Harvard Case - Better Ventures: Backing Entrepreneurs Building a Better World
"Better Ventures: Backing Entrepreneurs Building a Better World" Harvard business case study is written by Jennifer Walske, Laura D. Tyson. It deals with the challenges in the field of Social Enterprise. The case study is 24 page(s) long and it was first published on : Jan 1, 2017
At Fern Fort University, we recommend that Better Ventures (BV) refine its investment strategy to focus on impact investing with a triple bottom line approach. This strategy should prioritize scaling social impact through investments in social enterprises with strong social innovation potential, while ensuring financial returns for BV.
2. Background
This case study focuses on Better Ventures, a venture philanthropy fund aiming to invest in social entrepreneurs building a better world. BV faces several challenges, including:
- Defining a clear investment strategy: BV struggles to balance its social mission with financial returns, leading to inconsistent investment decisions.
- Measuring social impact: BV lacks a robust framework for measuring the social impact of its investments, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of its portfolio.
- Scaling social impact: BV needs to find ways to scale the impact of its investments beyond individual ventures.
The main protagonists of the case study are:
- Lisa Price: BV's founder and Managing Director, passionate about social entrepreneurship and impact investing.
- The BV Investment Committee: Composed of experienced investors and social entrepreneurs, responsible for evaluating and selecting investment opportunities.
- The Portfolio Companies: Social enterprises seeking funding and support from BV.
3. Analysis of the Case Study
Strategic Framework: We can analyze BV's situation using the Stakeholder Theory framework. This framework acknowledges that organizations have multiple stakeholders with different interests and needs. BV needs to balance the interests of its stakeholders, including:
- Investors: Seeking financial returns on their investments.
- Social Entrepreneurs: Seeking funding and support to scale their ventures.
- Beneficiaries: Individuals and communities benefiting from the social enterprises' products and services.
- BV Team: Committed to BV's mission and seeking professional development and growth.
Key Findings:
- Mission vs. Market: BV's mission to 'back entrepreneurs building a better world' is broad and needs to be operationalized with a clearer investment strategy.
- Impact Measurement: BV lacks a standardized approach to measuring social impact, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of its investments and communicate their value to stakeholders.
- Scaling Challenge: BV needs to develop strategies to scale the impact of its investments beyond individual ventures, such as supporting social enterprise ecosystems and facilitating cross-sector partnerships.
4. Recommendations
1. Develop a Clear Investment Strategy:
- Focus on Impact Investing: BV should prioritize investments in social enterprises with strong social impact potential, measured through a Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework.
- Triple Bottom Line Approach: BV should consider the triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental impact when evaluating investment opportunities.
- Define Target Sectors: BV should identify specific sectors where it can leverage its expertise and resources to create significant social impact, such as education, healthcare, and sustainable agriculture.
- Develop Investment Criteria: BV should establish clear criteria for evaluating investment opportunities, including social impact, financial viability, and team quality.
2. Enhance Impact Measurement:
- Adopt a Standardized Framework: BV should adopt a standardized framework for measuring social impact, such as the Social Impact Measurement & Management (SIMM) framework, to ensure consistency and comparability across its portfolio.
- Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): BV should identify specific KPIs for each investment, aligned with the social impact goals of the venture.
- Regular Impact Assessments: BV should conduct regular impact assessments to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
3. Scale Social Impact:
- Support Social Enterprise Ecosystems: BV should invest in initiatives that support the development of social enterprise ecosystems, such as social enterprise incubators, impact accelerators, and social innovation labs.
- Facilitate Cross-Sector Partnerships: BV should encourage collaboration between social enterprises, corporations, and government agencies to leverage resources and expertise.
- Promote Social Franchising: BV should explore the potential of social franchising to replicate successful social enterprises and scale their impact.
5. Basis of Recommendations
These recommendations are based on the following considerations:
- Core Competencies and Consistency with Mission: Focusing on impact investing aligns with BV's mission and leverages its expertise in social entrepreneurship.
- External Customers and Internal Clients: These recommendations address the needs of BV's investors, social entrepreneurs, and beneficiaries, while also supporting the BV team's professional growth.
- Competitors: BV needs to differentiate itself from other impact investors by focusing on scaling social impact and developing a robust impact measurement framework.
- Attractiveness: The proposed strategy offers the potential for both financial returns and significant social impact, making it attractive to investors and social entrepreneurs alike.
6. Conclusion
By refining its investment strategy, focusing on impact investing, and developing robust impact measurement and scaling strategies, Better Ventures can become a leading force in the social entrepreneurship landscape. This approach will ensure that BV continues to make a meaningful contribution to building a better world while also achieving financial success.
7. Discussion
Alternatives Not Selected:
- Focusing solely on financial returns: This would contradict BV's mission and potentially alienate stakeholders who are passionate about social impact.
- Investing in a wide range of sectors: This could dilute BV's impact and make it difficult to develop expertise in specific areas.
Risks and Key Assumptions:
- Risk: The proposed strategy could lead to a decrease in financial returns if social enterprises struggle to achieve profitability.
- Assumption: Social enterprises are capable of achieving both financial and social impact.
- Assumption: BV can develop a robust impact measurement framework that is both reliable and meaningful.
8. Next Steps
- Develop a detailed investment strategy document: This document should outline BV's investment criteria, target sectors, and impact measurement framework.
- Recruit a dedicated impact measurement team: BV should hire experts in social impact measurement to develop and implement a robust impact assessment process.
- Establish partnerships with social enterprise ecosystems: BV should identify and partner with existing social enterprise incubators, accelerators, and labs to support the growth of social enterprises.
- Pilot the new investment strategy: BV should pilot the new strategy with a small group of investments to test its effectiveness and refine its approach.
By taking these steps, Better Ventures can position itself as a leader in the impact investing space and make a lasting contribution to building a more sustainable and equitable world.
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Case Description
This case centers on BV as it seeks to raise $20 million for its first standalone fund between 2014 and 2016. Wes Selke and Rick Moss, the two BV co-founders, had built their experience in impact investing when they founded and managed Hub Ventures (HV) (a smaller accelerator-type fund of $500,000) immediately prior to founding BV. Encouraged by the economic return and social impact from those early-stage, mission-driven HV investments, both Selke and Moss decided in late 2014 to raise a separate and much larger fund called Better Ventures Fund II (BVFII). This new fund would allow BV to make larger initial investments in its early stage portfolio companies and provide the needed capital to make add-on investments in subsequent financing rounds. The case discusses the challenges of raising capital for this new fund as well as BV's investment and impact theses, deal sourcing, and post-investment approach. The case eventually explores the next steps for BV, after successfully raising this first-time fund.
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