Beltway Diary:Eventually I found myself in the right lift heading for 29th floor. I am utterly confounded by how long it takes to get from the entrance of a skyscraper to the actual office in which you have a meeting. Endless security, the frustration of trying to find the one lift out of 12 that brings you to your desired floor and corridors full of identical doors with microscopic signage all contribute to delay, writes Caroline Casey
Finding what I hope is the office of Draper Richards LP, I gingerly knock, open the door and gasp. It is a stunning San Francisco morning and the penthouse office is bursting with light, as sun pours through massive windows framed by the most amazing view of the bay. I stand, mesmerised when a voice asks: "Can I help?"
Moments later, coffee in hand, I am talking with William Draper III, one of America's first venture capitalists and an incredibly nice man to boot. We quickly get into conversation about the ins and outs of philanthropy, foundations and where disability sits among it all!
When 'Bill' notes: "You see, we do things a little differently here. I don't need the perfect business plan. I take risks where others don't," I want to jump up and shout "alleluia!" It's taken more than 30 meetings in the last month to hear someone say this.
Why? Where have all the risk-takers gone? In our bid to ensure that the social entrepreneur sector becomes more professional, efficient, business like and sustainable, are we forgetting something - that which makes the social entrepreneur different?
Systematic transformational change demands "out of the box" thinking, which may push funders out of their comfort zone. But out of the comfort zone they must come. Now more than ever we need risk-takers to invest in risk-takers.
It goes without saying that social entrepreneurs need to be more businesslike, but they also need permission to fail.
Permission to fail is permission to try. Failure may be seen as deferred achievement, if we are willing to learn, and, let's face it, it's better to attempt to solve the problem than to do nothing.
Fear of failure can only inhibit the entrepreneurial spirit; therefore we need investors who are willing to take the risk in the hope of what can be achieved rather than what is guaranteed; people who are not frightened to fail. We need more "Bills"!
Gunvor Kronman from Finland is chief executive of the Swedish/Finish Cultural Foundation and a board member of the Finish Public Broadcasting Company. He believes that part of the problem is that there are not enough risk-taking role models.
I agree. Without examples, how can we learn? The risk-taker is as vital as the social entrepreneur in this extraordinary equation for social change and their role needs to be recognised too.
The upcoming Philanthropist of the Year awards run by the Community Foundation for Ireland could not come at a better time.
Faced with incredible social challenges we need risk-takers to unearth and support the mavericks. We need new models to challenge the old.
So, philanthropists, venture capitalists, foundations, entrepreneurs, don't forget the risks you took to get where you got. You never know: among the pile of proposals that clutter your desk, the Bill Gates of social entrepreneurs could be smiling up at you.
eisenhower@theaislingfoundation.org
