Category Archives: Social Entrepreneurship

MY911 LIFE SAVING APP

1 Reply

In today’s fast-paced world of GPS enabled devices, the possibilities for life-saving technologies available for the everyday consumer have never been more accessible. Much like On-star provides real-time information regarding your vehicle’s status, MY911 will constantly ping your location and status information to the MY-911 platform. While my911 can certainly be used as an AVL like onstar, (although additional (very affordable) hardware is needed), it provides the convenience and flexibility of going wherever your smart phone can get reception!

At first when you look at all of the different options, it can seem overwhelming, but when you remember that you can use them all for the same price, just enjoy the ones you want to use!

Assistance
Accident and Impact Management (patent pending) $10K Abduction Reward
International and National SOS Search and Rescue $30K Coverage
Personal Location Notification Medivac $30k Coverage
24/7 Certified Nurse Line Extensive Online Tracking Management Portal
Roadside Assistance
Geo-Fencing
Weather Alert
Trip Reporting
High Crime Area and Predator Alerts
Speeding Alert
Cyber Alert Notification Management
Incident Tracking and Reporting
Homeland and Travel Status Notification

One of the cool things about this application, is you can go get a 14-day trial to see what it does for yourself.

In order to take full advantage of the software, your smart phone needs to have an accelerometer and a GPS chip.

In a recent conversation I had with the Owner and Founder of My-911, Larry Hurwitz, he confirmed that in addition to the MY911 Android App, the MY911 Blackberry App is up and working, and of course… the “I-911″ version of the MY911 IPhone Application is still on track to be released soon…

Top 3 of 25 Student Entrepreneurs

Leave a reply

This past few weeks has been an exciting blur. I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Utah Student 25 Event, where David Kasteler and I placed in Utah’s top 3 student entrepreneurs. Third place isn’t bad for a true social venture to place in a competition like this.

I expect to see more social ventures show up in the future…

It was a lot of fun to see the businesses that were represented there. It was a spectacular event with addresses from the Governor, Steve Gibson, (I’m a big fan of that social entrepreneur), Josh James, and others.

Again congratulations to first and second placers, Taylor Turnbull and Craig Guincho. Both emerging business leaders in the beehive state!
I want to thank everyone who supported and cheered for Worldwide Book Drive!

If it wasn’t for everyone else who made Worldwide Book Drive a reality, it certainly wouldn’t have been able to donate and recycle the millions of books it has to date. Thank you!

BYU Student Entrepreneur Of the Year 2009 (SEOY)

Leave a reply

This past week I, (John Keller) had a great opportunity to participate in the BYU Entrepreneur of the Year event. This is the first time in nearly 5 years that I’ve entered a competition like this. Amid building a number of different businesses, it was a challenge to find the time and focus to put together a compelling argument. I feel extremely blessed with a talented and flexible team at Worldwide Book Drive team and an extremely supportive wife to actually help me pull together.

Hands down, one of the funnest parts of the event was getting to know the other emerging Utah entrepreneurs. Tyler Turnbull and Craig Guincho are both very talented entrepreneurs whom I expect to hear a lot more of in the future.

For a social venture to play an integral part of a entrepreneurship competition in Utah is a great accomplishment. Go Worldwide Book Drive!

Community Foundation of Utah and Ernst and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year

Leave a reply

This past Friday, I had the great opportunity to attend the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year award. It was an inspiring program to see so many talented and driven entrepreneurs who had been successful in their ventures. Perhaps the most inspiring part of the program was how many of the entrepreneurs shared their “big pie” mentality as a driving force for their success.

I had the unique privelage of sitting at the table with Fraser Nelson, Greg Warnock and a number of successful entrepreneurs and humanitarians. 2009, was the first year that Ernst and Young has ever had a Social Entrepreneur category. Although this year it was limited to only 501(c)3 organizations, (I understand their need to simplify, although I feel strongly that sustainability should be a top priority over classification) I was excited to see the finalists gain recognition for their efforts.

As more and more entrepreneurs are looking to tackle social challenges through innovation and sustainable programs, the Utah Community Foundation has certainly done well to provide a platform for this growing segment. As a sponsor of this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, the community foundation did well to stress the need of bringing entrepreneurs to the attention that our skills and talents need to reach beyond a single bottom line.

It may come as a surprise to some people, but Utah is the first state in America to have a social entrepreneurship category for the Ernst and Young Award. Hmmm… That’s a pretty big deal I think. Thanks to The Community Foundation of Utah for pushing for it.

I imagine we’ll hear a lot more about the Utah Community Foundation and things move forward. I also think social entrepreneurship will continue to gain momentum within the Non-Profit and For-Profit arenas.

Moving on…

1 Reply

Okay, so I’ve probably padded this blog with plenty of tags and content regarding me and social entrepreneurship. The fact of the matter is that entrepreneurship in general deals with the harnessing of resources and social entrepreneurship is an extension of that applied to social problems. For profit, non-profit, etc. it’s making a difference that counts.

