"Insanely Good: Making Big Business out of Social Philanthropy" in New Yorker.com

In a September 13, 2018 article in the New Yorker Magazine, titled Insanely Good: Making Big Business out of Social Philanthropy (The Startup Whiz trying to make Big Business out of Social Philanthropy), author Nathan Heller suggests that the technology industry and the entrepreneurs behind it need a serious injection of creative thinking and problem solving to move beyond its current negative, self-serving greedy, capitalistic inwardly focused reputation.

"An industry known for outlandishness will be driven toward brass-tacks problems. Random acts of philanthropy will no longer be enough to keep the giants in good grace. The looming question isn’t whether high-profile entrepreneurs will work to win back favor but how. Some might describe it as a juncture primed for innovative thought."

Innovative thought indeed. 

Ankar Jain, founder of the Kairos Society (http://kairoshq.com/) and tech entrepreneur, sees a role for the industry in taking on areas traditionally met by government; housing, health care and child care. He argues that not only is there a need - government is no longer or can no longer deliver the array of needs of its citizenry - but that technology and the minds behind it can fill this gap, and perhaps do it better. 

This is clearly a "what if?" moment. If tech developments can create innovative ways to connect people through dating apps, why not connect people to affordable housing or childcare?

Jain says the move of his organization, Kairos Society, into the area of the 'public and social good'...:

"[was] informed by an epiphany that he once had. The epiphany was that vanguard tech—Alexa, blockchain, A.I. cars, smart toasters—was an élite sector for élite people, and thus a relatively small market. Everyday services, meanwhile, especially those that helped working Americans make ends meet, formed a business sector that was lucrative and large. “Housing is a trillion-dollar market; education is already 1.5 trillion, in student debt; and childcare is an almost trillion-dollar market,” Jain said. “It’s funny—people bucket these into social, charitable things, but there is more money spent on these services than any other category out there.” He smiled and said, “This isn’t philanthropy.”"

The innovative thinking here is not the nuts and bolts of how this is going to happen, but the leap of faith or insight thinking that made the jump from one set of thinking - technology provides tools and services to a 'elite' group to providing tools and services to the average citizen. With no loss of possible income - in fact with predictions of increased profitability. 

I ask, 'what if" this is the future of business thinking?