Training Unreasonable Entrepreneurs

When Khalida Brohi was growing up in Pakistan, she became passionate about ending the practice of honor killings — when family members kill female relatives they believe disgraced the family or community. But her stance caused the 21-year-old to be cast out of her community.

She found help through a group of strangers in a very unexpected place – the Unreasonable Institute in Boulder. Founded by several young CU alums two years ago, the institute aims to help young, civic-minded entrepreneurs across the globe reach their goals. Last summer the institute selected Brohi and 24 other young entrepreneurs from 284 applicants living in such countries as Peru, Australia, India, Venezuela and Liberia to come to Boulder for a 10-week intensive summer program.

During the program, the 25 entrepreneurs lived in the “Unreasonable Mansion” — an unoccupied fraternity house — and attended sessions on creating business plans, branding and personal and entrepreneurial development. They also worked with mentors ranging from television producers to investment analysts and entrepreneurs on their ideas.

At the end, the group selected three of their peers to divide the $225,000 Village Fund, so each received $75,000 in investment. The money was given by First Light Ventures, a subsidiary of the major impact investment firm Gray Ghost Ventures. The group also pitched their ideas to potential investors in San Francisco.

“After the Unreasonable Institute, I came back [to Pakistan] a new person, ready to take over once again, but this time with more knowledge and understanding and without fear of opposition or failure,” Brohi says.

That’s the goal the institute has for its fellows. But it took a bit of time for its founders to create the Unreasonable Institute. Founding president Daniel Epstein (Phil’08) brought together Teju Ravilochan (IntlAf’09), Vladimir Dubovskiy (ApMath’10), Nikhil Dandavati (Fin’10) and Tyler Hartung (Fin’06) to figure out a way to move beyond simply discussing global issues and turning instead to actionable steps for solving them.

“Dan truly had a vision for using entrepreneurship to tackle the world’s greatest problems,” says Hartung, the institute’s community and financial coordinator.

The Unreasonable Institute was born.

“What better place to set up your business than your home?” asks Hartung, referring to Boulder and emphasizing its numerous mentors who met with Unreasonable fellows. For instance, Paul Jerde, director of the CU Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, served as an important connection for many of the entrepreneurs, especially those interested in renewable energy.

But to attract young entrepreneurs, the institute staff had to get the word out across the globe. So they cast a wide net with the help of Teach for America, MIT, magazines and social media communities like Facebook. For instance, the organization YouthActionNet, a community of global leaders, encouraged Brohi to apply because of her strong leadership skills.

Yet Brohi and others faced several giant hurdles on their way to becoming an Unreasonable fellow. Every entrepreneur must raise the $6,500 tuition without using teammate or personal contributions — a challenge especially for those living in developing countries. Much of this money comes in small increments from thousands of individual supporters from around the world.

Second, applicants must have an entrepreneurial background and their own team of people in place. Their plans must be financially self-sustainable, have the ability to spread throughout the world and eventually reach at least
1 million people.

A unique aspect of the institute is that many of the entrepreneurs have already failed at some point on their journey. The Unreasonable Institute aims to be a place where ideas can be reshaped, scrapped or rebuilt.

The Unreasonable fellows’ ideas range anywhere from sustainable disaster shelters to viable housing solutions for slums.

“Everyone here is really dedicated to changing lives,” says Australian Simon Griffiths who is working on a nonprofit toilet paper company called “Who Gives a Crap?” that will produce paper from recycled materials and donate 10 percent of its earnings to building toilets in the developing world.

Brohi returned to Pakistan in the midst of the worst floods in the country’s history. She and her team, Participatory Development Initiatives, refocused their purpose in Pakistan to help the thousands of flood victims. They have obtained support from organizations to provide clean drinking water, sanitation facilities and health kits. Brohi also reached out to several media outlets that have published the organization’s story to raise awareness about the devastating floods.

As for the Unreasonable Institute, Epstein and his business partners have big plans for the future, including holding a six-week summer session this year in Boulder before hosting the program abroad. It will be another chance to expand a rapidly growing business in the hope of making a difference in millions of lives.

“Last year was a snapshot of where the future of our world is going and the bright leaders that will take us there,” Hartung says.

Check out the Unreasonable Institute’s website, unreasonableinstitute.org, which features extensive profiles of the mentors and entrepreneurs.