Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. A sleepy southern town in 1980 became the 2nd largest banking center in the United States by the year 2000. Second only to New York... arguably the largest financial center the world has ever known. But Charlotte attracted brilliant minds, hard working bankers and philanthropic minded citizens over the 20 years that shaped it into the financial powerhouse that it is today.
In the early 1990's, Silicon Vally, CA (San Jose Metro) quickly became the epicenter of all that was dot-com. If you came up with a reason to do any kind of commerce on the new tool that was the world wide web, Silicon Valley was the Nirvana of that new economy. You started a dot-com, then dump trucks of money from venture capitalists were lining up outside of your door to dump as much money as they could find to pour into your new dot-com idea. Literally, if you could think of an idea to make money on this new tool for commerce, you were in business... literally. Climbing walls, champagne brunches and 24/7 ping pong for twenty-something nerds became normal and something to aspire to.
Now the world has changed... once again. Dot coms are no longer the "cool" investment... instead dot-coms are how the world works. Now boring and the way things are. Then, sub-prime mortgages took charge. Soon after, Al Gore wrote "An Inconvenient Truth" and the "Green" movement was born. Throughout the 2000's every asset manager, energy company and liberal minded American had to be involved in saving the Environment. Billions of dollars poured into this socially responsible investment movement. Imagine that.
So... in steps microfinance in the 2010's. The next "new, new thing." But this time, something sustainable and long-lasting and something that helps billions... BILLIONS of people out of poverty. And a fortune to made by ending poverty. Crazy, huh? VC capital chased the dot-coms, the sub-primes and the green movement. And now VC money is looking for returns and some financial responsibility after watching the busts of the aforementioned "movements."
During the explosion of the financial services boom of 1990-2010, Charlotte became a banking center. A really big, surprising and exciting center for banking talent. Today, as Bank of America and Wells Fargo face the demons of the financial panic of 2008, there are thousands of brilliant financial minds that are out of work. Enter microfinance. From disaster comes opportunity. According to HSBC bank, current demand for microfinance in the developing world is ten times the current supply... what to do, what to do!?
It is my humble opinion that Charlotte is the epicenter of the coming global microfinance movement. VC money will follow so the more prepared you are for the coming dump-trucks to help solve poverty globally, the more prepared you will be to be not only a wonderful philanthropist but a very wealthy one overnight, for sure. Just watch. No, seriously, JUST WATCH. Or get started today: www.globalmicrofinancepartners.com
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
