The Freedom Fund founded in 2013 to end modern slavery had raised more than half its intended target (by 2025) of $200 million. In 2021, impressed by its decentralized-partnering style of operations, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded the Fund a gift of $35 million over 5 years. The beauty of the gift was that it came with no strings attached. It was completely unrestricted for use the way the company’s management and staff deemed fit. Nick Grono, the organization’s first CEO was wrestling with the question of how to put the money to best use.
When senior managers think about how to respond to the threats and opportunities of technological change, they often dream of the same thing: If they just could start a new company or division that isn’t held back by conventional thinking or outdated business models. But what if they asked themselves instead how they might extract the real value of their technology assets? That’s what Axiata Group, a Malaysia-based telecommunications conglomerate that operates in emerging Asian economies and has annual revenues of $6 billion, did. It leveraged its network assets to help small businesses, including startups, launch over 90,000 services in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh that generated revenues of more than $100 million in 2021 for Axiata.
Founded in November 2014 and based in Shanghai, NIO designed, jointly manufactured, and sold premium “smart” EVs. Its mission was to “shape a joyful lifestyle by offering high-performance smart electric vehicles and being the best user enterprise. At NIO Day 2021, Founder William Li shared plans for the company to expand to 25 different countries and regions by 2025, including the automobile juggernaut nation of Germany. Would users in other markets and cultures embrace his user enterprise and high-touch model? NIO faced tough competition ahead in the race for EV supremacy.
See more research