NPC on Vator.tv

Check out Kirstin talking about NPC and our business strategy moving forward on Vator.tv:

Ignore the Naysayers

This is a great post by Guy Kawasaki about lessons entrepreneurs can learn from kiva's successes. It's quite inspiring to read about an organization that is changing the game. My two favorite lessons:

"Ignore the naysayers. The Flannerys got a lot of advice that you can’t send money around the Internet without government approval; that Kiva couldn’t scale beyond a few African villages; that a non-profit couldn’t offer an investment product; and that it would violate SEC regulations as well as the Patriot Act. Besides this, Kiva was a no-brainer. :-)"

"'Bank' on unproven people. What would the ideal background be of the founder of Kiva? Investment banker from Goldman, Sachs? Vice president of the World Bank? Vice president of the Peace Corp? Vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation? Partner at McKinsey? How about temporary administrative assistant at the Stanford Business School? Because that’s how Jessica started her quest. The spark that lit the fire was a speech by Muhammed Yunus, founder of the Grameem Bank and Nobel Peace Prize winner."

Green Investments are Growing. Can Politics Follow Suit?

Read this WIRED article about Al Gore’s effort to boost the green economy by partnering with the well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers. Together, they are aiming to help shift away from our carbon-based economy by investing in green entrepreneurs, innovators, and technologists.

As this partnership demonstrates, to make a substantial impact, the green movement requires investment. More and more we are seeing this market-based approach being used to catalyze significant social change.

In much the same way, political change requires investment too. We need to be making investments that are broad and not just limited to candidates and traditional organizations. Investments must also be made in fresh and effective organizations and leaders that are necessary in moving this country forward.

Soon, NPC will be releasing our flagship product that we hope will encourage and inspire long-term, strategic investments. Stay tuned.

The Customer Experience… Even the Napkins Matter

The team often jokes about my unrelenting attention to minute details, but as this blog post illuminates, the little things do matter. At NPC, we are building a rewarding customer experience that is both online and offline.