The Mission of a Social Entrepreneur

As our conversations about Social Entrepreneurship evolve, we continuously talk about the inherent motivation of the entrepreneur. We have begun to differentiate a traditional business entrepreneur and social entrepreneur--as Gregory Dees helped to clarify--

"For social entreprenuers, the social mission is explicit and central....not wealth creation. With business entrepreneurs, wealth creation is a way of measuring value creation." --footnote:a

This analysis makes a lot of sense but as we read about business entrepreneurs with global impact--it makes me question if that inherent motivation is always a necessity to be a social entrepreneur. Danones CEO, Franck Riboud (pictured to above) is a prime example of a business man helping a little while making a little bit lot of money. In the Wall Street Journal Article it is explicitly stated that "none of [Danones] low-income consumer efforts are for charity..." -- footnote:b Even though this traditional capitalist would normally be considered very different from a social entrepreneur, his company has succeeded in creating a $0.07 yogurt fortified with vitamins and minerals for our world's poor. Regardless of his motivation, his impact is largely felt. I propose that a social entrepreneur should be a title designated for those with an entrepreneurial mindset who are ABLE to achieve positive impact in areas where the need is apparent. Frank Riboud regards this mentality as a "double project"--

"ventures that had a chance to both make money and give a lift to the poor"

This project is not frowned uponed by even the most praised social entrepreneurs. Muhammad Yunus has supported Danones initiative and even helped them market it-->See video below.

Frank Riboud has made it clear that this is another profit seeking venture that happens to help people in the process. Muhammad Yunus would agree that--as long as it is helping the people then it is worth supporting. In this case, no one is asking Danone what their intents are.. they are only praising the results. So I ask, does the mission really matter to be a good social entrepreneur?

Footnotes:

a: The Meaning of "Social Entrepreneurship." J. Gregory Dees. 10.31.1998. The Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

b: WallStreetJournal: http://on.wsj.com/brnjix