Paul Polak - The Business Solution to Poverty: Designing Products and Services for Three Billion New Customers

More Praise for The Business Solution to Poverty

The Business Solution to Poverty presents a radical new idea thats firmly grounded in common sense. This book describes precisely the sort of investment opportunity that patient investors who seek social impact are looking for. Once companies like those Paul Polak and Mal Warwick envision are up and running and looking to the capital markets, Im confident they will provide the opportunities for funding to help put an end to global poverty.

Wayne Silby, Founding Chair, Calvert Funds

The failure of foreign aid and other efforts by outsiders to end poverty in developing countries is no secret. But now we have a promising alternative approach to this age-old challenge. The Business Solution to Poverty shows the way, step by step, with countless examples that virtually leap off the page.

Barbara Lee, cofounder and Cochair, Congressional Out-of-Poverty Caucus, and Chair, Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity

Paul Polak and Mal Warwick have written an insightful and accessible guide for co-investing in a way that enriches the livelihoods of the poor and the souls of investors. Why are we here, anyway? Whether youre an entrepreneur or investor, The Business Solution to Poverty has an abundance of examples of what it takes for enterprises to be successful and transformational in emerging markets.

Bob Pattillo, founder, Gray Ghost Ventures

Few people in rich countries like the United States can imagine what poverty in the developing world is really like. The Business Solution to Poverty will help readers everywhere understand both the enormous human toll that poverty takes and the true potential to end it.

Van Jones, cofounder, Green for All and Rebuild the Dream

Finally, a solutions-focused approach, as opposed to the typical problems-focused approach, toward solving one of the most pressing global issues of our timeglobal poverty. Polak and Warwick fully understand that business, not aid, offers the greatest opportunity to serve the worlds three billion people living in poverty and that a profit-based solution will move the needle far faster than tired models of traditional philanthropy. These emerging markets represent a vast opportunity for successful enterprises to flourish successfully, and the authors give us a practical guide to doing so.

Kellie A. McElhaney, author of Just Good Business and Founding Faculty Director, Center for Responsible Business, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

This is a very practical and compelling set of takeaway ideas to accelerate the use of business tools to end poverty. They are based on decades of operational success that have benefited some of the worlds most impoverished people. Polak and Warwick have produced a gem that teems with easy-to-understand concepts and brilliant examples that show how business can make a historic contribution to improving life conditions in developed and underdeveloped societies.

Ron Grzywinski, cofounder, ShoreBank

The Business Solution to Poverty is based on decades of experience in eradicating poverty through profitable business. This astounding book will teach you how to practice ruthless affordability, zero-based design, last-mile delivery, and other essentials of poverty alleviation. Your view of povertyand perhaps of business, toowill never be the same.

Gifford Pinchot, President, Bainbridge Graduate Institute

The Business Solution to Poverty turns Paul Polaks groundbreaking work to expand affordable irrigation for the dollar-a-day farmer into a compelling and practical vision to eradicate poverty. An indispensible resource for all with a big idea, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a drive to make poverty history.

Sandra Postel, author, lecturer, and Director, Global Water Policy Project

Though The Business Solution to Poverty presents a powerful case for a market-based path to a world without poverty, it also lays out a practical and compelling vision of the role that philanthropy and NGOs can play.

Neelam Makhijani, Chief Executive, Resource Alliance

The Business Solution to Poverty helps us understand what poverty looks like in developing countries. Moreover, it challenges us to consider how to best reach potential customers at the bottom of the pyramid by calling for a revolution not just in design but also in corporate blueprintsushering in a new breed of businesses that should help transform the marketplace in emerging markets.

Randall T. Kempner, Executive Director, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs

Paul Polak is a hero of mine. His vision, like that of Muhammad Yunus, is to use business to serve the very poor at scale. As entrepreneurs who walk their talk, Polak and Warwick demand that we deliver value to the poor, not catchphrases to the media, and that we do so at a scale commensurate with the need. Polaks personal experience delivering needed basic services over the last mile is what makes this book powerful.

Jay Coen Gilbert, cofounder, B Lab

The Business Solution to Poverty makes a strong case that business, employing innovative technology, can effectively end extreme poverty in collaboration with government and local communities.

Rajiv J. Shah, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development

The Business Solution to Poverty

By Paul Polak

Out of Poverty

By Mal Warwick

Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World,
Make Money, and Have Fun

Fundraising When Money Is Tight:
A Strategic and Practical Guide to Surviving
Tough Times and Thriving in the Future

How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals,
Third Edition

Designing Products and Services for Three Billion New Customers

Paul Polak and Mal Warwick

The Business Solution to Poverty

Copyright 2013 by Paul Polak and Mal Warwick
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