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let there d.light! This is Sam Goldman's story. He grew up in Mauritania, Pakistan, Peru, India and Rwanda, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin and studied biology and environmental studies in Canada before receiving his MBA from Stanford. “My neighbor’s son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. I decided to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap.” This is the story of a social entrepreneur in the making and the building of a global social enterprise: d.light design. 2008-05-08T02:28:54-07:00 84f086482e218309ef06b646502aef02 fatsyndication Yeah for Growing Teams | Sadness for Myanmar http://plone.org/ 7cdacf161d8cb37aea91667ff7d9a574 There really is nothing like building up a good team. I have been struggling the past few months in India essentially alone, and I'm overjoyed that we are hiring great people to re-enforce our Indian and Chinese teams. To me, this is really what its all about - with great people I feel like we can make anything happen! On another note.. Myanmar is a country dear to d.light's heart.. and the current events have deeply troubled us all. We are looking for a way to support the efforts there when the time is right and with the right partners. Sam Goldman 2008-05-08T02:28:54-07:00 2008-05-08T02:28:54-07:00 how many extra lights does d.light have to sell every time I email our lawyers http://plone.org/ 3382186624826fff28b32da1b3181b74 When will we democratizing law (or at least make it affordable)? What if the language of law was more accessible for every person - whether they are drafting a will, signing a housing lease, making a distributor contract, or incorporating a new social enterprise? I am spending a lot of time these days (and its distracting me from my mission!) getting d.light's various subsidiaries set-up properly. I would love to find resources that can put the maze of legal templates, case-studies, distributor and rep office contracts, and other legal matters into an intelligible and readily accessible format (google please help!!!) and for FREE. Sam Goldman 2008-04-28T15:14:54-07:00 2008-04-28T15:18:00-07:00 Moving overseas wasn't supposed to be this difficult :) http://plone.org/ 73b9db28b23f158d1416d0d0be69b23b I am used to moving. I moved my whole life. In fact, for the last 7 months I was living out of a suitcase and others generosity. I never even paid rent. I was super excited to get to New Delhi, quickly get a house, and start team-building.... but I'm learning that operating on silicon valley and d.light time, just means that really I'll operate on India time. Sam Goldman 2008-04-22T13:57:49-07:00 2008-04-22T14:01:16-07:00 JOBS JOBS JOBS - INDIAN CONSUMER RESEARCH | HUMAN FACTORS SPECIALIST http://plone.org/ 58168e5aacefea85ee3dc44e5dce239d dlight is staffing up in India and Hong Kong. Come join the team : http://www.dlightdesign.com/jobs/ I will write more about the day 2 day soon... but right now building a strong team is the most important thing on my mind! Sam Goldman 2008-03-06T13:04:57-08:00 2008-04-09T11:35:52-07:00 D.LIGHT HIRING FOR VP SALES INDIA http://plone.org/ 67dabab8ae0677b61a5a24e1e270482c If you are a social entrepreneur with sales background in India - Come join our team in Delhi! Please forward the job description to interested friends and alumni at http://www.dlightdesign.com/jobs/ Sam Goldman 2008-02-24T10:58:41-08:00 2008-02-29T15:47:56-08:00 Government Scheme #1,154: The Legend of the Biogas Stove http://plone.org/ 3f5f20906596f6083b968133fb045889 A short story of government interventions in the social space at first was depressing. However, I then met an NGO from Orissa, Gram Vikas, who picked up the government contracts and did an outstanding job. I wonder how a for-profit social entrepreneur would have faired? Sam Goldman 2008-02-20T19:17:05-08:00 2008-02-20T19:17:05-08:00 From washing machines to chimney lanterns: The Good, The Bad, and the Fruitful http://plone.org/ 35571cde3567cd4e6061fd44ee9adf49 I have been on 3 continents in the last three