How about we build an impact ecosystem?

Where we're currently at...

Impact Meet Ups led to a question on how best we can create impact in Madeira... and what was actually needed... which led to connecting to a few locals who were doing impact work, but not many... which led to thinking that there may not actually be many known "needs" in Madeira, but perhaps opportunities... which led to wondering how to grow an impact ecosystem that encouraged and supported more impact initiatives on the island...

At the same time, Micaela from Startup Madeira asked me to share an opportunity for the Madeira Startup Retreat for travel and tourism startups with my networks. Two nights before the deadline, I had an idea: Why don't we apply to the program to attract remote impact workers to address local needs & opportunities? A Blue Ocean strategy.

I couldn't do this on my own. So, with limited time, I messaged the 4 people that I thought might be up for pursuing something like this (they said yes!) and we put together an application for submission. A few days later we found out that we got in!

So what are we doing? Attracting remote impact workers to address social and environmental challenges in collaboration with locals. How? Still figuring that out.

We kicked off with understanding each of our visions for this work:

• Build an impact ecosystem that attracts externals and supports locals to create impact
• Helping Madeira become a hub for impact
• Providing access to support and mentorship
• Developing a framework that could be replicated in other locations
• Using design thinking to test assumptions
• Testing a few revenue streams to make it sustainable

We then defined our scope in terms of reaching out to impact workers and organisations, possible mentors/supporters, and investors/funding bodies, and defined initial principles around locality customisation, connection, creating impact, making the process easier, and targeting locations where impact ecosystems haven't been built.

Finally, we started defining our value proposition... something along the lines of:
"We will find you the best partners worldwide easily to create impact"
"Building impact bridges"

Creating shape to the project is important, but equally important is the team. Besides aligning our visions and what we want out of the project, we discussed our MBTI personality types, what each of us brings to the table and also what we do NOT want to bring to the table (things that don't excite us or don't like doing). It's good to get an idea of how we would work together and what makes each of us tick.

Next up, we'll look to refine our value proposition and validate how we can address users/customers pains & gains, then come up with a few solutions to test before jumping into a specific product & business model. All the while doing our research and reaching out to people to build this ecosystem (#100coffees) :)

We've got about a month before the program starts at which point we'd like to have a good plan on what MVP we'll be testing during the 6 week period. Let's see where we get to... :)