Building ecosystems for innovation and social good
[Music]
an introduction um grace
which is the founder and ceo of revel
innovation
rebel innovation builds and design
programs for organizations that better
the world
so grace 2011 you spoke about social
entrepreneurship back then
and you were just starting impact hub so
10 years on
is this where you think you would be
yeah
wow so 10 years ago i was 10 years
younger
10 years more optimistic tedx singapore
was really special
it was really that talk and that video
that captured the essence of what i was
set out to do for the next 10 years
the first four years so from i would say
2012 to 2016
it was very much around ecosystem
building and
creating a market that did not exist it
was
educating people explaining to people
what are startups
right what is social entrepreneurship
people didn’t know that these
things were in fashion at that time and
people didn’t know that it was going to
be the future and my litmus test
is always to talk to a taxi driver right
if they can answer you what
you know what a startup is then you know
that it has been mainstreamed
i remember having had to have 400
conversations even before
having the courage to really start the
hub and
right now if you ask a grab driver or
taxi driver
they they can’t tell you what what the
startup is you know they can
quote local champions winners like
carousel
shopback or grab and you know 10 years
ago
none of them were as successful or even
existed yet
from 2016 onwards the ecosystem has
matured a lot
and there were a lot more actors coming
in
you know people have all found their
roles the government
knew how much to do what not so much to
do um the investors were all coming in
you’re definitely a pioneer in uh you
know the social entrepreneurship scene
can you just share with us some insights
so how do you think it has progressed
social entrepreneurship you know to
to those who don’t know i i define it
simply and it was also in my
bio during the first tedx talk you know
it’s the combination of having the heart
of mother theresa and the brain of
richard branson
right that was popularized by my mentor
um almost second mom a pioneer in the
global social entrepreneurship pamela
had pamela hartigan so these these
profiles of individuals right having the
heart of mother teresa and the brains of
richard branson they they form a very
niche market they they were at the
sidelines they were the mavericks they
were
the rebels they were the crazy ones
um but i’m glad to say that 10 years on
this is no longer a niche
industry social entrepreneurship impact
investing it has grown to become
a 31 trillion asset under management
world right and in 10 years by 10 years
now
it’s now became mainstream you see a lot
more
pension funds all the way to
investment funds all the way to
corporates and small startups of one to
ten people
integrating um a wider purpose that is
beyond themselves and beyond returning
um shareholder gains to including
stakeholder gains to including
the you know the tree piece right profit
people and
planet to measuring more than one bottom
line to measuring double bottom line
sometimes triple bottom line
and so that has became a mainstream
movement now
are we there yet i don’t think so i i
still think we have a couple more years
to go
where the taxi driver is able to to
explain
what a social entrepreneur or what a
triple bottom line is
but the big guys the allocators of funds
have definitely embraced it and that is
a very very positive sign
given the pandemic situation how do you
think this has impacted uh
the the social entrepreneurship scene
has he accelerated anything
or caused more stumbling blocks what’s
your take on that
i think research has shown enough that
responsible companies who are part of
communities who
are responsible towards their
stakeholders
have performed better during a pandemic
and
the demand for social entrepreneurial
solutions
market-driven solutions from impact
ventures sustainability ventures have
totally
increased during the pandemic you know i
think it is
really the pure sort of traditional
selfish
capitalistic myopic kind of companies
that have
perhaps been tested during the pandemic
and i always feel that is crisis like
that that
you know give everyone a chance to
re-imagine their purpose to reflect
on what is their role in the business
community sure but also
as a global citizen pandemics are not
equitable
it always affects the marginalized
communities more as we have seen in
singapore
it always affects the low-income
communities more
so more and more we have seen companies
who are again have welcomed the pandemic
as a wake-up call
to be more inclusive to be more
equitable
and to be more global in that sense
grace in all your 10 years
i’m personally very curious as well what
was
the most difficult decision that you’ve
you had to make the most difficult
decision
by far would be you know during a
consolidation phase in my industry back
in 2018
where we have had a couple of
acquisition offers
oh yeah that would mean a
semi-retirement for me
that would mean joining a bigger company
and you know just maybe have to work for
another one to three years and you know
you’re off
and so those were those were offers that
i’ve
taken seriously and i have gone to
shanghai and here to learn about the
potential acquirers company culture
management
business model but after that process
and that journey i’ve just
realized that they were going to not be
a cultural fit and they were not going
to extend
um or continue the mission of the
behind the work that i’ve been doing and
therefore i walked away
for vote from both and my friends my
other entrepreneur friends were saying
like are you crazy rarely do people walk
away from
acquisition offers but i would not have
forgiven myself
for taking those with the social
impact ecosystem growing and expanding
i’m sure we would also see a lot of the
next generation the younger generation
wanting to be part of this ecosystem as
well and you know
yourself as well um you have a 19 month
old
girl baby girl so just wondering from
your point of view you know what are
some words of advice
that you would give to the younger
generation um
that would want to be part of this
ecosystem moving forward
wow the younger generation is the
world’s best hope
in repairing the world and improving it
so my short word of advice is be
demanding be demanding ask for what you
want
ask for the better versions of products
and services that have been offered to
you
at first i thought it was a cliche when
people say that
oh once you have children your
you will get a different perspective on
the world you will
place purpose and impact and and doing
good a lot higher because you’re gonna
do it for them
right i thought it was just a cliche but
i’ve really experienced firsthand
how having a daughter really
accelerated my my commitment
a lot more even to going back to impact
work and and
and really doubling down on that you
know when when i talk about
bottom-up work and bottom-up ecosystem
then that generation is is what i mean
they are the reason they are the core
for it
you know large companies large fmcg
companies
large investment banks they are not
doing good for the world because a
government said so they are not
doing it primarily because of tax
rebates they are doing it because the
younger generation will not buy from
them
if they are not responsible corporate
actors
if they destroy the planet if they
are unfair to their equals um
to their communities and their
stakeholders
younger generations of wealthy families
and wealthy businesses will not go to a
bank
that practices unethical behavior
that that siphons of money to left and
right
so it is the younger generation that
will
be the new north star of how corporates
behave
it is really them who will dictate and
determine
what new generation of products and
services
of food of non-meat food
right that will be produced at scale
because it is them
who will be the new budget holders
purchasing power
and everything else so i am super super
excited and so optimistic
to see what they will demand of
the the people in power yeah and
i think it can only be better than
all our hundreds of years before
you