Lessons from Seth Godin on Scaling Social Innovation
In a first-of-its-kind live workshop hosted by MovingWorlds, legendary marketer and systems thinker Seth Godin coached two pioneering social entrepreneurs— Anish Malpani from Without by Ashaya and Sasibai Kimis Steenland from Earth Heir—through their most pressing strategic dilemmas.
The message? Scaling social innovation doesn’t start with doing more—it starts with doing different.
1. Choose your customers, choose your future.
Who you serve determines what you become. Instead of
chasing everyone, seek the right customers—the
ones who will champion your story, pay a premium, and
brag about supporting you.
2. Don’t race to the bottom—you might win.
Trying to be cheaper than exploitative competitors is a
losing game. Compete on meaning, not price.
3. Experiments are fine—but discipline
scales.
Innovation gets applause. But traction comes from
boring, repeatable systems that work. Cross the chasm
with consistency.
4. Strategy is subtraction.
Focus. Pick fewer product lines and go deep. Strategy
isn’t about what’s possible—it’s about what’s essential.
5. Sell status, not just stuff.
Sasi’s campaign to grow social procurement led to a
powerful suggestion: form a council of pioneering
companies who want to lead. People buy status,
not just things.
6. Practical empathy is your superpower.
Your customers don’t care how hard your job is—they care
about the noise in their heads. Hear it.
Reflect it. Serve it.
Your customers won’t care how noble your mission is. They’ll care how it makes them feel, what story they can tell, and whether buying from you earns them status in their world.
This session wasn’t just a how-to. It was a call to rethink how we lead, sell, and scale. So go make a ruckus—strategically.