Non-profit or For-profit. That is the question.

As someone in the technology field, my frame of mind has been more of "how do we push the envelope?" and "how do we innovate something?". My other passion has been in health and health technology. So far the health side has been making great leaps and bounds both domestically and internationally, but the bureaucracy has been a boundary to get involved and be successful didn't seem worth taking over. On one hand, getting involved with a big for-profit company just seems like there are too many strings attached. For example, insurance companies or consulting companies involved in health often have multiple stakeholders with conflicting objectives. Meanwhile, on the non-profit side, there's this greedy? part of me that feels insecure being financially dependent on grants and other sources for my own income.

This aspect of for-profit companies doing "social good" is absolutely fascinating for me and perhaps is the answer to my insecurities. For some reason I previously had a misperception of this whole thing. Maybe I'm completely ignorant, but what these companies are doing are completely new and incredibly motivating for me. Unilever redefining typical distribution channels for emerging markets, Danone serving both high end and low end markets, and of course the Tata Nano are all inspiring.

Take a look at this link from the Stanford Social Innvotion Review. The articles for class give really compelling examples of for-profits doing good. If you want to see the risk, benefits, and motivations behind all of your options for your own social innovation, the guide breaks it down for you. Maybe the answer to my own dilemma is to work and gain experience for a few years, then break out into my own for-profit social innovation group and create a business model that is both agile and profitable in order to keep the business sustainable.