This Entrepreneur Has One Simple Goal: Improve a Billion People's Lives

When David Gorodyansky and his co-founder Eugene Malobrodsky launched AnchorFree in 2005, it was a cloud-based company offering a way to keep your personal information secure when you surf the Web. The duo had loftier goals in mind, however: they wanted to positively impact a billion people. Unfortunately, they hadn't yet worked out how to accomplish that.
Then in 2011, during the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt, one million people downloaded the company's free app HotSpot Shield in 24 hours to bypass government censorship of the Internet. The app enabled the protestors to use Twitter to organize. Once the founders realized their company was achieving such widespread social good, they "added freedom to the business model."
"I always tell entrepreneurs that what you have in your heart often happens to you and you don't know how," says Gorodyansky, a 2011 Inc. 30 Under 30 honoree. "You don't always have to have a business plan, but you have to have an idea to impact a billion people. There's no company in the world that has impacted a billion people and isn't a multimillion-dollar company."
With 200 million users around the world and 250,000 new users signing up every day, HotSpot Shield is the reason protesters from Egypt, Turkey, Thailand, China, and now Venezuela have been able to access Twitter. The virtual private network app works anywhere and protects against 3 million different types of malware threats, phishing attacks, and spam. AnchorFree generated $35 million in revenue last year--not too shabby for a company with such a heavy emphasis on making a positive impact on the world.
Gorodyansky tells Inc. that three people inspired him to start a company committed to social good. Read below about those who pushed him toward that goal, and the lessons he learned.

Have a vision

Gorodyansky's grandfather instilled a vision in him to do something big--the desire to help a billion people. "My grandfather fought in World War II for Russia. He flew with the Russian air force as a photographer to take pictures of German bases and then bomb them. But he also took part in freeing concentration camps. When I was growing up hearing these stories over the dinner table, I'd wonder what I would do when I grew up to save thousands of lives," Gorodyansky says. "That was always an inspiration--my grandfather helped save the world, basically. What was I going to do to save the world?"

Be practical

In college, Gorodyansky came across Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus's books
Banker to the Poor and Creating a World Without Poverty. Yunus, who found Grameen Bank to provide microcredit loans to the poor in Bangladesh, created the idea of microlending, and has helped 100 million people raise themselves out of poverty. "Muhammad Yunus influenced me in a very practical way. His books taught me that yes, it is possible to take 100 million people out of poverty with an unconventional idea, and it can be profitable," Gorodyansky says.

Figure out the logistics

Bert Roberts, former chairman of the telecom company MCI, was a major business influence on Gorodyansky. Roberts, who was AnchorFree's first investor, helped Gorodyansky and Malobrodsky build their board and get smart investments. "At least three days a month he would come out and we'd spend time together in person, and I'd talk to him every other day on the phone," Gorodyansky says. "He was very involved in helping us through all the details of the business, the technology, the patents, the partners we should make, but it was never like he was running the business. He was a mentor and a huge inspiration. He always believed in me, especially in the hardest moments. I'd think, if I don't succeed I'd be letting him down."

What Differentiates Social Entrepreneurs

If the goal of your business is to improve the world, you're ultimately trying to put yourself out of a job.

IMAGE: Getty Images

Last updated: May 8, 2014

WILL YAKOWICZ is a reporter at Inc. magazine. He has covered business, crime, and politics at Patch.com, and his work has been published in Tablet Magazine and The Brooklyn Paper. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
@WillYakowicz

Letter of the day: The value of charter schools goes way beyond test scores

Thank you for caring a lot about schools and their quality. As a teacher, I have been working hard to improve that quality for over 30 years. That is why I work at a charter school, where we are working every day to find new ways to appeal to students who have been discarded by the traditional system. However, the screeching about test scores as if they are all-important or all-knowing is very frustrating. We now have whole school systems that are mainly geared to teaching to the tests. There are students out there who feel like they are entering a racetrack each time they read -- they believe that reading is all about speed timings and answering questions. We have long since made mathematics about mindless problem-solving; now we are reducing reading and writing to timed, automaton-like skills also. This is because the testing industry has misled us into thinking it can accurately portray the sum total of what a student knows through a three-minute (or three-hour) test. Unfortunately, this comes precisely at a time when we have learned a lot about the many variations of skills and talent among students. Some are good with people skills, or musical talents, or can visualize scientific breakthroughs like Einstein (who also did poorly in school). There are teachers throughout the country who know a lot more than they are able to carry out, but their districts have them mainly working on rote learning because that is what is tested. America has gained wealth and prestige because it has always been the leader in innovation. Many of the most innovative schools we have are charter schools. I hope we begin to appreciate them and not just pressure them to become exactly like mainstream schools. They may be our last, best chance to recover some of the creativity and ingenuity that we have lost over these past few years of Back to Basics mentality.

