MAY 4, 200

MIT IDEAS
The Great
Opportunity Our
Generation Has
May 4, 2009
By Ryan Allis, CEO of IDEAS COMPETITION
MIT
iContact
 My Goal
Motivate you to focus your
time and passion on solving
world changing social issues
and give you the resources to
A quote…
 What’s On Ta
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

1
 Business Background
• Age: 24
• Position: CEO of iContact Corp.
• Size: 165 Employees
• Annual Sales: $28 million
• Capital Raised: $13.8 million
• Customers: 47,000
The Team

6
14
The Team

19
The Team

43
83
165
The Team
 Social Background
• Executive Director: The Humanity
Campaign, Inc.
• Board Chair: Nourish International
• Working With: Africa Rising, Ashoka,
Acumen Fund, Opportunity Intl, Stop Hunger
Now, UN Foundation
• Countries Working In: U.S., Uganda, Kenya,
Ghana, Tanzania, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru,
Mexico
The Kids
The Humanity Campaig

The mission of The Humanity Campaign is to work to reduce

poverty and hunger by increasing access to education,
healthcare, technology, and entrepreneurial opportunity in the
U.S. and in developing countries.
The Humanity Campaign
The Humanity Campaign
• Started in November 2005, originally a global
network of bloggers writing about experiences in
developing countries
• Incorporated in February 2008, now a grant
making foundation
• We contribute 50% of funds in the U.S. and 50%
in developing countries
• Contributing to organizations in 6 countries
working in primary education, water distribution,
health care, nutrition, microfinance, and
vocational training
Nourish International
• Nourish teaches college students
entrepreneurship and then uses the
net profits from ventures to contribute
to and volunteer at sustainable
projects in developing countries
• Started in 2001 at UNC-Chapel Hill
• Chapters now at 21 colleges in the U.S.
• Adding 10 additional college chapters
in 2009-2010
• Sending 65 students to 7 projects this
 Social Entrepreneur
Meetups
Entrepreneur & Social Entrepreneur
Meetups
1. Started June 2007. Now held monthly at my
house in CH
2. About 70-80 attendees each month
3. All ages/backgrounds. People who care about
8 – 9pm others
helping – Socializing
9 – 930pm - Intros
4. Small cost for food/drinks provided by local
930 – 1030pm – Presentations (2 business, 2
sponsor
social)
5. Schedule is approximately:
1030 – 11pm – Announcements, Life Changing
Books
11pm – 12am - Socializing
Buzzword Bingo Fun…
LEED
Social Business
Microfinance
Bottom-up
Social Enterprise

Sustainability
PPP Vertical Farming Scalability

Green Jobs
Appropriate Technology
Capacity-Building
LDCs
Upcycling Cradle to Cradle

Social
Top-down Entrepreneurship
Weatherizing
Intervention
 The Challenges We
Face
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

2
NASDAQ at 1719, same as it was in
1998

Slide showing rise in CDOs and credit swaps

DJIA at 8212, same as it was in 1998

The last 13 years of stock market

returns, gone.
BRIC ETF down 61.47% since June
2008
Unemployment Rate Highest Since
1984 at 8.5%
 IPO Pricings 1999-2008

Down 84% in 2008, Only 1 So Far in 2009

Source: http://www.ipohome.com
 Global Challenges
Key Global Challenges
1. Extreme hunger and food distribution
2. Water sanitation and distribution
3. Infant mortality
4. Lack of access to childhood education
5. Malaria, measles, TB, diarrhea, HIV/AIDS
6. Human rights violations, sex trafficking, and child
soldiering
7. Fossil fuel usage leading to climate change
8. Nuclear proliferation
9. Major conflicts in Congo, Palestine, Sudan,
Afghanistan, Iraq
 The Opportunities We
Have
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

3
 DJIA 1967-2009

In the big picture, this decline is just a blip in growth

 DJIA 1969-1982

Here’s another 13 year period when stocks were flat

 DJIA 1982-1995

But look what happened between 1982-1995.

 P/E10 2000-2009

Yale Professor Robert Shiller’s P/E10 Ratio as of May 4,

09 is 15.14 down from 43.51 in April 00
Source:
 Only 23.5% of humanity is on the Internet as of 2009.
There is much growth to go. There is great coming power
 Infant Mortality is Decreasing…

Reduced by 50% in last 45 years

Source: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/annual-letter/
 Global Opportunities
Key Global Entrepreneurial Opportunities
1. Agricultural production yields
2. Food distribution and logistics
3. Water collection, sanitation and distribution
4. Wireless electricity distribution
5. Wireless mesh broadband networks
6. Conflict resolution consulting
7. Leadership transparency consulting
8. Improved education and reform
9. Improved preventative health care and reform
10.Clean tech/alternative fuel (the coming Green
Revolution)
You could build a billion dollar company in each
of these areas
 Profit
EQUALS
SUSTAINABILITY

EQUALS
How to Get Funded 101
How to Get Funded
1. Submit to Competitions Like MIT IDEAS
MootCorp (UT-Austin) MIT 100K Challenge
2. Apply to Start-up Summer Mentorship Programs
Y-Combinator (SF) LaunchPad (DC)
TechStars (Boulder, CO)
3. Pitch to Boston Angel Networks
4. Connect With Great Boston Venture Capital Firms
Highland Capital Partners - Neill Occhiogrosso
Matrix Venture Partners – Nick Beim
• Send in Your Plan Via a Trusted Referrer
• Find Current Entrepreneurs and Buy Them Lunch
DESIGN FOR
PEOPLE
ENGINEER
FOR LIFE
 A Vision for the
World
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

4
 A Vision for the World
I’d Like to Work With You Over the Next 50
Years to Create a World in Which…
• There is no killing of humans on a mass scale
(genocide or warfare)
• All humans have access to the basic human
needs of clean water, nutritious food, shelter, and
primary education
• We end preventable diseases like malaria, TB,
and measles
• We are environmentally sustainable
 Starting from a Simple
Principle

All Lives Have

Equal Value
 Is this possible?
Can we actually end genocide, warfare,
starvation, and preventable disease in our
lifetimes?

