MATTHEW FOREWORD BY

MANOS STUART CANDY

 01

TOWARD A

PREEMPTIVE
SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE
 02

TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to Read This Book 

BY
MATTHEW MANOS pg. 04

Foreword 
BY
STUART CANDY pg. 05

PART 01:
THE
MANIFESTO 
BY MATTHEW MANOS pg. 14

PART 02:

ESSAYS, SCENARIOS,
CONVERSATIONS
pg. 57

Impractically Practical 
BY
MATTHEW MANOS pg. 58

What Does it Mean to Be a Futurist? 

BY
MATTHEW MANOS pg. 75

Meditations on Preemptive Social Enterprise 

MATTHEW MANOS WITH KRISTI DURAZO, TREVOR HALDENBY, JAMES HUGHES,
DR. ZHAN LI, DR. JOSE RAMOS, NATHAN SHEDROFF & BRUCE STERLING pg. 80

Rendered Precarious 
BY
JAKE DUNAGAN pg. 92
 03

CON’T.

The History of the Future

of Social Enterprise 
MATTHEW MANOS DESIGNED BY KATE MANOS
CURATED BY

ALIDA DRAUDT, JONJOZUF “JJ” HADLEY,

WRITING & RESEARCH BY

RYAN HOGAN, LETICIA MURRAY, GREGORY STOCK & JULIA WEST pg. 99

Scenarios for the

Preemptive Social Entrepreneur 
CURATED BY
MATTHEW MANOS.WRITTEN BY FRANK GALLIVAN,
CAMILLE GRIGSBY-ROCCA, TRAVIS KUPP, DANIEL OLARTE,
TYLER RIVENBARK, DAVID ROSELLE & SHAR SHAHFARI pg. 103

The Futures of Pro-Bono 

BY
JAKE DUNAGAN & MATTHEW MANOS pg. 117

An Attempt to
Automate Entrepreneurship 
BY
MATTHEW MANOS pg. 126

PART 03:
THE
WORKBOOK
pg. 152

Activities 01-05
pg. 153

Models of Impact: The Glossary

pg. 163

Afterword
BY
MATTHEW MANOS
pg. 179
 04

How to
Read This Book
Matthew Manos

—
What you are holding in your hands is a manifesto, surrounded
by a diverse range of perspectives, narratives, conversations,
and tools that push the ideas of our manifesto forward. In
publishing Toward a Preemptive Social Enterprise, our intention
is to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs to
consider the future as something to design for.

As with my previous project, How to Give Half of Your Work

Away for Free, this "book" is not necessarily intended to
be read as a "book", in linear fashion. Instead, Toward a
Preemptive Social Enterprise is intended to be a grab-bag of
deeply considered ideas and meditations on the future of a
promising movement.
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 05

Foreword
Stuart Candy

—
Business as a category of human activity has traditionally aimed
to maximise certain outcomes at the expense of others. Other
communities, other species, other places, and future generations.

Take the oil industry for example. Like the endlessly ingenious
tools of the extractive trade themselves, profit-first business
morphs to fit the contours of the lucrative niche. I locate
a rich deposit, I work out access to it by hook or by crook,
and voilà: I drink your milkshake. Other impacts are someone
else’s problem.

TRADITIONAL BUSINESS IS A
BADLY BROKEN FINITE GAME.

Yet it is possible to flip the premise. Here is the quietly

revolutionary but increasingly obvious alternative: morph the
enterprise to generate desired impacts, and reverse engineer
a business model to make it economically viable.

This change-making path is often called social enterprise,

and the figure animating that change and beating that path is
the social entrepreneur.
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 06

Social entrepreneurship comes from the overdue recognition

that business is an engine of change — nay, a powerhouse. More
and more of us see that to harness its institutional potential
to worthwhile ends could be hugely influential, generating
outcomes as deliberate and positive as the outcomes generated
by legacy means have been accidental and destructive.

As Matthew Manos explains in these pages, “A social entrepreneur

is a designer of business whose intentions are not in capital
gain, but instead in the advancement of the greater good
of society.” The central formula is, then, approximately:
business + design + ethics (greater good) = social enterprise.

When one surveys today’s fast-changing “ecology of commerce”,

in Paul Hawken’s resonant phrase, we find a wide range of
creatures from different evolutionary eras living side by
side. There seem to be many recent, small initiatives nobly
attuned to the full spectrum of their impacts. Generally
these are nimble little Darwinian upstarts, yet to prove
their fitness over generations. Such hopeful mutants co-exist
alongside others, bigger and older, but catching on to the
emerging rules of the infinite game, and if nothing else keen to
be thought of as doing the right thing. Alongside these in turn
can be found still others – some of the biggest, most formidable,
and lumbering beasts in the landscape — that show zero indication
of giving any shits at all about the greater good.

THUS WE FIND OURSELVES IN A STRANGE

TRANSITIONAL ERA FOR BUSINESS.

Consider entrepreneur Tony Hsieh’s recent memoir Delivering

Happiness, which documents the heroic efforts at his company
Zappos to establish a viable niche as a service-oriented
online shoe retailer. This story elicits a paradoxical kind of
wonder. On the one hand, we can admire the way the organisation
has promoted passion, purpose, and positive experiences for
those in its immediate orbit. On the other hand, we may be
simultaneously baffled by a lack of attention to the happiness
of the invisible yet essential legions of workers further up
the supply chain; those who actually stitch and glue together
the shoes at the heart of each all-smiling transaction.
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 07

This integration of ethics into business, then, the “sociality”

of social enterprise, is patchy, with even some of the good
guys having serious blindspots, To misquote William Gibson,
social enterprise may already be here, but it’s by no means
evenly distributed.

Still, there is no mistaking the direction in which the

global connectivity, transparency, and systemic awareness are
pushing. Some people, reporting right from the cutting edge,
are perfectly positioned to help the rest of us understand
where social enterprise, and ultimately business in general,
need to go. Matthew Manos is such a person.

“The entire premise of social enterprise relies on reaction,”

he writes. The default setup is “post-traumatic innovation”,
but waiting until something has gone wrong— treating disaster
as the trigger for action­
— is irresponsible.

It turns out that thoughtfully engaged and ethically

motivated business can still be stuck in the past, solving
one set of problems while leaving others untouched, or even
making them worse.

It is therefore the aim of the book you are reading to

show that a crucial ingredient is missing from the social
enterprise formula: foresight.

The next generation of social entrepreneur must be “preemptive”,

less problem-ameliorating and more visionary, attending not
only to traumas in need of remedy, but also to opportunities
of shaping positive change, based in coherent, plural
perspectives on how the whole system could evolve.

Social entrepreneurs should also be futurists.

Now, this is a big idea, and dealing with big ideas is

hazardous, especially when it comes to value shifts. The more
basic, load-bearing, and “self-evident” the assumptions at
issue, the more readily attempts to address them risk being
dismissed as irrelevant (incompatible with current settings)
or redundant (since, once absorbed, previously unfamiliar
settings become normal again).

However, someone has to take on the big ideas, and in business,

“normal” needs major renovations. So regardless of whether
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 08

you already share its view, or disagree vehemently, you should

read this book.

To be slightly pre-emptive myself for a moment, it may be

that some readers find this argument for foresight to make a
poor accompaniment to a fond belief that the market already
and automatically incorporates whatever information about the
future it needs to.

You are invited to consider that the invisible hand mediating

market participants works only with information in the system,
and since there are no future facts, the hand can contribute
no more foresight than the parties themselves bring to the
situation. If we want markets to take the future into account,
the people in them need to do it.

Then again, there may be some entrepreneurs sceptical about

the value of designated “foresight” tools, since they already
are creating the future, thank you very much. This resembles
claims I have heard from some designers I’ve met over the
last ten years.

They are partly right, of course. But it is a truism to claim

that business, or design, is creating the future. As Kenneth
Boulding has pointed out, all decisions are about the future.
Merely existing helps to create the future, and inactions can
have an effect just as surely as actions do. Neither the claim
nor the fact that one is already “shaping the future” puts
that activity beyond the possibility of improvement.

The good news is that designers and entrepreneurs alike are

perfectly positioned to use strategic foresight approaches,
such as horizon scanning, scenario generation, and experiential
futures; the inherent future-shaping properties of design
and business make these valuable places to integrate such a
futures literacy.

Part of what Manos and his collaborators seek to do in this

book, very successfully I think, is show that entrepreneurs and
designers must take it upon themselves to be more systematic,
deliberate and detailed in articulating which futures are at
issue; which scenarios their efforts mean to help avoid and,
more importantly, which ones they intend to help realise.

Preemptive social enterprise, therefore, ties our initial

recognition of institutional capacity (“business is a powerful
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 09

category of actor”) to the capacity for individual action

(“what can I do?”), and turns a personal ethical problem
(“how can I as an individual exert meaningful influence?”)
into a collective design invitation (“what can I start, or
help to grow, that may have the outcomes I wish to see?”).

But let’s be clear about the depth and reach of what is

being suggested here. We are not talking about a one-time
goal shift, but about the development and integration of a
permanent and self-renewing orientation. Not merely a new
direction, but a new way to navigate.

One way to appreciate the significance of the argument is to

call to mind the generic taxonomy of “places to intervene
in a system” offered by Limits to Growth lead author and
pioneering systems thinker Donella Meadows. What Manos is
inviting social entrepreneurs to do, in effect, is move some
of their effort and attention upstream where greater influence
can be had. He would not merely have us put business in
service of different, even if more worthwhile, “goals of
the system” (number two on Meadows’s list). The case for
preemptive social enterprise is directly affects “the mindset
or paradigm” out of which the goals themselves arise. This
is leverage point number one, which implicitly impacts goals,
and everything else.

Why does this matter? The cultivation of a capacity for

strategic foresight entails a rigorous, informed, creative,
generative, and always updating view of the world’s and of
one’s own possibilities. Integrating it represents a change
with ongoing and ever-evolving implications for organisational
and individual activity.

In earlier work, echoed and amplified here, Manos has set

about addressing how entrepreneurship is done, carefully
documenting all existing business models in order to work
out where underexplored potential lies. So the perspective
of this book is –– bear with me now –– meta-entrepreneurial.
It is being entrepreneurial with regard to entrepreneurship
itself; not only using existing tools to put the changemaking
powerhouse of enterprise in service of “better goals”, but
seeking to make it self-improving. Retooling the toolkit.

As Stewart Brand, another important social innovator, and a

futurist too, has pointed out: “Nobody can save the world,
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 10

but any of us can help set in motion a self-saving world.”

Foresightful, anticipatory, or to use Manos’s chosen word,
preemptive social enterprise may well be a critical, organic
ingredient of a self-saving world; more flexible and resilient,
more apt to adjust and to learn.

PREEMPTIVE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IS A

BID FOR BUSINESS TO EMBRACE AN
ITERATIVE, ANTICIPATORY LEARNING
FUNCTION, AND FOR THIS TO FACE
OUTWARDLY AND INWARDLY AT
THE SAME TIME: “THE DESIGN OF
SCENARIOS, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY,
THE DESIGN OF OURSELVES WITHIN
THOSE SCENARIOS ALLOWS FOR
A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF OUR
POTENTIAL, PREFERRED, PROBABLE,
OR PLAUSIBLE FUTURES.”

“The design of ourselves” seems an important phrase. What

might this entail?

I suspect that the answer may rest in a central, and highly

valuable idea explored in this book. If you wish to realise
a changed world, it is important to invest in imagination.

Now, one reason why I think Matthew Manos is so effective as a

designer, as an entrepreneur, and as a person is that he doesn’t
take conventional dichotomies at face value. He does not, for
example, seem to see invention as being somehow elevated
over or opposed to the legwork of researching that which
already exists. This attitude lets him do the due diligence
of assembling a near-exhaustive catalogue of business models,
as well as adding his own––not only in theory but in ever-
iterating, ever-improving practice. Nor does he snap-to-grid
with an assumption that many others seem to live by, that
imagining and implementing are somehow opposites. Instead,
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 11

he treats the two, rightly I think, as equal, necessary and

complementary facets of the same changemaking work. This
lets him try out more ideas in a single project than a lot of
people could be proud to have initiated over a span of years.

Even the seemingly foundational opposites of fact and fiction,

when it comes to navigating change towards preferred futures,
are unhelpful signposts. For what is a dream that one means
to manifest if not both fiction and fact at once? Or rather,
fiction that aspires to fact, and thereby creates it?

So one of the conventional dichotomies that this work refuses,

critically, is the putative “realism” of business vs the
“indulgence” of imagination.

AGAIN: IMAGINATION IS AN INVESTMENT.

Over the past decade, designers have turned to futures

practice, and futurists to design, out of a mutual need
to integrate speculative and material registers. A flowering
of hybrid practices — experiential futures, design fiction,
speculative design – has been the result. All sorts of tangible
artifacts and immersive experiences that make futures more
easily shareable, thinkable and feelable. A few years ago,
fellow traveller Bruce Sterling proposed this definition of
design fiction, “the deliberate use of diegetic prototypes to
suspend disbelief about change”.

However, as digital media professor Janet Murray has observed,

“When we enter a fictional world, we do not merely ‘suspend’ a
critical faculty; we also exercise a creative faculty. We do
not suspend disbelief so much as we actively create belief.”
Similarly, interactive performance specialist Jeff Wirth points
out that his artform “does not rely on the ‘suspension of
disbelief’”, but rather “calls for an ‘investment of belief.’”

After a decade of working at this intersection of design and

futures, I think it may be time to retire our long-term loan
of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s wonderful but too-limited notion
of “suspension of disbelief”, in favour of this idea that we
really invest belief in our imaginings, in order to see where
they may take us. Suspension implies an interim state, with
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 12

nothing much changing once the thing suspended is reinstated.

But one invests with a view to a return.

Peter Lunenfeld’s “return on vision” cited by Manos is right

on point: we should invest in imagination, and seek our return
in the new options and pathways that thereby become available.

Why so? People are extraordinarily plastic, and versatile, as

testified by the massive (if lately endangered) diversity of
human cultures built atop a more or less identical biological
substrate. I’ve suggested this before, mashing up media
ecologist Marshall McLuhan and sociologist-futurist Fred
Polak: we shape our images of the future, and meanwhile they
shape us.

Therefore, if design has given to business some tools with which

to be more creative and intentional, and futures has offered
business a vocabulary of long-range outcomes, then perhaps
here we have a hint as to how business can return the favour
to both. The framing and language of investment, unshackled
from its bloodless, numerical bottom-line connotations, but
retaining the impulse to clear-eyed evaluation of what one
really values, and how much difference one’s actions are
really making, could prove an important loan for designers
and futurists alike.

This book calls for bringing futures and foresight work into
the repertoire of the social innovator or entrepreneur. We
have touched on why, and also also, broadly, how, by investing
time and effort in experimental belief structures, the
imagination of alternative worlds. If you’re as pragmatic and
results oriented as I hope you might be, then at this point
you’ll be itching for more concrete details. But WHAT does
this mean, specifically, on Monday morning?

Good, good. Read on!

The ultimate test of these ideas does not consist in what they
do for you on the page, but in your search for ways to take
them on in your life. The truest and fullest response is one
for you — for all of us, a community — to find in the doing,
and share.

I know, and suspect you know too, that business is changing,

and that it needs to change, dramatically so, in order at
 F oreword by S tuart C andy 13

last to fit the contours of the infinite game that makes all
of this possible.

I believe that if you follow along a little ways in the direction

this book is pointing, towards the preemptive social enterprise,
your practice may become more imaginative, your convictions
more grounded, your perceptions more trenchant, your action
more effective, and the world incrementally more just.

And I hope you will agree that it is well worth a try.

STUART CANDY
MUSEU DO AMANHÃ, RIO DE JANEIRO, JULY 2016

Stuart Candy is an experiential futurist and design professor who has spent a decade
opening up new approaches to collective imagination at the intersection of foresight
and design. His work on bringing futures to life through transmedia storytelling has
appeared in festivals, conferences, museums and city streets around the world, on
the Discovery Channel, and in the pages of The Economist and Wired. Focusing on
collaborative foresight for the greater good, he has partnered with clients ranging
from the United Nations Development Programme to the Sydney Opera House, IDEO,
University of Oxford, Burning Man, and the government of Singapore. A Fellow of
the Museum of Tomorrow (Brazil), INK (India) and The Long Now Foundation (USA),
he recently co-created The Thing From The Future, an award-winning card game for
generating design fiction.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 14

P A R T 01:

THE
MANIFESTO
—
Social entrepreneurship is almost always too late.

As practitioners of social enterprise, we hold the assumption

that our responsibility is to exclusively act post-crisis
in order to gradually chip away at a persistent problem,
or to maintain a state of peace. The art of reaction is
necessary, but the expectation of post-traumatic innovation
as the singular starting point for an entire industry is
limiting. What if social enterprise was also responsible for
preemption? What if social entrepreneurs were also futurists?
This is the message of our manifesto.
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 15
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 16

TOWARD A
PREEMPTIVE
SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 17

SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
IS A FIELD DEFINED BY
REACTION.
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 18
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 19

COULD A
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
EXIST, IF NOT FOR
SOMETHING
TERRIBLE?
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 20
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 21

COULD A SOCIAL
BUSINESS EXIST, IF
NOT FOR SOMETHING
HAVING GONE AWRY?
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 22

NO.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 23

COULD A
VENTURE-BACKED
STARTUP EXIST,
IF NOT FOR
SOMETHING
TERRIBLE?
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 24
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 25
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 26

THE ENCOURAGEMENT
TO THINK
PREEMPTIVELY IS
AMONG THE KEY
DIFFERENTIATORS
BETWEEN A SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE &
A TRADITIONAL
ENTERPRISE.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 27

THE
ENTIRE PREMISE
OF
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
RELIES ON REACTION.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 28

OURS IS A FIELD OF
BUSINESS THAT IS
BUILT UPON THE
FAILURE OF A NATURAL
OR SOCIETAL SYSTEM.
OURS IS NOT A FIELD
THAT PROFITS FROM
THE CONTEMPLATION
OF THE SIGNALS OF
THE FAILURES THAT
HAVE YET TO EXIST.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 29

SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURS
ARE INSPIRED
INTO ACTION BY
THE TRAUMA OF
THE PRESENT, &
INNOVATION IN
IS ONLY BORN
OUT OF AN
EXISTING STATE
OF EMERGENCY.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 30

SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURS
PERCEIVE TRAUMA
AS PERMISSION
TO INNOVATE.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 31

NOT
THIS IS
A RESPONSIBLE
ASSUMPTION.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 32

BY RELYING ON
TRAUMA TO BE OUR
LEADING INCUBATION
TACTIC FOR NEW
SOCIAL ENTERPRISES,
WE ARE DISTRACTING
OUR INDUSTRY FROM
ITS UNIQUE POTENTIAL
TO GO FAR BEYOND
THE OPPORTUNITY OF
YESTERDAY’S
CATASTROPHE.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 33

WHILE
PROFIT-MINDED
ENTERPRISE FINDS
SUCCESS ON THE
BASIS OF BALANCING
REACTION &
PREEMPTION, æ
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 34

SE
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 35
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 36

BUT REACTION CAN NO

LONGER BE REVERED
AS THE HOLY GRAIL,
OR SINGULAR
EXPECTATION, OF
THE NEW SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR.
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 37
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 38

FAILED TO ENCOURAGE
A DIVERSE SET OF
THEORIES AND
INITIATIVES CENTERED
AROUND A TRAUMA
THAT HAS YET TO
EXIST.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 39

THE
NEW
SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR æ
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 40

MUST
ALSO
BE
PREEMPTIVE.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 41

THE PREEMPTIVE
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
UNDERSTANDS A NEW
SUITE OF PREVIOUSLY
UNIMAGINED
PROBLEMS,
AS WELL AS THE NEXT
EVOLUTIONS FOR THE
PRESENT DAY’S MOST
PERSISTENT SOCIAL
AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ISSUES.
æ
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 42

THE NEXT WAVE

OF SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURS
MUST INCLUDE A
COMMUNITY
OF THOSE WHO
CHOOSE TO FOCUS
ON THE FUTURE.
THESE ARE
INNOVATORS
WHO REFUSE TO
WAIT FOR THE
BOMB TO EXPLODE.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 43

THE
PREEMPTIVE SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR
IMAGINES A FUTURE
THAT IS BESPOKE—
A FUTURE THAT IS
IDEAL.
THE
PREEMPTIVE SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR
WORKS BACKWARDS
FROM THE IDEAL.æ
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 44
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 45
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 46
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 47
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 48

THE
PREEMPTIVE
SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR
IS NOT NECESSARILY
A BUSINESS OWNER.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 49

WE MUSTN’T ALL
FOCUS ON
CLEANING BEACHES.

WE MUSTN’T ALL
FOCUS ON
FEEDING THE POOR.

WE MUSTN’T ALL
FOCUS ON
HOUSING THE
HOMELESS.
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 50
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 51

THE OLD SOCIAL

ENTREPRENEUR IS
FUELED BY THIS
KIND OF REACTION.
OF COURSE SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEURS
MUST BE ENGAGED
WITH THE TRAUMA OF
THE PRESENT, BUT THE
PREEMPTIVE SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR MUST
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 52

ALSO CONSIDER
THE TRAUMA OF THE
FUTURE.
æ
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 53

THE NEW SOCIAL

ENTREPRENEUR WILL
STRIKE A BALANCE
BETWEEN REACTION
AND PREEMPTION.
THE NEW SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR ASKS,
“WHAT IF?”, AND
THE NEW SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR IS
A FACILITATOR OF
CHANGE.
P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 54
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 55

WELCOME,
THE
NEW SOCIAL
ENTREPRENEUR.
 P art 0 1 : T he M anifesto 56

WE NEED YOU.

WE’RE GLAD
YOU’RE HERE.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 57

P A R T 02:

ESSAYS,
CONVERSATIONS,
SCENARIOS
—
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 58

Impractically
Practical
Matthew Manos

Editor's Note: This pair of essays was originally published in the exhibition
catalogue for "Impractically Practical.” While the premise holds true, the vo-
cabulary and framing has shifted slightly since its first publication. The initial
essay was built upon the premise of "Fictional Entrepreneurship.” Fictional
Entrepreneurship is the use of design fiction to imagine businesses in order to
discover what could be, creating things that are not impossible, but possible,
often times derived from utopian, theoretical, and philosophical principles.
Fictional entrepreneurship aims to author critical media through the creation
of enterprises (imaginary, and real). For this edition, we evolve the concept to
be re-framed as "Preemptive Entrepreneurship." This has proven to be a more
accurate representation of the concept as a whole.

—
Part 01: Preemptive Entrepreneurship

Numbers are a hindrance on history-making skills. Producing

cultural change is an act that is far too radical for a
quantitative practice. Entrepreneurs and researchers of
business often turn towards numbers to learn how coordination
or reallocation can be optimized to provide a great benefit
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 59

to either corporate or social entities. A quantitative and

theoretical stance like this is actually crippling to the
radical thinking of which an entrepreneur is capable, limiting
their ability to innovate that which does not exist and
change the way we, as consumers and human beings, perceive
the world around us, on both a macro and micro scale.

“WHY WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING TO

DISCOVER THE TRUTH WHEN YOU
CAN SO EASILY CREATE IT?1” DAVID BALDACCI

Culture-shifting entrepreneurs open possibilities for consumers

to change the way they see themselves. What is a logo? What is
a business? If a logo is merely a representation of something,
perhaps it is not limited to a vector or typeface, but instead
can be understood in terms of architectural structure. In the
same way, perhaps a business is not an exporter of goods and
services, but instead a manufacturer of vision, narrative,
and critical discourse. Perhaps business is a way of seeing
the world from the lens of the future as a way to understand the
here and now– a potential for preemption as opposed to reaction.

“THE APPEARANCE OF OBJECTS IN

INFORMATION SOCIETY […] IS NO
LONGER PRIMARILY VISUAL, BUT
INFORMATIONAL. THE INFORMATIONAL
IMPRINT OF A BRAND– OR LACK
THEREOF– PROVIDES A NEW PARADIGM
FOR ITS MANAGEMENT.2” METAHAVEN

Lifestyle, Social, and Serial are the current ways of defining

a private sector entrepreneur’s intentions. An understanding
of these three approaches to entrepreneurship is crucial
as we begin to examine the need for a new category. The
Lifestyle Entrepreneur is a catalyst for enterprise that
is motivated by a deep passion for the goods and services
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 60

they produce. This can be often found in local, brick-and-

mortar business as well as extreme niches and family owned
business, passed down from generation to generation. The
principal of a “lifestyle enterprise” takes sincere pride in
the tradition of their business as well as the integrity of
their exports, placing that love before revenue. Perhaps a
more “greedy” category of entrepreneurial endeavor is known
as the “serial entrepreneur.” A serial entrepreneur is a
business innovator that is attracted to profit and tends to see
a value and opportunity in everything. These are the kinds
of innovators that will sell something for which they feel no
passion just to turn a profit. Revenue is the primary concern.
Businesses that are the result of such intentions tend to be
knock-off brands or other products and services that lack
originality and innovation. The final category within the
field of entrepreneurship is the Social Entrepreneur. A social
entrepreneur is a designer of business whose intentions are
not in capital gain, but instead in the advancement of the
greater good of society. A social enterprise is one that
thinks and operates as a nonprofit organization would, but is
designed to be able to sustain itself and actually create a
profit as opposed to relying on funding from the government
or private donors. This innovative approach to business is
often referred to as “good capitalism,” a response to the
greed and excess the business industry is so often criticized
for. While each of these three approaches to entrepreneurship
are drastically different, they each are connected in the
sense that they are reactionary. It is believed by business
theorists that consumers only know what they need after a
change or event has taken place3. Therefore, entrepreneurship
is always a response, or a reaction. I would like to question
this outlook on entrepreneurship by suggesting a new category
within the field that is not a response, but a catalyst.
Preemptive Entrepreneurship.