weeks. We shipped our first containers of lights several weeks ago and had 7 people staying in North Indian villages investigating new products. Momentum is up and we are wading head first into the tangled, complicated, and unfortunately highly unethical waters of Indian imports, distribution, and sales. However, our hands and hearts remain clean. Sam Goldman 2008-02-14T14:23:42-08:00 2008-02-14T14:23:42-08:00 Entrepreneurial Design for EXTREME AFFORDABILITY – The Story of a Pen http://plone.org/ 600c4995e917e4f0792be4f387495b94 A micro case-study from China and India in EXTREME Affordability. Can a 12 cent pen make a social entrepreneur? Also please support www.DLIGHTDESIGN.ORG and Dalit communities in India! Sam Goldman 2008-01-10T21:39:04-08:00 2008-01-11T03:34:06-08:00 WWW.DLIGHTDESIGN.ORG - Matching Generous Donors with Aspiring Families http://plone.org/ d767956e1a9bb0698d974560fe8c9b25 We decided that to acheive our mission to eradicate kerosene lanterns, we would have to provide lighting solutions for free to those families that can't afford even 50cents for improved lighting. Therefore, we have partnered with OWCF and REDS and generous donors can now provide tax-deductible donations and sponsor solar lighting for families in Karnataka India still living without electricity. Sam Goldman 2007-12-23T22:20:28-08:00 2007-12-23T22:20:28-08:00 Zen and the Art of Manufacturing http://plone.org/ 9f788d940a194f2ce127ca5112a9edfc I have no doubt that China can manufacture anything, in ridiculously high volumes, and at any quality/price level desired. The stories and pictures I had seen prior to my latest trip did no justice to the scale of the export business. I highly recommend every social entrepreneur interested in consumer products to visit this amazing country. Its certainly changed my perspective on the world. Sam Goldman 2007-12-16T20:20:12-08:00 2007-12-16T20:20:12-08:00 So Exciting - Feedback from families http://plone.org/ 01bf6669e8ee3380f3585d1d7eca4283 Its always a great feeling when stories from the field come back. in the last week I have been hearing about some of the units villagers are using in northern India, as well as some old field tests from 2 year old LEDs left in Rajasthan. Sam Goldman 2007-12-03T23:24:38-08:00 2007-12-03T23:24:38-08:00 The Dawn of Duties - Zero Tolerance for Corruption http://plone.org/ fbcae0ab79ed28f4bfbf4152eb41701b I am back from another great trip to India. As we are starting to import in shipping containers, extremely high duties continue to be my worst nightmare. However, I am growing used to their reality and generating new concepts for distribution and value additions to compensate. We are also speaking with manufacturing partners in India. The great news is that our newest products including solar lights are in the field and being used by families! Sam Goldman 2007-11-28T00:02:02-08:00 2007-11-28T00:02:02-08:00 200% brighter than what? http://plone.org/ ff48469387294eb94b0528bb858288b8 transitioning from product development to marketing, distribution, and opening up new country offices is exciting and completely perplexing. Marketing especially is a world apart from more western markets. Thankfully - I'll be back in India in a few days! Sam Goldman 2007-11-08T15:19:58-08:00 2007-11-08T15:19:58-08:00 The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good http://plone.org/ 12ed84d28d375501793b8215b7d9d262 A week of learnings for our team as we grapple with what we would like to provide - aka the perfect solution - compared with what we think will sell (or is that the perfect solution). Is it all about learning when to say NO? Sam Goldman 2007-10-31T21:07:13-08:00 2007-10-31T21:07:13-08:00 Investor Heaven http://plone.org/ cf4176b61be55799b4a4139224841510 This is the beauty of good investors - I was invited this week by Gray Matters Capital to their retreat in Atlanta to share ideas and meet incredible entrepreneurs; I generally am not a great fan of conferences - but I am completely energized by their portfolio! Sam Goldman 2007-10-23T15:01:43-07:00 2007-10-29T12:58:45-08:00