Startups
Inspiring Capital was started as a consulting firm to help nonprofits find more sustainable ways to finance their work. We had a few nonprofits and some funders as clients. We were talking to LOTS of nonprofits and funders about their interest in our work, but many of them didn’t have the time or money to engage us.
In February, our very first employee pointed out that it was the season to recruit a summer MBA intern if we wanted one. We did: they’re smart, hard working, and subsidized by their schools! So we created a simple application, and our very first intern posted it on a bunch of schools’ career pages, as well as a range of social enterprise job sites. About two weeks later, we had 72 applications from outstanding candidates at Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, Yale, and other top business schools.
We couldn’t imagine choosing just one of those 72 talented young professionals who wanted to be part of our work. So we started imagining what it would look like to hire a few. Or half a dozen. Or 10… We also knew that there were tons of organizations who were interested in the services we had been offering, to help with their financial and/or strategic plans.
We decided that we'd pilot a sort of hybrid fellowship / incubator program. It would be a fellowship for the students, with a group of peers they could learn from and with, and a series of training sessions that we’d organize for the whole group. And they’d spend most of the summer working on a client project that we could source and scope for them before summer. This way, they’d get the perks of a ‘traditional’ MBA internship (at a bank or consulting firm), including a cohort, training, and on-the-job experience, but in the social enterprise sector!
In February, our very first employee pointed out that it was the season to recruit a summer MBA intern if we wanted one. We did: they’re smart, hard working, and subsidized by their schools! So we created a simple application, and our very first intern posted it on a bunch of schools’ career pages, as well as a range of social enterprise job sites. About two weeks later, we had 72 applications from outstanding candidates at Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, Yale, and other top business schools.
We couldn’t imagine choosing just one of those 72 talented young professionals who wanted to be part of our work. So we started imagining what it would look like to hire a few. Or half a dozen. Or 10… We also knew that there were tons of organizations who were interested in the services we had been offering, to help with their financial and/or strategic plans.
We decided that we'd pilot a sort of hybrid fellowship / incubator program. It would be a fellowship for the students, with a group of peers they could learn from and with, and a series of training sessions that we’d organize for the whole group. And they’d spend most of the summer working on a client project that we could source and scope for them before summer. This way, they’d get the perks of a ‘traditional’ MBA internship (at a bank or consulting firm), including a cohort, training, and on-the-job experience, but in the social enterprise sector!
Overview
Founded date
2012
Mentions in press and media 21
| Date | Title | Description |
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| Mar 1, 2021 | The GPS You Need To Avoid Getting Left Behind In The Future Of Work | The Future of Work is here, it’s just not evenly distributed, to paraphrase author William Gibson. The collective experience of 2020, including the Covid-19 pandemic and its many impacts, but also the widespread social, political, and econo... |
| Feb 27, 2021 | The Six Fears Preventing You From Being The Leader You Want To Be | It’s a natural human drive to want to have more impact, and to be recognized for that impact. Abraham Maslow called it Esteem, Tony Robbins calls it Contribution and Significance. And evolutionary biologists confirm that we have evolved as ... |
| Feb 26, 2021 | The Most Powerful Tool To Save Yourself (And Your Team) From Burnout | The risk of burnout is higher than ever right now. And your collapse is not good for anyone – yourself, your team, your family, or the world who needs you contributing your full brilliance now as much as ever. There is a lot we can do to mi... |
| Feb 16, 2021 | This Kraft-Heinz Executive Builds People-First Corporate Learning For Success In The Future Of Work | Lan Tran gets out of bed to make the impossible possible. She has pursued this purpose as a consultant, a software developer, and now in helping people live their best lives through corporate learning programs. Tran is the Head of L&D G... |
| Feb 11, 2021 | The Power Of A Holistic Approach To Purpose | Ben Branson, who married his maternal side’s farming heritage with his father’s branding expertise, founded Seedlip, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits. A country boy at heart, Branson has an intrinsic love, affinity and fasc... |
| Feb 5, 2021 | Black History Month Can't Just Be About History, Nor Just A Month | Black History Month can be traced back to the efforts to research and promote achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent by Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland start... |
| Jan 29, 2021 | Apply Purpose To Make Meetings More Efficient, Effective, And Joyful | My own purpose is to wrangle ideas and people to make work an engaging, expanding, and empowering experience for all of us. And no matter your field, innovativeness, or role, meetings are a part of work. So, it’s important to me to help fol... |
| Jan 28, 2021 | Use Your Power To ‘Go First’ And Change The Way We Work And Live | Relationships changed in 2020. How, when, where, and why we interact changed, as well as what we talk about and do together. Of course, some of these changes are due to the outbreak of a deadly and contagious global pandemic, but other were... |
| Jan 26, 2021 | The Third Critical Step In Problem Solving That Einstein Missed | Einstein is quoted as having said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” The point he makes is important: preparation has great value to problem solv... |
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FAQ about Inspiring Capital
When was Inspiring Capital founded?
Inspiring Capital was founded in 2012.
What has the press written about Inspiring Capital?
Parsers VC has collected 21 articles mentioning Inspiring Capital, among them “The GPS You Need To Avoid Getting Left Behind In The Future Of Work” (Mar 1, 2021) and “The Six Fears Preventing You From Being The Leader You Want To Be” (Feb 27, 2021).
Is Inspiring Capital still active?
Yes, Inspiring Capital is active; its latest activity on Parsers VC dates from Oct 14, 2021.