“WHY SAVE THE WORLD WHEN

WE CAN DESIGN IT?” SERPICA NARO

Now, more than ever, is the time for the field of business,
and the role of entrepreneurs to change drastically. We have
entered a time in which we lack the capability to foresee what
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 61

technological advancements and capabilities will take place

in the next four years. It's said that the 10 most sought
after jobs of 2010 did not exist in 2004, and I argue that the
top 30 jobs of 2030 do not exist as I sit at my desk, typing
this today. So how do we, as designers, understand the future
of markets, and the future of business design? We make it up.

“L ARGER PROVIDERS WILL ENGAGE IN

A FRENZY OF CONSOLIDATIONS TO
ACQUIRE STOCKPILES OF REPURPOSABLE
CONTENT. DIVERSITY DECLINES AS THE
LITTLE GUYS CONTINUE TO GO OUT
OF BUSINESS. THIS UGLY SITUATION
WILL CONTINUE UNTIL SOMEBODY
SMART ENOUGH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE
OF THE OPPORTUNITY CREATES NEW
BUSINESS MODELS WITH WHICH
CONTENT– REAL, ENGAGING CONTENT–
CAN FLOURISH. AGAIN, BUSINESS
INNOVATION IS AS IMPORTANT AS
TECHNOLOGICAL INVENTION. WE
FACE A CRISIS IN CONTENT– WHO
WILL MAKE IT, HOW WILL IT BE PAID
FOR, AND WHAT WILL IT BE WORTH
IN A NEW MEDIA WORLD?4” BRENDA LAUREL

It should go without saying that imaginary thinking and fiction

is a necessity in the field of business. Without intervention
and risk-taking, the world becomes synonymous to a treadmill.
I argue that the innovation process can be pushed to a
radical extreme, a level none of us can possibly foresee
or imagine. This requires a substantial risk, calling for
the entrepreneur to leave behind capitalistic and financial
preoccupations to become a visionary author who can inspire
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 62

and frame digestible futures from which we can work backwards.

To succeed in this age of technological innovation that has
proven to spread faster than a bad rash, we really have
no choice but to work in terms of fantasy. I should be
clear in my definition of “success” by stating that success
is measured here by the impact of change in a culture’s
understanding of the world around it. If that substantial
impact of change includes revenue, then so be it, but that
is not the priority here. Preemptive Entrepreneurship takes
what is expected of the future, and turns it on its head in
order to change the ways in which we understand the world
through futures-driven business-design. It is a method of
storytelling through imagining new business and a tool to
help imagine new innovations within the business industry
in order to craft the culture of the future, or critique the
culture of the present.

The design of preemptive business can accomplish more than

the design or growth of any reactive business. Business is an
industry that is extremely limited by practicality due to the
interest of investors, demographics, and financial matters.
The desire for efficiency and viability is a hindrance on
the creativity of an entrepreneur and the ability for an
entrepreneur to define our future. Preemptive Entrepreneurship,
on the other hand, requires no investment of money, only the
investment of imagination. This form of “investment” not only
allows us to imagine what future businesses may be capable of,
but also defines our future culture. An interesting tool that
Design Fiction (speculative, critical, and narrative driven
design) brings to the table is an advocacy for the use of
an expansive imagination and an elimination of practicality
in order to pose questions that, like Science Fiction, are
not impossible, but possible. In the same way, Preemptive
Entrepreneurship offers a method that calls for a complete
abandonment of practicality in order to think in new, very
specific ways and radical ways, with the intention to generalize
and inspire a practical, real outcome.

“CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY: THE

HOME DEPOTS AND NIKES OF THE
WORLD HAVE GREATER CAPACITY"
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TO ACHIEVE MORE FOR GREATER

GOOD BECAUSE OF THEIR SCALE.
ONCE INCREMENTAL CHANGE FOR
THEM BECOMES MASSIVE CHANGE
FOR THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY. 5” BRUCE MAU

Future thinking in regards to entrepreneurship is not only

a method of creating speculative enterprise, but also social
enterprise. An inherent issue with capitalism is its tendency
to not only think of the here and now as opposed to the future
implications of our work. A preemptive entrepreneur is one
that creates the ideal in order to imagine a perfect future,
using fiction to work towards it and to express it. In a sense,
it is this idealism, and ability to create culture-shifting
models that makes a preemptive entrepreneur something far more
powerful than any CEO – a critical design entrepreneur. Jackson
Wang’s Peace of Mind™ uses “Speculative Intrapreneurship6,” a
technique of Preemptive Entrepreneurship, to imagine a future
collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security
and Target. “Speculative Intrapreneurship” is the use of
fiction to imagine a pre-existing business or institution
in a different, oftentimes future, scenario. Through this
“Intrapreneurial” fantasy depicted in Peace of Mind™, Jackson
Wang successfully transforms two well known entities in a way
that makes the critical and political commentary on society’s
hyper-paranoia in regards to terrorism tangible and grounded
in a world we all understand.

“CONTEMPT FOR THE INTELLIGENCE

OF THE AUDIENCE ENGENDERS
GRAPHICS THAT LIE… GRAPHIC
EXCELLENCE BEGINS WITH TELLING
THE TRUTH.” EDWARD R. TUFTE

As we see with the Peace of Mind™ project, Preemptive

Entrepreneurship’s capabilities are not limited to the
cultivation and invention of new markets, products, and services
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 64

through imagination and speculation in the field of business

alone. Preemptive Entrepreneurship also has the ability to
work within the realm of research and academia, adopting this
speculative approach as a way to talk about complex issues
in an accessible manner. Preemptive entrepreneurship allows
us to not only speculate the future, but influence and invent
it. By not responding to change and instead serving as a
catalyst for it, we are not predicting the future needs or
desires, but we are initiating them. I find this to be true
entrepreneurship.

If design fiction is meant to “exercise the human imagination7,”

as Julian Bleecker states in his essay that defined the
practice, then why are the forms and language surrounding
these projects often times so inaccessible? Pushing this
line of work into the context of a business, something we
encounter daily and that we are all a part of, we are able to
make critical discourse approachable and transparent in and
out of academia’s very tall walls. Powerful critical design
does not present itself as critical design. Powerful design
fiction does not present itself as fiction. Instead, a critical
message that will truly resonate with an audience is one that
suspends disbelief, and Preemptive Entrepreneurs have this
capability.

Take for example Lauren McCarthy, a critical design entrepreneur

with an interest in the effects of technology on our society’s
social interactions. McCarthy’s work takes the shape of
technological innovation products as a way to both suspend
the audience’s disbelief and make this critical discourse
accessible to a wider audience. The Happiness Hat is a part
of the Tools for Improved Social Interaction series8, and is a
wearable device that “trains” the user to smile more through
a punishment system that stabs the hat-wearer in the back of
the head when a frown is detected. Conversacube9, like The
Happiness Hat, trains the user to adapt to social situations
by prompting each conversant with directions or specific lines
to keep the conversation running seamlessly with minimal
awkward pauses and uncomfortable moments. What new products
and services will emerge as our society becomes more and
more socially inept due to invasive technology? How can we
stop these products from ever having to be manufactured?
The latter is at the heart, or communicative desire, of
a dystopian, preemptive, enterprise such as the models of
impact presented in Lauren McCarthy’s work, is the advantage
of mass production?
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 65

“PEOPLE WITH IMAGINATION MAY

BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE A SYNTHESIS
WITH A GIVEN COMBINATION THAT
OTHER PEOPLE WOULD BE UNABLE TO
VISUALIZE. IT IS THE IMAGINATION THAT
DICTATES WHAT KINDS OF SYNTHESIS
ARE BELIEVED TO BE POSSIBLE.10” MARK CASSON

Queer Technologies is a preemptive organization founded by

critical design entrepreneur, Zach Blas. QT explores the
concept of an “interstitial organization” that innovates and
manufactures a product line for queer agencies, interventions,
and social formations. Blas describes his work as being
an established flow of resistance within a larger sphere
of capitalist structure that uses common viral tactics of
mass production and dissemination as a tool for engaging an
audience in discourse surrounding issues of queer socialites
in current technological trends.

“QUEER TECHNOLOGIES PRODUCT LINE

INCLUDES TRANSCODER, A QUEER
PROGRAMMING ANTI-LANGUAGE;
ENGENDERINGGENDERCHANGERS, A
'SOLUTION' TO GENDER ADAPTERS’
MALE/FEMALE BINARY; GAY
BOMBS, A TECHNICAL MANUAL
MANIFESTO THAT OUTLINES A
'HOW TO' OF QUEER POLITICAL
ACTION THROUGH TERRORIST
ASSEMBLAGES OF NETWORKED
ACTIVISM; GRID, AN ETYMOLOGICAL
REFORMULATION OF THE NAME
BRIEFLY HELD BY HIV/AIDS AND"
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DIGITAL GRIDS OF COMMUNICATION

AND TRANSMISSION, IS A DATA
VISUALIZATION APPLICATION
THAT TRACKS THE DISSEMINATION
OF QT PRODUCTS AND MAPS
THE 'BATTLE PLANS' FOR
SPREADING, NETWORKING,
AND INFECTION.11” ZACH BLAS

The Queer Technologies project uses “Shop Dropping,” a

technique of preemptive entrepreneurship, as a tool for
engaging a larger audience. A “shop dropper” creates a
preemptive product and places it in a store in which the
entrepreneur sees fit, left for consumers to stumble upon. QT
products such as the ENgenderingGenderchangers were dropped
in Radio Shacks, Best Buys, and other technology shops across
the nation (until they were discovered by the employees, of
course). This tactic allows the discourse to enter the public
realm, simultaneously suspending the consumer’s disbelief
while allowing them to question reality, and raise questions
of their own around the critical issues at hand. What if
critical design entrepreneurs were not the sole practitioners
of their preemptive enterprise, but instead designed a model
that allows anyone to take part in the manufacturing of
critical goods?

Measures of Discontent is a line of dystopian products by

Michael Kontopoulos, a preemptive entrepreneur. Equally
inspired and disgusted by the tradition of “Gross National
Happiness” in Bhutan, an effort to impose quantifiable values to
the “happiness” of its people, Kontopoulos’ critical scenarios
imagine a future in which products/tools are manufactured to
allow users to measure their discontent. But Kontopoulos is
not the sole proprietor of his preemptive enterprise, it is
open source. In the true spirit of an imaginative future in
which these tools would be needed by all, schematics and
step-by-step guides are provided, as part of the project, so
that anyone could theoretically build these devices on their
own. In the true spirit of preemptive entrepreneurship, the
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 67

body of work presents the audience with something that is

not impossible, but possible, and in doing so, allows us to
imagine the possible ramifications and implications of such
a world.

We have just explored a small ample of preemptive enterprises

that have the potential to shift culture, and change the
perspective of society— delivered in the form of fiction.

But fiction is not enough.

The invention of fantasy, scenarios, and products of fiction

is not where the process ends, it is what allows us to see
and react to what is needed. To continue requires preemptive
entrepreneurs to take a fictional construct and root it back
into what is feasible today. In doing so, a critical design
entrepreneur creates a model that is far more powerful then
the suspension of disbelief: the design of fact. Could a
preemptive entrepreneur, then, actually be non-fictional?
Preemptive Entrepreneurship can serve as a process that leads
critical design entrepreneurs to non-fictional innovation, or
“diegetic business.” In creative fiction writing, diegesis is
a tool for crafting an “inner world,” or defining the setting
of a story. A diegetic business, then, is an enterprise that
serves as a metaphor for the context around it. It is a
non-fictional business that can tell a story and serve as a
representation for the criticality it hopes to communicate,
the time in which it exists, and the narrative it hopes to tell.
What does Diegetic Business look like?

Part 02: Diegetic Business

Fiction is not enough, but it is necessary.

Preemptive Entrepreneurship allows for innovation within a

fictional model. It allows for wiggle room, iteration, failure,
and for ideas to transform into other ideas. Preemptive
Entrepreneurship is about raising social and critical dialogue
around issues within our daily lives, our governments, and our
societies. It is about telling a damn good story, but above
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 68

all, about creating things that change that which we think we

have an understanding of. It is about being an entrepreneur
of the “impractical.”

“MAINLY THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT

THE FUTURE, AND THEY WOULD
BADGER US ABOUT WHAT’S GOING TO
HAPPEN TO US. FINALLY, I SAID: ‘LOOK,
THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE
IS TO INVENT IT. THIS IS THE CENTURY
IN WHICH YOU CAN BE PROACTIVE
ABOUT THE FUTURE; YOU DON’T HAVE
TO BE REACTIVE. THE WHOLE IDEA OF
HAVING SCIENTISTS AND TECHNOLOGY
IS THAT THOSE THINGS YOU CAN
ENVISION AND DESCRIBE CAN ACTUALLY
BE BUILT.’ IT WAS A SURPRISE TO THEM
AND IT WORRIED THEM.12” ALAN KAY

Diegetic Business is an evolved state of preemptive enterprise

that is about the transformation from fiction to non-fiction.
Diegetic Business is not “non-fiction,” it is the in-between
of the imaginary and the real. It is a process that begins to
involve people, profit, nonprofit, etc., but is not quite there
yet. Diegetic Business is about failure, problem-making, and
being a naive inventor.

If entrepreneurship and innovation are about making a need that

only that product can fill, entrepreneurship, like design, is
growing as a field that is not “problem-solving,” but “problem-
making.” True innovation, and true futuring practices come
not from fixing things, but breaking them.

Why would we want to foster entrepreneurs and business models

that do not take care of our daily annoyances, but create them?
Why would a consumer ever engage with a product that makes
their life less efficient? We don’t want to, and they wouldn’t,
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 69

but it is a necessary step in this transformative phase

from the imaginary to the real. A successful entrepreneur,
or “future inventor” does not meet our current needs, but
foresees our future needs and problems. In order to do this,
they need to make them. As we have previously explored, this
is the sweet spot for the preemptive entrepreneur.

“I DON’T KNOW WHO DISCOVERED

WATER, BUT IT WASN’T A FISH.13”
MARSHALL MCCLUHAN

If you are immersed in the context and the content, you have
an extremely difficult time being able to see what is going
on. This is proof of the idea that being naive is actually
crucial when approaching the design of a business model. In
a conversation with Peter Lunenfeld, a master of futuring
practices and media design education, he claimed that we,
as a society, need more “hedgefoxes.” A hedgefox is a hybrid
creature that is part hedgehog (able to deep-dive into a
subject matter), and part fox (able to go quickly back and
forth between subject matter). The same is true in the field
of business– it is ideal to be have deep knowledge in one
matter, but have hybridity in your nature, allowing you to
freely explore other mediums that are unfamiliar to you.
Choose mediums you are unfamiliar with, but bring your bits
of familiarity with you.

In April (of 2011), I paid a visit to some of Silicon Valley’s most

successful and innovative entrepreneurs in order to discuss
these radical theories of business and entrepreneurship and
get their take. One executive in particular, Amir Abolfathi,
embodies the persona of a preemptive entrepreneur. Amir is
the co-inventor of Invisalign, the world’s first invisible
teeth correcting device, as well as many other products
within the dental industry. When I heard about one of his
recent endeavors, Sonitus Medical, I became intrigued by
the project’s “imaginary” qualities– a hearing aid embedded
in teeth. Sonitus Medical is the world’s first removable
hearing aid that uses bone conduction of the teeth to enhance
hearing. Amir admitted to me that, while he is a master of
teeth, he honestly knew nothing about the hearing industry
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 70

before conceptualizing this company. He claimed that is was

this naivety that actually made him a better innovator in
the hearing industry, because it allowed him to come up with
hundreds of ideas and sketches that were in no way possible
or practical. By leaving practicality behind, and by being
naive to the capabilities and possibilities in the hearing
industry, Amir was able to come up with ideas that were never
previously considered.

Failure, like naivety, in entrepreneurship is critical– this

is where preemptive entrepreneurship can play a strong role.
By being an entrepreneur of fiction (fictional consumers,
fictional capital, fictional product), you have nothing to lose
and can iterate freely until you are ready to become diegetic.

Oblong Industries is a living example of viable business as

a result of speculative thinking. Though the goal of the
business is not to raise social and critical dialogue, it
remains a prime example of Preemptive Entrepreneurship due
to its ability to influence a change on humanity’s perception
of daily life and routine. Originally a fantastical image of
the future, the infamous Minority Report interface has been
made a reality by the g-speak platform, a product of Oblong
Industries and the speculative design innovation of John
Underkoffler, the technology consultant for Minority Report
Scientist for Oblong. In 2010, I had the pleasure of visiting
Oblong Industries to see the product in action and meet
their former CEO, Kwindla Hultman Kramer. A highlight from
my discussion with Kwindla was his answer to my question, “Is
the process of making a concept of fiction a viable business
model a difficult one?” Kwindla informed me that he believes
all innovative businesses start as fictional constructs, but
that the process of attracting investors to believe in such
a speculative concept can be a difficult one. The detail
seen in the design of Minority Report’s gestural interface
successfully suspends the audience’s disbelief and uses
preemptive entrepreneurship to make these abstract visions
of the future tangible.

While the interfaces and products in Minority Report are the

result of a preemptive entrepreneur’s early experiments and
innovations, the interfaces and products of Oblong industries
are that of a Diegetic Business– they are able to hold onto
the innovative and imaginative qualities of the vision brought
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 71

to life in Minority Report while seamlessly entering the

beginning stages of commercialization.

The development of a diegetic enterprise does not need to be

one with commercial intentions, but can also be one that is
used as a tool for raising social dialogue and maintaining
critical integrity. The successful qualities of using business
as a medium for these kinds of communicative approaches
is that it is very accessible– business is a medium that
everyone is a part of. Especially in western society, we are
surrounded by and embedded within business on a daily basis.
Therefore, using business as a tool for raising these issues
or jamming our culture can reach a larger market and attract
more participation than any other medium. Two examples of
Diegetic Business, and entrepreneurs of cultural criticism
are The Yes Men and Natalie Jerimijenko’s Environmental Health
Clinic.

The Yes Men are a group of over 300 culture jammers. They
impersonate leaders and big corporations in order to publicly
humiliate them while raising dialogue around the wrongdoings
we often forget about. In 2016, The Yes Men executed upon an
elaborate prank on the National Rifle Association in order to
shed light on gun violence, and gun laws. From the project’s
website:

“BUY A GUN, GIVE A GUN TO

AN AMERICAN IN AN AT-RISK
NEIGHBORHOOD. YOU KNOW HOW
IMPORTANT IT IS TO PROTECT YOUR
FAMILY. BUT YOU MAY NOT KNOW
THAT SOME OF AMERICA’S POOREST
CITIZENS CANNOT AFFORD TO ARM
THEMSELVES AGAINST THOSE WHO
WOULD LIMIT THEIR FREEDOMS. THAT’S
WHY THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION
IS PROUD TO PARTNER WITH SMITH &
WESSON TO SHARE THE SAFETY.” THE YES MEN
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Share the Safety, a Diegetic Business, leverages the vernacular

of trending models of impact in the private sector (such as
the “One for One” model of TOMS fame) to imagine a not-so-
distant world. As a piece of satire, the project leverages
a political aesthetic in order to shed light on just how
easy it is to acquire a deadly weapon in the United States.
The Yes Men’s work goes beyond the imaginary by bringing
fictional personas and products into a society as a way to
shift culture. These projects are Diegetic because they exist
as operating businesses that have roots in the imaginary, but
are able to maintain the social and critical values through
the threshold of “real.” They are an artifact– extracted
from a story. How can a simple object, a result of critical-
entrepreneurial thinking, use charm and humor to communicate
a profound cultural issue?

Natalie Jerimijenko takes existing models and remixes them

to raise dialogue around social and environmental dialogue.
Jerimijenko’s business, The Environmental Health Clinic,
operates as any other health clinic would, but instead of
coming to this particular clinic with your own health issues,
you come to it to discuss the health of your environment. After
their consultation, visitors of the clinic are given tools for
water sampling to understand the state of their water supply,
and raise their issues with people of office.

The Environmental Health Clinic is a Diegetic Business that

begins to engages a culture by giving them real, working
products to both educate and empower them to raise their own
dialogue and start their own initiatives around environmental
issues. The bizarre nature of their sampling tools immediately
provokes questioning from the peers around them– this creates
a model which uses diegetic artifacts to tell a story to
others, and watch it spread virally throughout the city.

“THESE BESPOKE FUTURES GO BEYOND

PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENTS TO
CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY SPACE FOR THE
IMAGINATION, ENABLING INDIVIDUALS
AND INDEPENDENT GROUPS TO CREATE
VISIONS OF THE FUTURE THAT INSPIRE"
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THEM. THE POINT IS TO MOVE FROM P&L

TO V&F— PROFIT AND LOSS TO VISION
AND FUTURITY, FROM ROI TO ROV‚— THE
RETURN ON INVESTMENT TO A RETURN
ON VISION.” PETER LUNENFELD

The key to creating a Utopian vision of the future is community

engagement and the collective agreement of the masses. As
Peter Lunenfeld highlights in his book, The Secret War of
Downloading and Uploading, a dystopian vision is the default
answer from designers of the future because utopia can not be
agreed upon. Utopia is different for every individual. Like
a fingerprint, no one person’s perception of utopia can ever
be the same as another’s. Dystopia, on the other hand, is
widely agreed upon. While preemptive enterprise and diegetic
business are not immune to a dystopian image, the practice
can allow us the freedom to explore futures in many ways.
How can we start planning for a more ideal future, designing
one around which we would actually appreciate engaging in
dialogue? How can we, as designers of the future, design
utopia for a wide demographic that extends beyond ourselves?
How can an entrepreneurial method/approach to thinking engage
a wide audience, or at least one that is bigger than ourselves?

Welcome, the Preemptive Entrepreneur.

 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 74

****

WORKS CITED, PART 01:

1. Baldacci, David. “The Whole Truth.” Quoted in Newsweek.

2. MetaHaven. UNCORPORATE IDENTITY. Switzerland: Lars Muller Publishers,

2010. 52.

3. Spinosa, Charles, Fernando Flores, and Hubert L. Dreyfus. Disclosing

New Worlds: Entrepreneurship, Democratic Action, and The Cultivation
of Solidarity. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1997. 41.

4. Laurel, Brenda. Utopian Entrepreneur. Cambridge: The MIT Press. 2001.

93.

5. Mau, Bruce. Massive Change. London: Phaidon, 2004. 131.

6. Wang, Jackson. “Peace of Mind™.” Peace of Mind™. 06 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.peaceofmind.us.com>.

7. Bleecker, Julian. “Design Fiction: A Short Essay on Design, Science,

Fact, and Fiction.” Near Future Laboratory. 29 Mar. 2009. 12 Mar.
2011. <http://www.nearfuturelaboratory.com>.

8. McCarthy, Lauren. “Tools for Improved Social Interaction.” Lauren

McCarthy. 12 Mar. 2011. <http://www.lauren-mccarthy.com>.

9. McCarthy, Lauren. “Conversacube.” Lauren McCarthy. 12 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.lauren-mccarthy.com>.

10. Casson, Mark. The Entrepreneur. Quoted in Disclosing New Worlds. 120.

11. Blas, Zach. “Queer Technologies.” Zach Blas. 25 Mar. 2011. <http://
www.zachblas.info>.

****

WORKS CITED, PART 02:

12. Kay, Alan. “Predicting The Future.” Ecotopia, 20 May 2011. <http://
www.ecotopia.com/webpress/futures.htm>.

13. McCluhan, Marshall. Quoted in “Predicting The Future.” Alan C. Kay,

Ecotopia. 20 May 2011.<http://www.ecotopia.com/webpress/futures.htm>.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 75

What Does it Mean

to be a Futurist?
Matthew Manos

Editor's Note: Essay by Matthew Manos, originally published by the

ArtCenter College of Design for "Micro Meta Mega,” a summer research
initiative lead by Anne Burdick for the Graduate Media Design Program.
This essay is included to serve as a primer for the vocabulary and theories
presented in the pieces to follow.

—
While approaches to futuring vary from institution to
institution, a multitude of continuities, themes, and terms
transcend. These elements consist of a series of tools, terms,
and perspectives that work together to guide the envisioning
process. The following is an overview of various tools,
terms, and perspectives in/on the practices of foresight.
While my own research on the discipline has sustained a
primary focus on the research and processes of institutions
and individuals, I will also highlight “theologies” of the
future– how different backgrounds can breed different kinds
of approaches to futurist theory.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 76

Futuring Tools
Futuring practices rely on a series of tools. These tools are
useful approaches to the envisioning of a future, as well
as the communication of these ideas to the inhabitants of
that future. Scenario development, a tool used throughout
a multitude of disciplines and fields, is a great asset to
any futurist’s toolbox, allowing for “fictional prototypes”
of sorts. The design of scenarios, and, most importantly,
the design of ourselves within those scenarios allows for a
deep understanding of our potential, preferred, probable, or
plausible futures. Scenarios are crafted in varying levels of
detail– they can result in designed environments (like what
we see in Minority Report or Avatar), they can be imagined in
literature, they can be illustrated in a series of diagrams…
the possibilities are open to the creator’s judgment and
inspired by the content of the scenario and the community
they are engaging with the vision. While scenario development
is a crucial aspect in the “prototyping” and portrayal of
the future, a few other tools can be implemented prior to
this hefty process: signals, research and design, and design
fiction. Each of these make up the pieces of a finished scenario:
inspiration, people, and prototype.

