Making the World a Better Place

Hi Robbie,

First off, can you give us a bit of background info about yourself?

Im originally from California. I came to the UK to do a degree in Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London. This move was a risk. I knew very little about the UK’s education system. In fact, when I started my degree I did not actually know what the ‘social medicine’ part of my degree meant. I thought it referred to ObamaCare in some form; turns out, it doesn’t! Despite the risk, I have been very pleased with the UK and my degree and wouldn’t even consider changing a thing.

Since I started my degree I coupled it with my growing interest in international development and the charity sector. I learnt a great deal about how international development organizations work, and the flaws within the system. This lead to an undergraduate research project, a few trips to Haiti, and somehow launching a social enterprise!

Tell us about your current business and your vision for the company.

Development United is an online platform that provides a better place for international development organizations to collaborate. We provide them with ways to be visible to their partners in the field and their donors, we provide them with data that is specifically relevant to their projects, and we are aiming to provide them with mechanisms to crowdfund collaborative projects.

We want to provide a start to finish mechanism for organizations in the international development sector to implement interventions while simultaneously increasing transparency. In the end, the goal is to increase the effectiveness of international development assistance. We plan to launch our beta platform in June which will provide a map for organizations to register on and make themselves visible.

Why are you passionate about it?

Is it too cheesy to say ‘making the world a better place?’ It may be, but I’ll stand by it. When we first started Development United one of our core values was ‘making the world a better place,’ and it still is. At every turn in the company we strive to make the decision that will make the world the best place that it can be. I know it sounds very idealistic, but it’s a saying that I take solace in and that is able to guide me through not only the business aspects of life.

You rebranded your startup recently, what motivated this initiative?

‘Development United’ originally started as ‘NGOs United.’ NGOs United had the same ambitions and all; however, we have realized that NGOs are only one part of the international development sector. We want to include social enterprises, government projects, umbrella organizations, and more, on our platform. We believe that it is only if we bring together all of the actors within international development that we will be able to see real change. ‘Development’ United provides a more inclusive rhetoric to do so.

Would you have an anecdote of that magic moment where you realised you would do big things with your team?

No, I wouldn’t, and that’s what I like about our project. We originally started as an undergraduate research project. With the research we did, we then started crafting NGOsUnited.com with no form of a business model, but much more of the simple: ‘let’s do a project because this is something that is so necessary’ mentality.

After NGOs United, we realized that if we wanted this to be successful, we need to build a sustainable business model, and to integrate social impact into that business model.

The point is, that it was a natural evolution. There wasn’t really a magic moment, everyone just woke up one day and discovered that we had started a business without even knowing it.

What has been the highlight of your adventure so far?

The people I meet everyday are absolutely amazing. I said my passion was making the world a better place. Not only do the people I work with at Development United have the same mentality, but the organizations that we work with also do. Generally, when you are in the international development sector you have a good heart, and that makes for a nice workplace.

Tell us your wildest dream. What would you like your startup to grow into?

The first thing we need to do is to make international development visible. Then, I want this to grow into something that every international development organization uses to plan its interventions, partner with relevant actors to implement their interventions, and find funding for their interventions. I want it to be the first centralized domain where all organizations will be able to turn to, to increase their impact.

Once we’ve accomplished this, I want to find other ways, outside of creating visibility within the sector, that will also increase the effectiveness of aid.

After that? Well, I want to solve climate change. Stay tuned.

What do you wish you knew before you started your business at university?

In some ways not knowing things has made for the journey that I have had. My naivety and ignorance towards business, professional relationships, product design, the list goes on, has made for a huge learning curve. So, yes, it would be nice to have those skills, but not having them and going through that process was part of what made the business what it is, and me who I am.

What is the best advice you have ever been given that you would like to share to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Don’t start a business to start a business, start a business because it is the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you up at night; because if you don’t do it, the problem you have identified will persist, and that will drive you insane. Also, your business is only as good as the people that you surround yourself with. Build an amazing and passionate community.