The Big Ideas Behind The Elevate Prize, Part 1

“What was your inspiration for The Elevate Prize?”

This is usually the first question I’m asked by people these days. Truth is, the idea came to me the way it happens for most of us: Bit by bit.

In my career and in my life, I’ve learned something important about ideas: They may feel like they came to us in an instant, but that moment was generally preceded by a lot of important observations, intents, and mini-epiphanies.

It ends up being a process — call it Incremental Inspiration. And if inspiration is a fire, mine took a lot of logs and the right sparks to set it ablaze.

The first was in college. I was at a party with friends, mindlessly over-indulging as was the custom, when someone caught me by surprise with something very sobering.

They showed me a news article about the starvation that was rampant in India at the time. The sheer volume of suffering – hundreds of millions without food – was a punch to the gut. I knew people were in pain in the world, but the scope of it hadn’t really registered like that before.

I was dumbstruck… but also determined. I knew that a problem like that was too big for one person to fix. At the very least, though, I realized that I never wanted to make the problem worse and add to the misery of others. That night, I decided that I would be a contributor to peace and prosperity rather than detriment to it. I wasn’t in a state of mind to do anything about it then, but I knew the day would come.

Later, when I had more time to ponder the world’s problems, I realized that not all of our actions can be 100% harmless. There’s a cost to everything we do… and don’t do. So, rather than agonizing over every single instance, I would instead focus on the portfolio of my actions – my total contribution — so that, on the whole, I would be helping to create to a better world. On the whole, I would be a giver rather than a taker.

Years went by, and I was fortunate to become financially successful. I kept the promise I made to myself to give back, and I also knew that at some point it would become the major focus of my life.

One day, about 25 years ago, I first heard the term “entrepreneurial philanthropy” — the concept of leveraging one’s resources to give back with an entrepreneur’s mindset. This was an idea that totally resonated for me. Thinking big, being bold, focusing on new and innovative ways to make a difference…. It invigorated me.

This approach went beyond merely writing a check to something much more exciting: Leveraging my resources in the most effective way possible. It was about investing in ideas and people and passion. A magical recipe for extraordinary results.  

In my career, I long ago learned to hire the best people – a leader who builds exceptional teams is the one who moves mountains. So, if I wanted to make a big difference in the world, I had to find the people who were already doing so and had the potential to do so much more.

We all hear about people doing amazing things in the world. These individuals are incredible: creative, passionate, innovative and indefatigable.  They don’t always have big budgets, but they are making things happen. 

The entrepreneur in me asked the question: What if I could increase those budgets? It would certainly help, but it wouldn’t be a game-changer. The more I thought about it (and the more I discussed it with others), the more I realized that these social heroes needed more than just money. Like anyone building an enterprise, they needed support in a variety of areas – process, technology, marketing and management expertise, mentorship… the list goes on.

The other thing that I realized was that if we packaged these contributions as a big prize, with all of the associated limelight, it would not only attract more applicants, but it would bestow more prestige upon the winners. That prestige could help them attract additional support from other like-minded individuals and organizations. I was well aware of the benefits of winning prominent prizes like the Nobel Prize, the MacArthur “Genius” grants, the X Prize, and even being named as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential (fill in the blank). Packaging all this as a prize didn’t cost any more, but it definitely multiplied the impact.

I loved the idea! The Elevate Prize was born. We had no staff yet. We had no formal business plan. And a lot more research needed to be done before we could launch. But powerful ideas can ignite revolutions, and I was all fired up!

What came next was even more ambitious. You’ll learn about that in my next post.