KAREN LOCKE, BLOOMINGTON

from

letters

Instruction in the academic subjects or test prep for GED and SAT

Summer is an excellent time to invest in reading, speed-reading, writing, Literature, Mathematics, and Spanish without the pressure of school. We offer catch up, maintenance, and enrichment instruction in the academic subjects or test prep for GED and SAT.  We are experienced with ADD/ADHD students. Our summer schedule begins in June. We offer sessions on Skype and locally in person. To reserve your place contact Mary E. Coles ASAP at maryecoles@gmail.com

The Mission: Teach 10 Million Kids--and End Poverty

http://www.inc.com/audacious-companies/leigh-buchanan/bridge-international-academies.html

Steve Jobs's 13 Most Inspiring Quotes by Dylan Love, Business Insider

http://www.inc.com/dylan-love/steve-jobs-most-inspiring-quotes.html?cid=em01011week16day15b

Your GPA Could Impact Your Income

John A. Byrne Influencer

Fast Company & BusinessWeek Former Editor

It's no secret that if you goof off in college and end up with a low grade point average, you will probably kill your chances of going to an elite graduate school. But did you know that a lower GPA would likely cost you in salary and bonus as well?
That certainly seems to be the case, according to a new study of compensation in investment banking by WallStreetOasis.com. The study is based on the responses of 3,401 employees of both large and small investment banking firms who voluntarily reported their pay to the website.
A third-year analyst made average total compensation of $65,000, if the person's GPA was 2.8 or less, compared to $77,700 for a GPA of 2.9 to 3.1. The 'A' student, with a GPA of 3.8 to 4.0, pulled down average total comp of $115,700--a more than $50,000 a year premium over the 2.8 or lower graduate.
The grades you earn during your undergraduate years also strongly correlate with associates--the typical entry level jobs available to MBA graduates. A first-year associate in investment banking, the study showed, made average total comp of $79,700 if his or her GPA was 2.9 to 3.1, or $99,700 for a GPA of 3.2 to 3.4. Just a slightly higher GPA, at 3.5 to 3.7, would increase total pay to $137,400.
"GPA is a pretty good indication of the bonus that the analyst will receive," explains Patrick Curtis, founder and editor of WallStreetOasis. "That seems to be true up until you get to about the high, high end and the low, low end. i doubt it’s because they know the GPA. No one is thinking of your GPA when they are deciding your bonus number. It’s more about how hard you worked or whether you are a team player. Some of it has to do with selection bias. Higher GPAs tend to go to the higher paying firms. Lower GPAs may be at regional banks that pay less.
To see more detail from the compensation report, including how pay differs based on the school an employee attends, see PoetsandQuants.com:
The Real Skinny On Wall Street Pay

Studying abroad could give you an edge in the job market

Join the conversation

CNN iReport

By Jareen Imam, CNN

updated 4:44 PM EDT, Wed March 26, 2014

Michelle Obama: The iReport interview

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• First lady Michelle Obama is in China, promoting international travel and cultural exchange
• While there, she took CNN iReporters' questions about studying abroad
• She believes it's beneficial for young Americans to travel overseas
• Studying abroad could make recent graduates more marketable while job hunting

Editor's note: First lady Michelle Obama took CNN iReporters' questions about studying abroad. You can see the questions people asked her here.

(CNN) -- When Ashley Blackmon sat down for her job interview for a marketing position in New York City, she didn't start off by talking about the business classes she had taken in college or her experience working at a financial services company.

Instead, she talked about the five months she spent studying and traveling in Spain.

"When I left the interview, I felt amazing," said Blackmon, 24, who studied at ESEI International Business School in Barcelona the year before she graduated Clark Atlanta University. She landed that marketing analyst job at a large food and beverage company and believes her study-abroad experience was the thing that set her apart. "I learned how to be a better businesswoman, critical thinker and relationship builder in a new culture," she said.

Ashley Blackmon studied abroad in Spain.

Studying abroad isn't a common experience for most U.S. college students. In fact, only 1% of students manage to study abroad.

