“How you build the future is you motivate people to pay attention and act, to improve their circumstances and run their own lives”, LinkedIn co-founder and philanthropist Reid Hoffman tells me. That’s why his support of microlending platform Kiva’s kiva.org/free program has a double positive impact. He put up $1 million so 40,000 people could try helping the impoverished via microfinance without spending their own money. They get inspired, while those who receive the microloans can start small businesses and become self-reliant.
In an inspiring interview, Reid also told me about how he thinks governments should start microlending, that people need to accept that charities and causes aren’t perfect, and the life philosophy he thinks everyone should live by. Be sure to participate in the kiva.org/free trials before they run out.Years ago, Hoffman had a revelation that after his success with startups, he “wanted to do the same thing on the not-for-profit side as on the for-profit side.” Namely, create platforms that could “scale impact using techniques from Silicon Valley — marketplaces, innovation, funding.”He resigned from the boards of some companies he was working with, heard about Kiva.org, and got excited about its mission to deliver microloans so needy people around the world could become entrepreneurs. When they first met and Kiva’s president Premal Shah tried to ask Reid a question, he interrupted, “The answer to whatever you’re going to ask is yes.” Soon Hoffman was joining Kiva’s board.“I obviously think Kiva is awesome. The pattern you want is to empower people to invest in themselves.” This makes Kiva much more sustainable than traditional charities that “give a man a fish”. Kiva literally makes that old saying come true as it provides the startup capital so people can start to fish or raise livestock, create a farm, or open a general store or clothing business. Personally, he believes everyone should “do something that’s not for yourself every day”.
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