A signal, such as child obesity or air pollution, is an objective

observation of the current environment, its inhabitants, and
the relationship between the two. Often stemming from data,
conversations, and observations, a signal serves as a piece of
evidence that allows us to better understand the ramifications
of today, on tomorrow. Signals can serve as inspiration for
humanists, inventors, and entrepreneurs to craft and design
a better world. In a trip north to the Silicon Valley, I
met with author and entrepreneur, Jon Gillespie-Brown. Brown
refers to a business idea as an “itch.” An “itch,” in business,
like a “signal” in futuring, is an annoyance (or a need) that
is shared by the majority of human beings. To predict the
success of a business, or the success of a future, the itch,
or signal, must be shared. Therefore, the next piece of the
“futuring puzzle” is people.

R&D is a corporate method that leverages a team of designers,

engineers, and researchers to innovate products and conduct
user studies. When applied to the field of futuring, an
R&D team can serve as a great asset by leveraging design-
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 77

fiction methodologies to create diegetic prototypes while

simultaneously testing those prototypes on people, through
ethnography and the design of interventions. R&D teams that
create designs for people, inspired by signals, can begin to
craft futures that go beyond “me.”

Futuring Terms
Many terms are used within the community of futurists, but I
have collected major and frequent ones here. These terms are
a result of my research of language used by The Institute for
the Future and Stuart Candy of both The Long Now Foundation
and OCAD.

FORECAST: A forecast, often used for business planning

and innovation, is commonly the result of quantitative
research and is used to describe a prediction or estimate
that can take place anywhere from tomorrow to roughly two
years in the future.

OUTLOOK: An outlook, like a forecast, is also often the

result of quantitative findings. However, an outlook
refers to a longer timeline, roughly 10 years and up, and
is often used to focus on broader issues like health, for
example. An outlook allows us to predict on the basis of
current information.

HORIZONS: A horizon, unlike an outlook or a forecast, uses

a qualitative research methodology. Referring to a mid-
level timeline (about 3-10 years in the future), a horizon
is the limit of a person’s mental perception, experience,
or interest and is often used for business planning and
technological innovation.

POSSIBLE FUTURE: A possible future covers the scope of

everything that might happen, un-edited. This means that
all of the wild cards and unlikely situations, like an
airplane crash, are included in the scenario.

PROBABLE FUTURE: The probable future is what is likely to

happen because of our current situation– an extension
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of today’s trends. While the probable future commonly

consists of the most likely scenarios, predictions of
these sorts may or may not become a reality.

PLAUSIBLE FUTURE: The plausible future is everything in

between the possible and the probable futures.

PREFERABLE FUTURE: The preferable future is what we want

to happen; it is a future scenario that serves as an
inspiration for each of us to work towards individually.
It does not just happen, it requires action.

Futuring Framing & Success Measures:

Peter Lunenfeld has a great way of framing the future with two
well designed descriptors: “bespoke futures” and “mutants in
the rose bowl,” perhaps more generally referred to as “utopia”
and “dystopia.”

“ONE REASON WE HAVE SO LITTLE FAITH

IN THE FUTURE IS THAT THE SHAPE OF
THINGS TO COME HAS NEVER BEEN
SO INADEQUATELY IMAGINED. WE
TEND TO SEE UTOPIA AS RELENTLESSLY
PERSONAL, WHILE THE APOCALYPSE IS
ONE OF THE FEW SHARED UNIVERSALS.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHILE WE CAN
POSIT A FUTURE FOR OURSELVES AS
INDIVIDUALS (AND EVEN AS MEMBERS
OF A FAMILY) WE HAVE LITTLE IN THE
WAY OF POSITIVE IMAGINATION FOR
THE REALM OF THE SOCIAL, MUCH LESS
THE POLITICAL.” PETER LUNENFELD
FROM "BESPOKE FUTURES: MEDIA DESIGN AND THE VISION DEFICIT”
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To judge the outcome of a vision, it is beneficial to define

a series of success measures to ensure that the scenarios
being produced are contributing to the development of a world
we wish to inhabit, or a direction we wish to work towards.
The Institute for the Future provides three of these success
measures: happiness, legacy, and resilience.

HAPPINESS: Will this envisioned future create happiness?

Can a moment of well-being be constrained and reproduced?
Is there a possibility for a collapse in biochemistry? Has
the futurist accounted for this collapse and prepared for
the ramifications?

LEGACY: What will my great grandchildren say? What can I

do to make that statement true?

RESILIENCE: Is the future evolvable in the sense that it

encourages rapid innovation? Does the scenario include
ambient collaboration, environments designed for positive
feedback? Is there a plan for using renewable sources as
rewards– reverse scarcity? Are awe, wonder, and appreciation
used to build strategic advantage– adaptive emotions? Is
an infrastructure in place to find and link empowered,
hopeful individuals to create an amplified optimism?

Futuring Perspectives:
Though many of the practices that have been analyzed and de-
scribed in this article have primarily focused on the tactics
of specific futuring institutions and individuals, it is im-
portant to consider the role of futuring in other disciplines
and belief systems outside of the “futurist circle,” includ-
ing the historical, religious, and scientific.

Great opportunity resides in the futuring practice to create

a model of innovation and communal participation that pre-
scribes the concept of “preferred futures” while going beyond
the self. Is it possible to design an ideal future for more
than just ourselves? In many ways, this is what the concept
of Preemptive Social Enterprise hopes to achieve.
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Meditations on
Preemptive Social
Enterprise
In this section, we turn to a group of futurists who reflect casually on three
critical questions. Their answers, presented here, consider the feasibility,
implications, and opportunities of a new movement in social enterprise.

—
“One of the big themes in this publication is the
recommendation for non-profit executives and
social entrepreneurs to embrace strategic foresight.
In doing so, the hope is that we can move from a
reactionary practice to one that is visionary and
preemptive. As someone who is actively studying
the future – do you think this is possible?”

DR. ZHAN LI:

Depending on their mission and context, many nonprofits and social en-
terprises are, of course, already proactively visionary. But even those that
emphasize this often have yet to deploy rigorous, systematic strategic fore-
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 81

sight practices. Which is unfortunate—as these practices can deepen not

only the structuring of an organization’s visioning across different possible
futures, but also the ways that those visions are tested and realized. In the
past, a challenge to non-profits adopting these methods has been that the
resources and time commitment has been high, especially for establishing
long-term foresight processes designed to support ongoing reflection and
transformation for organizations. But the costs have been falling with the
rise of new technological capabilities and innovations in methods. And
non-profits may even possess advantages over for-profits. A key challenge
for foresight advocates, whether they are external consultants or internal
champions, is ensuring that their organization stretches itself in adopting
a longer time horizon for vision-building than one constrained strictly
by short-termist business model needs; the pressure and entrenchment of
such constraints is likelier to be greater in commercial companies than in
non-profit initiatives.

NATHAN SHEDROFF:
No question. I think it was Brian David Johnson who said something
like, “if you don’t bother to imagine better futures, you’ll get a future you
don’t want.” (At least, I think it was him. If not, I’ll claim credit!). Leader-
ship, Strategy, and Foresight are inseparably connected. Leadership is the
clear communication of a vision for the future that others want to follow.
That’s it. It has nothing to do with authority or power. That vision is crit-
ical and that’s where foresight can be so influential. If you don’t have the
right vision of the future—one that doesn’t inspire people to be a part of
it—you can’t lead. Period. Well, I guess you could lead, but only yourself.
That’s when people have to fall back on authority, which is a pale and
far second choice. Most of strategy is trying to understand the context for
your organization, nonprofit or for-profit, so that you can create a new
vision that can be successful, and then the paths to get there. It’s never as
simple as that, since foresight isn’t about prediction but preparation; but
foresight and design thinking are like insurance policies that the rest of
your strategic leadership will be successful.

Just having a wider context of possibilities, because you bothered to take

a small amount of time to imagine several, possible, and preferable futures
creates better preparation for whatever future emerges. It makes you more
nimble and clear as the future unfolds and helps you to meld your own
goals and missions with markets, industries, and organizations as they
change. This is why we created the MBA in Strategic Foresight: successful,
creative leaders need a combination of foresight, business, systems, and
design skills. They need several ways of examining the present in order to
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 82

see several potential opportunities that could lead them forward, into the
future. AND, they need the organizational skills that manage the process
and transitions. It seems incomplete, now, to try to implement foresight
techniques without this set of experiences.

BRUCE STERLING:

I hate to think that “strategic foresight” would be somehow restricted

only to for-profit activities.

I’ve known strategic forecasters who work for police. Hopefully the cops
aren’t making big profits.

How can a “social entrepreneur” be active with no vision of what his

activities are trying to achieve?

DR. JOSE RAMOS:

NFPs can and should be visionary and can definitely use strategic fore-
sight to become initiators. Many NFPs are, in fact, examples themselves
of “emerging issues”, such as work by PETA, and more broadly the thou-
sands of World Social Forum groups and Enspiral, to name a few. So
NFPs often embody the future. But there are challenges for NFPs in en-
gaging with the future critically. First, many are “in the jungle”, meaning
that they are bootstrap operations, very lean, with little time for extra-
neous and “speculative” work. Many also have such a strong ethos and
ideology that it can make looking at alternative futures psychologically
and culturally difficult. Thus, futures need to be tailored to NFPs based on
their needs and challenges, the lean nature of their operations, and their
mission centric focuses.

KRISTI MILLER DURAZO:

I’m fortunate to work in an NFP that has always valued long-term visions
made practical. From open access journals and open data, to place mak-
ing and collective impact, the first key to success is seeing the horizon. We
started talking about these ideas when they were still nascent and even
somewhat threatening. But by identifying the trends early, the organiza-
tion was able to process the concepts and introduce them into the culture
gradually. Being aware of the future possibilities doesn’t have to mean an
abrupt course change. It does mean you have to be open to disruptions to
long-standing beliefs.
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TREVOR HALDENBY:
Mental creation always precedes physical creation, and so setting a vision
before taking action to realize it in the world is an important part of driv-
ing change in any organization. What’s interesting about the vision-setting
stage is that you can play around with timeline while it’s still plastic. While
the plastic is cooling, you can confidently choose to think about yourself
in the present moment, as part of something with a history, and as a part
of something that will evolve and change in the future. Vision-setting is
like inhabiting a Panchronocon.

Are methods from strategic foresight a secret sauce for curing oneself or
one’s organization of reactionary thinking? No. But they’re tools that can
aid the design of an informed and imaginative vision, when utilized for the
purpose of mindset change rather than reinforcement of the status quo.

JAMES HUGHES:
No one has a clearly superior methodology for being visionary and pre-
emptive. The folks with the strongest financial incentives, stock brokers
and money managers, have a horrible record predicting just their tiny cor-
ner of the world, markets. That is why index funds outperform managed
money. Foreign policy experts didn’t foresee the fall of the Berlin Wall or
the rise of ISIS. And the track record of futurists is pretty laughable. To
give a personal example, twenty years ago I was sure there would be a pill
for obesity in the 2000s. Still waiting. The best we can do is sketch in edu-
cated heuristic scenarios, where things are going in a variety of directions,
and think through some of the consequences and responses.

There are also strong disincentives for people in charge of or invested

in any enterprise to seriously consider the disruptive possibilities of the
future. If your whole business is selling X, it is hard to imagine a world
where X is unnecessary.

That said, “superpredictor” research demonstrates that bringing togeth-

er diverse groups of experts in multiple fields can generate better fore-
casts. Their forecasts are still likely to be circle-filed because the audience
doesn’t want to hear them, but it’s a start.
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“While traditional entrepreneurs see the bottom line

as a leading motivator, Social Entrepreneurs have
become known for confidently rallying behind the
importance of purpose as a leading motivator in
business. In a post-work economy, when the con-
cept of money is anticipated to change dramatically,
how do you see social enterprise evolving? Will it
thrive? Will it change drastically?”

DR. ZHAN LI:

Assuming that some of the most prominent claims about the post-work
economy (with their suggestion that profit as a motivation will fade as a
priority) will become reality, I suspect that the social enterprise ecosystem
will evolve to be substantially more diverse in its models. The trends driv-
ing the post-work economy’s arrival, whether they are characterized prin-
cipally by A.I. and automation increasingly displacing human workers,
the establishment of Universal Basic Income, and/or other developments,
can be expected to spread unevenly and unequally. Some sectors will be
profoundly and effectively resistant, ideologically, technically or both, to
such trends for a long time to come. The divergences generated by such
shifts and tensions should also be understood as opportunities. I’d spec-
ulate that the most effective social enterprises in such futures would like-
ly be those that design themselves as hybrids offering ways of bridging,
blending, and translating between the emerging post-work economy and
those sectors in which more “traditional” models and motivations persist.

NATHAN SHEDROFF:
We take a pretty radical view of the entire purpose of “business” in our
programs. We think every organization, whether for- or nonprofit, should
have a social purpose—should be social entrepreneurship. That’s what
our founding fathers wanted in the USA. We’ve gotten a long way away
from that idea and, now, it can be hazardous to have a social mission in
business, so we have to invent new corporate forms, like B-Corps in order
to legally do so. But that wasn’t the original idea.

Basically, there should be no real difference between a nonprofit and a

for-profit other than the investment type and return (and tax, of course).
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Both should be well-run organizations that are professional. Both should

have a social purpose as well as an understanding of their social, cultural,
ecological, and financial impacts. Both should have sustainable business
models and both should have an understanding of how to scale impact (if
that’s the goal). If you want to take venture funding, you need to be able
to generate a high financial return and you’re only going to do that as a
for-profit. If you want to future-proof your organization (especially if you
don’t want it to have to be sold or merged with another organization),
you should imagine it as a non-profit. Those are the only real differences.

BRUCE STERLING:
I’m not convinced by the prospect of a “post-work economy.” It’s like
claiming that social workers don’t “work,” or that unpaid housework
isn’t “work.”

There have been plenty of important historic social groups that are not
money-centric and don’t “work.” For instance, the medieval nobility
wasn’t on a salary and the money economy lacked a grip on them. They
were nevertheless quite busy, mostly with marriage politics, warfare, reli-
gion, palace intrigue and so on. If money vanished we’d simply have other
motivations.

I can certainly believe in societies with radically different attitudes toward

money but I don’t believe in social stasis. If society is changing, then some-
one will be interested in guiding that. It would be good if they thought
about it.

TREVOR HALDENBY:
I think a successful outlook for the future of social enterprise necessitates
spontaneous evolution and damned-drastic change in response to both
fast-paced world events and slower-moving trends. Of course the social
enterprise movement, here in Canada and around the world, will dra-
matically morph (and thrive) in the years ahead, just to keep pace with
an increase in disruptions and wicked challenges — as well as unforetold
and abundant opportunities. We will see some incredible, humbling, and
horrible things in the decades to come, as we face up to the material and
intellectual (emotional and spiritual!) realities of a post-work economy.
How that shapes the social enterprise will likely be profound.

What the social enterprise looks like at its 100th birthday in the 2060’s
is hard to imagine today. How much of the mythology of the movement
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will fall away after a generation or three, and how much new construction
will rise in its place?

DR. JOSE RAMOS:

I actually think the lines between social enterprise and plain enterprise has
started to blur, as social enterprise is normed into socially oriented com-
merce and enterprise is normed into ethical business as the standard. Per-
haps the new spectrum will be more about normed social enterprise and
commons oriented enterprise, which is a more radical concept, but much
closer in my opinion to what can ensure well being in a “post work” econ-
omy. I think the way that money and value exchange will change in the
coming years will play an important role in this commons vs non-com-
mon enterprise. As money fragments into a variety of credit, alternate
currency systems and other modes of value exchange, we can also expect
that the basis for such exchanges will escape the bottom line calculus of
money - the commons oriented enterprise will be able to straddle multiple
value exchange systems based on the complementary and dynamic values
people want hold. In short the way that “money” is changing, or per-
haps its fragmentation into multiple forms of value change, augurs great
opportunities for commons based enterprises to innovate radically new
propositions. For a small example of this see Bauwens proposal for a P2p
license, and Michael Linton’s proposal for a platform LETS.
http://p2pfoundation.net/Peer_Production_License
http://www.openmoney.org

KRISTI DURAZO:
I personally think it’s a matter of scale. I think we will see an increasing
part of the economy become a sharing platform. The ideas have been
around forever, but we didn’t have efficient markets to solve the friction
problem and the relative valuation of exchange. Time banks, blockchain
ledgers, on-demand technologies ease that friction.

But at scale, to solve intransient issues like structural racism and inequal-
ity, or built infrastructure, money still matters. I’m hopeful we will see
new “markets for impact” emerge along with financial instruments that
can redirect large sums of money in the for-profit and philanthropy spaces
into social impact that can still benefit all the stakeholders. To do that,
you need efficient markets and metrics.
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JAMES HUGHES:
When we achieve a universal basic income, or an expansion of the so-
cial welfare state, the reduced pressure to find a paying job will liberate
risk-taking of all kinds, including social entrepreneurship. Jeremy Rifkin
predicted twenty years ago that the nonprofit sector would expand as
paid employment contracted, and we can see two reasons today why that
might occur. First, people will still want to position themselves for the
shrinking pool of paid work, and working as an intern in the nonprofit
sector will be one way to gain those experiences. Second, in the context of
the radical redistribution of wealth to the top 0.1%, some of that wealth
is being put into nonprofits. As a policy matter that isn’t the best way to
redistribute wealth, but noblesse oblige is better than nothing.

“One of the most common critiques of pro-bono

service, and the notion of “gifting” at large is a
concern of devaluation. A similar concern emerges
when considering the implications of Artificial Intel-
ligence on the next generation of workers. Do you
see any new opportunities and economies playing
a role in the value of generations to come? How
might we define value in a new manner?”

DR. ZHAN LI:

The anxieties over whether pro-bono service offerings represent a risk of
devaluation will vary according to moral meanings shaped by the eco-
nomic class and cultural status contexts within which such offerings take
place. For instance, to what extent are pro-bono services seen as disrupt-
ing established gift and money economies (and the status hierarchies and
orders of morality that those are intertwined with), and how deeply en-
trenched are such existing systems anyway? If, as the question implies, the
rise and proliferation of strong A.I. systems will lower the costs of much
knowledge-based services and products to the point where they are com-
monly offered for free, then similar concerns about disruption may indeed
arise. At the same time, such major disruptions by A.I. will also drive
a more intense higher valuation (both in monetary and non-monetary
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 88

terms) of specialist subsets of human knowledge activities and capabilities

that are not easily successfully adaptable by even strong A.I. This new
valuation of human capabilities might mean the widespread unbundling
and reconfiguration of the components of conventional work roles we’re
used to today.

NATHAN SHEDROFF:
In our programs, we recognize five different kinds of value that get ex-
changed between people: functional, financial, emotional, identity, and
meaningful. The first two are easily quantified and easy to talk about,
which is why business has traditionally focused on them—almost exclu-
sively. One of the major problems with economic theory is that econo-
mists have ignored the other kinds because they’re so difficult to work
with. However, anytime a healthy company is acquired or IPOs, it’s usual-
ly the case that the qualitative value generated (the last three) far exceeds
the quantitative or book value. In the case of Instagram, the books said
it was worth $86M the day before Facebook bought them. The day after
the sale, it was worth $1.1B and the books needed to be “adjusted” by
shoving the extra $1.01B into the “Good Will” cell on the balance sheet.
That’s what happens when you build a lot of qualitative value. The quali-
tative value represents the value of relationships and it’s really what every
investor and entrepreneur is trying to build—it’s the upside they’re after—
but they’ve only got quantitative tools to use to do so (which is why it’s
not easy and, in fact, is often a disaster). you can’t build qualitative value
with quantitative tools and if the relationships you can build with custom-
ers and partners isn’t a focus, you tend to build terrible qualitative value.

Regardless of technological achievements and developments, you need to

be focused on building qualitative value if you want a premium brand
(not every successful company is building a premium brand, as Walmart
illustrates) but most are. It doesn’t really matter if you’re using a strategy
of pro-bono services or loss-leaders, or other methods as long as you’re
building premium value and you have a way to recoup it. This requires a
systems approach to business and society alike, with an expanded under-
standing of what value really is so that we can decide what kind of value
we should be focusing upon. If you don’t even see the qualitative value,
how could you ever create strategies to successful build and reap it?
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BRUCE STERLING:
I’m an Artificial Intelligence skeptic. I don’t think there is such a condition
that is possible for computational devices. Basically this is an old-fash-
ioned automation argument in a new sheepskin.

Also, I’m extremely skeptical about engineering values for future gener-
ations. Generations resent this kind of hectoring traditionalism, and the
idea that you can out-think your great-grandchild under conditions he
knows and you don’t is quite arrogant. How many of us would seek out
our values for the 2020s in, say, the speculative writing of the 1920s? HG
Wells published his book “Outline of History” in 1920, and it was quite
influential, daring in thought and influential at the time, but we are the
generations-to-come, and few of us behave now as Wells thought would
be proper.

TREVOR HALDENBY:
Those things that we humans do well, you know, as animals— making
and sharing / observing and learning — they’re a pretty solid set of itera-
tive design skills. We’re coded for creative, most of us just learn to ignore
the personal and social and economic and environmental benefits of that
along the way.

Popular contemporary civilizations and the traditional enterprise don’t

have the greatest track record of putting a priority on human creativity.
It’s horrifying but plausible to imagine that creativity and imagination
won’t properly be economically valued by human society until they’ve got
a price tag, and we’re actually building new industrial revolutions around
affective computing farms. Hopefully we’ve also built a long-term busi-
ness plan for how we tend to them.

I’d like to think that sometime before the oft-rumored machine overlords
reboot our reign, we’ll see enough of a roll-out of large-scale pilot proj-
ects in basic income, unbundled education, and free energy that defining
human value in new terms will at least be one astounding and aspirational
headline of many in the public consciousness.

DR. JOSE RAMOS:

The key idea I have been developing in this area is called cosmo-local-
ization. I have attached a paper on this and you can look though and
paraphrase if you like.
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I see value as increasingly granular. It involves specific people and commu-

nities calling forth the instantiation of specific forms of value. Because of
the expected end of the national money monopoly (IRS notwithstanding),
we will hopefully see the possibility of such “granular value” being mo-
bilised through these new mechanisms.

This means that the value of ecological and social commons will hopefully
be endogenized into both national, city based and local exchange systems
that both give people meaningful work through in effect granular com-
moning acts in exchange for what people/workers need. The logic of
this is modelled in this thought experiment.
https://futureslab.org/2016/01/03/commons-game-initial-design-
schematic/

KRISTI DURAZO:
It seems that the “new value” is the value of the network to solve problems
and connect people and issues. Ideally that becomes a way to maximize the
creativity of society. We’ll also see a continued decline in consumerism and
“down-sizing” of things to upsize experiences.

Unfortunately, the reality is that displacement will happen faster than so-
ciety is ready (in terms of governance and culture) for it to happen. It’s
difficult to imagine that the next 20 years won’t have significant economic
and human upheaval.

JAMES HUGHES:
The displacement of human labor will increase the premium on three types
of human labor - manual dexterity, social/emotional skills, and creativity.
Manual dexterity is generally low paid, and creativity gets a high wage pre-
mium, while social/emotional skills run the wage gamut. As a policy matter
the growing importance of social and creative skills require more attention
to liberal education, although we also need to develop cheaper and more
focused alternatives to the two and four year college degree.
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Our Contributors:

KRISTI DURAZO is a Senior Strategist for the American Heart Association

where she engages in experience design, big data and gaming for health, and
trends analysis.

TREVOR HALDENBY is a Design Futurist, and Innovation Consultant who is

the Founder and CEO of The Mission Business, an Experience Design firm.

JAMES HUGHES is a sociologist, futurist, ethicist and institutional research

and assessment professional currently serving as the Co-Founder and Exec-
utive Director for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

DR. ZHAN LI is a Strategic Foresight Practitioner and Narrative Specialist

who holds a PhD in Organizational Communication from the University of
Southern California.

DR. JOSE RAMOS is the Founder of Action Foresight, and works on projects
focused on foresight-informed breakthrough design and innovation for sys-

temic transformation. NATHAN SHEDROFF is an Experience Strategist, Innova-

tor, and Educator who founded the ground-breaking Design MBA programs
at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, CA.

BRUCE STERLING is an American science fiction author known for his novels
and work on the Mirrorshades anthology which helped to define the cyber-
punk genre.
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Rendered
Precarious
Jake Dunagan

Originally published in How to Give Half of Your Work Away for Free.
This piece explores scenarios and implications for an evolving culture of
work and of human/artificial resources.