While I’ll heartily agree that entrepreneurship isn’t all about the money, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing business for the sake of making money. It’s part of the entire mural of life and economy. (Of course I have an entirely different opinion about businesses that corrode society, but that’s a different topic for another day :) .

Utah-Ceo Article

Leave a reply

Here’s a brief link to an article about John Keller and social entrepreneurship in Utah written up by Utah CEO Magazine.

Despite the extremely light -hearted conversations that I had with Tammy regarding the article. I think it turned out quite fine.

Although Utah CEO Magazine in a relatively new magazine, it’s got a simple format that makes it easy to read and skip the stuff that may not interest you.

Enjoy!

Utah Nonprofits Get a New Perspective of Entrepreneurship

Leave a reply

This past week I had the great opportunity to attend part of the Utah Nonprofits Association Conference. The West Valley Cultural Arts Center was busy with hundreds of passionate and dedicated individuals exchanging ideas and working to advance their represented causes.

It is my privilege to attend a lecture led by Alan Hall regarding Social Entrepreneurship and Venture Philanthropy. Although Alan didn’t break very deeply into the mechanics of social entrepreneurship, he very candidly addressed the relationship that sound business practices and experienced business leaders play in successful social innovation. For many in attendance, the thought of applying measurable business practices and working closely with entrepreneurs–or even supporting their ventures was almost unheard of.

“I have to make money if I’m going to give it away” was a simple but clear demonstration of the principle of sustainability.

In describing the mission of Grow Utah Ventures and Island Park Venture, Alan stated that he was actively seeking to nurture and develop other entrepreneurs with the same mission to improve their communities and be stewards of their profits for a higher cause.

The Alan and Jeanne Hall Foundation is part of Alan’s balanced portfolio to direct his dollars and attention to sustainable and measurable impacts throughout Utah.

Successful for-profit and non-profit start-ups (and mature companies for that matter) need to run on the same sound principles of putting the customer (donor) first, having sound financial model, develop a robust vision.

Proscenium: A Monument to Utah Venture Philanthropy

1 Reply

So it looks like Sandy City is on track for the new Proscenium complex to move forward.

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the Proscenium project is the significant portion of Venture Philanthropy that it represents. Adding an arts-and-culture zone to Sandy’s down town business center provides not only a incredible opportunity to develop the culture and perspective of Sandy residents, but the center should prove to be an economic powerhouse for the city.

As I sat down with the founder and visionary (Scott McQuarrie) for this project last week–I was beaming with excitement. Scott described the various components of green technology, social improvement and non-profit integration that are going into this complex.

Although a project as colossal as the Proscenium may seem to cast shadow’s on some of Utah’s smaller social venture projects–I believe it’s affects will be quite the opposite. This development will stand as an ensign to other businesses seeking to incorporate socially responsible components as a glimpse of what is possible.

More Than Just Fish Stories…

Leave a reply

Social Entrepreneurs want things to be different. Is that too much to ask? I think most people would agree that there are plenty of resources in the world. Most people will also agree that the allocation and distribution of these resources are extremely inefficient. So we want to change it.

Most people will tell you to “Go Fish” when you tell them you want to use business to create a positive social impact. In some cases at least–they’re right.

During my recent expedition to meet with more Social Entrepreneurs in Utah, I had the great opportunity to meet with just such a demanding individual; Ben Nolte, the founder of Big Amazon Fish and Adventure Giving. Ben is an intelligent and personable business man who was intrigued by the challenge of bringing sustainable social change to a segment of the world he deeply cares for: The Amazon. His conquest to raise public perceptions of indigenous Amazon and divert more tourist spending dollars to build social infrastructure has been a risky business.

Re-distributing tourist dollars is a simple but effective idea. According to Adventure Giving, just 1% of the Adventure-Tourist industry could provide more than 60 million dollars for communities in need. — Nice. The cool part is that figure doesn’t even begin to measure the socio-economic collective impact of more people experiencing service and sacrifice for others. —

Things can be different. Don’t believe me? Go fish!

You’ve got to take a little to give

Leave a reply

A good friend once told me that happiness was as much in taking as it is in giving. This may appear to be a simple justification for looking forward to birthday or holiday gifts. But what I’m really interested in is sustainability. I’ve been exploring more about growing businesses and starting new ventures lately and it seems that “taking and giving” is a necessary cycle for successful entrepreneurship.

Giving and taking. Taking and giving. These are sustainable cycles. Taking and taking and giving and giving are guaranteed failures over time.

Although this principle is immediately visible in social entrepreneurship, it is as vital of a component in general entrepreneurship, where fiscal profit alone may be the objective. To start any venture for a beginning entrepreneur requires borrowed human capital. Networks, expertise, advice, trust… It often feels like I’m in deeper debt of human capital than I could possibly give back in a life time. While I try to give back where I can, and as much as I show gratitude it’s probably not enough–still I’ve got a lot more to take if I want to have a lot more to give.