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Leveraging our shared

community assets to empower entrepreneurs addressing social problems

Our Perspective

OUR PERSPECTIVE

Sustainable, scalable enterprises create step-change advances

FOCUS

Profit-driven enterprises are not distracted by fundraising cycles; their leaders wake up every day focused on creating change

VALUE CREATION

Long-term existence is tied to the ability to create real value; that means serving, not exploiting, those affected by social issues

SCALE

Scalable enterprises can accelerate their impact by rapidly proliferating their model within a city and across geographies

Our Team

OUR TEAM

We are Collective Works

The Collective Works team has an unusual mix of experience in research & design, consulting, strategy, venture investing & corporate finance, and leadership. This allows us to take a rigorous approach to both understanding complex problems and implementing enduring solutions.

Our Approach

OUR APPROACH

We partner with social entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and ​for-profit, for-good businesses to help them scale their impact

OPPORTUNITY DISCOVERY

We help leaders frame social problems in their local contexts and identify a range of options to address them utilizing design thinking and lean startup methods

NEW VENTURE CREATION

We partner to identify and launch new revenue-generating companies or lines-of-business that drive sustainability for the organization

EARLY VENTURE SUPPORT

We provide support services including business strategy, fundraising support, and executive coaching to help social ventures scale

Our Philosophy

OUR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Designing impactful businesses

01

City as a sandbox

We believe Indianapolis is a favorable place to create enterprises focused on social needs. Its urban density lowers barriers to accessing large user groups experiencing similar problems. The city's culture of collaboration enables entrepreneurs to test solutions to locally-felt problems with national implications.

02

Entrepreneur soul care

We believe there is a different pathway to enterprise success. Entrepreneurs experience high levels of anxiety, depression, divorce, and other psychological hardships. Existing in a community that encourages a more balanced lifestyle, a focus on self-care, and meaningful relationships not only allows for a more resilient founder, it leads to a more durable business in the long run.

03

Abundance mindset

We recognize the complexity of social problems, which require varied solutions that seek to break down barriers to human flourishing. No single solution will "solve" any systemic issue, so we believe in focusing on doing one thing well and partnering with an ecosystem to augment our impact while working generously with others.

04

Co-design

We believe in designing "with" - not "for" - those in underserved communities by relying on their experiences and assets. When we humble ourselves to ask others for insights in a way that brings them dignity, we co-design solutions that empower individuals, lead to community ownership, and ultimately yield sustainable ventures.

05

Community insight

We believe in listening and adapting. Each neighborhood, community, and city has their own nuances, which make blanket solutions not only ineffective, but harmful in some cases. Scaling successfully requires deep local knowledge, which occurs through constant dialog with respected community leaders.

Case Study

CASE STUDY

Collective Works partners with CICOA to launch Duett

OPPORTUNITY DISCOVERY

CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions, a non-profit agency, empowers older adults and people with disabilities to remain comfortably and safely at home through case management, including matching to in-home healthcare services. The agency's care management team developed a lightweight tool to reduce the number of hours spent manually matching over 700 service providers to those needing care. Collective Works partnered with CICOA to assess the market opportunity for a software solution that could address this need for 600 agencies similar to CICOA nationwide.

NEW VENTURE CREATION

After user validation with CICOA employees, Collective Works partnered with CICOA to refine the product roadmap, identify a CEO, and incorporate and fund a new startup. The partners co-founded Duett, an Indianapolis-based SaaS company, which increases the speed and quality of matches while enabling care managers to spend more time developing and executing personalized care plans for their clients

EARLY VENTURE SUPPORT

In order to enhance the success of Duett at an early stage, Collective Works holds two seats on the board of directors. In this capacity, Collective Works supports the CEO with early team hiring, compensation, and equity; development partner identification and vetting; and go-to-market strategy.

Contact

CONTACT US

We look forward to the opportunity to partner with you.

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