—
“I CAN ALWAYS HIRE HALF OF THE
PRECARIAT TO ALGORITHMICALLY ENSLAVE
THE OTHER HALF.”
Jay Gould, the notorious railroad baron, made that
statement after the Great Railroad Strike of 1886. Well,
maybe I’m paraphrasing a bit, but if he were alive today,
he might say something like that. Precarity— the idea
that our living is increasingly given over to uncertainty,
instability, risk, and fear— seems to be increasing.

A rotting social safety net in many nations, the rise of

automation and robotic workforces, efficiency-optimizing
scheduling software, more unwanted part-time work, stagnant
real incomes, and a host of other trends are driving a future
of more stressful, more dehumanizing work. As observed in a
recent New York Times article that chronicled the everyday
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 93

impact on many workers today, “the entire apparatus for

helping poor families is being strained by unpredictable
work schedules, preventing parents from committing to regular
drop-off times or answering standard questions on subsidy
forms and applications for aid: ‘How many hours do you work?’
and ‘What do you earn?’”

But one person’s flexploitation is another person’s entrepreneurial

empowerment. The cult of disruption requires unequal sacrificial
offerings. Some of those same “disruptive” technologies are
allowing people to escape the iron claw of bureaucratic corporate
jobs, and scale up according to their own creativity and
ambition. The so-called “creative class,” usually associated
with designers, consultants, artists, programmers, and other
cultural service providers can now advertise and connect with
clients much more easily and efficiently than ever before. The
transaction costs (the return on time and energy investment)
of being a freelancer or entrepreneur are lower than they’ve
ever been, thanks to digital networks, easy access to online
training and knowledge bases, and streamlined management
and organizational applications. What dozens of people, with
years of effort, and millions of dollars could do, can now
be done by a few folks, over a weekend, with almost no money.

Etsy and similar peer-to-peer markets allow people, and in

Etsy’s case 94% women, to sell their creations directly.
Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and other crowdfunding sites now make
it possible for independent artists, entrepreneurs, designers,
and makers of all stripes find the financial sponsorship they
need. Whether it’s the absurdity of funding potato salad, the
unleashed fandom of a beloved TV show, or the bold vision of
creating personal submarines, if you can dream it, these days
you have a good chance of making it.

But it’s not only the creative class who are seeing new
opportunities. Platforms like ODesk, Elance, and Mechanical
Turk are connecting a global talent pool of job seekers with
employers. This army of connected micro-taskers— from nuclear
physicists in Pakistan, to housewives in the Philippines, to
part-time nurses in Canada, and almost any other combination
of location, class, and demographic category— have more and
new ways to extract value from their contributions and labor,
i.e. to work.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 94

But while it’s never been easier to be a freelancer, or to

start a business, it is no less risky. The ad hoc, capricious,
no benefits, opportunistic nature of work that has been
associated with certain stereotypes (the itinerant artist on
one end and seasonal migrant worker on the other) is moving
from the marginal edges and into the mainstream, normalized
mode of working. And as we burn the employment candle on both
ends, we have to ask ourselves as a society, ‘who benefits from
this system?,’ ‘who suffers?,’ and ultimately ‘what kinds of
lives do we really want?’

The answer to these questions, especially the last one, will

differ depending on which segment of the precariat we ask.
A Los Angeles maker-designer who’s trying to launch a drone
t-shirt delivery service in her time off from a meaningless
retail job will have different experiences and desires than
those of a recent immigrant to Austria from the Ukraine, who
is trying to find a stable and sustainable income to support
a family. But are there enough common experiences, common
desires, and common needs to create solidarity amongst the
precariat? Will the family who are renting out their guest
room via AirBnB relate to the cabdrivers in Turin who are
protesting Uber? Will the freelance programmer who’s working on
a new scheduling algorithm find a kinship with the barista who
makes his latte and will be “clopening” (working the closing
shift one night and the opening shift the next morning) the
Starbucks? Is there enough “shared” in the sharing economy™
to bind the tired, the poor, the huddled workers who, whether
by choice or necessity, have been rendered precarious? Are
these groups peer enough in the p2p economy™? Does it matter?

IS THERE ENOUGH “SHARED” IN THE

SHARING ECONOMY™ TO BIND THE TIRED,
THE POOR, THE HUDDLED WORKERS WHO,
WHETHER BY CHOICE OR NECESSITY,
HAVE BEEN RENDERED PRECARIOUS?

Andrew Ross, in an insightful review of this “new geography

of work,” thinks that while this multiclass coalition might be
fraught with cultural, political, and aesthetic contradictions
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 95

and tensions, those bound by insecurity could find common

cause and create a political movement with some teeth. This
coalition would need to find a metaphor, mythology, or narrative
that can confront and supplant the neoliberal construction
that “the condition of entry into the new high-stakes lottery
is to leave your safety gear at the door.” Along with the story
or vision around a “quality of work life,” then, would come
a coherent panoply of public policy recommendations, market
innovations, and social experiments. The labor movement of
the 20th century will provide little such material. The world
of industrial capital has been transformed already, and shows
no signs of settling into a predictable pattern, other than
increased uncertainty.

I’m not prepared to offer a grand narrative for the precariat

in this essay, but we can look at a few diverse examples of
responses to precariousness that might provoke or inspire new
ideas. It could be that pieces of all these strategies, and
many more unmentioned here, will signal important directions
for the future political-economies of work.

Strike Debt
Debt and precariousness go hand in hand. The rise in consumer
and student loan debt since the 1980s has been staggering,
and, many argue, has been the artificial fuel for the growth
of the economy over the last generation. If, in order to
participate fully and productively in society, we have to take
on debt, then we are again rendered precarious and vulnerable
to control. One group, Strike Debt, advocates a broad social
resistance movement to pull the rug out from under the debt
system entirely. In their Debt Resistors Operations Manual,
they lay out their values and their goal in clear terms:

“We gave the banks the power to create money because they
promised to use it to help up live healthier and prosperous
lives— not to turn into frightened peons. They broke that
promise. We are under no moral obligation to keep our promise
to liars and thieves. In fact, we are morally obligated to
find a way to stop this system rather than continuing to
perpetuate it.”
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This direct, collective action on one aspect of precarity

might appeal most strongly to “Occupy Wall Street” types
today, but as people continue to be crushed by the weight
of debt (over $1.2 trillion and counting in student loan
debt alone), and under policies and regulations seemingly
written by the lenders, debt-politics will only become more
significant and influential.

Momentum Machines
When we think of quintessential low-skilled jobs, “flipping
burgers” is unusually one of the first to spring to mind.
Momentum Machines, a San Francisco robotics company, is
attempting to “disrupt” the food service industry by creating
automated systems that can make “the perfect hamburger.” If
successful, the company knows that it will be putting people
out of work. And instead of simply letting the invisible
hand of creative destruction run its course, the company has
offered to give educational opportunities and engineering/
design technical training to those who’ve been made redundant
by their machines. While it is too soon to say whether this
is a marketing or PR ploy (steel-washing?), Momentum Machines
is at least acknowledging their role in a potential seismic
shift in the system of work, and taking some responsibility for
helping those who have been negatively impacted by their robots.

Basic Income
A raft of policy and regulatory responses to increasing
precarity have been emerging over the years. Mayors and city
councils around the U.S. are pushing regulations that will
ensure some stability for employees, and unions and national
issue campaigns like the Fair Workweek Initiative are helping
lobby for more worker protections. However, business leaders
are pushing back. Many like Scott Defire of the National
Restaurant association argue that additional government
oversight over operations “isn’t conducive to a positive
business climate.”
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But there are more radical ideas that might mitigate some
of this need for “non-conducive” regulation. One that has
been embraced by some on the right and the left of the
political spectrum is a universal basic income, or basic
income guarantee (BIG). A BIG would provide all adult citizens
with an unconditionally awarded income. In theory, this would
replace most or all other forms of state welfare, and people
could still work and earn income above what their BIG provides.
While economists argue over whether a BIG would be financially
viable for a nation, the momentum for some kind of guaranteed,
universal award has grown. A rising class of disgruntled,
precariously employed citizens who have been displaced and
disempowered by the forces of automation, repression, debt,
surveillance, and other forms of social control might soon
demand a radical solution like BIGs, and those in power just
might see the need to give it to them.

Pro Bono for the Precariat?

As you’ve read throughout this volume, innovative social
enterprises and business models are another vector for those
working in various creative service industries to “give back”
to others in order to effect systems level improvements in
work, health, environment, and other domains. How might the
“creative class” improve the lives of low-skilled precarious
workers? Forming a collation of the precarious and lobbying
for legislation and regulation that curb the worst abuses
of employer power would be one possibility. But it could
also be more direct and granular. As MIT retail operations
researcher Zeynep Ton notes, “the same technology [used to
create stressful, inhuman work schedules] could be used to
create more stability and predictability.” How might we use
design, digital technology, aesthetics, and collaborative
techniques to connect and empower the precariat at every
level and location? How might we learn to surf the giant
wave of contingency? That is a challenge, but a noble and
necessary one if we care about making better futures for all.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 98

Conclusion: Metastability
“An epic, operatic struggle is at hand,” Bruce Sterling told
a conference of makers in Barcelona this year. There are
very little indicators, or even rationale, for going back to
a more typical 20th century work modality that is stable and
predictable (and boring and soul-suckingly bureaucratic in
many cases). Flexibility, casualization, freelancing, sharing,
digital tethering, the disappearance of work-life divide,
self entrepreneurship, lightweight innovation, and all the
other elements of a fragmented, episodic work environment
are here to stay (in some form, at least for a generation or
two). But we don’t have to trade soul-sucking bureaucracy for
soul-sucking precarity.

Complexity scientists have a concept, called metastability,

that describes systems that are able to sustain themselves
even though they are not in their lowest energy states
(which systems tend toward). If absolute security/stability
and absolute chaos/precarity are the two lowest energy
poles, then we will have to design systems (with technology,
policy, culture, economics, architecture, stories) that can
provide flexibility and innovative opportunities while not
unfairly burdening workers and their families (and ultimately
society at large) with those added risks. Debt reform, worker
retraining, government regulation, and social reciprocity are
a few ways we might move ourselves toward a more metastable
work environment. Every day might be different, but there’s a
more consistent pattern over months or years. We can imagine
a scenario in which I might not know exactly what work I
will be doing over the coming days or weeks, but I know I
will have some kind of work, a guaranteed minimum income,
and the opportunity to use my skills to find more money, more
satisfaction, more time, or more creativity along the way.
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The History of
the Future of Social
Enterprise
A collaboration between Matthew Manos, and his students at California
College of the Art’s DMBA program: Alida Draudt, Jonjozuf “JJ” Hadley,
Ryan Hogan, Leticia Murray, Gregory Stock, and Julia West

—
Social enterprise, as a mainstream phenomenon, is a modern
and fashionable brand of consumption and entrepreneurialism.
However, the models and historic shifts that made the practice
possible actually date back to the Neolithic Revolution, the
dawn of bartering and libraries, and even the considerations
of Aristotle. In recent years, the practice is recognized as
a valid field of study in institutions and academic programs
around the world. This timeline, developed in collaboration
with students in the Design MBA Program at California College
of the Arts aims to capture this movement's evolution through
the ages. We invite you to supplement the timeline graphic
with your own research and investigation into each milestone
in history that we present in this graphic.
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1940 Penny Cafeterias established

10,000 BC NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION (Clifton's Cafeteria)

1939 WORLD WAR II

6000 BC Bartering (one of the first
evidences of bartering)

1935 WPA Federal Art Program

Established, Employs
2600 BC Early Libraries 6000 artists

350 BC Aristotle considers that 1930 GREAT DEPRESSION

every object has two uses:
the original purpose of the BOGOF Model
object and the purpose to established (buy one get
one free)
sell or barter

1100s Communes
1914 WORLD WAR I
Jantzen's “Help Poor
Children, Buy RED Eggs”
1498 Cooperatives is launched, an early signal
of cause marketing

1601 British government 1903 Gillette Razors enters the

passes the Statute of market, paving the way for
Charitable Uses the cross-subsidy model

1888 Coca Cola releases the first

ever coupon
1760 INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION
1876 Civil Legal Assistance is
established (the dawn of
pro-bono)
1830 Utopian Socialism,
Owenism
1865 Salvation Army
established
1850 John Wanamaker
invents Fixed Pricing
1860s Co-operative Wholesale
Society established
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 101

1946 UNICEF established 2000 Zipcar established, an

early model for the
Sharing Economy

1947 COLD WAR

1999 Napster established

1959 Mancuso Business

Development Group
established, an early Fair Trade USA established
1998
signal of business
incubators

1960 The Dawn of Timeshares 1995 Craigslist established

1965 Bike Sharing programs 1990 Growth of the Open

popularized Source Movement

National Endowment for

the Arts established
1989 Street Sheet Newspaper launches
1972 GSA Art in Architecture
Program established

1987 Echoing Green established

1978 “Collaborative
Consumption” term
coined by Marcus Felson
and Joe L. Spaeth
1985 Berenstain Bears, “Learn
About Strangers” is published
1980 Ashoka established,
founder Bill Drayton
popularizes, the term
“social enterprise” Annalakshmli Restaurant
1984
(Pay What Your Heart
Feels) established in
1983 National Center for Social Kuala Lampur
Entrepreneurs established
Milk’s “Have You Seen
Grameen Bank established, Me?” Campaign
pioneering micro-lending
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 102

2001 9/11 2016 US Department

of Commerce
Wikipedia established classifies “sharing
economy” as “digital
Taproot Foundation
matching firms”
established

2003 IRAQ WAR 2015 Models of Impact

Toolkit launches

2005 Impact HUB established 2013 Edward Snowden leak

One Laptop Per Child
established, early signal of
the One for One model
2012 Salesforce.com
Kiva established, micro-lending “Social Enterprise”
enters the main stream Trademark Disupte

Forbes includes “Social

2006 TOMS Shoes established, Entrepreneurs” as a
the One for One model is category for their 30
invented and social enterprise Under 30 awards
enters the mainstream
LYFT established
Muhammad Yunus and
the Grameen Bank are
jointly awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize 2010 First Benefit Corporations
become recognized

2007 Radiohead's In Warby Parker established

Rainbows album releases,
popularizing Pay What
You Want (PWYW) model 2009 Catchafire established,
applying crowdsourcing
technology to pro-bono
2008 GREAT RECESSION Unreasonable Institute
verynice established, established
marking the first pro-bono UBER established,
business model, Give Half Sharing Economy enters
Singularity University daily vernacular.
established BOGO Bowl (one for
one model for dog food)
TaskRabbit established

AirBnB established
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Scenarios for
the Preemptive
Social Entrepreneur
Curated By Matthew Manos

Written By Frank Gallivan, Travis Kupp, Camille Grigsby-Rocca,

Shar Shahfari, David Roselle, Daniel Olarte, Tyler Rivenbark

—
The groundbreaking MBA in Design Strategy at California
College of the Arts prepares the next generation of innovation
leaders for a world that is not only profitable, but also
sustainable, ethical, and truly meaningful. I was brought
on at the end of 2014 to write the curriculum for the first
class dedicated to the practice of Social Entrepreneurship
at CCA​
. I went on to teach the course to MBA students in
the Strategic Foresight track for two years. Throughout the
course, students researched the history of prominent models
in the impact space (sharing economy, one-for-one, give-half,
micro-lending, etc.), created interventions within an assigned
community to test their new models of impact, and wrote impact-
driven business plans to define the long-term vision for their
enterprises. Guest speakers/critics included representatives
from [ freespace ], Zynga, OCAD University, verynice, Kumu,
Redscout, The League of Creative Interventionists, and more.
In addition, students were encouraged to leverage the skills
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 104

they developed in other courses unique to their area of

concentration: Strategic Foresight. As a result, many of the
enterprises and models developed during our course represent
several different futures. As part of this anthology, Toward
a Preemptive Social Enterprise, I assigned each student
with the cause most relevant to the research area they
investigated throughout the class in order to develop a
scenario. Intentionally ranging in style, each of the nine
scenarios that follow provide insight into the new directions
preemptive social enterprise can work towards. Special thanks
goes out to the Design MBA Program at the California College
of the Arts, for allowing me to design such an important
course for our collective futures.

On Terrorism
FRANK GALLIVAN

By the time the rising tide of the global refugee and terrorism crisis finally
began to turn, it had reached even the most isolated and stable of coun-
tries. ISIS-led bombings in Christchurch, Reykjavik, and Geneva rocked the
global community in 2020. The military and espionage-based responses to
terrorism that most countries had previously relied upon were clearly not
working. At the same time, the U.S. debt crisis reached a breaking point.
Even staunch conservatives began to call for a reduction in military spend-
ing in order to help balance the budget.

In the early 2020s, a global online community of activists, researchers, and

ordinary citizens seeking alternative solutions pressured the U.N. to shift
global policy on terrorism and immigration. The U.N. declared the his-
torical counterterrorism strategies of militarism and isolationism to be de-
funct and obsolete, and declared multi-culturalism and social enterprise to
be promising solutions. The U.S., E.U., and many Middle Eastern member
states signed on to the declaration.

An exploding Muslim population in the Western world means that a major-

ity of residents of the U.S., Australia, and the E.U. now know a practicing
Muslim. A new alliance between the Vatican and the leaders of more than
50 sects of Islam declared “We are all Muslim. We are all Christian.” The
announcement caused some isolated outbreaks of violence among dissent-
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 105

ing members of the Catholic Church and Islamic sects involved, but support
for the statement is still widespread. Islamophobia is generally on the de-
cline in the Western World.

The Gates Foundation announced that 100% of its new research projects
will be devoted to understanding the root causes of terrorism and displace-
ment and developing and testing alternative solutions for them. Other foun-
dations and government-sponsored aid organizations started similar initia-
tives, including a network of research partners. Out of these efforts grew the
Movement for Integration and Right Livelihood, which maintains that all
people have the right to participate in political processes, get an education,
and earn a living in a socially responsible way.

Meanwhile the continued advancement of communication technologies

allows people to have a tourism homestay experience using VR. Apple’s
FaceTime Sans Frontiers initiative matches 50 million children, teenagers,
and young adults as virtual penpals. Over half participate in a week-long
VR homestay.

While ISIS still has a stronghold in parts of the Middle East, as well as a net-
work of supporters across the globe, a UN delegation negotiated a ceasefire
with the group in exchange for commitments from member states to delist
ISIS as a ‘terrorist’ group. Negotiations eventually committed ISIS to pur-
suing social enterprise goals for its membership base. ISIS now founds and
leads the International Federation of Former Resistance Groups (IFFRG).

On Communication
TRAVIS KUPP

“Thanks for your call, Mariana. Is there anything else I can help you with
today?” “No, that will be all,” replied the unknown voice at the other end
of the line. “Well thank you again for calling the California Department of
Basic Income. Have a nice day.”

“Well done, Molloy,” interjected the AI-powered communication coach

embedded in the customer service program. “Your tone and cadence have
significantly improved this quarter. You should try some different ways of
closing your calls tomorrow.” “OK,” quipped Molloy just before closing
out his work session.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 106

He didn’t need the money; his guaranteed monthly income was enough.
But the opportunity to practice communicating for a couple of hours a day
was worth it. It was a Tuesday, which meant at 1:47 he would walk the
12-minute distance to the local cafe for the regularly scheduled Philosophy
of Mathematics think tank at 2:00. He liked to be there one minute early.

It was a typically warm November day, and the crowded streets of Cuperti-
no teemed with life. Molloy fixed his gaze on a yet another high-rise under
construction as he reflected on how life used to be when he first moved to
the area from Atlanta after completing his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at
Georgia Tech. His job at the Googleplex had been lucrative. That is, until
sea levels finally rose to the point of flooding the campus. The near simul-
taneous financial revolution left former tech giants in dire straights, and
Molloy’s layoff the following year didn’t come as much of a surprise. While
the sudden change in routine was upsetting, the ensuing debt cancellation
and establishment of state-run universal basic income was a welcome relief.

As he neared the cafe, he began to feel anxious. He didn’t have to interact

with people much in his old job, and he missed his former routine and the
relative quiet of the suburbs. The massive influx of former San Franciscans
and peninsula shoreline residents had made Cupertino completely unrecog-
nizable in the space of just five years. Now that most of the old “quant” jobs
had been automated, Molloy felt stranded in a world where emotionally
intelligent communication was the most valuable skill on the market. The
thought of having to intervene in conflicts full-time made him shudder and
appreciate all the more his little community of state-commissioned savants.
Working on the next publication with high-EQ mentors in the safe space
of the back of the cafe made him feel a special connection to his hero, Mi-
chelangelo—who Molloy liked to think valued routine and order as much
as he did.

A wave of calm engulfed Molloy as he touched the handle of the cafe. The
several hours of imminent human connection with kindred minds was the
best part of every week. And the coffee wasn’t bad, either.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 107

On Health
CAMILLE GRIGSBY-ROCCA

Dr. Bill Foege, former CDC director, summed up the 20th century in health
in four words: “spectacular progress, spectacular inequities.” How might
social enterprises tackle these, and other critical health challenges, in the
next century?

As the last “boom” generation approaches old age, they bring about crush-
ing demands on healthcare systems and threaten to grind those systems,
even in the developed world, to a grinding halt. Younger generations contin-
ue to move out of rural areas en masse, seeking opportunity in increasingly
crowded urban spaces— and finding instead the health issues that result
from poor infrastructure, hygiene, and poor access to health care education
and resources. Disparities in energy, food, and water access will increase
as natural resources dwindle, while a sharp decline in biodiversity brings
impacts we can scarcely begin to imagine.

As we move toward an uncertain and unstable health future, technologi-

cal and scientific advancements continue their unstoppable march forward.
Information technology, robotics, virtual and augmented reality, biotech-
nology, and scientific advancements in gene editing, vaccine development,
brain and central nervous system mapping and interventions, regenerative
medicine, and much more will have a profound effect on global health and
medicine. A rapid uptake in mobile payment systems, first adopted in East-
ern Africa but gaining global momentum, will place financial agency and
autonomy— including the ability to save money safely, and make the most
of limited financial resources— in the hands of the “bottom of the financial
pyramid” for the first time.

How will these worlds— the inevitable hurdles and the inevitable hopes—
collide? Will inequality rise or fall? Will access to basic health services
like birth control and vaccines, and to health information and support for
low-income, poorly educated communities increase or decrease? As glob-
al citizens become better connected, will states also fight more bitterly for
dwindling natural resources?

New challenges demand new approaches— and new technologies provide

new opportunities. Future social enterprises will encounter opportunities to
harness the power of technology and science to:
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 108

»» Build resilience in low-resource communities who are most deeply affected by

public health crises.
»» Offer global, ubiquitous access to health information and education and basic
health services like birth control and vaccines.
»» Source and distribute timely and important public health updates, enabling
health responders to intervene quickly when needed.
»» Connect health care experts with a broad global audience, delivering informa-
tion and expert training where and when it is needed most (without requiring
a “house call.”)
»» Offer patients— that is, people— the tools they need to manage and maximize
their own health, reducing unnecessary patient-doctor touch points and more
efficiently using health expert time.

On Refugees
SHAR SHAHFARI

Starting in the millennium, tensions between multiple countries heightened

as a result of continuous terrorist attacks at the hands of the Islamic funda-
mentalists. Shortly after the death of Osama Bin Laden, there was a power
void, which allowed for the rise of ISIS. Within a few short years the terror-
ist group entered Iraq and, soon after, Syria, which was vulnerable due to its
civil war. As a result, 10 million refugees were displaced, over four million
of whom escaped. The crisis had effects that went beyond the Middle East as
desperate refugees started to move to Europe and other neighboring coun-
tries. The colossal human, economic, and social costs for the refugees, host
countries, and host communities created a crisis in the EU due to a lack of
infrastructure for its growing population, which set EU nations against each
other. That was the beginning of the end.

By 2023, Spain and Greece’s population openly revolted against their failing
governments using Russian weapons and training, leading to a complete
collapse. France sent troops instantly to Spain to stem the terrorist con-
tagion as the west prepares for war. In its attempt to expand to Ukraine
and Poland, NATO dissolved due to internal issues and movement toward
collapse. Now, Russia’s borders spread to Poland in the west and Iran and
Afghanistan in the south in a short few months.

In Asia, China gained complete power and pressured Taiwan knowing well
that, with the crisis in EU, no one would come to their aid. Meanwhile,
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 109

North Korea’s alliance with Russia grew stronger. In 2028, North Korea
launched a nuclear attack against South Korea, killing millions of people.
Since the destruction of North Korea had been a U.S. policy objective for
years, the U.S. reacted aggressively, attacking North Korea’s military estab-
lishments. At that point, China’s promise to defend North Korea forced its
involvement, which lead to huge casualties.

With growing tension in the Middle East for years, the envisioned two-
state solution between Israel and Palestine is far from resolution. With the
conflict in Asia, Israel saw an opportunity and launched a nuclear attack
on Arak, Iran. This lead to Russia’s and China’s outpour of support for
Iran, which resulted in the new coalition’s attack on US regional assets. This
caused global trade to come to a halt leading to a global depression and
inevitably escalating to a nuclear WWIII in 2030.

