SoCap08 Major Donors and Entreprenurs Mixer

There is a big-time event coming up in San Francisco for the social enterprise crowd, SoCap08- October 13-15. It appears that the entire list of who's who in the 'new philanthropy' in Silicon Valley will be there, both from the entrepreneur and investor sides.

The registration fee comes across as a bit high for me but if one were able to secure a major funding relationship at the conference it would be well worth the investment, let alone the education available with such a lineup of speakers.

As I look over the schedule of events, a couple panels that look particularly interesting in the context of franchising--

"Taking Social Enterprise to Scale" - Rick Aubry, Rubicon Ventures

Obvious connection. Rubicon has bakery and landscaping social entreprises in the U.S.

"Social Investing 101" - Regina Connell, Good Capital; R. Paul Herman, HIP Investor Inc.; Andrew Kassoy, B Lab; Steve Godeke, Godeke Consulting

I'd be curious to see if franchising is brought up in the fundamentals class.

"Market Creators" - Deb Dunn, Skoll Foundation; Tim Freundlich, Good Capital; Elise Lufkin, Calvert Giving Fund;Andrew Kassoy, B Corp; R. Todd Johnson, Jones Day

This topic has been on my mind recently. If I were there and the topic was not addressed I would bring up the statement by the CEO of Kickstart regarding his projected timetable and the need for donor investments to reach that tipping point in the market.

"Democratic Capital" - Melanie Swan, MS Futures; Premal Shah, Kiva.org; Mads Kjaer, MyC4; Rajesh Jayaraman, Zopa; Ben Rattray, Change.org

I have always felt there is enormous potential for microfranchising to partner with these democratic capital raising solutions. An investor making snap judgments on these sites may have greater confidence to support a new business in the third world if it is a proven franchise operation. These sites could help facilitate greater diversity in these markets by doing so.

"Design in the Developing World" - Regina Connell, Good Capital; Paul Polack, International Development Enterprises; Tim Brown, IDEO

I would be on the lookout for products conducive to product franchising.

Overall, it looks like a fantastic event. From the perspective of the entrepreneur I am struck by the collection of investors that will be present, all looking to be educated on how to spend their wealth, a great opportunity to showcase one's work. From the perspective of a new investor wanting to get involved in social enterprise I see this as a great forum to learn from some of the best and most experienced in the field.