BRINQ is an initiative based on a single powerful belief:

The world's 4+ billion poor represent a huge untapped source of business and innovation!

Among these billions are geniuses, innovators and entrepreneurs ready to emerge - local equivalents of Einstein, Edison, and Ford.

Their strong and varied cultural perspectives mean a different way of looking at the world, a different way of solving problems, and a different type of innovation. When it comes to innovation, different is a must! Can we join all our world views, local with foreign, "rich" with "poor", expert with ignorant, to co-create new opportunities and innovations? Can we find ways of working together to to take the ideas behind our dreams and turn them into reality? Can we create the culture, organizations, and environment - the very soil - that allows these innovators to blossom and grow?

BRINQ focuses on the role of business in the so-called Base of the Pyramid - the world's four billion poor - developing and writing about on-the ground methodologies and knowledge needed to re-imagine this intersection of business, poverty and innovation. BRINQ has three main focus areas:

• Partnering - creating and enacting partnerships between poor communities and business
• Play - the role of education and play (and toys!) in entrepreneurship and innovation
• Innovation - Re-imagining technology (particulary IT) for, with, and by people in the BoP

See also: What is the Base of the Pyramid?

What is BRINQ?

BRINQ is the website of Patrick Donohue and friends, focusing on their work and experiences in the Base of the Pyramid. For the moment, BRINQ.com is a place to collect stories about partnering, innovation, and play in the developing world... mostly wherever Patrick happens to be. Visit the Workshop to see articles and stories about business, innovation and play from the developing world.

It's also important to be clear what BRINQ is not (or at least not yet). BRINQ is not a company, nor an institution really... it's more of a rallying cry for innovation in the developing world, a place to share stories, business models, and dreams.

 

Where in the world is BRINQ?

Well, the most accurate answer is here on the web and wherever Patrick happens to be be... so lately, BRINQ has been focused on projects going on in Brazil, India, and Kenya, particulary with Patrick's work with the Base of the Pyramid Protocol, a Cornell University directed process that guides big companies in how to partner with poor communities. However after years of continent hopping Patrick has more or less settled into Rio de Janeiro and is focusing more and more on Brazil.

I want to do something in the BoP, can we talk?

Of course! Although BRINQ itself isn't launching any projects currently, we're always willing to help out however we can with other people's projects and efforts in the BoP. Please contact us, we would love to talk with you!

But do you offer BoP consulting?

Right now Patrick et al. offer consulting services through Enterprise for a Sustainable World (e4sw), an organization founded by Cornell business professor and sustainability guru Stuart Hart. Most often this consulting is for companies interested in running entrepreneurial projects using the Base of the Pyramid Protocol (BoP Protocol), but other consulting services are available as well.

What does "BRINQ" mean?

BRINQ started originally as an effort to promote toy innovation by poor communities in the BoP, but has since changed its focus to a larger set of activities around business, poverty, and innovation. BRINQ is from the Portuguese word "BRINQUEDO" which means toy, and it's pronounced like the English word "BRINK" which signifies the verge or frontier of something, as for example: "The Brink of Innovation" or "The Brink of the World"!

The neat thing about words like brink, verge, or frontier is that they signify that there are two places unknown to each other. Are they on our frontier or are we on theirs? Who's the teacher, who's the student? Who gets to learn? We both do, of course!

How can I contact BRINQ?

You can contact us through our Contact Page

Patrick Donohue is the Founder of BRINQ and a Senior Consultant at Enterprise for a Sustainable World (ESW), one of a select group of business professionals working at the grassroots intersection of innovation, poverty, and business. Patrick's work on business models to dance with poverty has been critically well received at a number of BoP conferences and seminars, and his work has taken taken him deep into low-income communities in Brazil, India, and Kenya, living and working side by side with communities and companies to create new businesses.

A self-described refugee from the rapid-to-riches dot-com culture, Patrick has managed and developed innovative technology programs for Rockwell International, Apple Computer, and NASA as well as a number of technology start-ups. At Rockwell, Patrick led a team that was awarded the 1999 Rockwell International Team of the Year Award, and his work for NASA was nominated in 2002 for a Turning Goals into Reality Award. At ESW, Patrick guides business teams in the field as a Field Director of the Base of the Pyramid Protocol.

Patrick has a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, where he served as President of the MBA Student Association and earned a number of prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Belk Premier Fellowship, Kenan-Flagler’s Management Development Fellowship, and the school’s first ever Integrity Award, in part for his launch of new executive leadership program for student leaders. A business strategist, entrepreneur, technologist, professional houseguest and writer, Patrick lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[See also the BRINQ Network]