Alexandre Mars is on an a major journey with The Epic Foundation

Alexandre Mars does not speak, as much as fire with the Epic Foundation. Rat-a-tat-tat come the words; rat-a-tat-tat come the ideas. All delivered in a curiously mangled Franco-American accent that both belies his roots and traces his rather peripatetic global lifestyle. His philosophy is embodied by is his aptly named (given the scale of his ambition) Epic Foundation, which aims to create tools to help people give to charities dedicated to children and young people up to the age of 24. “A lot more people are giving,” he says over the phone from his home in New York, our conversation peppered with the ubiquitous police sirens and car horns. “If you ask 200 people whether they gave last year, most will answer yes. But if you ask them whether they have given enough, most will answer, no, even if they have the desire to give more.” ©Pascal Perich Alexandre Mars These budding better philanthropists list...

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An Entrepreneurial Perspective on Philanthropy

Philanthropy is not about giving money but about solving problems. While well-meaning, the idea of writing a check and calling it "philanthropy" is extremely short-sighted and unfortunately, extremely pervasive. Instead, philanthropist should think like an entrepreneur and think of social challenges as an opportunity to create large enterprises. It's really easy to create a $1 billion company-you just have to solve a $10 billion problem. Most of these large $10 to $100 billion problems happen to be social problems. That's why I think that some of the largest opportunity exist for an entrepreneur in solving humanity's grand challenges. True philanthropy requires a disruptive mindset, innovative thinking and a philosophy driven by entrepreneurial insights and creative opportunities. To disrupt the status quo, drive philanthropy at tremendous scale, and develop long-term economic vitality through giving, we must apply the same models for success in our philanthropic endeavors as we do in business. As a lifelong...

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