A Day with the Good Guys

Working with the Dell SecureWorks team, we spend our days monitoring the bad guys’ actions – working to protect the world from cybercrime attacks.

On September 22, I spent the day with many passionate people trying to make the world a better place – contemplating technology and social change in #2030NOW! It was a great day participating in the United Nations Foundation #SocialGoodSummit in New York. It’s humbling to be in New York right now during the global conversation being held at the UN General Assembly; 166 countries are represented here, with thousands of marchers on the streets Sunday to advocate for climate change action. Timed to coincide with the UN Assembly, #SocialGoodSummit is all about including the citizens of the world in the conversation around social change. Nick Kristof of the New York Times called the Summit “the grassroots UN General Assembly.”

Mike Cote of Dell Secureworks speaking on a panel at the UN Social Good Conference

At Dell, we think it’s entrepreneurs who will drive the vast majority of change – by creating jobs and integrating social good into their business strategies and purpose. Much like Michael founded our company 30 years ago to enable human potential, today’s entrepreneurial firms like the global beauty firm YestoCarrots and Mother’s Delivery Kit in Nigeria are doing the same thing in their industries while turning profits.

I had the pleasure of serving on a panel yesterday on entrepreneurship and job creation along with leaders of these organizations (@CaterpillarInc, @idoleffler, @pjlalah). And the panel had some great advice for the audience attending the #EveryBodyProfits class:

  1. Ido talked about the importance of partnerships –find organizations that are good at things you’re not good at. His companies provide to kids in need. When it comes to distributing the school supplies, Kids in Need Foundation is key to his success, while Target helped him reach millions of US customers.
  2. When seeking funding for your social enterprise, or any entrepreneurial venture for that matter, it’s all about relationships. That’s why Dell has the #Founders50 and #DWEN – our Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network. Connecting business leaders to each other and big companies is the place to start…from there, money flows. If you have a good business proposition, funding will follow – if you can capitalize on the relationships in your network.
  3. When it comes to data – businesses need to balance the free flow of information with need for security. Companies need to have policies for responsible disclosure. When a question is raised – this group needs to decide how to classify the data. So even when it comes to technology – it’s still about the people.

As a third generation entrepreneur myself, I am extremely passionate about the partnership Dell has formed with the UN Foundation to advance entrepreneurship to create the next billion jobs. And I look forward to continuing the dialogue.

If you have questions, or we can address any technology or business challenges you are facing, please post here and let us know.

About the Author: Mike R. Cote