Show Notes
Harish Hande is a celebrated social entrepreneur who started
SELCO, a solar lighting company in 1995. Along the way, he reinvented consumer finance for the poorest of the poor and the fundamental concept of building for the bottom of the pyramid. His empathy for his customers and humility in light of their knowledge is telling, and reflects in the meritocratic organization that SELCO is today.
In this podcast, Harish comes out swinging against the hierarchical, resume obsessed and out of touch development sector. Let’s put it this way, a lot of thumping on the table involved in this episode. It’s a privilege to have Ramon Magsaysay awardee Harish Hande on Terra.do’s podcast on climate change in developing countries.
Notes –
01:06 – The origin of SELCO and Harish’s early interest in solar energy
13:39 – Asset building to get out of poverty
20:08 – SELCO’s strategies for asset building
25:26 – Pay As You Go solar - is it good?
34:34 – Politics, policy and our desire to preserve power structures
42:02 – Advice on how to get into social entrepreneurship
What is Terra.do - Solve #climatechange?
Terra.do is an online climate school. We teach you everything climate, connect you to an online community of changemakers and put you to work remotely on high-impact climate projects that need your unique skills.
Our podcasts are focused on climate change, sustainability, development, conservation, and many more issues focused on developing countries, starting with India.