Giving Compass' Take:

• India Development Review discusses the phenomenon of "heropreneurship," in which organization founders often overshadow the causes they're trying to help, while aspiring social entrepreneurs look at the career path only in terms of status.

• How can we push back against the hero-worship in the social venture world? A couple of good suggestions here are to emphasize learning, not just solving, and celebrate a range of social impact roles.

• Read about why social entrepreneurs should engage in more self reflection


Step aside, Superman, there’s a new kind of superhero in town. We’ve entered an era of heropreneurship, where reverence for the heroic social entrepreneur has led countless people to pursue a career path that promises opportunities to save the world, gain social status, and earn money, all at the same time.

In business schools across North America and Europe, the longest waiting lists — once reserved for investment banking interviews — are now shared by entrepreneurship training courses and social impact events. The coffers of social collateral have shifted, and starting a social business is at the top of the Type A student’s to-do list.

I’ve watched this shift first hand, first as an MBA student, and now through working in a business school and speaking with students at universities around the world. I’ve witnessed a significant increase in the number of students listing their career ambitions as “being a social entrepreneur”, a growing stream of new social entrepreneurship training courses, and increasing numbers of students graduating and jumping straight into launching a social venture.

Read the full article about tackling "heropreneurship" by Daniela Papi-Thornton at India Development Review.