On Education
DAVID ROSELLE

In 2020, a major economic crisis hit the western world. The financial sector
imploded and sent ripples through the economy, affecting major industries
from insurance, to manufacturing, to construction. Economists, politicians,
and academics reacted immediately. They devised a strategy to invest money
from their reserves into the industry with the most momentum: AI and ro-
botics. AI and robotics appeared to be the economy’s savior, which seemed
inevitable to most. San Francisco became America’s beacon of hope for the
future of the economy. The US Federal Government relocated major op-
erations to the Bay Area and hired engineers to work on digitizing Ameri-
ca’s bureaucratic infrastructure, providing a new surge of energy into a dis-
tressed economy. This ushered in a new level of technological infrastructure
that hadn’t been seen since the New Deal.

Not everyone was fortunate enough to escape the Great Collapse. Those
who were particularly entrenched in the financial world experienced the
most backlash. They struggled to find work. This was due not only to a
shortage of jobs, but also to the stigma attached to them. Technologists
and anticipators of the collapse held the financial community responsible,
and they subsequently treated former Wall Street workers as pariahs during
the Rebuilding period. Former business workers were now a part of an ev-
er-growing, marginalized, remnant community.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 110

New global powers who were better positioned for the Collapse emerged,
like China and Japan, but unlikely new players like Nigeria and Mexico also
took center stage, taking on control of major flows of capital. The US had
to appeal to these countries for capital.

While future tech provided some economic hope, a major economic depres-
sion, nonetheless, swept the US. Local governments suffered deeply, espe-
cially those on the once-prosperous East Coast. Communities that formerly
had an abundance of wealth were now the backdrop for depravity. It wasn’t
uncommon to see squatters taking up residence in boarded-up, blighted Mc-
Mansion. The archetype of the time was a businessman with a tattered,
white collared shirt, ripped tie, and a distressed attitude.

A positive, empathetic group of people in the stable but fragile technology

community decided to reach out to this group of dejected workers. They
created a social business to attend to their health issues, particularly mental
health. Researchers found that people in this segment suffered profound,
internal pain from this losing their professional identities. The former busi-
ness people didn’t know who they were and how to relate to the world.
They also had no idea how to cope with immense poverty. They saw how
oppressive the structural systems were and how insensitive and lacking in
empathy they were. Moreover, members of the former business communi-
ty—which includes accountants, stock brokers, analysts, and more—saw
their jobs replaced by automation. This demographic suffered from major
shock. They were formerly middle to upper class and now they are living in
deep impoverishment. They didn’t know how to transmute their skills into
new productive means.

Health professionals began to experiment with simple treatments to help this

demographic cope. They relied on Virtual Reality techniques that allowed
former business people to reimagine a life for themselves post-collapse. It
was considered a “hope-inducing technique.” The goal was for them to
reimagine new identities for themselves and to develop the EQ (Emotional
Intelligence/Quotient) skills currently valued by the market. Skills that were
automation-safe had primarily been EQ focused, but the stakes for jobs in
this market were very competitive. With the stigma and lack of develop-
ment, former business people had little chance of getting jobs in this field.
But there were some who did and they served as beacons of hope to escape
this situation. They had to develop their creativity, enhance their abilities,
withstand ambiguity, and imagine futures that didn’t exist.
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On Employment
DANIEL OLARTE

100 million people that once had a job are no longer employed. Their po-
sitions were replaced by machines and systems that are more efficient and
profitable. 0.25% of the population controls 75% of the world’s wealth.
The middle class has disappeared. There is a new class informally called
“the rest.” In most countries, “the rest” have a basic income provided by
their government; this basic income is barely enough for a couple with one
child to survive. Population growth is indirectly being controlled. To sup-
plement their basic income, citizens have the option to work several hours
per week in the few positions that require human presence: the remains of
the “gig economy.”

Even though people have more time to produce the things they used to
purchase, they cannot grow their own food: seeds and basic supplies used
in farming are centrally controlled by the government. Corporations know
exactly how much money “the rest” have at any given time. Prices of basic
goods change rapidly and constantly, causing people to spend their entire
incomes without a chance to plan or save.

Culture and artistic manifestations thrive everywhere. Locally produced

entertainment is globally appreciated. Hollywood and Bollywood are not
relevant anymore. Almost anyone can produce some kind of entertainment
that could be globally consumed. However, there a real economy does not
exist behind it: just artistic appreciation. Information, culture, and art flows
easily through the Internet, which is now free. However, machine learning
systems subtly control any kind of dissent manifestation that may take place
online. Art is the only way to globally transmit political messages.

With basic income in place almost everywhere, people no longer migrate

for violence, economic decay, or cultural differences, they do it for ethical,
political and philosophical disagreements with their governments. This is
a new group of refugees, composed of people from almost every country.
Members of this group migrate to small countries that have no real econom-
ic or political power, but cultural independence.
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On Entrepreneurship
MATTHEW MANOS

The future with no work. The government owns a series of machines. One
machine per possible skill set (non physical labor). One machine per capa-
bility (physical labor). Entrepreneurs hire assistants from the public who
can manage each investment for a universal flat rate available to workers.
Entrepreneurs do not think or work or concern themselves with any lack
of comfort. New businesses are generated randomly based on an algorithm
that leverages cross pollination of the current trends, emotional intelligence,
and recent events that define the world’s state of being. Machines act as
ATM access points where entrepreneurs are able to take their draw against
the universal bank in the amount of up to three times the universal min-
imum flat rate. People who are not assistants, or not entrepreneurs, will
receive a minimum wage of half the amount assistants are provided. This
is available to fulfill the need of survival and is provided by the govern-
ment. This wage is paid by the money saved from removing all high level
government employee salaries, and from the interest in unpaid taxes and
asset seizures of the major corporations that once flourished. Recipients of
the universal minimum wage spend half of their free time volunteering for
public services and social impact organizations, and the other half serving
themselves through the many available public attractions and entertain-
ment venues operated by the machines. Alternatively, those who choose
not to serve themselves receive extra money (an additional 25% of the as-
sistant’s universal wage) in exchange for participating in a shared economy
of miscellaneous tasks in order to tend to the human condition via sexual
service, home cleaning, transportation, and shopping. Exactly one third of
the population is volunteers, one third is assistants, and one third is entre-
preneurs. In the interest of diversifying experiences and abilities as well as
to maintain a balanced income equality, the roles of the population are in
a constant state of flux. Each year, one volunteer is selected to become an
assistant at random, one assistant is selected to be an entrepreneur, and one
entrepreneur is selected to become a volunteer. The community president
(who reports to the president of the universe) aims to create a community
desirable enough to be acquired by the neighboring community. For the
president of the acquired community, this means lifelong security, prestige,
and retirement. Inversely, the success of the community’s machines can lead
to enough power for the president to accomplish her goal of acquiring the
neighboring community. The community president is selected at random
once every 10 years by the pool of community members. After 10 years of
service, all royalties and treasure earned from the machines by the president
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 113

are passed on to the next president. All famine and disease are eradicated
from the nation by the machines as a result of their intelligence. Marriage is
abolished, and there are no religious beliefs or institutional allegiance. There
is only the community.

On Environment
TYLER RIVENBARK

THE CITY IS REBORN

It’s a beautiful spring day in San Francisco as myself and the mayor ride
our bicycles down the Market Street Greenway. We ride through a tunnel
of 20-foot-tall oak trees, passing people deep in conversation as they sit in
a fruit-bearing garden. We arrive at the historic Ferry Building and the ferry
board clicks, 12:00 PM March 31st 2041.

Over the last 25 years, an exciting revolution of environmental impact busi-

nesses has transformed our urban environments. San Francisco has been
ground zero for these businesses. As we approach the end of 2041, cities
around the world have redesigned their urban landscape to incorporate key
features from native ecological systems without compromising technologi-
cal innovation. We have completely flipped the way we use our resources,
mobility systems, and economies from 25 years ago. Environmental impact
businesses have focused on integrating human systems with natural systems,
and San Francisco’s mayor wants to continue to grow the government’s sup-
port for these transformative businesses.

Many of these companies developed their organizations in accordance with

Frederic Laloux’s Teal organizational model, realizing that the mindset from
which we create directly impacts what we create. Teal organizations structure
their companies around flow states, support each individual to reach their full
potential, and replace the hierarchy of managers with skilled coaches.

A great example in the urban redesign space is Depave. Depave promotes

the removal of unnecessary pavement from urban areas to create commu-
nity green spaces and mitigate stormwater runoff. 20 years ago to date, De-
pave created the Market Street Greenway. This project turned the Tender-
loin from one of the worst neighborhoods in the city to the most desirable
within one year.
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Another example is the urban redesign firm, ExtraOrdinary. They create

teams with six to eight members who have a diversity of expertise. A team
might include an architect, urban designer, synthetic biologist, cognitive
psychologist, natural systems expert, financial expert, and possibly a politi-
cal negotiator. These teams are assigned a coach who acts as an outside sup-
porter, facilitating team dynamics to ensure their overall success. They are
given a budget to outsource any work that is outside their capabilities. One
law of natural systems dictates that, as diversity increases, so does overall
IQ. ExtraOrdinary, applies this law to its teams and organization. It creates
its focus through a common language, shared vision, and an evolving pro-
cess.

With companies like Depave and ExtraOrdinary, city centers have trans-
formed from areas of densely packed skyscrapers into places where we cele-
brate the moments that make a city breathe. The water works, food systems,
and energy production have been reintegrated to work with our natural
systems. The in-between spaces that were filled with traffics jams are now
the spaces where we gather. The mobility systems incorporate a combina-
tion of hi-tech systems and low-tech bicycle and walking paths. The city
pace and culture encourages citizens to be kinetic, to walk and bike from
place to place. This has turned San Francisco into the healthiest city to live
in the world.

As Alain De Botton argued in The Architecture of Happiness nearly three

decades ago, “it is architecture’s task to stand as an eloquent reminder of
our full potential.” San Francisco has done its best to go one step further in
fully supporting each citizen to reach their full potential.

On Homelessness
TYLER RIVENBARK

THE RISE OF THE AFFLUENT HOUSELESS

In 2012, a committee was convened by the City of Portland Oregon to set a
course for ending homelessness. It brought together diverse stakeholders to
review needs and learn from local and national best practices. On any given
night in 2012, about 4,000 adults, young people, and families slept on the
streets in Portland. The 2012 plan focused on providing housing for those
who were homeless.
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By 2016, it was clear the plan failed. There were still 4,000 people sleeping
on the streets. The committee reconvened in 2017, this time in collaboration
with the social impact community, the homeless community, and the gener-
al public. The committee’s discussion made it clear: homelessness was not a
housing issue, it was a social issue.

In this historic meeting, ‘houseless advocate’ Elijah Alexander said, “We are
the invisible people. When we ask for a dollar you tell us to get a job. How?
I have no ID, no phone, no transportation, no references, no way to cash a
check, no channel to share my skills, and most of all, you ignore me.” There
were many housing options but few opportunities for the homeless to be
included in the Portland community.

In 2017, the city created ‘The Golden Voice’ social innovation prize, focused
on improving homeless people’s well being and reintegrating the ‘invisible
people’ into Portland’s social structures.

A team of students from PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) won the
prize with a project titled The Houseless Way of Life. Their plan was to
support the houseless by designing a way of life for people in Portland to
live comfortably without houses. The team highlighted the irony that people
move to Portland to spend as much time as possible outside of their houses.
They looked to outdoor enthusiasts, national parks, and music festivals for
inspiration. They noted that many people at Burning Man never spent a
single night in their own tent, because Black Rock City created comfortable
and safe public sleeping environments all over the city. While looking deep-
er into festivals, the team discovered a phenomena. Experience design and
event production had come to such a high level, that transformative experi-
ences could be designed to rewire neural networks and provide therapy for
large groups of people.

Through an ethnographic research phase, they determined how drug use,

mental health, density, hygiene, diet, and transportation affected their day-
to-day existence. The team also thought of ways the houseless population
could contribute to the city of Portland. Through time-based experience
design, they started designing daily and annual interventions. If a larger
houseless population did arrive in Portland, the team wanted to create op-
portunities for the houseless to thrive and contribute to the city.

Fast forward to February 3, 2027. Portland has created the most successful
urban camping network on the planet. Housing is readily available, but
many houseless choose to camp. Stewards are employed to maintain the
camp grounds and act as community ambassadors. The urban campgrounds
are now hosts to several music and art festivals that create opportunities for
the houseless and greater Portland to socialize. These festivals have creat-
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 116

ed many transformative moments for individuals and the community. The

Portland Winter Light Festival, now in its twelfth year, is one example. The
success of this event has provided many opportunities for the houseless to
contribute to the event production, make art, and play music. Through a
thoughtful design process, a small group of PNCA students transformed the
city of Portland into an integrated community that provides people without
houses opportunities to lead high quality lives.
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The Futures
of Pro-Bono
Jake Dunagan, Matthew Manos

Originally published by the Association for Professional Futurists,

this essay explores future directions for pro-bono
and social enterprise to flourish.

—
A.
The History and Implications of Pro-Bono:
Pro bono publico, for the public good, has a long and noble
history. The term (and practice) has usually been associated
with those working in law, but the idea of doing “good” in
the business world is growing beyond the legal profession. A
diverse range of product and service providers is picking it
up. A comprehensive overview of these pro-social business
design innovations can be found in verynice’s Models of
Impact maps.

As a model, pro-bono began when the German Society of New York

launched an organization that had the specific goal of protecting
recent German immigrants from exploitation in the states.

The dedication to leverage legal aid as a means to protect

those who could not access protection was soon extended well
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outside of the German immigrant population and eventually the

Legal Aid Society of New York was founded in 1890.

In 1919, legal activist Reginald Heber Smith wrote a text

titled “Justice and the Poor” that was crucial in advancing
the argument for the necessity of pro-bono. This article
eventually inspired the American Bar Association to create
the Special Committee on Legal Aid Work, inspiring many law
firms to engage in pro-bono work. Within a generation, pro-
bono became prevalent in fields outside of the legal industry,
including notably the formation of the Ad Council, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to the development of public service
advertisements (PSAs). To deliver these critical and iconic
messages (think Smokey the Bear) to the American public, many
key advertising agencies and design firms participated on a
pro-bono basis.

To this day, nonprofit organizations and government agencies

continue to practice pro-bono in order to gather the same
kind of response that more privileged clients can have as a
result of their marketing and design budgets. Further, pro-
bono has served as a catalyst for the now standard practice
of a for-profit business’ attempt to integrate social impact
into their day-to-day operations. But why do we need pro-bono
now? And will we need it in the future?

“THE WORLD IS GETTING BETTER AND

BETTER, AND WORSE AND WORSE,
FASTER AND FASTER.”TOM ATLEE

Tom Atlee’s observation beautifully captures the contradictions,

paradoxes, opportunities, and anxieties of change many of
us feel these days. If you want to find hope for the future,
it is easily found. If you dread the looming disaster and
civilization-level catastrophes we are facing, you can find
those signs all around us. When we live with such ambiguity,
it can confound and paralyze us, or it can challenge and
liberate us. Therefore, how we frame ‘the future’ matters
more than ever. The metaphors, references, language, images,
and visions we use to make sense of change have real, present,
tangible effects on the way we think, how we behave, and the
decisions we make.
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Pro bono is a way to both describe a practice and an ethos.

It is a big idea. It has enough clarity to be understood
broadly, but it is capacious enough to include many variations
of how “good” can be done. Ultimately, pro bono is about
giving 
— time, services, and other resources — 
with the manifest
goal of improving society in some direct way. It can be
more or less formalized, and it can scale from the level
of individuals (such as legal representation) to global
initiatives for social impact (such as volunteer programs
like the Peace Corps).

Relatively recent innovations, such as social entrepreneurship,

impact investing, sharing economy, collaborative consumption,
and strategic reciprocity are all part of an emerging ‘web
of good’ that is attempting to harness business, social, and
technological tools to win the race against the forces of
greed, corruption, and cooptation. Good is growing faster and
faster, but so is desperation and precarity.

“WITHOUT EQUAL ACCESS TO THE LAW, THE

SYSTEM NOT ONLY ROBS THE POOR OF
THEIR ONLY PROTECTION, BUT IT PLACES
IN THE HANDS OF THEIR OPPRESSORS
THE MOST POWERFUL AND RUTHLESS
WEAPON EVER CREATED.”  REGINALD HEBER SMITH

The idea of a noble good racing against the forces of decay

and corruption already leaves us exhausted. The idea of pro
bono, however, is built upon values of duty, to be sure, but
it also contains notions of abundance, and exuberance. Pro
bono can have strategic advantages, but the driving force is
the goal for individuals to do right by society by becoming
better people. Being “human” in today’s business world remains
difficult, but it doesn’t stop people from seeking out ways to
do just that. Pro bono feels like a very human act of giving
a damn about the future, and doing something about it today.

Pro bono futurum is the idea that if we give our time and skills
away (at whatever level or capacity we can) to institutions
and practices that improve society, that those institutions
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will thrive and that future generations will benefit from these
efforts. Pro bono isn’t free, and it requires hard work and
sacrifice from its practitioners. The feedback mechanisms may
be noisy, long, or even non-existent for us in the present,
but we have to put some measure of trust that our actions
will have systemic positive impact. A commitment to pro bono
futurum could very likely pay off for most current and future
generations, but it has definite pays off for one’s personal
well-being and work satisfaction. With a side effect like
that, pro bono is a medicine we should all be taking.

B.
The Key Trends and Emerging Issues
in Pro-Bono Service:
As Pro-Bono matures within the social enterprise community,
and more models emerge that serve as various methodologies for
approaching this model of impact, new issues and aspirations
within the practice naturally arise. The following are five
of the major trends we have noted through an in-depth study
into the field, which includes conversations with practitioners
and recipients of pro-bono as well as a cross-examination of
pro-bono’s position within the social enterprise ecosystem as
a whole.

Moving from “Gift” to “Exchange”: As we explored, historically,

pro-bono has been most synonymous with charitable action, or
even with volunteerism. However, just as we are finding that
“social impact” has become much more synonymous with business
acumen and private-sector interests, we are finding that
pro-bono has begun to be leveraged as business development
tool. For example, studios and consultancies leverage pro-
bono engagements to develop/prototype new client services
and to build their portfolios in industries of interest.
Consultancies also leverage the networks of pro-bono clients
for paid project referrals and high-potential introductions
to larger corporate clients. There is much more opportunity
for reciprocity and equal exchange in this model, rather than
a charity model that moves resources in a single direction
from those who have, to those who have not.
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Differentiating “Spec” and “Pro-Bono” work: Especially in

the creative industries, community organizations such as
the AIGA have historically been against participation in
pro-bono engagements due to a conflation of “spec work” and
“pro-bono work”. However, we are beginning to see more of
a welcoming attitude toward pro-bono work in recent years;
institutionalizing the concept of pro-bono as a service
that is solely reserved for a nonprofit clientele further
differentiates it from speculative work, since spec work is
reserved for a for-profit/private sector client-base.

Marrying Pro-Bono with Social Enterprise: As the social

enterprise movement grows, we have seen many new models
emerge, primarily in the product-oriented business space.
However, as there has been more growing interest in social
enterprise amongst consultants and service-oriented business
practitioners, pro-bono has emerged as one of a handful of
models of impact that are beginning to be framed as a valid
approach to social entrepreneurship and social innovation.
This re-framing of the practice has empowered the community
to innovate within the scope of “pro-bono”, resulting in an
exciting development and advancement in the design of new
business models.

“Pro-Bono” as “Team-Building”: Thanks in part to the research

and activism of organizations such as the Taproot Foundation,
pro-bono is growing significantly as a practice to be leveraged
strategically by larger, multi-national corporations as a
method for team building under the scope of “Human Resources.”
Large companies, such as Disney, Wells Fargo, and HP have
begun investing more in pro-bono experiences as a tool for
developing their staff’s professional and personal goals.
Pro-bono as a method of professional development and talent
acquisition is a growing trend spread wildly among the Fortune
500 class.

“Pro-Bono” as “Social Production”: With roots in the legal

industry, pro-bono was initially seen as a side-project/
extra curricular activity to take place in the downtime of
a consultant’s 9–5 practice. However, now that pro-bono is
becoming integral within businesses, new models of production
and bandwidth allocation have emerged. One significant trend
is an approach known as “social production,” which calls for
a networked execution approach that has allowed businesses to
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work with remote volunteers on a per-project basis to complete

the work for their pro-bono clientele.

C.
The Key Trends and Emerging Issues
in Social Entrepreneurship:
In addition to the five trends highlighted in section B,
it is important to also note five additional trends that
are affecting the social enterprise eco-system as a whole.
Through our research and development work on the Models of
Impact project, the following have been the strongest themes
and changes to emerge

The Race for a New Vocabulary: A few years ago, a controversy

emerged within the Social Enterprise community when SalesForce
attempted to trademark the term. “Social Enterprise” as a
term has shifted drastically in the last 10 years thanks to
the rise in social networking and social media platforms such
as Facebook and Twitter. More and more, the term, “social,” in
the context of social enterprise, is misunderstood as a term
that speaks to networked businesses. As a result, a new trend
has emerged within the practice that attempts to re-name the
field to something more fitting such as Impact Business, Social
Impact Entrepreneurship, Models of Impact, For-Good Business,
Triple-Bottom-Line Company, and so on.

Rise in Critical Consumption: As products and services that

generate social impact have become more commonplace in the
private sector, the novelty of these approaches has greatly
diminished. As a result, a growing class of critical consumers
, who are greatly changing the landscape and expectations
of social entrepreneurs, has emerged. A great recent example
of this is TOMS Shoes, a business that donates one pair
of shoes for every pair of shoes the customer buys. After
much scrutiny over their manufacturing practices, the company
began producing the shoes in the communities they serve,
thereby creating jobs in developing countries. This shift was
thanks to an outcry from their supporters, pushing them to do
even more good in the world, in the best way possible.
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Quantifying Impact and “Accrediting” Social Enterprise: In

many ways, this third trend is the result of a growing class
of critical consumers. As social entrepreneurship has become
a more popular business methodology, we have begun to see more
certification programs, such as the B-Corporation, emerge. In
addition, a growing challenge and implication of certification
practices has been a need to understand how to best quantify
and measure the impact of social enterprises in order to
understand what makes a social enterprise “good” or “not
good.” As we have also seen a rise in “Impact Investing Firms”,
essentially angel investors or VC firms who focus on seeing
a return on impact, we suspect some exciting innovations to
emerge around impact assessment in the near future.

Re-Defining “Value”: One implication/trend that has come of

the rise of the Sharing Economy as well as the new demands
and expectations of the millennial generation is a re-
defining of “value” and “ownership”. This shift in culture and
consumer expectations/desires has paved the way for a more
open dialogue around concepts like social entrepreneurship
and pro-bono. We expect to continue seeing new economies
emerge that are not as reliant on monetary value as previous
economies have been.

D.
Where Pro-Bono Could Go:
What if pro-bono is just another “social” fad that will be
crushed by more traditional business concerns and practices?
Or, what if it is an early signal of a coming transformation
to the whole practice of business and capitalism that we’ve
known for generations?

It is a fool’s game to try and predict a single future, but

we must prepare for a range of alternative futures and move
to build toward the future we want to see in the world.
The trends and emerging practices mentioned above, and many
others, show us that pro-bono could take one of several
plausible directions (and maybe several directions at once).
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GROWTH: Pro-bono has become the beacon of how socially

minded business gets done in the 21st Century. It is
not just an ornamental add-on to more standard ways of
business, but becomes integral to business strategy at
most companies, and certainly at the most successful.
Pro-bono opens the doors of creativity and good will in
markets around the world, and shows leaders that people and
profits are not always in competition.

COLLAPSE: Pro-bono is often derided in the same ways

hippie communes are now  — 
the product of idealism and
exuberance, but not ready to deal with the sometimes hard
and serious challenges we face as a society. There was
some hope early on that it might take off as a movement,
but as opportunists and marketers corrupted it on one end,
investors and competitors outperformed it on the other.
Maybe there will be other ways to deliver on social good
in the business world, but pro-bono is not it.

DISCIPLINE: Pro-bono is making solid inroads into business

practice in many different sectors, playing an important,
but limited role in most companies. There are now 57%
of fortune 500 companies who have signed on the 5% pro-
bono pledge, and many examples of how this commitment of
skilled talent has paid off for social good. But business is
mostly run in the same model as it has been for ages, with
a larger portion of the “exhaust” going to good causes.

TRANSFORMATION: The pro-bono movement was just the

perturbation needed to shift the entire market economy
into a different model. It is almost impossible to remember
a time when companies used full-time employees to create
valuable products and services that were bought and sold
with government issued currency. Now we see a global hive
of talent-seekers algorithmically matched with skilled
labor and their work is distributed for maximal benefit to
maximal numbers of people.
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E.
Where Pro-Bono Should Go:
Informed by the histories, futures, and present-day trends
that have been highlighted in this study from the Models of
Impact research team, we can only promise that the field of
pro-bono will continue to grow throughout the service-oriented
business community. Pro-bono should be leveraged by every
major corporation as a tool for staff development. Pro-bono
should be a standard practice in the field of design, as it is
in the legal industry. Pro-bono should be leveraged within
academic institutions as a way for students to immediately
apply their education to real-world clientele who could benefit
immediately from their skills and work.

