SVI: An Unconventional, Necessary Approach to Enterprise Building

Friday afternoon at the Social Venture Institute (SVI) on Cortes Island: an impromptu group of 60 people start intimate one-on-one conversations about how they can do business together or support each other’s work.

The self-organized session saw people jump from table to table engaging with others, and for participant Joey Hundert, is resulting in new business propositions and meaningful personal connections.

He says it was unique to see the volume of business getting done in a more relaxed and amiable environment compared to traditional business conferences.

	Joey Hundert

“It’s like all the business building and enterprise development got done but in a completely unconventional environment of true social engagement, which created a lot of real good will, trust and fun,” says the first-time participant of the four-day event at Hollyhock dedicated to supporting and connecting social entrepreneurs.

The 140 SVI participants explored social business case studies, and heard participants share new venture ideas or challenges they're encountering when running a business that achieves a social and financial mission. In this environment, Joey says he felt encouraged to contribute with creativity and enthusiasm.

“Listening to other people share their brilliance only causes that in others, so I found myself coming up with a lot of great ideas for people in whatever situation they were in,” he says.

Joey was also able to share his work in creating the world’s first green carnival, launched earlier this year. Called Sustainival, all rides and amusements are powered on vegetable oil, wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy. The fair aims to educate the public about issues of sustainability by demonstrating what’s possible — powering large-scale machines with technologies available on the marketplace today — in addition to working with leading organizations to create innovative contests that offer locally-sourced eco-conscious prizes.

In its first seven months, Sustainival has hosted six events reaching 885,000 people. The company’s long-term goal is for Sustainival to permanently inspire 100 million people in 10 years.

“The carnival occurred to me as the most approachable, large-format platform for reaching millions of people per year in a totally non-scary, non-dogmatic way,” says Joey, Sustainival’s founder and executive producer.

“The carnival, the state fair, the expedition — these are massive platforms where people come to have fun and we have found a way to change the core technologies that drive those events such that people are given a mild education in what’s possible in sustainable technology.”

After his presentation, Hundert says participants approached him to share their appreciation of his venture, and offer their help. Investors, business mentors and peers were more accessible at SVI than any other event Joey’s attended. It’s for these reasons, he says SVI is essential to build a thriving social business sector.

“It’s very rare and it’s incredibly effective on a number of levels, both enterprise and personally. I think it needs to happen much more often and in more places.”

To learn more about SVI, click here.

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