My guest today is Jacqueline Novogratz. Jacqueline is the founder and CEO of Acumen, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of poverty. Our conversation touches on how Jacqueline left Wall Street and ended up starting a micro finance bank in Rwanda, how she thinks about investing in character, how creating dignity plays such a major role in her investments, and how governments and businesses can work together to solve the world's toughest problems. It is a bit of a departure from my normal investing conversations but contains powerful lessons for many investors and builders. I really enjoyed our conversation and hope you will to.
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Show Notes
(2:29) – (First question) – Where the concept of the blue sweater came from for her book.
(2:44) - The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World
(4:29) – Every child has a humiliated experience and the impact on their life
(6:55) – The origin of Acumen
(10:42) – Why character is such an important investing filter for her
(11:59) – How the markets have changed through the lens of Acumen
(16:59) – The challenges of getting started
(17:04) – Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World
(19:46) – Embracing the idea of being uncomfortable and an example for her
(21:50) – The space between government action and market action
(26:11) – The concept of conformity traps
(29:29) – The lens of moral imagination
(30:32) – The importance of brining dignity to others
(35:09) – Entrepreneurial skills she sees outside of the US that we lack here
(39:38) – Biggest problems across the globe she is interested in tackling
(42:48) – Impediments to investing in global problems
(49:11) – Kindest thing anyone has done for her
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
