by diana | Sep 11, 2012 | Blog, Field Notes, Thoughts and Ideas
This isn’t an update from the field, but it’s still part of the entire experience of building Essmart out here in India. Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in an “International Faculty Seminar on Social Entrepreneurship” at the Tata Institute of Social...
by Essmart | Aug 17, 2012 | Blog, Thoughts and Ideas
After finally getting a chance to see and interact with some of the rural retail outlets we are working with in Southern India and getting a better feel for both the logistical challenges and the market potential, I couldn’t help but think of an article I read last...
by diana | Aug 15, 2012 | Aug '12 India, Blog, Field Notes, Thoughts and Ideas
Happy Independence Day! Since today was a national holiday, we spent most of it working from our Pollachi office/warehouse. Our sixth Essmart team member has arrived, and watching our complementary skills come together to move Essmart forward has been a rewarding...
by jackie | Apr 21, 2012 | Blog, Cambridge, Thoughts and Ideas
Thursday was a busy day for the Essmart team. As a President’s Challenge finalist, Rob and I were fortunate to attend a lunch with Professor Muhammad Yunus. Each finalist team got to briefly describe our start-up idea, and then the floor was open for questions....
by diana | Apr 20, 2012 | Blog, Cambridge, Competitions, Thoughts and Ideas
Improved cooking stoves not going anywhere in rural Tamil Nadu, India. Why does Essmart exist? Why are we Essmart team members working on Essmart? These important questions were posed to some of our team members today. We had a Skype interview with an MIT IDEAS Global...
by diana | Apr 6, 2012 | Blog, Cambridge, Competitions, Thoughts and Ideas
Today Jackie and I found out that one way to answer yesterday’s question is to, well, redefine the problem. We had the opportunity to meet with Sorin Grama, Co-Founder of Promethean Power and Greentown Labs. He was very helpful – and patient with us, too – as we...
