Issue-driven entrepreneurship

Definition
Issue-driven entrepreneurship is addressing major environmental or social issues in the world through sustainable business initiatives.

The concept eleborated
Issue-driven entrepreneurship is about passionate people that create triple bottom line value through innovative business initiatives. Issue-driven entrepreneurs feel familiar with the famous quote of Micheal Braungard (Cradle to Cradle): 'why doing less bad is no good.' Sustainability is not a side job or something for the Corporate Social Responsibility manager. Sustainability is at the very core of the issue-driven company and the entrepreneur. Issue-driven entrepreneurs make meaning as Guy Kawasaki would state it. They right a wrong or prevent us from losing something good.

Maximum impact without making financial loss
Issue-driven entrepreneurs strive to maximize their ecological and social impact. The issue-driven entrepreneur uses concepts such as: co-creation, open source business models, network economy and mutual inclusion of key stakeholders related to the solution of the addressed environmental or social issue. Issue-driven entrepreneurs dare to take risks and learn through trial and error. They often link many hundreds or even thousands of individual brains, creative minds and living networks can highly increase their impact (e.g. the quality of the solution, public support, etc.). They address the talent and passion of individual people and show them that by combining forces we can make real meaning. The networks can exist by means of mutual personal or professional development and are not driven by profit maximalisation.

The drive to maximise their impact makes it that issue-driven entrepreneurs do not rely on subsidy to operate their core business (they might use subsidy to start-up their company) but explicitely choose to use a business model. They believe that by having a continuous motivation to add value to the market, both quality and innovation levels will go up and the impact of the issue-driven venue will be unlimited.

Four key values of an issue-driven entrepreneur:

1. Sustainable impact: striving for maximum social and ecological impact by aiming for scalable and re-useable business solutions and not making loss.

2. Mutual inclusion: a broad involvement of and with formal and informal stakeholders, including “unusual suspects” in the whole process from issue identification to implementation and improvement of solution.

3. Pro-active accountability: by sharing information, expertise, networks the issue- driven entrepreneur believes that he/she will create more value. Through a broad perspective issue-driven entrepreneurs are aware that their actions have impact on their surroundings and that they can be held accountable for their actions and promises.

4. Passion (from within): true passion for changing the game for the better of the collective will trigger innovation that can be radical or incremental depending on the context.

Characteristics of an issue-driven entrepreneur:

has ideas that emerge from chaos;
has a personal goal to contribute to a solution for a major social and environmental issue;
has a vision how to reach its goal, ambition and leadership
is driven by innovation and using this as a tool to come to solutions;
does business in a professional way;
is transparent and willing to share information;
believes that practice is leading;
works cross-sectoral, is innovative and creative in working together with other parties.

Closely related concept: social entrepreneurship

The concept of issue-driven entrepreneurship has been introduced by Stef van Dongen (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) in 2006.

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