Apply Today! The Founder Institute's Technology Startup Accelerator

The Founder Institute  (http://www.founderinstitute.com) is a technology startup accelerator and entrepreneur training program currently on pace to launch over 500 companies per year in over 13 cities worldwide. The program identifies high-potential entrepreneurs using predictive social science testing, and then guides them through weekly company-building sessions featuring a network of over 300 CEO Mentors including leading luminaries from NYC, Silicon Valley and beyond. All program stakeholders, including the participating founders and CEO Mentors, share in the equity generated by companies formed in the program. In addition, participants get access to free and discounted services, and are not required to quit their day job.

Founded in 2009, The Founder Institute aims to globalize Silicon Valley by launching over 1000 meaningful and enduring technology companies per year in over 30 cities worldwide. The Institute currently operates semesters twice a year in Silicon Valley, Singapore, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Houston, Boston, New York, Washington DC, Paris, Brussels and Berlin.

Key highlights of the program include:

* You don't need to quit your day job
* You share in pool of equity for upside and for risk reduction
* There is no idea or team selection bias in the enrollment process
* The Institute encourages market rate investments in companies
* The Institute protects the upside of Founders through Class F and other efforts

Founder Institute is also running a special program, the Female Founder Fellowship Program, for Women Innovators. For more info, see here: http://ow.ly/40Fl2

Apply today at: http://www.founderinstitute.com/apply/42/wsoc. The deadline is March 13.

Socially Responsible Investing - HIP Investors Aim to Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World

by Danielle Ravich, Guest Blogger

In his New York City debut this past summer, Mr. R. Paul Herman, founder and CEO of an investment advisory firm, Human Impact + Profit (HIP) demonstrated how doing good for society can actually translate to doing well. By investing more in companies that address human and environmental needs, we can reinforce and reward practices that are in-line with positive societal values while also generating earnings.

"How many times have we heard companies say that people are their most important assets?" asked Mr. Herman. "But on our budget sheets, people are considered to be a liability" he noted. Today, most companies do not account for their impact on people through their current organizational assesments, but they do add value that is not necessarily accounted for by investors.

Mr. R. Paul Herman is bringing awareness of companies' impact on human lives to financial decisionmakers.  Using a unique metric system, Herman evaluates how well profitable companies are actually able to address society's needs.

Mr. Herman outlines his methodology for calculating how "HIP" companies are in recent book, "The HIP Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World". Large S&P100 companies are evaluated based on their ability to address a heirarchy of human and environmentally-related needs. The HIP Index ranking is assessed according to companys' ability to address "Health, Wealth, Earth, Equality and Trust."  Once a company meets each of these needs, citizens would be happier and able to lead more fulfilling lives. Consistent with the desire to humanize hard numbers,this type of strategy is inspired by Maslow's Heirarchy of needs and is similar to the approach of the UN's Human Development Index which evaluates countries.

So, how does HIP compare to other stock portfolios? Overall, HIP investors are more likely to outperform their peers. The HIP 100 portfolio has consistently outperformed the S&P 100 Index by at least 400 basis points (4%) annually over the past five years when backtested in a model.

HIP uses public information to assess these companies, but has also conducted additional research through conducting interviews with CEOs of these companies. Through the process, HIP highlights important societal issues that companies can influence into the limelight. In their April issue, FastCompany teamed up with SVT Group and HIP Investor group to guide readers in their socially responsible investment practices.

Often times, our investments are stuck in endowments, pensions, and 401-K retirement funds, but HIP aims for "Social K's".  To address this need for improved socially responsible investing, the book serves as a "how to guide for everyday investors who want to vote with their dollar" said Herman.

This type of integrated disclosure provides companies who are doing well with another way to compete. It allows companies to shift their decisionmaking to a more holistic and inclusive understanding of their practices and allows the general public to make smarter choices in their investments that are not only good for society's well-being, but also for their own pockets.

More information on the HIP Investor here.