Finances, time constraints and safety are some of the challenges U.S. students face when deciding to spend a semester or two overseas. But globetrotting during or after college could give recent graduates an edge in the job market, which continues to be one of the toughest on record for 20-somethings.

The potential benefits are prompting new study-abroad initiatives in the States. Organizations such as the Institute of International Education have launched programs such as Generation Study Abroad in hopes of doubling the number of U.S. students who travel internationally.

An international push from the White House

First lady Michelle Obama is also working on efforts to promote more international travel among Americans. She's in China with her daughters and mother, speaking about the importance of education, youth empowerment and the benefits of studying abroad. The first lady conducted an exclusive interview with CNN iReporters on Saturday, taking their questions on studying abroad.

"The benefits of studying abroad are almost endless," Obama said during the CNN iReport interview. "First of all, it is going to make you more marketable in the United States. More and more companies are realizing that they need people with experience around the world."

Howard Wallack, vice president of global business development at the Society for Human Resource Management, has experience as a hiring manager and was an international exchange student. He says traveling abroad can introduce students to a host of skills.

"Living in another country, you learn to deal with a variety of people," he said. "You learn to listen, be proactive, be patient, assertive. All those are translatable skills."

Wallack's experience working in a rural health clinic in Guatemala after a major earthquake helped him find compassion and resiliency within himself.

"If you just stay in your own country, you have a certain mindset about your own culture. When you step out of that, you challenge your experiences and find out about yourself, which can translate in the workplace," he said.

The problem is students don't always know how to illustrate those experiences on paper. But some colleges are taking steps to teach soon-to-be graduates how to leverage their study abroad adventures for job interviews.

Take the trip, land the job

Heather White is the director of the Career Resource Center at the University of Florida. With an enrollment of 50,000 students annually, she says the key to standing out with your travel experience is to be strategic about how you exhibit it.

"Some students tend to write on their resume, 'study abroad France,' and that is it. We recommend expanding on that experience. Did they volunteer, work, study?" she said.

Jennifer Grasz, a spokesperson for job-posting site CareerBuilder, says to write out what you learned and how it's relevant to your professional performance on your resume.

"For example: Traveling abroad has provided me with a greater knowledge and appreciation of global communities and how to effectively navigate around communication and cultural barriers," she wrote in an e-mail to CNN.

Ashley Putnam, a fellowship director for Idealist, an online resource for finding nonprofit jobs, is a bit more skeptical about the career benefits of studying overseas. "It depends on what they did," she explained. Running a public policy program, she looks for applicants who are realistic about job expectations.

"I find that people who paid to volunteer abroad sort of just take pictures and hold babies," she said. "It depends on your study abroad program, too. Just having studied abroad is good, but there is a whole other aspect to what you did while you were there."

That's exactly what Alexa Basile tried to keep in mind when she selected her study abroad program. The State University of New York at Potsdam student spent a year in Australia teaching social studies to a class of nine students.

Alexa Basile traveled to Australia for her study-abroad trip.

It was during that immersion with her students, many of whom had behavioral problems, that she noticed her eighth-grade students were reading at a second-grade level. That inspired her to focus on more critical reading lessons. "And that made me realize I wanted to be a literacy specialist," she said, which she is now emphasizing as she interviews for graduate school.

Like Blackmon, Basile puts her study-abroad experience on her resume, but she also goes in depth about her trip in her cover letter. She's candid with interviewers about her successes and challenges overseas.

"I had times with this class that were really tough, and sometimes frustrating," she said. Her students routinely challenged her instructions, defied her and talked back to her.

"But my very last day, I walked into the classroom and they decorated it for me and they brought me treats and toys," she said. "I broke down immediately. It really proved to me they were tough, but they appreciated me."

Those frustrating and rewarding moments helped hone her classroom management skills. After Basile came back from Australia, she got her second student teaching job at an inner-city school in New York City.

It's exactly that sort of program involvement that Idealist's Putnam says will make hiring managers care about a study abroad trip. "Be self-aware as you are doing your job and take stock in what skills you are building. It's not just 'I go to a class and I teach the class,' " she said. "Be critical of the work that you are doing."

Basile, who is interviewing for graduate schools, says to approach studying abroad with realistic expectations. "To get most out of your travel, you need to go with the mindset that you are going to do a lot of things and be involved," she said.

"Get hands on and look for a program that has those experiences. You can be a tourist on a family vacation."

Margaret Blaha, special to CNN, contributed to this story