To read sites like TechCrunch and VentureBeat (and, yeah, even ours), you'd think you have to be a tech geek to launch a successful start-up.
Newsflash: Web 2.0 is not all.
Take two MIT grads who developed The Sudanese Stairmaster—an affordable irrigation pump for low-income residents in East Africa that makes it easier to water their crops. Right now most farmers have to lug water to their fields bucket by bucket. The entrepreneurs' solution? A cheap and reliable pump that sucks water up from 20 ft. below ground and is powered by the farmer's leg power.
"It's basically like a Stairmaster - you just shift your weight from one foot to the other," says company co-founder Zahir Dossa.
Not only does it more effectively deliver water to the crops, but it dramatically boosts a farmer's productivity—and has the potential to triple a farm's output. In July, 375 pumps will be shipped to various farmers throughout Sudan. And the cost of the device is so low that it will pay for itself in a year, particularly if the farm manages to boost its food production. The company is a non-profit, and proceeds will allow it to produce and sell more pumps with the goal of cultivating a more sustainable farming industry in Sudan.
Kind of makes Twitter sound lame, doesn't it?
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Judging from the picture, this product wouldn't last 2 minutes in the U.S. without a product liability claim. Is the gentleman in the picture actually standing above the well?
—mjandri
16:11, July 11th, 2008
Cool innovation. The key is finding a market where there is a demand. International markets are fantastic but have, much of the time, little visibility by people from other countries. Here's some tips you might be interested in on how to approach this type of entrepreneurial mentality... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
—rontowns25
14:30, July 11th, 2008
But is text messaging included?
—benpirie
13:26, July 11th, 2008
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