Every year, in the United States alone, nonprofit organizations

will spend over 8 billion dollars on marketing and design
services. The future we would like to see? What if every single
one of those 8 billion dollars was replaced with pro-bono
offerings from the creative industries? This would result in a
serious impact on some of the world’s most persistent problems
as it will allow organizations to immediately allocate more
resources toward their cause while still getting access to
the same great design and marketing services they require.
Together we can make this simple commitment in order to drive
change and grow pro-bono as a model of impact in the social
enterprise community.
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An Attempt
to Automate
Entrepreneurship
Matthew Manos

Editor’s Note: This piece represents a substantial new edit of the thesis work
Matthew Manos originally developed while pursuing a Master’s degree
in Media Design from the ArtCenter College of Design. For several years
post-grad, the work entered additional rounds of iteration and exploration,
resulting in a further developed piece that eventually became a project now
known as Models of Impact. The concepts of Preemptive Entrepreneurship
and Preemptive Social Entrepreneurship originated in this thesis work.

—
I.
Context

“MAINLY THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT

THE FUTURE, AND THEY WOULD
BADGER US ABOUT WHAT’S GOING
TO HAPPEN TO US. FINALLY, I SAID:
‘LOOK, THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT"
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THE FUTURE IS TO INVENT IT. THIS IS

THE CENTURY IN WHICH YOU CAN
BE PROACTIVE ABOUT THE FUTURE;
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE REACTIVE.
THE WHOLE IDEA OF HAVING
SCIENTISTS AND TECHNOLOGY IS THAT
THOSE THINGS YOU CAN ENVISION
AND DESCRIBE CAN ACTUALLY BE
BUILT.’ IT WAS A SURPRISE TO THEM
AND IT WORRIED THEM.1” ALAN KAY

In the 18th Century, just three decades prior to the birth of

Leland Stanford, Adam Smith defined “entrepreneur” as a person
who acts as an agent in transforming demand into supply.
This specific definition, the concept of an entrepreneur as
a supplier of what the customer wants, is in agreement to
many definitions that preceded Smith. However, this was not a
philosophy that remained a static definition of the practice.
In his book, The Design of Business, Roger Martin speaks of
entrepreneurship and innovation as a way of seeing the world
“not as it is, but as it could be.” The book goes on to argue
that true innovation stems from the exploration of problems
that cannot actually be found in history or proven by data.
Perhaps in a more extreme use of language, Erik Reis offers up
another take on the practice defining entrepreneurship as the
act of creating something new under “extreme uncertainty.2”
From juxtaposing the 21st Century definition of the field with
the 18th and early 19th century definitions, it might seem
as though entrepreneurship has evolved from a practice that
supplies a demand to a profession that creates demands— from
a field of regurgitation to a practice of innovation. However,
These theories are not honest representations of the true
landscape of contemporary American innovation.

Numbers are a hindrance on history-making. Prescribed

methodologies, or the templatization of innovation, yield
expected results. Changing history through the production of
cultural shifts, an ambition at the heart of entrepreneurship,
is an act that is far too radical for a quantitative practice.
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Entrepreneurs often turn towards numbers to see how

coordination or reallocation can be optimized to provide
a great benefit to either corporate or social entities. A
quantitative and theoretical stance like this is actually
crippling to the radical thinking an entrepreneur is capable
of, limiting their ability to innovate that which does not
exist and change the way we, as consumers and human beings,
perceive the world around us on both a macro and micro scale.
Peter Lunenfeld, a pioneer in the digital humanities, states
that we need to “move from P&L to V&F—profit and loss to vision
and futurity, from ROI to ROV— the Return on Investment to a
Return on Vision.3” A shift in entrepreneurial intention from
one that is quantitative to one that is qualitative enables
innovators to lessen their concern around the production of
profit, and instead focus efforts toward designing a future they
would like to inhabit. These kinds of values and aspirations
were common amongst 20th century innovations, but have been
lost in post-Internet entrepreneurial endeavors.

“THE HUSBAND AND WIFE WHO OPEN

ANOTHER DELICATESSEN STORE OR
ANOTHER MEXICAN RESTAURANT IN
THE AMERICAN SUBURB SURELY TAKE A
RISK. BUT ARE THEY ENTREPRENEURS?
ALL THEY DO IS WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
MANY TIMES BEFORE. THEY GAMBLE
ON THE INCREASING POPULARITY
OF EATING OUT IN THEIR AREA, BUT
CREATE NEITHER A NEW SATISFACTION
NOR NEW CONSUMER DEMAND...
[...] INDEED, ENTREPRENEURS ARE A
MINORITY AMONG NEW BUSINESSES.
THEY CREATE SOMETHING NEW,
SOMETHING DIFFERENT; THEY CHANGE
OR TRANSMUTE VALUES.4” PETER DRUCKER
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Instead of changing or transmuting values, entrepreneurs are

caught in a state of reaction, often focusing their energy
towards making the old better, feeding off of that which has
preceded them as opposed to laying groundwork for what is to
come. This methodology results in a loss of the disruptive
tendency that formerly motivated so many entrepreneurs.

II.
Conspiracy
Brenda Laurel identifies a crisis in contemporary entrepreneurial
practice: “We face a crisis in content— who will make it, how
will it be paid for, and what will it be worth in a new media
World?5” Entrepreneurial practice, and innovation in general,
is now driven by the acquisition of content. It is no longer
a form of authorship, but instead a collage. This crisis, in
part, can be attributed to society’s desire for a constant
“newness,” but perhaps entrepreneurs have simply run out of
ideas. Are we headed towards an era of sameness in which
all humanly perceived problems are solved? This speculation
imagines an era in which innovation by the human species
alone becomes impossible due to the increased difficulty of
accurately perceiving and defining problems. While, to some,
the elimination of problems may seem to be a great success,
I find it to be the most pressing dilemma of humankind. As
utopian socialist and businessman, King Camp Gillette, states,
the progress of humanity is dependent on the birth of ideas,
and “if individual minds should cease to give birth to ideas
of improvement or discovery, the progress of man would cease.6”

“HUMANS ARE GOVERNED BY TWO

CLOCKS: THE VERY SLOW-TICKING
CLOCK OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
AND THE FAST-ACCELERATING
CLOCK OF TECHNOLOGICAL
PROGRESS. THE RESULT OF THESE "
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TWO CLOCKS NOT SYNCING UP

IS THE HUMAN BRAIN (AND THE
PUBLIC POLICY OUR BRAINS
GENERATE) IS UNABLE TO KEEP UP
WITH THE COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT
AROUND US.7” REBECCA COSTA

As Research Scientists in the field of Quantum Physics

attempt discovery, breakthrough is revealed in that which is
counterintuitive. For example, 0.999... is equal to 1. In this
space, human intuition becomes irrelevant because the areas
explored are not comparable to that of any past experience.
The same can be said about the very distant future. Both
are spaces in which common sense, alone, is considered
shortsighted. In this space as well as other domains in which
expertise is not possible, like stock picking or long-term
political strategic forecasting, experts are “just not better
than a dice throwing monkey.8” As we continue to rapidly move
towards a future, and past experience exponentially divides
from present conditions, as Rebecca Costa illustrates with
the two clocks of human governance, we will enter an era in
which innovation-by-reaction alone will be deemed impossible
due to over-saturation and incomprehensible uncertainty. To
avoid this, entrepreneurship will need to shift in one of two
directions: one of preemption (meaning less dependent upon
reaction), and one of randomization (meaning more open-minded
and dynamic approaches to findings things worth reacting to).

Fig 01. Entrepreneurial Bridges:

The Point of No Connectivity.

S
I T IO N
COND
TIN G
E X IS

KNO W
LE DG
E&E
X PE R
IE N C
E
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The above diagram portrays a map of the future, from the

perspective of the present. The map is made up of a cone that
has two axes (existing condition and past knowledge) that are
exponentially dividing with a timeline in the middle. The
diagram, specifically the ultimate break in the connectivity
between the axes, illustrates the context that my project is
designing for, and gives a broader framework to the speculation
as a whole.

The first axis, existing condition, represents our current

state— our pressing issues, conditions, or needs. The second
axis is our knowledge and experience. This axis represents
everything we have learned in the past that directly informs
the way we approach our existing condition. The bridge
between these two is entrepreneurship— the ability to see the
problems that exist in our present moment, consult our past
knowledge, and juxtapose the two in order to solve a problem
by creating an enterprise.

As we move through this cone and we enter this exponential

divide between the two axes, it becomes harder and harder
to innovate because the void between our existing condition
and our past knowledge/experience grows to a point until one
day, I speculate, this gap will not be possible to cross.
While we will never inhabit a world that is rid of all
problems, as we move faster and faster into the future, the
problems that do exist will strengthen in their ability to go
unrecognized by humankind alone. We need to begin designing
an alternative for this situation, an Automated Entrepreneur.
This machine-like system, and the methodologies that inform
it, are designed to make the connections between our past
experience and existing condition more apparent in order to
systematize innovation for a time in which innovation-by-
reaction alone is not possible thanks to heightened levels of
uncertainty and over-saturation.

III.
Signals
Three early signals that point towards this shift of entre-
preneurial culture are Knock-Off Products, Feature Companies,
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and Product-Enhancing Products. In the 20th Century, as Alan

Kay states, we saw an abundance of innovation. The Personal
Computer, the Pocket Calculator, and the Xerox Machine, for
example, are devices that disrupted our daily actions and
routines. “They weren’t contaminations of existing things.
They weren’t finding a need and filling it. They created a need
that only they could fill.9” I argue that, made visible by these
signals, the current landscape of innovation is driven by
enhancing that which has already been innovated, as opposed
to creating that which is new— this is due to the growing
difficulty of reaction. These signals are identified through
an analysis of the methodologies I have personally witnessed
through my involvement in the entrepreneurial community in
the United States, as well as in my career as a designer
and strategist that has allowed me to assist thousands
of businesses and organizations launch their products
and services. The process of building these relationships
has provided an intimate lens into the intentions of
modern entrepreneurs, as well as the aspirations of their
technologies.

KNOCK-OFF PRODUCTS: Knock-off products and services, perhaps

the most publicly recognizable sign of the end of human-
induced entrepreneurship, is an active strategy in the
development of business within both the “as-seen-on-TV”
and web application sectors. Take Groupon, for example.
With millions of subscribers, the company pioneered the
“daily deal” online platform, but is far from existing as a
one-of a-kind10. Shortly after their launch, as is the case
with any successful new web service, the competitors began
to pour in: LivingSocial, Yipit, Scoutmob, Fab, Savored,
Google Offers... and the list goes on. The “elevator pitch”
I hear from entrepreneurs with these kinds of desperate
aspirations sound something like this: “You know, like
[insert pioneering company’s name], but with [insert minor
difference].” This regurgitative method of business design
comes from a desperation amongst entrepreneurs to start
something without the ability to identify a new, specific,
need to intervene with their product or service.

FEATURE COMPANIES: Feature companies, the archetypal

“sell-out,” are enterprises designed for acquisition. The
designer of a feature company studies the big hitters
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in the internet and technology industries (Facebook,

Microsoft, Google, etc.) with the intention of discovering
a void in an existing product or service to design for.
That void, or “feature” is transformed into a new product
or service and becomes the sole focus of the start-up.
The intention, upon launch, is to offer it for sale to
the mother company upon launch. This method of business
design is common amongst serial entrepreneurs. I argue
this signal, another proof to the conspiracy put forward
in this work, is a kind of surrender to the mammoth
corporations that run Silicon Valley. If you can’t beat
‘em, get bought by ‘em.

PRODUCT-ENHANCING PRODUCTS: Take a walk into any Apple

store, and you will find hundreds of products that have
been designed by third-party vendors to make Apple
products better. These companies capitalize on an
existing technology and essentially focus the design of
their model on accessorizing the innovations of others.
These products, while seemingly innovative in the sense
that they change the dynamic of how we understand the
potential use of specific devices, do not actually create
anything new, but instead make other stuff a little more
“awesome.” These kinds of products surprisingly are more
common than we might think— apps, websites, smart phones,
computer software... all of these things simply enhance
the experience of a true innovation (the internet, the
personal computer).

These signals are a visible cry for help. We need new

methodologies, and by designing new processes that can assist
humans in the disconnect between their past experience
and existing condition, we will allow for an integration
of systematic entrepreneurialism. This evolution of
entrepreneurial practice, preemptive enterprise, is built
upon randomly generated starting points that can inspire
innovation in an age of uncertainty.
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IV.
The System, Part 01:
The Emperor’s New Post-It
Taking a more extreme approach to tackling the era of
uncertain reaction, The Emperor’s New Post-It is a design
project that lays the groundwork for a system that aspires
to heroically take the place of humankind in entrepreneurial
practice. The project explores the advantages of humans vs
machines, and is a search for the ideal solution to this issue
of stifled innovation that combines the current human and
machine resources we have available. The system is a parallel
being, a mimicry, and a representation, of the thoughts and
values of an individual that starts things. In some ways, the
project dehumanizes entrepreneurial spirit by leveraging the
practice’s ability to create the bridge between our existing
condition and our past experience. The project creates these
bridges by identifying a problem and authoring the knowledge
required to design a solution.

While the project’s intent is to attempt to automate

entrepreneurship, The Emperor’s New Post-It cannot simply
begin with an abrupt abandonment of the practice’s current
human-driven methodologies. Instead, to begin working towards
systematizing the process of innovation, a series of games
and workshop curricula are created to strike a balance
between mediated decision making and free will. These initial
experiments range from workshops on defiant innovation at
the Occupy camp in Downtown Los Angeles to card games that
generate random business plans.

Early Experiments

The first of these experiments, The Serendipitous Business

Plan Generator­
, leverages hybridity and serendipity to create
a system for randomly generating new business ideas. The
root of all digital media is a replication or translation of
analog systems and data. Often times, complex interactions
and digitally-based systems are best explained through simple
materials as a way to generate ideas without the burden of
incorporating technology in the initial stages of a project. As
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a result, the Serendipitous Business Plan Generator experiment

begins with a series of physical explorations, allowing for a
rapid prototyping of the infrastructure and game mechanics in
order to provide a series of high-resolution insights on the
implications of the system.

The first of these iterations: a conditional walking exercise

that enables the generation of serendipitous business:

1. Walk one Block. Take a picture. This is your PRODUCT.

2. Walk one more block. Take a picture. This is your MARKET.

3. Walk one more block. Take a picture. This is your
LOCATION/INDUSTRY.

The first business to result from this process? Park benches

for dogs at train stations.

This initial attempt in developing a Serendipitous Business

Plan Generator yields amusing results in terms of spontaneity
and humor. By basing the constraints in a physical space,
the ideas become a reflection of that space. The implications
of this limitation is a charming lack of control in content–
resulting in concepts that represent a wide metric of success.

The second iteration of the Serendipitous Business Model

Generator takes more ownership of the content by equipping
the user of the system with a card game that grounds the
experience. The mechanics of the system introduce three decks
of cards: Industry to Modify, Scenario, and Horizon Element.
The content itself, adapted from the recent outlook reports
of ARUP, the Institute for the Future, and the New Media
Consortium, introduces futurist methodologies that foster
foresight and innovation into the generator as a way to remove
participants from the present tense.

After conducting user-studies on several early iterations of

the card game, the importance of refining the interface to
provide more context for the desired outcome became clear. By
grounding the ideas in visual illustrations, descriptive text,
and a demonstrable set of instructions, participants were
found to be even more likely to achieve a solid understanding
of the framework. In addition, the framework of a card game
seemed to provoke a competitive nature in the participant,
prompting questions of rank and reward.
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To ground further iterations, I visited Game Empire in

Pasadena. During the visit, I purchased a series of card games
in order to learn from their structure. I became interested in
the conditions that made these games challenging, addictive,
fun, and satisfying. Through further conversation with store
employees, I was also reminded of the vast array of mechanics
to choose from, and the most attractive format that I uncovered
during my research was the CCG, or Collectible Card Game, a
genre that requires a high degree of strategy, customization,
and narrative. Pokemon, an example of a CCG, serves as an
inspiration for further iterations to the Serendipitous
Business Plan Generator, with each card consisting of a large
graphic, a title, and descriptions of its use and capabilities.

Borrowing from the interface of the CCG, my next iteration on

the Serendipitous Business Plan Generator consists of a deck of
90 cards, divided into 3 sets of 30. In addition, the content of
the decks is refined from the original system to include:

1. SCENARIO: the conditions in which our business is

being started

2. OPPORTUNITY: the emerging technologies/phenomenons

that will be leveraged in our venture

3. MODIFY ELEMENT: the existing business, product, or

industry that will be modified/developed

After validating the new and improved interface and content with
colleagues at the ArtCenter College of Design, I chose to test
the framework in new industries. I invited entrepreneurs and
social enterprise advocates to participate in an intimate focus
group session that would test the implications of including a
business plan template for the participant to populate, informed
by the output of the card game. The business plan template
includes:

1. COMPANY NAME
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3. PRODUCTS/SERVICES
4. MARKET STRATEGY
The rules of operation for the game are as follows: Draw one
card from each of the three decks in order to generate your
business. While the generator can be used by an individual, it
is recommended to play with a partner. The generated business
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must be documented by populating the provided business plan

template, no matter how strange your combinations may be.

From video game hospitals to cyborg apartments, the cards

generate serendipitous business that are outside the realm of
expertise of each participant, allowing the system to enable
creation in unfamiliar spaces. In doing so, the system reveals
itself as having an underlying potential to design new ways
of thinking, an aspect of the generator which is crucial in
moving toward the further development of the project as an
autonomous system.

The Merced Project

While generative, the experiments form The Emperor’s New Post-

It thus far have maintained a protective layer of sorts due to
the fact that they are being portrayed as “experiments” in an
academic setting. What happens when the project becomes real,
and the stakes are higher? The following is a documentation
of the Serendipitous Business Plan Generator’s first public
workshop, which took place in the City of Merced, California
on November 11, 2011.

The City of Merced, known as the “Gateway to Yosemite,” is

home to a population of nearly 80,000 individuals, about 30% of
whom are currently living below the poverty line. According to
data from Forbes, median-level homes in Merced saw a dramatic
loss in value— 62%, the biggest drop anywhere in the country.
According to Zillow, by the end of 2009, house prices in
Merced had returned to the levels seen over a decade earlier.
This crisis has established a strong community of individuals
and organizations actively seeking new ways of thinking about
commerce and innovation in order to transform the community
into a space for survival, ingenuity, and break-through.

Several organizations within Merced decided to take action on

these aspirations by developing a town-hall meeting of sorts
to bring leading voices from around the nation to lead the
community into new modes of thinking. I was fortunate enough
to have been approached to develop a workshop for the community
of Merced at this gathering in order to lead participants
through a series of generative activities that would inspire
new business models that have the potential to improve the
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local economy. The attendees of the gathering were a diverse

audience of about 100 individuals who collectively represented
the community of Merced. From farmers to students, all
cultures and professions within the community were accounted
for, making it a rich space to design a workshop specific to
the context and histories of Merced. In this space, I piloted
a version of the Serendipitous Business Plan Generator (SBPG)
that was designed specifically for this gathering. The SBPG
works by juxtaposing three components: Scenario, Opportunity,
and Modify Element.

»» SCENARIO: The situation (i.e. growth, collapse, etc.) in

which the participant is starting their business. This
element is designed to give insight into the resources
they will be able to leverage for their business plan.

»» OPPORTUNITY: The emerging opportunity (i.e. augmented

reality, cyborgs, etc.) that the participant can take
advantage of and consider when conceptualizing their
business plan.

»» MODIFY ELEMENT: The specific space, industry, product,

or service (i.e. coffee shop, lamp, etc.) your
business plan is in conversation with, adapting, or
transforming.

While the Scenario and Opportunity decks were only slightly

developed from earlier iterations, the Modify Element deck
was completely revisited to speak to this specific community.
For the Modify Element deck, students from UC Merced were
prompted to explore the community, and take photographs of
spaces that illustrated both an essence of the community,
and prominent issues at hand in the county. By getting the
students (residents of Merced) involved in this preliminary
aspect of the experience, the system became specifically
designed for the City of Merced as a way to tease out ideas
and concerns unique to this community.

The photographs were placed on 10 different roundtables around

the community center and participants were prompted to select
their seat based on the space depicted in the photograph,
assuming that the participants would select based on some
kind of prior experience or emotional connection with the
imagery depicted in the photo. Shortly after, the additional
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two cards (opportunity and scenario) were distributed to the

participants along with a business plan template and full
instructions for the exercise.

Each table housed a diverse group of Merced community members,

working together to strategize their business proposal for the
community of Merced, using the Serendipitous Business Plan
Generator. Throughout the activity, I spent time at each table
to work with the participants on their ideas, and clarify any
issues or concerns centered around the system itself.

In 30 minutes, the participants were prompted to develop

a concept for a business that would exist in Merced that
considered all three of the generated components as restrictions
in the making process. In order to foster a bit of friendly
competition amongst the groups, the community was informed
halfway through the exercise that some tables were given the
same opportunities to capitalize on, thus creating direct
competition between the groups in order to push the ideas
beyond the top-level, initial, concepts. After 30 minutes of
rapid business generation, each group delivered a pitch to the
audience as a whole, presenting the details of their business
plans while their ideas were noted on a series of posters.
After each presentation, the posters were pinned to the walls
of the community center, and the community was asked to vote
on the venture that would best benefit the community at large.

The problem with Social Innovation is that it puts the

entrepreneur(s) on a pedestal. In doing so, the process of
innovation becomes framed as for the community as opposed
to with the community, inevitably neglecting the edges of
an issue at hand and resulting in a lot of clean-looking,
shiny things that impose a set of values and beliefs around
a community’s problems. I am interested in how The Merced
Project was able to leverage corporate innovation tactics
within a specific community as a way to tease out information
about the culture of this space of crisis. Ethnographers often
work with entrepreneurs in communities to seek new markets and
opportunities, but what if the end goal was not to walk away
with a set of solutions to capitalize on? The Merced Project
begins to explore design’s ability to shift the role of an
entrepreneur away from solving problems, focusing instead on
working with a community to tease out new problems specific to
their interests. I am interested in how this trajectory could
be pushed even further through the development of a series of
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design interventions inspired/informed by the results of the

workshop in order to bring the ideas to the forefront of the
community at large.

1,000 Businesses

After the Merced Project, I realized that all of the experiences

designed thus far could be categorized as a kind of performance
art, in the sense that my own presence is required in the
administration and facilitation of each activity. What would
happen if I remove myself from the process entirely? This
next iteration of the Serendipitous Business Plan Generator
steps closer towards an automated system in order to explore
the kinds of business plans an entrepreneurial machine could
be capable of writing.

The initial series of explorations, iterations, and user

studies of the analog Serendipitous Business Plan Generator
provide a grounding for an additional component to the system:
automation.

1,000 Businesses is a compilation of 1,000 systematically

generated executive summaries that are written by the
Serendipitous Executive Summary Generator, a semi-autonomous
web app that pulls from a series of word lists and sentence
structures in order to generate an Executive Summary, the
basis of all business plans.

The algorithm begins with a sentence structure that has

certain words differentiated from the rest of the sentence
through the use of {brackets}. The words within the {brackets},
and the sentence structures themselves, are randomized by
pulling from a list of options for words and sentence formations
that I provided in a database.

Every time the user clicks “GIVE ME ANOTHER BUSINESS MODEL,”

the page is refreshed, and a new statement with randomized
key words and an alternative sentence structure is generated.

After generating 1,000 of these summaries alone and in workshop

settings, a series of key-terms are extracted from each
executive summary (i.e. opportunity, demographic, etc.), forming
a database of words to pull from for each plan. This data is
then entered into 1,000 business plan templates. The templates
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are created through a comprehensive process of combining dozens

of free business plan templates found online.

The system produced a range of businesses that begin to go

beyond the first-level, “silly,” and more into the believable, yet
strange, realm. The algorithm that produces each of the plans
revealed a critical dimension that questions the sameness of
business plans, the “templatization” of innovation, and the
seemingly automated nature of the field of entrepreneurship,
even in its current state.

Finally, all 1,000 business plans were mailed to all of the

top Venture Capital firms in Silicon Valley, in order to
understand if the machine worked or not, based on response-
rate. The project, For Your Consideration, unfortunately did
not result in any response whatsoever. Apparently automating
entrepreneurship is harder than it looks.

Upon completion of this first in-depth series of experimentations

in generative business, the vision of a world in which humans
collaborate with systems in order to make their entrepreneurial
endeavors more preemptive and dynamic maintains its status as
a worthwhile topic of exploration. In addition, the research
and development of both the human-centered workshops and the
machine-centered prototypes informed the ultimate direction
and strategy for a new evolution of the work: Models of Impact.

V.
The System, Part 02: Models of Impact
After completing The Emperor’s New Post-it, my interest in
generative business continued and iterations on my initial
experiments naturally transpired. Perhaps most exciting about
the new evolutions of the work is its specificity in focus on
social and preemptive entrepreneurship. From The Emperor’s
New Post-It, I came to appreciate the potential of generative
thought exercises as they pertain to business ideation. Very
often, when considering a business model, or even a focus
area, we choose to settle for the models and ideas we find
comfort in. By integrating a generative process, we have
no choice but to become more open-minded, and therefore we
have a greater potential to explore things we may not have
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previously considered. The following is an in-depth look into

the Models of Impact framework, a project that was developed
based on the promise of commercializing the themes and best
practices that emerged from the experiments that comprised
The Emperor’s New Post-It.

