It is an orthodoxy. It starts by saying we will not change capitalism. Socap08 pays no such allegiance.

Here is something I posted in that debate: I admire creative capitalism, but I’m disappointed by the fact that creative capitalism does not go so far as to say it wants to change the nature of capitalism. I do. I want to put risk, return and impact into the investing equation, not just risk and return with social impact at no external cost. I think social value is a real value and starting out by saying changing capitalism is off limits says that everything that follows is just a half step, a minor incremental change that is nice, but not the real deal. the basic faith in capitalism as it stands will not be altered from that point on.

I think the cultural constructs by which we put certain new definitions of capital and capitalism are the true market constraints on the growth of the social capital market. This is a definitional problem, and establishing the canonical status of capitalism as extant and not subject to change falls within the context of a reaffirmation of orthodoxy.

R.Todd Johnson of Jones Day has stepped up to sponsor Nathaniel Whittemore and Danny Moldovan of Assetmap.org. These young men have been hard at work creating the strategy for our Connection Concierge program at SoCap08 which will provide personalized maps of each conference attendee and suggestions on workshops to attend and people to meet. Their team of five are still seeking sponsorship. For details on these social entrepreneurs and others looking to attend SoCap08, visit the Sponsorship page.

We are signing on more and more key partners for SoCap08 as momentum grows. Alliance Magazine will be giving a free two week pass to their website for the month of October to SoCap08 attendees giving access to the new September issue. 

On an attendee note, in the last two days i’ve received emails from people in Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Thailand and Nicaragua! It’s exciting to see how far the word is spreading and to think of the broad spectrum of attendees that the conference will hold.

Like the clean tech market before it, the social capital market is starting to emerge and some of the  same dynamics are starting to emerge. New money has come into the room. New money has come into the room and the definitions are changing, become more clear,and easy for newcomers to engage with. Foundations,development and government agency funders and new mission focused social venture funds are all learning to cooperate on specific projects and investments. People who define their impact through thelens  of as carefully worked out theory of change and people who understand return on investment with the third dimension of impact added are learning how to speak each others language, or at least create workable translations via the practical Rosetta Stone of a new kind of hybrid investment projects. 

More money is starting to flow toward good things, more quickly, more easily and at an accelerated rate.

The social capital market is emerging, and as Wall Street did under the Buttonwood Tree and the Dutch Bourse did in coffee shops in Amsterdam, the market is convening through conversations around value in order to get new things done. Those conversations, in their many tracks, and wanderings, seem to be converging at Socap08.

Faso Investments’ founder Modibo Camara, whose fund will be investing private equity in African banks that lend to small and medium enterprises as well as make microfinance loans, will be speaking at Socap08. Faso already has $5 million in hand from Blue Orchard and Responsability. There will be several funds who are working in Subsaharan Africa on the agenda, and we are glad to have them all. Our own Good Capital Social Enterprise Expansion Fund expects to make its second investment in about a week in a company based in the U.S. that has a significant impact in Africa, and our first investee, Better World Books, has sold books to raise more than $1.5 million for Books for Africa, a literacy group.

Yet it’s especially good sign of the growing extent of the social capital market as it emerges to see professionally run African-led venture capital funds for social mission that will offer a financial return to investors coming to the fore. Also speaking will be Kojo Paris, a black South African who is launching Social Private Equity South African, a social venture fund with a “cornerstone investment”  from Luciano Balbo  the man who founded Italy’s first social venture fund.

Just as we aim to use SoCap08 as a platform in moving the field of social capital and entrepreneurship forward, we are going to use this blog as a platform to promote events happening in the Bay Area for Social Entrepreneurs leading up to the conference. It’s gratifying to get invited to events and to see the speaker and attendee list reflecting people who are participating in SoCap08 as well. We want to encourage as many meeting of the minds as possible and to spread awareness of what is happening in the space. We recently heard from Premal Shah of Kiva.org, who will be speaking at SoCap08 on the Democratic Capital Panel, about an upcoming event called “Awareness2Action.” The event is hosted by Sundeep Ahuja, Kiva’s original marketing director, for social entrepreneurs who are using the web to discuss best practices. RSVP at http://a2a.eventbrite.com/

Lots of good buzz from the gathering at Aspen. Multiple emails, blog posts, etc. We’re eager to figure out how to partner with the new Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs, or ANDE.

The agenda they have outlined is really comprehensive:

NEW FINANCIAL PRODUCTS to serve members that could include various forms of capital

aggregation such as an “Equity Challenge Fund” that would aggregate capital to allow continued

innovation in service delivery

• NETWORKING MEETINGS with intermediaries, funders, investment managers and corporate

executives and supply chain managers

• ONLINE DIRECTORY AND MARKETPLACE to connect funders and intermediaries and to

increase co-investment opportunities and business development collaboration

• KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND RESOURCES on topics such as replicable low-cost models,

ways to streamline operations, and standard templates and tools through an online library of

research and case studies

• SHARED TRAINING PROGRAMS such as annual courses for members’ leaders, investment

staff and/or investees to provide best-in-class training at reduced costs