YE
 Is this possible?
Can we actually provide accessible clean
water, food, shelter, and primary education
to every human in our lifetimes?

YE
 But people laugh…
“But older people laugh at me.”
“Experienced” people laughed at Edison when he
said he had a device that recorded sound

“Experienced” people laughed at Marconi when

he claimed had a device that wirelessly
transmitted sound
“Experienced” people laughed at Yunus when
he said he could lend to poor women with no
assets
 But how?
It Takes Entrepreneurs…
• Many of the future leaders of our generation are
in this room right now. You are one of them. We
can achieve anything we set our minds to.
• We do it through a combination of
entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship.
• We do it through investments in education,
infrastructure, technology, leadership, and
sustainable energy.
 What is a Social

Entrepreneur?
A social entrepreneur is
someone who rearranges
resources to improve the
world
 The Old Model
The Old Model of Top Down Development…
Funnele
d to
Corrupt
Developed LDC Political Leaders
Country Leader & hip
Government( Government Politically
s) Favored
Projects
Odiou by
s Western
Debt Contract
People ors
Solutions without
local knowledge
providing little
benefit
 A New & Better Model?
A New Model of Distributed Bottom Up
Development…
Projects with
appropriate
scale and
Individuals bought-into
& On the Local solutions
Entrepreneurs & People
Ground NGOs
Social
Entrepreneurs
 CSR at iConta
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

5
 CSR at iContact
CSR at iContact
1. We believe in the 1% solution
2. We provide 1% of our annual payroll back to our
community.
3. In 2008, we contributed $57,000 to 37 different
non-profits
4. In 2009, we’re on track to contribute $110,000
5. We split the contribution approx. 50% U.S., 50%
international
6. We do service projects with Habitat and Foster
 Why We Do It
The Why Behind CSR at iContact
• Because it’s the right thing to do
• Because it’s part of the purpose of our company
“The purpose of iContact is not to make profits nor revenue.
It is to create good jobs, give back to our community, and
help organizations market more effectively. If we do these
things right, the profits will follow.” – The Purpose of
iContact
• Because we get positive attention that attracts
customers and new team members
 The Lessons I’ve Lea
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

6
The Lessons I’ve Learned
The Lessons I’ve Learned 1-5
1. If we are not achieving something, it is because
we have not put our minds to it.
2. We have great challenges facing our generation,
but even greater opportunities.
3. Surround yourself only with positive people and
great mentors.
4. Thoughts become things. Write down and frame
your goals.
5. It takes at least five years from when you start to
make it, so start taking action today.
The Lessons I’ve Learned
The Lessons I’ve Learned 6-10
• Don’t be afraid of failure or of making mistakes.
Things will go wrong.
• Don’t take yourself too seriously.
• Live life to its fullest. Be passionate. Do what
makes you happy.
• Money means nothing if you don’t have
friendships, health, and love.
• Our generation can, and must address the major
inequities of opportunity in the world.
 Changing the Wo
The Great Opportunity Our Generation Has
1. My Background
2. The Challenges We Face
3. The Opportunities We Have
4. A Vision for the World
5. CSR at iContact + Why We Do It
6. The Lessons I’ve Learned
7. How We Can Change the World Together

7
 The Future For Me?
Figure Out How to Change the World in
the Most Impactful Way Possible
Through:
• Entrepreneurship
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Investing
• Writing
• Public Service
 For More Informat
For more information you can visit…
• My Blog: www.ryanallis.com
• My Book: www.zeromillion.com
• iContact: www.icontact.com
• Virante: www.virante.com
• Humanity Campaign:
www.humanitycampaign.org
• Nourish: www.nourishinternational.org
 How We Can
Connect
I’m happy to help however I can. You can
reach me via:

ryanallis@icontact.com

Or friend me on Facebook. I’m the Ryan Allis

at UNC.
 Let’s Work Togeth
Let’s work together as entrepreneurs, social
entrepreneurs, and public servants for the
next five decades to:
1. Provide accessible clean water, food, shelter,
and primary education to every human
2. End genocide, warfare, starvation, and
preventable disease.

Our generation has an immense opportunity if we

set our minds to it.
 Thank you!

THANK
YOU!
 Some Recommended
Books
Development-Related Books Business/Economics Related B
2.Three Cups of Tea 2.Think & Grow Rich
3.Fortune @ The Bottom of the Pyramid
3.Hot-Flat and Crowded
4.Secret History of the American Empire
4.How to Win Friends & Influence…
5.Confessions of an Economic Hitman5.Lexus and the Olive Tree

6.The End of Poverty 6.The Commanding Heights

7.The White Man’s Burden 7.Reinventing the Bazaar
8.Globalization and Its Discontents 8.The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
9.Be The Change 9.Good to Great