How can products and services contribute to the development

of sustainable impact in our communities? What models exist
that can drive impact and social change beyond traditional
grants and private donations? What role does philanthropy play
now that consumers are more aware of the social impact behind
their consumption? In the past 10 years, most intensely, so
many businesses have shifted to a mindset in which ”people”
and “planet” in addition to profit, are viable measures of
success. This new criteria for success has informed a new wave
of products and services that place giving back at the core
of what they do.

As a social entrepreneur myself, I felt incredibly deprived

of resources in the earliest stages of designing verynice’s
now trending “give-half” business model. I remember picking
up a copy of “Nonprofits for Dummies” in order to get a feel
for how the social sector operated, but when it came to being
a for-profit with a focus on social impact, I didn’t know
where to find prime examples of business models. Even to this
day, when I arrive at a conference for social entrepreneurs,
there is very little talk around business models. When
the conversation does come up, it tends to be limited in
scope. This limited mindset is actually crippling the social
enterprise community’s ability to innovate in a sustainable
manner. We’ve all heard of TOMS Shoes, but what other impact-
oriented business models are out there?

Emerging social entrepreneurs need to know that there

are options. This is why we created Models of Impact. The
project’s initial iteration is a glossary and series of maps
(see figure on opposite page) that document the relationships
and deviations between various models across the product
and service-oriented business industries. The goal of the
research project was to reveal the underlying systems that
make sustainable impact achievable.
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Fig 02. Product-oriented business map.

After finalizing this first phase of the initiative, we found

ourselves with a load of research, but not much to do with
it all. Aside from reading through the map and glossary
of defined vocabulary, there was not an actionable quality.
Remembering the findings from The Emperor’s New Post-It, I
became interested in the concept of Models of Impact adopting
a generative component in order to leverage the robust data
from our research in a game-based learning environment. To
begin the process of developing our game, we worked with
dozens of entrepreneurs to conduct user studies on our early
prototypes and even began offering the game as a service to
our clients spanning the nonprofit, startup, and Fortune 500
sectors. Most notably, the methodology was adopted by the
California College of the Arts and Singularity University for
use in an academic setting. The method was also introduced
to the CSR departments of Electronic Arts and Mattel, and
was even used to help relaunch Architecture for Humanity as
the Open Architecture Collaborative. The result of all these
experimental engagements? The Models of Impact toolkit.
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Models of Impact, The Toolkit

Editor’s Note: To download the Models of Impact toolkit and access more
information and content, please visit http://modelsofimpact.co

As a strategic business-design toolkit, the mission of Models

of Impact is to promote legacy and entrepreneurship in the
social impact community by developing tools and resources
that make it easy (and fun!) to design disruptive business
models. The process works best when at least two “players” are
involved, and the recommended materials include sticky notes
and polyhedral dice. The toolkit is designed for educators,
consultants, executives, and entrepreneurs.

The Methodology:
Our methodology breaks down into four distinct segments:
Learn, Invent, Program, and Report. After users deep-dive
into the landscape of existing business models most relevant
to their areas of interest/operation, they engage in a cross-
pollination of ideas that serve as the catalyst for a new
product, service, or program. The “secret sauce” of the Models
of Impact methodology is a game-based experience that creates
the space for spontaneous discovery in order to challenge
ideas and help users think BIG. By exploring a range of ideas
in an unbiased manner, users have the ability to better
understand the edges of their opportunities for impact. The
method is simple to learn, and each toolkit provides advice
for implementing the curricula appropriately depending on the
user’s specific context and logistics.

SEGM ENT 01:

Learn

In the first segment, users introduce themselves to a range

of relevant business models by tapping into the Models of
Impact Glossary. The glossary contains over 100 unique impact
and revenue models that span the service and product-oriented
business landscapes. Users users can also engage in a number of
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supporting materials including reference materials in addition

to the glossary, additional frameworks, and our original series
of maps that compare the models across a series of 2x2 axes.
During the exercise, participants collectively determine the top
six, 12, or 20 impact models AND the top six, 12, or 20 revenue
models they would like to pursue further. This can be determined
randomly, democratically based on a voting/ranking process, or
strategically based on the findings from previous directions
and initiatives. In addition to ranking and selecting these two
lists of models, users will also generate an additional list
of six, 12, or 20 “other factors”— the specifics of which are
entirely flexible, but may consist of product features, customer
touch points, audience members, relevant trends, or global
challenges that are of interest to the initiative.

SEGM ENT 02:

Invent

In the first segment, participants study the landscape of

business models, and the designated facilitator(s) guide the
participant(s) through an activity that culminates in a series
of three lists of equal length: impact models, revenue models,
and “other factors.” During the second segment, participants
explore a randomized assortment of models and factors in
order to begin inventing a range of new business models for
their product, service, or initiative. This is where the
polyhedral dice come in. Using dice, participants take turns
rolling random values in order to determine what model/factor
to include in that round.

Each round that participants engage in has two deliverables:

the elevator pitch and the scenario development worksheet.
Based on the combination of factors generated in each round,
participants are encouraged to work alone or together in
order to develop an elevator pitch that articulates a concept
for a product/service/initiative that combines a series of
models and factors.

After participants complete the elevator pitch, they develop

a scenarios for their idea. To help participants develop
a scenario, the facilitator asks each participant/group to
think through the Opportunity (What is the potential of this
concept? Why is it great?) and Risk (What could go wrong?
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Why might this not be a good fit?) of the concept as well as

a method/approach to developing a prototype for the concept
that would cost little to no money to implement.

Depending on the length of the overall session, we have seen

participants complete anywhere from 2-5 rounds of invention.
With each round, the complexity of the assignment escalates
in order to increase the vulnerability of the ideas and open
up edges to explore more. The following is a breakdown of
recommended invention rounds:

ROUND 01:
1 Impact Model, 1 Revenue Model, 1 “Other Factor”

ROUND 02:
2 Impact Models, 2 Revenue Models, 1 “Other Factor”

ROUND 03:
3 Impact Models (choose at least 2 of the 3 to pursue),
3 Revenue Models (choose at least 2 of the 3 to pursue),
1 “Other Factor”

ROUND 04:
3 Impact Models (choose at least 2 of the 3 to pursue),
3 Revenue Models (choose at least 2 of the 3 to pursue),
2 “Other Factors” (choose at least 1 of the 2 to pursue)

ROUND 05:
4 Impact Models (choose at least 3 of the 4 to pursue),
4 Revenue Models (choose at least 3 of the 4 to pursue),
2 “Other Factors” (choose at least 1 of the 2 to pursue)

SEGM ENT 03:

Program

If Segment 02 could be referred to as “Blue Sky,” Segment

03 is all about getting into the dirt. Participants reflect
upon the idea(s) generated in their completed final scenario-
development exercise in order to determine which concept(s)
they would like to pursue The specific success criteria that
the facilitator will use to guide the participant(s) through
the decision-making process varies depending on the context/
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scenario/audience, but a series of recommendations for specific

types of audiences are listed at the bottom of this segment.

To begin the programming phase, after the specific concept(s)

are selected, participants work through our unique business
plan writing tool known as the Models of Impact Canvas in
order to get into the nuts and bolts of how the concept might
be implemented into the context they are hoping to work in
(or are currently working in).

Let’s face it, Business Plans are terrifying. They are full of
numbers, fancy projections, and shiny pie charts that don’t
make much sense to the average joe. To be completely honest,
most small businesses don’t even have a business plan. The
reason? It is just too daunting of a task. We developed the
“Program” Segment to make the process of writing a business
plan fast and more fun.

The secret sauce behind our approach to drafting business

plans is a series of 13 critical questions. Using the Program
Segment as an opportunity to think about what they have been
exploring in the Invent Segment in a more detailed/tactical
manner, participants work through the following questions.

IMPACT MODEL: An impact model is a method that allows

a business to operate sustainably and effectively while
simultaneously maximizing impact on its leader, team
members, and community it aims to serve. To define their
impact model, participants answer the following: What kind
of impact do you want to make as a business/organization
(social impact, personal impact, local/community impact,
environmental impact, etc.)? How do you measure your
impact?

VALUE PROPOSITION: A value proposition is the single factor

that makes a business or organization stand out from its
competition. If it has been around for a while, its value
proposition may be well defined. If it’s just starting out,
this can take some time to establish. In either case,
participants answering the following: What makes your
organization and offer unique? Who else is in the space
you are tackling, and why are you better?

PARTNERS: Partners are groups or individuals external to

a business or organization’s day-to-day operations (AKA
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not your staff or shareholders) who can help you make

things happen. New entrepreneurs might not have had the
opportunity to meet the right partners yet. This takes
time, but we recommend participants think big when tackling
these: Who do you work with to create positive impact for
your business, and for the world at large? Who won’t you
work with? Who are your clients, funders, and networks?

PRODUCTS/SERVICES: Often times, an entrepreneur will have

put a lot of thought into their key offering without even
thinking about writing a business plan. What are you
creating? How do you ensure your product or service works
well and creates the impact you are hoping to achieve?

TALENT/OPERATIONAL MODEL: The talent and operational model

is a method that allows a business or organization to
maintain a comfortable workload and steady bandwidth to
deliver on its promise. Who does the work, and how do
you find them? What will your organization chart and cost
structure need to look like to live up to your impact
model and value proposition?

REVENUE MODEL: A revenue model is the method a business or

organization uses to earn revenue from its target market.
Basically, this is the part no one really likes talking
about, but it is a necessary evil. How is your work funded?
How can it be creatively financed?

SEGM ENT 04:

Report

At this point, the participants enter the final segment: the

report! This is when the whole experience comes to fruition.
Participants share their findings with their facilitator fellow
participants (if applicable). The report can take many forms,
participants normally select a format based on the amount of
time remaining as well as the physical space in which they
are working.

If participants have time between sessions, they can design a

presentation and give a short TED-style talk, or a Pecha Kucha
(20 slides, 20 seconds/slide). If they do not have time between
sessions, participants can simply stand up and “report out” on
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the key components of their concept: the value proposition,

the product/service concept, and the business models.

VI.
Conclusions

”THE FACILITATOR IS USUALLY SOMEONE

WHO GETS SOMETHING DONE,
THE LUBRICANT IN A PROCESS TO
ACHIEVE A GOAL. BUT, I THINK IT CAN
BE MORE LIKE A DIRTY LUBRICANT. IT
CAN FUCK UP A PROCESS A LITTLE BIT,
MAKE IT SELF-REFLECTIVE, INEFFICIENT,
AWKWARD, ETC.11”
SEAN DOCKRAY IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVID ELLIOT

Dockray frames facilitation as an art form that flips the

corporate strategy on its head to yield interesting results.
His entrepreneurial initiative, The Public School, is an
interesting model that provides nothing more than a space and
a framework, relying on the audience to define the rest. Both
the system and the user rely on each other’s participation
and existence for something new to be created. Without the
framework, humankind’s output cannot exist. Without humankind,
the system’s framework is useless. While the resulting image
of generative art can be beautiful and provocative, the piece
is not actually the artwork itself, but instead the by-product
of the piece, which is the code or process that generated it.

In the Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen argues that,

to truly innovate, the entrepreneur has to partner with the
consumer to create a space for collaborative discovery. This
relatively modern theory (dating back to the late 80s/early
90s) recognizes success not as the result of one individual,
but instead as a collaborative effort.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 150

“MARKETS THAT DO NOT EXIST

CANNOT BE ANALYZED: SUPPLIERS
AND CUSTOMERS MUST DISCOVER
THEM TOGETHER. NOT ONLY ARE THE
MARKET APPLICATIONS FOR DISRUPTIVE
TECHNOLOGIES UNKNOWN AT THE
TIME OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT, THEY
ARE UNKNOWABLE.12” CLAYTON M. CHRISTENSEN

This collaborative approach to innovation that takes

place between the supplier and the customer allows for a
voyage into unknown spaces, where communal exploration,
dissemination, and discovery can emerge. If collaboration
between the entrepreneur and the consumer, as Christensen
explains, is the true seed of progress, perhaps automation is
not a strategy that matches the aspirations of this system.
Instead of automation, then, the final system aspires to lay
the groundwork for innovation by making visible our present
condition in new and exciting, unbiased, manners. Models of
Impact and its predecessor, The Emperor’s New Post-It, then,
are not a systems for autonomously generating business. They
are entrepreneurial seeing-machines.

As a system, Models of Impact stands to position itself as a

compelling approach to business-design in the post-reactionary
entrepreneurial landscape. By systematically innovating
new models and business concepts under the construct of a
conditional system, entrepreneurs and organizations can reach
new, previously unimagined potentials.
 P art 0 2 : E ssays , C onversations , S cenarios 151

****

WORKS CITED

1. Kay, Alan. “Predicting The Future.” Ecotopia, 20 May 2011. <http://

www.ecotopia.com/webpress/futures.htm>.

2. Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (New York: Crown Business, 2011), Cover
Jacket

3. Lunenfeld, Peter. “Bespoke Futures: Media Design and the Future

of the Future,” Think Tank: Adobe Design Center, 2007. 20 May. 2011
<http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/thinktank/lunenfeld.html>

4. Peter Drucker, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (New York: Harper,

1985), 21-22

5. Laurel, Brenda. Utopian Entrepreneur. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001.

page 93

6. Gillette, King Camp. World Corporation. page 152-153

7. Costa, Rebecca. The Watchman’s Rattle. Quoted by The Institute for

Ethics and Emerging Technologies. <http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/
more/costa20111119>.

8. Luscombe, Belinda. “10 Questions for Daniel Kahneman.” <http://www.

time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2099712,00.html>

9. Kay, Alan. “Predicting The Future.” Ecotopia, 20 May 2011. <http://

www.ecotopia.com/webpress/futures.htm>.

10. Fromer, Dan. “10 Groupon Alternatives You Should Already Know About”.
<http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-alternatives-2011-9?op=1> (Sep
2011).

11. David Elliot, The Public School, <http://spd.e-rat.org/writing/david-

elliott-interview.html>. (May 2008).

12. Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma (New York: Harper,

1997), 165.
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 152

P A R T 03:

THE
WORKBOOK
—
The future of social enterprise must include preemption, and the
next generation of social entrepreneurs will welcome a balance
of those who choose to focus their efforts around preemptivity,
and those who choose to focus their efforts around reactivity.
So how do we start? Earlier in this anthology, we explored the
origins and inner-workings of verynice's celebrate Models of
Impact Methodology. The following is a series of exercises,
built-upon the Models of Impact framework, that will allow
you to begin conceptualizing your own Preemptive Enterprise.
Feel free to write in the book, or to work through the same
activities multiple times on a separate piece of paper. As
the activities go on, the complexity of the thought exercise
increases. We encourage you to share your discoveries with
info@verynice.co. Onward!
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 153

Activity 01:

1. PICK A RANDOM NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 58:

Refer to pages 163-172 to find out your impact model.
WRITE IT HERE:

2. PICK A RANDOM NUMBER BETWEEN 59 AND 92:

Refer to pages 172-178 to find out your revenue model.
WRITE IT HERE:

3. WHAT IS AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT?

Invent a new business/product/service that combines all three

of these factors. What is the opportunity?

What is the risk of executing this idea? What might go wrong?

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 154

Draw a picture of your idea!

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 155

Activity 02:

1. PICK A RANDOM NUMBER BETWEEN 1 AND 58:

Refer to pages 163-172 to find out your impact model.
WRITE IT HERE:

2. PICK A RANDOM NUMBER BETWEEN 59 AND 92:

Refer to pages 172-178 to find out your revenue model.
WRITE IT HERE:

3. WHAT IS AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT?

4. WHAT IS AN EXISTING SOCIAL ISSUE YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT?

Invent a new business/product/service that combines all four

of these factors. What is the opportunity?

What is the risk of executing this idea? What might go wrong?

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 156

Draw a picture of your idea!

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 157

Activity 03:

1. PICK TWO RANDOM NUMBERS BETWEEN 1 AND 58:

Refer to pages 163-172 to find out your impact model.
WRITE THEM HERE:

2. PICK TWO RANDOM NUMBERS BETWEEN 59 AND 92:

Refer to pages 172-178 to find out your revenue model.
WRITE THEM HERE:

3. WHAT IS AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT?

4. WHAT IS AN EXISTING SOCIAL ISSUE YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT?

Invent a new business/product/service that combines all six

of these factors. What is the opportunity?

What is the risk of executing this idea? What might go wrong?

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 158

Draw a picture of your idea!

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 159

Activity 04:

1. PICK THREE RANDOM NUMBERS BETWEEN 1 AND 58:

Refer to pages 163-172 to find out your impact model.
WRITE THEM HERE:

2. PICK THREE RANDOM NUMBERS BETWEEN 59 AND 92:

Refer to pages 172-178 to find out your revenue model.
WRITE THEM HERE:

3. WHAT IS AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT?

4. WHAT IS AN EXISTING SOCIAL ISSUE YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT?

Invent a new business/product/service that combines all eight

of these factors. What is the opportunity?

What is the risk of executing this idea? What might go wrong?

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 160

Draw a picture of your idea!

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 161

Activity 05:

1. PICK THREE RANDOM NUMBERS BETWEEN 1 AND 58:

Refer to pages 163-172 to find out your impact model.
WRITE THEM HERE:

2. PICK THREE RANDOM NUMBERS BETWEEN 59 AND 92:

Refer to pages 172-178 to find out your revenue model.
WRITE THEM HERE:

3. WHAT ARE TWO EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT?

4. WHAT ARE TWO EXISTING SOCIAL ISSUES YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT?

Invent a new business/product/service that combines all ten of

these factors. What is the opportunity?

What is the risk of executing this idea? What might go wrong?

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 162

Draw a picture of your idea!

 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 163

Models of Impact,
The Glossary
Editor's Note: This is a sample of models included in the Models of Impact
glossary. To download the Models of Impact toolkit and access more
information and content, please visit http://modelsofimpact.co

Impact Models
1. PRODUCT FOR MEDICAL/HEALTH BENEFIT: Businesses that
develop products with the specific purpose to alleviate
medical/health stress for their end users.
Jerry the Bear, Medic Mobile, SwipeSense.

2. PRODUCT TO BENEFIT LOW INCOME: Businesses that develop

products with the specific purpose of assisting those
in low-income/underserved communities.
Delight Hearing Aids.

3. PRODUCT FOR USE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Businesses that

develop products with the specific purpose of assisting
those in developing countries.
D.Light Design, SolSource, Off.Grid:Electric, SHE.

4. OPEN SOURCE PRODUCTS (HARDWARE/SOFTWARE): Products that

are typically available for free or for low cost
that allow the end users to build upon an existing
framework in order to develop new solutions that can
scale across industry or region.
Processing, Thingiverse, Arduino.
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5. SLIDING SCALE COST: Products that are made available

by companies at a sliding scale cost, which allows
certain markets to subsidize those in need through
their purchases.
South Central Farmers Organic Cooperative, Clifton’s Cafeteria.

6. PRODUCT FOR SERVICE/ACCESS: Products that subsidize

access to important services for individuals/communities/
organizations in need. Often described as the necessary
revision to the infamous “one for one” model.
Stone + Cloth, re:char, LSTN Headphones.

7. ONE FOR ONE: A model that allows customers to purchase

a product that additionally sponsors a product of
equal or lesser value to be sent to individuals/
communities/ organizations in need.
TOMS, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), Warby Parker, BOGO Bowl.

8. PERCENTAGE INVENTORY DONATED: A model in which

businesses dedicate a set percentage of their
inventory to be donated to individuals/ communities/
organizations in need.
Microsoft, Kraft Foods, Google, Marriott International, Pfizer.

9. ONE PLUS ONE: A model in which businesses commit 1% of

inventory and 1% of profits OR revenues to a cause of
choice or to individuals/communities/organizations in
need. Harry’s.

10. JOBS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Products and/or

services that are manufactured/offered in a manner
that allows the business to employ a workforce that is
faced with medical/health issues.
Celebrate EDU, Rising Tide Car Wash.

11. JOBS FOR TRANSITIONAL COMMUNITIES: Products and/or

services that are manufactured/offered in a manner
that allows the business to employ a workforce that is
in transition.
Would-Works, Homeboy Industries, CDI Lan.

12. JOBS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Products and/or services

that are manufactured/offered in a manner that allows
the business to create jobs in developing countries.
Cross-over exists between “transitional communities”
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 165

and “developing countries” when the glossary is taken

out of the context of business in the United States,
or other privileged nations.
SHE, Apolis.

13. LOCAL JOBS: Products and/or services that are

manufactured/offered in a manner that allows the
business to create jobs in local communities.
Caduceus Cellars.

14. GLOCALIZATION: Especially prevalent amongst web 2.0

companies, the concept of “glocalization”, or “glocal”
speaks to the intersection between trends/needs/
innovations that take place on a regional level with
the growth of global corporations and globalism.
McDonald’s, Facebook.

15. COWORKING: A growing alternative to dedicated

office space for freelance economy practitioners
and small businesses that is also commonly
referred to as “shared work space”. Often found in
urban environments, co-working spaces allow for
collaboration and networking, and lower the cost of
business operations for entrepreneurs.
Impact Hub Los Angeles, WeWork, Cross Campus, Co+Hoots.

16. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM: Businesses that pay special

attention to employee engagement and benefits including
paid time off to volunteer, profit-share, or flexible
work environments that nurture personal development.
Zappos, Ben & Jerry’s, Alvarado Street Bakery.

17. RECYCLE/UPCYCLE: Products that are created from

recycled materials OR products that are created from
previously discarded materials. Also a model that
can exist when a business or individual participates
in, and advocates for, sustainable practices in the
workplace or home.

18. CONSCIOUS SOURCING: Products that are manufactured/

developed from materials that are consciously sourced
in order to protect rare/endangered materials/
environments and animals. Buy the Change.
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19. PAPERLESS OFFICE: Services/offerings that pay special

attention to the reduction of paper waste throughout
an engagement.
Efficient Technology Inc., Quickforms, Paychex.

20. IRREGULAR CONTRIBUTIONS: Irregular contributions are

donations made throughout the year by businesses
that are not necessarily donated in proportion to the
revenue/profit from that year.
Kroger, Wall-Mart, Wells Fargo, Bank of America.

21. PERCENTAGE OF PROFIT/REVENUE: A model in which a company

in the service or product-oriented business space
donates a pre-determined percentage of their profits or
revenues on a yearly, quarterly, or more frequent basis.
Product Red, Big Wheel Brigade.

22. GIVE HALF PROFIT/REVENUE: A model in which a company

in the service or product-oriented business space
donates 50% of their profits or revenues on a yearly,
quarterly, or more frequent basis.
Latitude, Bridgeway Capital Management.

23. 100% PROFIT/REVENUE: A model in which a company in the

service or product-oriented business space donates 100%
of their profits or revenues on a yearly, quarterly,
or more frequent basis. This is most common amongst
nonprofit organizations or private foundations, but has
been leveraged in the private sector, historically.
charity: water, Newman’s Own, Made by DWC (Downtown Women’s Center).

24. SOCIAL AWARENESS: A business in the service or product-

oriented business space that is dedicated to inventing
products or delivering services that raise awareness
around a significant cause or issue.
Sevenly, Falling Whistles, KONY (Invisible Children), Buena Nota.

25. SOCIAL ACTION: A business in the service or product-

oriented business space that is dedicated to inventing
products or delivering services that inspire action
around a significant cause or issue.
Change.org, Thunderclap, Amicus.
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26. IMPACT INVESTING: Investments made into companies,

organizations, and individuals with the intention of
creating both a financial and social/environmental
impact. Impact Investing typically focuses on
emerging markets.
Girls Helping Girls, New Incentives (Syetha Janumpalli), Imprint Capital.

27. CROWD-FUNDING: A method of fundraising that activates

a large group of people (the “crowd”) to make a mass
of small donations/purchases that collectively fund a
project or initiative.
Start Some Good, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Patreon, Groundswell, Return on Change.

28. SOCIAL IMPACT BONDS: A contract with the public sector

in which a commitment is made to fund improvements in
exchange for social outcomes that ultimately result in
savings for the public sector.
Goldman Sachs, Social Finance UK.

29. MICRO-LENDING: Also known as micro-credit. This is a

form of financing that allows the general public and
private institutions to distribute very small loans to
impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral
and a credit history that is verifiable.
Kiva, Grameen Bank, MicroEnsure.

30. CIVIC/SOCIAL INCUBATOR OR ACCELERATOR: A specialized

program that provides the training and resources
required to assist entrepreneurs in the development/
launch of a product or service that creates social,
civic, or environmental impact.
Educate! (Eric Glustrom), AshokaU, Code for America.

31. THE 100% MODEL: A model leveraged by nonprofit

organizations that allows all public donations to
be invested in the cause/work of an organization as
opposed to the overhead/operating costs. This is made
possible through a distinguished committee/board that
has committed to underwriting all operating costs for
an organization.
charity: water, DIGDEEP, Project Hope Worldwide, World of Children Award.

32. OPEN SOURCE (SERVICES): Services and research findings or

methodologies that have been made openly available for
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all individuals/companies/organizations to use freely.

Vera Solutions, OneDegree, FSG.

33. SHARING ECONOMY: A collaborative economy that is built

around the concept of sharing physical or intellectual
resources between peers.
Burning Man, Task Rabbit, Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, Good Things Everywhere.

34. PRO-BONO PUBLICO: Literally means “for the good of the

public”. A type of philanthropy in which businesses
provide their time and knowledge at no cost to the
beneficiary. Originally found in the legal industry in
the late 1800s, pro-bono has grown to engage a diverse
range of disciplines/industries in the service-
oriented business space in in-kind philanthropy.
verynice, Taproot Foundation, HP.

