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Interview: Ned Tozen, D.Light
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm started in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Since 2004, the firm has invested close to $500 million in both non-profit and for profit ventures, all of which have a stated mission to catalyze social, economic, and political change. We've written about many of the companies that Omidyar has helped start over the years - Ashoka, Mango, Kiva.org, CouchSurfing, and D.light just to name a few.
D.Light is a company we've covered more than a few times here on 3p. In a nutshell, the company makes inexpensive, durable solar lighting designed for sale in poor off-grid communities around the world. Their product sounds like an easy sell. It lasts a long time, it's clean, and most importantly pays for itself in a matter of months by eliminating much of the need to make monthly kerosene purchases.
For the most part, the products are indeed selling well - over 7 million so far. But education, fear of upfront costs and other challenges remain. I sat down with co-founder Ned Tozen for a few minutes to talk about these challenges and the way D.Light is succeeding from a financial and social perspective:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQXX0d0_ryM
Nick Aster is the founder of TriplePundit. Prior to launching 3p, Nick worked for Mother Jones magazine, successfully re-launching the magazine's online presence. He worked for TreeHugger.com, managing the technical side of the publication for 3 years, and has also been an active consultant for individuals and companies entering the world of micro-publishing. He also worked for Gawker Media and Moreover Technologies in the early days of blogging. Nick holds an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management and graduated with a BA in History from Washington University in St. Louis.
