Feature Blog - Audaemus

Let me just say – there are not a whole lot of small-time bloggers writing about social entrepreneurship out there. Most of the blogs or sites I’ve found are written either by a team of writers or by companies who specialize in working with social entrepreneurs. I did find a few one-“man” blogs, though the authors are usually mysterious and reveal little about themselves. Case in point is a blog titled Audaemus, which in Latin means “Let us dare” or “Let us be bold.” Audaemus’s mission is to explore social entrepreneurs around the world while also touching on related topics such as microfinance, international development, global philanthropy etc.

When I first began poking around this blog, I had no clue when this blog was started or who was the person behind it. There is no revealing “About Me” section and the dates of the blog posts show only the month and date. It took a lot of clicking and reading through comments to find these out. Upon starting this blog, the mystery author, who I later figured out to be Michael, was writing for a social entrepreneurship – focused private family foundation. Through this connection, the Michael brings an insider look to different social entrepreneurs and social ventures.

While clicking through “Older Posts” to find the very first blog posts (April 2006 fyi), I came across a variety of posts that touched on completely new ideas to me and also several posts that were very relatable to my own experiences. For example, I recently went on a volunteer service trip to Ghana where my group’s purpose was to aid in the sustainable development of a community fund. The people we worked with were very capable of helping themselves but since foreigners are always donating money and goods, it seemed like they were more concerned with and even expected us to give them free stuff. Audaemus captured my sentiment exactly in a blog post from more than 5 years ago entitled “Is charity harmful to development?”

The posts are relatively short, making it an easy read. The writer also provides links to related blog posts so I can “flip” through interesting posts rather quickly. Most of the blog posts are just long enough to pique interest and sometimes leave me so curious that I end up clicking through provided links and/or Googling to learn more.

It seems that Audaemus has lost its steam over the past few years. Alexa’s traffic rank for this blog is 3,585,029. Posts are sparser now at about once or twice a month than years ago when there were regular posts (at times even daily posts!). Even comments on recent posts are far in few between. The majority of the posts are informational in a let-me-tell-you-about-this kind of way. There were a few segments of posts that went against Audaemus’s traditional one-sided posts theme and those were the Audeamus Awards. These in particular were more involved because Michael asked his readers to vote for different social entrepreneurs. If I were him, I would definitely bring Audeamus Awards back so that the blog is less one-sided and more conversational.

Nonetheless, the content on this blog is a great start for my own research. There’s so much content on here that it would take a LONG time for a new reader like myself to lose interest. There are plenty of posts on Audaemus that profile companies and social entrepreneurs that I could refer to as I am researching social entrepreneurs/enterprises to blog about. My site will differ in the sense that I’m focusing on these profile posts while Audaemus has a variety of related topics that are also featured. I’m definitely keeping Audaemus on my blog list for inspiration and I can’t wait to get started!

Triple Bottom Line

I’m a senior undergrad business major STILL unsure about what to do for the rest of my life. Mind you, graduation is looming dangerously around the corner just less than four months away. You might be wondering what the hell is taking me so long to figure it out. Well here is my dilemma. While in the process of job-hunting and recruiting, I feel as though I am at this junction. On one hand, I’m applying for jobs in major corporations and companies because I want a secure, well paying job. That side of me, fueled by parents who want to see me succeed (aka make lots of money) and my peers bragging about their offers from investment, financial services, and consulting firms, screams at me to go where the money will flow. On the other hand, I want to do something that actually matters, where I am contributing to society and not just the company’s bottom line.

This got me wondering if the companies with job listings through my school’s career center all operate with their bottom line in mind? Are there any businesses that combine this pursuit for profits with the pursuit of solving social issues? Is there something beyond the bottom line that matters? A little bit of Googling and ta-da! Social entrepreneurship is a mixture of both – these enterprises are for profit businesses designed to make a social impact while making a profit. Essentially, they operate on a double or even triple bottom line.

What is the triple bottom line?

This phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994 as a way to measure sustainability by incorporating three dimensions of performance: financial, social, and environmental. These 3 pillars are also known as the 3Ps: profits, people, and planet. At this starting point, I would guess not many companies truly operate according to the triple bottom line. But as I’ve begun to research, there are some notable enterprises that we all know already – one that you’d expect to see here and one you may not. 

My first famous example is none other than TOMS Shoes, a company that began with the simple premise of giving a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair that is bought. As of September of 2010, more than a million pairs of shoes were given out to children in more than 20 countries worldwide. The second company I am mentioning did not start out as a social enterprise but has recently launched a campaign that certainly propels it toward the 3Ps. I’m talking about Pepsi and the Pepsi Refresh Project where Pepsi awards grants to individuals, businesses, and nonprofits seeking to make a positive impact in their communities. These individuals/organizations are categorized into Arts & Music, Communities, or Education and those with the highest number of votes within the given voting period are awarded with grants of various levels.

In this blog, I intend to seek out businesses and entities like those above that take the triple bottom line concept to heart. What kinds of social enterprises are out there? What makes them unique? What makes them successful (or even unsuccessful)? Which major corporations are stepping up in pursuit of the triple bottom line and how are they doing it? Join me as I search for the answers to these questions and learn about some amazing groups of people along the way!