35. GIVE HALF SERVICES: A model that allows service-

providers to increase company bandwidth while
simultaneously lowering overall company overhead in
order to allocate time and resources toward a 50% pro-
bono commitment.
verynice, No Typical Moments, Impact Rising, Photon Factory.

36. GIVE SOME SERVICES: Businesses in the service-

oriented business space that occasionally offer
pro-bono services, but do not have a standardized/
institutionalized amount of time or resources allocated.
Deloitte, Bain and Company.

37. INTERMEDIARY PRO-BONO/VOLUNTEERISM PLATFORMS: An

organization that serves as a connecting point between
service providers or volunteers and organizations or
communities in need.
Taproot Foundation, Catchafire, MobileWorks, Volunteer Match.

38. THE 1% PROGRAM: A business model popularized in

the architecture discipline in which firms make a
commitment to donate 1% of all time/resources toward
pro-bono projects to better the community.
Gensler, Cannon Architects.

39. PRO-BONO MARATHONS: Also known as “done in a day.” A

model in which service-providers undertake a pro-bono
project in one intensive session that typically lasts
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 169

for 24 hours and leverages all human resources for

that day to maximize impact.
AIGA Design For Good, Global Service Jam, CreateAthon.

40. LOANED EMPLOYEE PROGRAM: A program, typically leveraged

by large companies, in which employees are “loaned”
for a temporary/pre-determined period of time to a
nonprofit organization in order to complete a project
or solve an organizational problem from an outsider
perspective. Loaned employee programs can also take
place over a shorter time period in the form of a
mentorship or tutoring program for children, students,
and/or communities in need.
PWC, Microsoft, IBM.

41. SLIDING SCALE RATES: Rates for services that are defined
by a company/practitioner on a sliding scale basis,
which allows certain markets to subsidize those in
need through their purchases. Often described as
“partial pro-bono”.
Planned Parenthood.

42. NON SKILLS-BASED VOLUNTEERISM: A program, typically

leveraged by large companies, in which employees are
invited to join an expedition to give back to their
community in a non skills-based approach (for example
cleaning a beach).
Sony, Target, Disney.

43. 1% FOR THE PLANET: A commitment made by businesses to

donate at least 1% of all profits to environmental
causes. Aside from engaging in philanthropy on a
micro-level, the model allows businesses to engage
with like-minded colleagues for potential networking
and collaboration.
RA Partners, Patagonia, New Outlook Financial.

44. 20% TIME: A work-flow/time-management model in which the

staff members are encouraged to allocate a percentage
(in this case 20%) of their time toward independent
projects of their choice. This model was popularized
by Google as a method for encouraging intrapreneurial
endeavors within a large organization. Google.
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 170

45. ACCESS TO EDUCATION: Businesses that develop products

and services with the specific purpose to make
education and personal development more accessible
and enjoyable for their end users. Leap Frog.

46. PROMOTING CREATIVITY: Businesses that develop products

and services with the specific purpose to promote
creativity and innovation for their end users. These
users can be companies as a whole, or individuals.
As a service, this often takes the form of creative
workshops. As a product, this often takes the form of
books, toolkits, or other materials for making.

47. COOPERATIVE: Cooperatives date back to the earliest

tribes, and represent a voluntary group of people who
work together to share mutual social, economic, and
cultural benefits. Cooperatives are often categorized
in three ways: consumer, worker, and housing. A
consumer cooperative is a business or organization
that is owned by the people who use the services. A
worker cooperative is a business or organization that
is owned by the people who work for the company. A
housing cooperative is a business or organization that
is owned by the people who live in the space itself.
Aside from ownership, cooperatives also tend to have
their own unique mission/vision which the community
they create hopes to accomplish/represent.
United states Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Raiffeisen, Rochdale Society of
Equitable Pioneers.

48. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: Personal Development is a Model

of Impact that allows the owner of a lifestyle
enterprise or the consumer of a small or large
business to develop themselves on a personal level via
the accumulation of necessary skills or experiences to
aid the advancement of their career/life.

49. PERSONAL WEALTH: Personal Wealth is a Model of Impact

and common motivator for many entrepreneurs and
independent professionals. By creating multiple revenue
streams, and by defining a structure for passive income,
individuals can achieve personal wealth.

50. FAMILY LEGACY: Family Legacy is a Model of Impact and

common motivator for many entrepreneurs, especially
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family-owned-and operated businesses. With an emphasis

on designing a business that has the capability of
being passed down through the generations, this
Model of Impact is driven by long-term planning and
succession strategies.

51. PEER-TO-PEER LENDING/DONATIONS: Similar to crowd-

funding, Peer-to-Peer Lending/Donations (also known
as “P2P” Lending/Donations), the model allows a group
of people to donate and/or lend money to a friend in
need. Unlike crowd-funding, the P2P Lending/Donations
model does not have an emphasis on the funding of
entrepreneurial pursuits, but instead for crisis-
oriented needs. GoFundMe.

52. FAIR TRADE: A social movement in which members advocate

for higher prices to exporters of goods as well as
higher environmental standards. This Model of Impact
is especially relevant for producers who work with
developing countries, but has been implemented/advocated
for in privileged nations as well. Fair Trade USA.

53. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: An approach to

marketing and human resources development leveraged
by larger corporations in order to promote and inform
their charitable donations while also engaging the
general public as well as staff in the effort to
be socially responsible to the global and local
communities they serve.
GOOD Corps, KFC, Pepsi, Enso.

54. OPEN DATA: A public initiative lead by several

governments in the United States in order to make
data about the region(s) they serve more accessible to
the general public in order to inspire innovation and
empathy for local concerns.
City of Los Angeles, City of San Francisco.

55. NATURE + WATER PRESERVATION: Businesses that develop

products and/or services with the specific purpose of
preserving and protecting our environment as well as
our water resources.

56. ANIMAL WELFARE: Businesses that develop products and/

or services with the specific purpose of preserving and
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 172

protecting the livelihood of our animals OR a business

that executes upon best practices in Animal Welfare in
order to ensure animals are not harmed or mistreated in
the development of their products/services.

57. FARM TO TABLE: A Model of Impact in the food industry,

specifically leveraged by restaurants, in which the
proprietor of an establishment will consciously direct
his/her purchases toward local farmers in order to
reduce footprint while simultaneously supporting the
local economy.

58. CONDITIONAL DISCOUNTS: A model that rewards customers

at an online or brick and mortar establishment for
good behavior/acts of kindness or heroism in order to
incentivize social impact. Hummus Bar.

Revenue Models
59. HOURLY RATE: A structure for paying for a service-
provider’s work. Typically when someone is working
on an hourly rate, it is for a small job, or for
maintenance, and an estimate of hours is provided
prior to commencement.

60. DAY RATE: A structure for paying for a service-

provider’s work. A Day Rate tends to represent
8-12 hours of work, and is most commonly used in
the entertainment industry, specifically with film,
photography, or editing.

61. PROJECT/FLAT RATE: A structure for paying for a service-

provider’s work. A Project/Flat Rate is written into
an agreement which covers a set scope for a specific
project or engagement in order to accomplish the goals
of a project without needing to keep track of hours.

62. OVERAGES: A structure for paying for a service-

provider’s work. Most commonly used in conjunction
with a Project/Flat Rate, overages represent an
additional billable set of hours or scope for work
that was produced by a service-provider which was
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not included in the original scope that both parties

agreed upon.

63. DISTRIBUTED OUTSOURCING: A revenue and management model

leveraged by service-providers in which a client
request/engagement is not physically executed by the
company on contract, but instead is managed by said
company, and is passed down to a network of partner
companies and/or freelancing individuals.

64. ECOMMERCE: Originally short for “electronic commerce”,

eCommerce is a revenue model leveraged for the sale of
digital or physical products in which the transaction
and customer information are being transferred over
the Internet. Amazon.

65. DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: A sub-model within the greater

eCommerce umbrella in which a consumer is purchasing
a product in the form of a downloadable digital file as
opposed to a physical product that requires shipment
and postage.
iTunes, GumRoad.

66. PAY WHAT YOU WANT: A revenue model that requires the
customer to determine the perceived value of the
product or service they seek to purchase. Also known
as “PWYW”, the model is most commonly leveraged in
the open-source software community, as well as the
independent music industry, but has evolved to play a
role in mainstream digital product commerce as well.
Radiohead’s “In Rainbows”, ActiveHours.

67. RETAIL COMMERCE: Retail Commerce is a revenue model

leveraged for the sale of physical products in a
physical setting. The most common industry in which
retail commerce thrives (as opposed to electronic
commerce) is the fashion industry as well as the
sale of large machinery such as automobiles. Retail
Commerce requires a sales team as well as a physical
storefront.
Nordstrom, Target.

68. FREEMIUM: Originally known as “crippleware”, the

Freemium model offers users with multiple tiers of
packages for a product, with one of those tiers always
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being free. Most commonly leveraged in the digital

space, the free tier includes a limited amount of
features, while the paid tiers offer a substantially
more robust experience/suite of features.
DropBox, LinkedIn.

69. IN-APP PURCHASES: An In-App-Purchase is a monetary

exchange, and an exchange customer information that
takes place within a free or paid app in order to
access more features, game levels, or content. In-App
Purchases are often recognized as a mobile form of the
“freemium” model.

70. AUCTION: A revenue model in which one or more items are

offered for sale in a public setting, or at a private
event/fundraiser. Auction items will typically have a
recommended price, but the eventual cost of the product
is determined via the participants/guests attending the
auction. Guests interested in an item will place a “bid”
on an item which indicates the number they are willing
to pay for the item, and the highest bidder earns the
ability to complete the purchase.

71. RESTRICTED GRANTS: A financial award that is given (most

frequently) to a nonprofit organization in a “restricted”
manner. This is a gift that has contingencies which
explicitly determine the use-case for the award in order
to fund specific programs and initiatives.

72. UNRESTRICTED GRANTS: A financial award that is given

(most frequently) to a nonprofit organization in an
“unrestricted” manner. This is a gift that has no
contingencies, and as a result, the recipient of said
award has the freedom to invest the contribution in
any program/initiative/overhead they desire.

73. DONATIONS: The giving of necessary funds, in-kind

services, or goods to a nonprofit organization
or community cause in exchange for a charitable
deduction receipt that is written off at the end of
each tax year by an individual or company/collective.

74. MEMBERSHIP/SUBSCRIPTION: The membership/subscription

model allows an exclusive community of members and/
or subscribers to earn access to recurring goods
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 175

and/or services and/or access. Membership is often

in reference to a physical community space whereas
Subscription is often in reference to a regularly
delivered set of physical products or digital
products/content. For businesses, Membership/
Subscription ensures recurring revenue and/or
recurring engagement. Most commonly, there are
multiple “tiers” that create a community which are
defined by the amount of access each member/subscriber
is granted as well as the amount of money the pay on
a recurring basis.
Loot Crate, GOOD Magazine.

75. PAYWALL: Commonly leveraged in conjunction with the

“Freemium” model, a paywall is a standardized moment
in an experience, typically online, in which a user
loses access to continuing their experience unless a
fee is paid to the service-provider. NY Times.

76. PATENT LICENSES: In general, licensing is the sharing

of a protected invention in exchange for cash, and
governed by an agreed upon set of rules/terms-of-use.
When a business or an individual is granted a patent,
they can elect to license the use of their invention/
creation to other businesses or individuals who have
products that could benefit from the innovation.
Patents are granted for the design and/or utility of
products and services.

77. TRADEMARK LICENSES: When a business or an individual

is granted a trademark, they can elect to license
the use of their creation to other businesses or
individuals who have products that could benefit from
the content. Trademarks are granted for graphic designs,
illustrations and artwork, and written copy/taglines.

78. FRANCHISE: A Franchise is a method for licensing

brands, processes, and products/services in the
brick-and-mortar Retail and/or Food industries most
commonly. A Franchisee can open a Franchise location
by paying an initial fee as well as a recurring fee
or profit-share with the primary owner of the business.
Subway, Taco Bell.

79. SAAS: SaaS (short for “Software as a Service”) is a

method for licensing and delivering centrally hosted
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 176

software to users on a subscription basis. SaaS is

also referred to as “on-demand software”, and the
Freemium and Membership/Subscription models are
similar in structure.

80. PER-USE/DEVICE LICENSING: Per-Use/Device Licensing is a

method of licensing in which the terms and financial
commitment are determined by the amount of devices
or use-cases the product will be leveraged in. For
example, when purchasing a font, Graphic Designers are
asked to determine the rate at checkout based on the
amount of computers the font will be installed on.

81. ADVERTISING/ADVERTISEMENT: In general, advertisements

are a public display/notice that aims to promote
the goods and services of a business, organization,
or individual. Advertisements are displayed in/
on newspapers, billboards, software applications,
websites, social media, and more. To receive
placement, the interested party typically works
with a “media buyer” in order to determine the best
location/method for displaying the promotion in order
to optimize the return on investment based on the
demographics that inhabit the space. An advertising
agency coordinates this sale as well as the
development of the content and imagery to be included
in the advertisement.
Saatchi&Saatchi, DDB, Weiden + Kennedy.

82. EVENT TICKETS: Event Ticketing is a common revenue

model leveraged across sectors and industries in
the context of a celebratory event, a public/private
show for entertainment purposes, and/or a fundraiser.
Nonprofit organizations typically host one large event
per year, also known as a “gala”.

83. PARTNERSHIPS: Partnerships can take place in a wide

range of contexts depending on the agenda and
formality of the partnership. For a business, a
partnership can be as formal as a split in day-to-day
operations, or as informal as a one-off partnership
for a product or event between two businesses, two
individuals, or a business and an individual. In
social enterprise, partnerships also exist between
governments and organizations, governments and
 P art 0 3 : T he W orkbook 177

businesses, or organizations and businesses in order

to create a program that drives social or financial
impact to a community.

84. AFFILIATE PROGRAMS: A model prominent in Influencer

Marketing in which an influencer/identified affiliate
for a product or service’s campaign will be given a
link or referral ID that allows them to make a small
percentage of every sale that originates from them.

85. SPONSORSHIP: An agreement between two organizations/

businesses in which one of the organizations/
businesses will sponsor/support the other via the
donation of necessary good/services/cash in exchange
for public recognition.

86. PROFIT/REVENUE-SHARE PROGRAM: An arrangement between

two entities that allows them to share the profit or
revenue on a pre-determined product, service, or
program over an agreed upon period of time. To allow
for social impact, this model is often leveraged in
partnership between a nonprofit/community-based cause
and a business. However, this kind of program can also
take place between two businesses for the sole purpose
of generating more income.

87. BOGOF: Buy One, Get One Free (also referred to as the
BOGOF model) is a temporary/time-based promotional
model in which consumers purchase one product and/or
service, and receive a second product and/or service
that holds equal or lesser value to the original
purchase.

88. BUY ONE, GET ONE HALF OFF: Buy One, Get One Half Off
(occasionally referred to as the BOGOHO model) is
a temporary/time-based promotional model in which
consumers purchase one product and/or service, and
receive a second product and/or service that holds equal
value to the original purchase at a 50% discount.

89. COUPONS: Coupons are advertisements that, when

redeemed by the recipient, serve as a form of currency
in order to allow the consumer to obtain a good or
service for free, or for a reduced price. Coupons come
in many shapes and sizes, but entered the mainstream
consumer culture in the mid-20th Century. 10% Off,
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25% Off, and 50% Off are examples of the kinds of

discounts offered via coupons on a regular basis.
Coca Cola, Valpak, The Nielsen Coupon Clearing House.

90. FREE SAMPLE: Leveraged by department stores and grocery

stores most commonly, Free Samples allow a consumer
to obtain a small portion of a new product/service at
no cost in order to inspire them to buy-in to the full
service/product offering. COSTCO.

91. WHOLESALE PURCHASES: Made available via Wholesale

districts, outlet malls, and bulk retail, a wholesale
purchase allows a retail store or distributor to
access a high quantity of goods for a rate that is
discounted thanks to the bulk order.

92. CROSS-SUBSIDY: A revenue model/pricing structure in

which the purchases of a consumer directly fund
another product/initiative of the brand they are
buying into without them realizing it. Put simply, a
cross-subsidy is what happens when one thing pays for
another thing.
Microsoft/XBOX, Sony/PlayStation, Gillette Razors.
 A fterword 179

Afterword
Matthew Manos

—
My life and my career, thus far, has been built upon three
guiding principles: to create impact, to share knowledge, and to
enable legacy. On a personal level, these principles represent
a growth in my own attempt to understand what it means to
give back, the relevance of that gift, and my own personal
development in practice and in life. In many ways, this book
serves as a starting point, but in many ways it also represents
a pivotal moment and opportunity for social entrepreneurs.

To Create Impact
To create impact, as I see it, is to attempt to be a part of
something bigger than yourself in order to grow in a way that
you may integrate yourself within the unique perspectives
and challenges of others without being a burden to them, and
without imposing your own values and beliefs.

I launched verynice in 2008 from an apartment while attending

UCLA, but the origins were actually a few years before that
and can be traced back to when I was just 16 years old. I
had just started taking a class on “digital art” where I
 A fterword 180

was learning my way around Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign,

and a lot of the basics of design. I found myself getting
excited about design. I was really into the technicality of
it all, and this passion was becoming more and more evident
to my peers and my family. In order to support this newfound
passion, my godmother, who was studying art in Australia at
the time, decided to send me a CD Rom with a pirated copy
of Photoshop on it. Shortly before receiving this disc, I
had bought my first Apple computer with money I saved from
selling paintings to some of Silicon Valley's most influential
entrepreneurs (but that's a whole 'nother story).

I had everything I needed to kick off a career in design.

Luckily, being a high school student, I also had a lot of
free time. Working late into the night, each night, I taught
myself things here and there in order to expand upon my
understanding of the tools and software at-hand. I found,
however, that I was spending most of my time manipulating
photographs to make it so that my friends would have crazy
looking hair, and eyeballs the size of watermelons. Needless
to say, I was hungry for some meaningful work, and was
eager to make something that someone could actually use. This
idea of usefulness, something at the core of design, was an
inspiring opportunity to me. As a result, I kept my eyes open
for a project that could help me fulfill that need.

Back then, and still to this day, I spent a lot of time

skateboarding. Every weekend, I would go to the skate park
with my dad in Sunnyvale, California. During one visit, out
of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man in a wheelchair roll
into the bowl. Needless to say, this was a pretty unusual
sighting. Out of curiosity, I decided to move a little closer
to him. Upon doing so, I realized that he was not alone,
but instead with a bunch of little kids who were also in
wheelchairs. At this point, I knew that I couldn’t just
sit there any more, so I decided to approach the man and
spark up a conversation. I learned that he was the founder
of a nonprofit organization that helped kids in wheelchairs
participate in extreme sports. It was a profound concept to
me, and it was the first time that I had ever met the founder
of a nonprofit organization. I immediately became overwhelmed
by the passion that radiated from him, and in that moment, I
realized that I wanted to work with people like him for the
rest of my life.
 A fterword 181

To kick things off, I offered to design some promotional

stickers for the man – marking my first-ever pro-bono project.
To be honest, I never would have imagined how pivotal a moment
the creation of those silly stickers would have been on my
life at the time.

After high school, I got into the Design Media Arts program
at UCLA. The moment I arrived on campus, I decided that I did
not want to solely focus on class assignments, but instead
wanted to work for real people, organizations, and businesses.
As a result, I found myself doing a lot of volunteer design
work for student groups, and over the course of my first three
years on campus, I worked with dozens of organizations across
campus. By the time I hit my second year of college, I began
doing this work at a much higher volume than ever before, and
was taking on several client projects simultaneously. Along
the same timeframe, I was taking on a lot of internships
and realized that there was a huge need to rethink the way
that the design industry operated in order to allow impact
(especially pro-bono service) to co-exist with "business as
usual".

The sudden growth of my freelance practice made it a great

time to put a name to all of this, and so I began to ask
myself: “what would a very nice design studio look like?”.
Enter verynice.

In the early days, verynice was not a business. Instead, it

was a side project with a model that was 100% pro-bono. At
night, on the weekends, and even during class, I would help
organizations that I found around campus and on Craigslist,
at no cost. With graduation on the horizon, I had the desire
to turn verynice into a self-sustaining operation, and began
the process of re-framing verynice as business. Along the
way, I became obsessed with the potential of inventing a
viable business model that thrived on the basis of giving
services away for free to those in need.

It was that entire year that our impact model began to evolve
as we went from 100%, to 90%, to 80%, to 70%, to 60%, finally
landing on a 50% pro-bono commitment. Simultaneously, I was
working to invent a series of experimental operational models
and marketing strategies to make that commitment possible.
 A fterword 182

To Share Knowledge
Every year, non-profit organizations are spending close to 8
billion dollars on fees billed by service-providers. In an
effort to help organizations save valuable resources, at any
given moment, verynice is balancing an equal number of pro-
bono and paid projects. This is made possible by verynice’s
pioneering “Give Half” model which calls for our studio to take
on a high volume of projects in order to generate the revenue
necessary for us to be able to afford to simultaneously engage
in pro-bono work for nonprofit organizations. To accomplish
this, we work with an extensive distributed team in order to
maximize our bandwidth while keeping costs low.

To date (2016), verynice has been able to donate over

$5,750,000.00 worth of pro-bono services to nearly 500
nonprofit organizations, and has built a team of well over
400 practitioners and collaborators spanning 45 countries.
These are numbers that I am incredibly proud of, and that
my team and I have worked tirelessly to claim, but when you
compare them to the figure of 8 billion dollars, it is quick
to understand that the impact we have worked for years to
create only represents a small dent in the greater cause.
As a result, in 2012, I decided that the only way we could
achieve our mission of alleviating nonprofit expenses would be
to inspire a new movement in pro-bono. To accomplish this, we
open-sourced our business model and proprietary methodologies
by way of publishing a book: How to Give Half of Your Work Away
for Free. As a result of this initiative, we have inspired
thousands of practitioners to engage in pro-bono work around
the world.

After publishing the second edition of our book in 2014, I

realized that social entrepreneurs needed even more tools
that could allow them to create their own unique business
model, driven by impact, just as I managed to do with Give
Half. Enter our second major initiative: Models of Impact.

Models of Impact is a toolkit that allows people to create

innovative business models for social, environmental, or
personal impact. The Models of Impact project is part of a
greater initiative to open-source every model of impact. Our
vision is to enable legacy by making systemic approaches to
long-term change more tangible, actionable, and accessible.
 A fterword 183

With thousands of entrepreneurs and educators now leveraging

the Models of Impact toolkit (as of 2016), we estimate that the
toolkit has generated over 9,500 new impact-driven business
concepts. With the immense volume of ideas being generated,
the almighty question of "why?" can't help but present itself
to me. Our manifesto, Toward a Preemptive Social Enterprise,
is one attempt to answer that question.

To Enable Legacy
I'm not terribly fond of money, or the historical premise and
ambition of business models. Instead, I'm fond of systems,
really because they have the power to enable legacy, or to
force us to design with the best interest of the long-term
success of a community or idea. This passion for legacy and
futures is something I've carried with me since shortly before
that pivotal day at the skatepark.

I was really sick in high school; I had a benign tumor in my

stomach. This is something I almost never talk or write about,
because it was a challenging time for me - nevertheless, this
was my first confrontation with how fragile life is and how
limited our time is. From the moment I realized everything
was going to be OK, I decided that I wanted to do as much as
I could to create my own legacy. Everything else presented
itself with incredible frivolity after that realization.
Helping people became a logical starting point, and this is
when I gained clarity on what I wanted to do - on the balance
I wanted to create, of giving and getting. It was eye-opening.
The story I always tell about how I met my first pro-bono
client happened during this period of my life. If it wasn't
for what I learned and experienced during this challenging
time, verynice would not exist. At least not with the vision
it carries today. That's for sure.

In addition to lighting a fire that would eventually define my

career trajectory for over a decade as well as the ambitions
and mission I continue to hold close to my heart, this period
in my life made it so clear to me that designing for the
future is an incredible privilege and honor. This sense of
privilege became even more clear to me after finding success
 A fterword 184

as a business owner, something that I am proud of, but also

something that continues to remind me that if you are in a
position to consider the future, you must.

This book, especially our manifesto, speaks to a critical

turning point in my own outlook on social impact, business,
community, and the role I attempt to play in that. Hopefully
the words move you as much as they move me, and that they
represent not something to achieve immediately or exclusively,
but instead to work towards, and to balance.

Social enterprise is ready for a new perspective and set of

principles. A work-in-progress for thousands of years, but
only in the public eye for a handful of decades, the practice
already feels as if it is on a bit of a treadmill. This is
not to say it isn't growing - it is! And fast. But as things
grow and scale, the original intention can get lost, or at
least confused, along the way. As we welcome the next wave of
social entrepreneurs and conscious consumerism, the novelty
of giving back will diminish. Instead, an integration of
more holistic and systemic models of impact will be the new
standard for social enterprise as we know it. It is up to us
to define what those models can be, and to design the future
we wish to inhabit.
 A fterword 185

Dedicated to my family.

Special thanks to Flo Di Sarli, Marlon Fuentes, Renae Getlin,

Kate Manos, Lorie Manos, and Clarisa Valdez.

©2016. All rights reserved.

Published by verynice.