surplus became a capitalist and began honing his commercial and technological skills. He was the first startup founder who bootstrapped his venture with human capital.

Since then, we have made stupendous material progress in all spheres, thanks to the life-blood of our “entrepreneurship”. And as this life-blood has pulsated through humanity’s endeavours, slowly at first and accelerating with major technological breakthroughs, it has brought us into the digital era, where, as Bill Gates put it, business is conducted @ the speed of thought.

SOCIOPRENEUR Zero to One

But laissez-faire “capitalism”—that overarching sup- port framework that powers entrepreneurship and the free enterprises we see around us—is broken in some respects. The idea that individuals are free to choose businesses and own private property, that consumers are sovereign and businesses have to compete for them, and that profits and shareholder value are the ultimate incentives—these ideas have come a full circle with their share of problems. As per the latest 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer report, an astonishing 56% of the respondents believe that capital- ism, as it exists today, does more harm than good in the world. 74% of people feel a sense of injustice (under capitalism) and 73% desire change.

Like the naysayers of climate-change, who refuse to see anything seriously wrong with our environment today, there are the naysayers of capitalism, who consider it ideal in every way. For them, a free market is an embodiment of perfection. For the rest of us, there is an ugly face we can- not hide from. It is said that we are the first generation to witness the effects of climate change, and probably the last whose actions can save it. I feel the same is true for capital- ism—we are the first generation to bear the brunt of its excesses, climate change being the first and most severe. Perpetual warfare in the fight for global resources is an- other. Increasing inequality between the rich and the poor leading to mass global migrations is a third. Unsustainable global growth is fourth. The list goes on—the recent Covid-19 outbreak only serving to exacerbate problems.

What does it mean to be an “entrepreneur” in today’s milieu? Are profits everything? Is there any point to this journey on what is fast becoming an uninhabitable planet?

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Introduction

I believe there are sound answers to these questions. It involves examining, first, who is an entrepreneur ab-initio, and second, what three special words should mean in the context of an entrepreneur’s journey today—conscious, social, and sustainable. The book you are reading delves into the answers and demonstrates how to embark on such a journey and emerge as a—sociopreneur.

Conscious implies a certain self-awareness—as a conscious individual, you can look inward, introspect, and appreciate the same ability in others. We are eight billion individuals on eight billion journeys, no two of which are identical, not even with any of the cumulative journeys of those who walked the earth before us. With conscious- ness, you find true internal motivation for doing a startup. If you believe the aim of life is to help others, and that the bigger you become, the more is the responsibility that you shoulder, then you shall make a significant difference by becoming entrepreneurs solving “real” problems that the world needs solving.

Social says that what we do will have an impact on oth- ers, whether good or bad. We are all connected through relations of family, friendship, religion, state, brotherhood and sisterhood, and that ultimate bond—humanity. No business is an island.

Sustainable takes into account the impact of all that we do on our surroundings—the flora, fauna, and the environment. The reason we need lots of conscious, social entrepreneurs is that governments, corporates or CSR funds are not solving so many of our problems of sustain- ability. All such issues are opportunities for scalable businesses while causing a real impact on the lives of many.

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SOCIOPRENEUR Zero to One

Putting all three things together—an entrepreneurial journey is worth it and meaningful when it is positive for our inner selves, helps others and is good for the biosphere.

This book has a mission. To motivate you to become co-founders of startups, and then help you walk the talk on each of these three aspects. In other words, to take you from becoming entrepreneurs (a laudable achievement) to becoming sociopreneurs (the zenith of entrepreneurship).

Part I talks about what it means to be a conscious entrepreneur, and of people who have achieved tremendous personal growth through their ventures. No doubt each one of us must discover for himself or herself what is the most meaningful thing we wish to do with our talent and time, yet looking at other journeys is rewarding and useful. It dwells on the social conscience—is everyone just a face- less consumer reduced to a net present value for your business, or do you owe something more to society through your actions? It also talks about this gigantic engine in which your startup is a cog, what that engine produces and where are we collectively headed. How, when every cog is aligned the right way, the result is astounding progress, and if not, our fate is sealed, and why even the last cog mat- ters.

Part II is about the startup boot camp which every founder must go through to learn the nuts-and-bolts of entrepreneurship, the craft, which has a serious bearing on future success or failure. It is about how to raise funds, build teams, some elementary principles and soft skills, the killer instinct necessary for sales and scaling up, and not the least, knowing when to quit.

Part III is an amalgam of ideas and suggestions on how sustainability problems can become massive growth markets for startups. For instance, how non-biodegrading problematic plastic dumps on the planet can become a 500 billion dollar market for recycling.

My own experiences as an entrepreneur have shaped my understanding of these objectives and made me “pivot” on more than one occasion. The central question regard- ing growth was never ‘How much?’ but ‘What kind?’. Those who mistook it for the first have brought us to the brink. It’s time we pulled back. 

Feel free to order the book and read further here https://www.amazon.in/SOCIOPRENEUR-Zero-One-Conscious-Sustainable/dp/9388150112/