Clay Water Brick: Finding Inspiration from Entrepreneurs Who Do the Most with the Least - Tapa dura

"Jessica Jackley didn't wait for permission to change the world--she just did it. It turns out that you can too."--Seth Godin, author of What to Do When It's Your Turn

"Fascinating . . . gripping . . . bursting with lessons . . . Jessica Jackley has written a remarkable book . . . so thoroughly well meaning and engagingly put it is too magnetic to put down."--Financial Times

"Clay Water Brick is a tremendously inspiring read. Jessica Jackley, the virtuoso co-founder of the revolutionary microlending platform Kiva, shares uplifting stories and compelling lessons on entrepreneurship, resilience, and character."--Adam Grant, author of Give and Take

"With only a dream and a lot of determination, Jessica Jackley founded Kiva, an organization that has empowered millions of people around the world. Clay Water Brick is the inspiring story of her own far-flung journeys as an entrepreneur, but it's also a blueprint for anyone who wants to make the world a better place and find fulfillment in the process, no matter how scarce their resources or how steep the challenge."--Arianna Huffington

"This book is inspirational. And honest and practical. . . . Well written, thoughtful: a selfless account of how to succeed by doing right and following your heart."--Booklist

"Inspiring and insightful, Clay Water Brick is a book you simply won't be able to put down. Jessica Jackley has created a timeless read for every aspiring entrepreneur."--Adam Braun, author of The Promise of a Pencil

"Capital and abundant resources are not the keys to innovation, and Jessica Jackley proves it. The stories of some of the unlikely entrepreneurs she's met around the world inspire us to see opportunity where before we saw none."--Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why

"Jessica Jackley's life story offers an inspirational blueprint for just about anyone who wants to live a more meaningful life--and the good news is that you can start today. Read it. Share it. Discuss it. Clay Water Brick is the guidebook you've been waiting for."--Deborah Rodriguez, author of Kabul Beauty School

"Clay Water Brick is a moving account of so many previously untold human stories, inviting the reader to think more universally about entrepreneurship and the role of business in driving positive change in the world. Jessica Jackley captures the spirit and the heart of the entrepreneur by sharing her own journey and shining a spotlight on a remarkable group of entrepreneurs from around the world and the perseverance that defines them. This is a powerful read for all, and whether you have an idea you want to pursue, an entrepreneur you can help support, or purely general interest, you will be inspired."--Blake Mycoskie, TOMS founder and Chief Shoe Giver, author of Start Something That Matters

In the tradition of Kabul Beauty School and Start Something That Matters comes an inspiring story of social entrepreneurship from the co-founder of Kiva, the first online microlending platform for the working poor. Featuring lessons learned from successful businesses in the world’s poorest countries, Jessica Jackley’s Clay Water Brick will motivate readers to more deeply appreciate the incredible entrepreneurial potential that exists in every human being on this planet—especially themselves.

“The heart of entrepreneurship is never about what we have. It’s about what we do.”
 
Meet Patrick, who had next to nothing and started a thriving business using just the ground beneath his feet . . .
 
Blessing, who built her shop right in the middle of the road, refusing to take the chance that her customers might pass her by . . .
 
Constance, who cornered the banana market in her African village with her big personality and sense of mission.
 
Patrick, Blessing, Constance, and many others are among the poorest of the world’s poor. And yet they each had crucial lessons to teach Jessica Jackley—lessons about resilience, creativity, perseverance, and, above all, entrepreneurship.
 
For as long as she could remember, Jackley, the co-founder of the revolutionary microlending site Kiva, had a singular and urgent ambition: to help alleviate global poverty. While in her twenties, she set off for Africa to finally meet the people she had long dreamed of helping. The insights of those she met changed her understanding. Today she believes that many of the most inspiring entrepreneurs in the world are not focused on high-tech ventures or making a lot of money; instead, they wake up every day and build better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities, regardless of the things they lack or the obstacles they encounter. As Jackley puts it, “The greatest entrepreneurs succeed not because of what they possess but because of what they are determined to do.”
 
In Clay Water Brick, Jackley challenges readers to embrace entrepreneurship as a powerful force for change in the world. She shares her own story of founding Kiva with little more than a laptop and a dream, and the stories and the lessons she has learned from those across the globe who are doing the most with the least.
 
Praise for Clay Water Brick
 
“Jessica Jackley didn’t wait for permission to change the world—she just did it. It turns out that you can too.”—Seth Godin, author of What to Do When It’s Your Turn
 
“Fascinating . . . gripping . . . bursting with lessons . . . Jessica Jackley has written a remarkable book . . . so thoroughly well meaning and engagingly put it is too magnetic to put down.”—Financial Times

“Clay Water Brick is a tremendously inspiring read. Jessica Jackley, the virtuoso co-founder of the revolutionary microlending platform Kiva, shares uplifting stories and compelling lessons on entrepreneurship, resilience, and character.”—Adam Grant, author of Give and Take
 
“A blueprint for anyone who wants to make the world a better place and find fulfillment in the process, no matter how scarce their resources or how steep the challenge.”—Arianna Huffington

“This book is inspirational. And honest and practical. . . . Well written, thoughtful: a selfless account of how to succeed by doing right and following your heart.”—Booklist