Getting Beyond Hype: Four Questions to Predict Real Impact

Read the full commentary "Getting Beyond Hype: Four Questions to Predict Real Impact" from Stanford Social Innovation Review. 

...we really do need to sort good ideas from bad, and it ought to happen before we stoke the fires of publicity. At Mulago, we’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out if start-ups with a new “thing”—a product, service, or technology—are likely to create real impact in the lives of the people we’re trying to serve. Over time, we’ve evolved a set of four questions that help us make better predictions. 

1. Is it needed?

2. Does it work?

3. Will people use it as designed?

4. Will it get to those who need it most (a lot of them)?