Giving Compass' Take:

• In this article for Stanford Social Innovation Review, a seed-stage investor in financial technology for the underserved gives some advice on how startups can thrive in the social space.

• From maintaining operational focus to getting stable capital, some of these tips may seem self-explanatory, but executing them can be complicated. This articles gives us a good roadmap.

• Here's how certain urban startups can help solve city challenges.

Within the broad conversation about technology’s potential to advance social good is a niche dialogue about the power of financial technology (fintech) to reach customers who have been excluded from or poorly served by traditional financial services. At Accion Venture Lab — the seed-stage investment initiative of the global nonprofit Accion — we believe in the transformative potential of fintech startups to reach the three billion financially underserved people around the world.

Startups are uniquely positioned to catalyze innovation in their sectors, but they face a number of challenges. To survive, any startup must excel at product development, pricing, sales, marketing, business development, strategic planning, and talent acquisition and retention. Startups striving to provide inclusive financial services face additional sector- and market-specific difficulties.

After reviewing almost 2,000 of these companies, investing in 33 of them, and achieving two successful exits, we have learned a few essential lessons for impact-focused startups:

  • Identify your highest-value customers and target your product to them.
  • Maintain operational focus.
  • Obtain the right capital from the right investors
  • Develop your team and use it effectively.
  • Establish good governance.

Read the full article about what makes social startups thrive by Tahira Dosani and Vikas Raj from Stanford Social Innovation Review.