We asked The School of Impact (SOI) founder, Bobby Smith, about building an app that allows social entrepreneurs and universities to collaborate on ideas driving global social innovation. Bobby was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and immigrated to the U.S. for education. He started his first social venture to help children from low-income families gain access to college. He chose Bubble because of the no-code platform's accessibility and easy-to-use features.
Tell us about your app and what it does.
SOI is Product Hunt for social innovation, we allow social entrepreneurs and universities to collaborate on the best ideas driving global social innovation. We partner with universities around the globe to leverage their power to support local social innovation at scale through online courses and our built-in social network.
How does your app work?
Users start at the front page and are greeted by a scrolling venture section. They are able to explore different social innovation projects happening across the world. Each venture is assigned a UN Sustainable Development issue area and allows other users to "Hype" and "Follow" projects they support. In the near future, we want to allow users to donate to projects they find interesting.
Tell us a little about your background and how you discovered no-code tools like Bubble.
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica and immigrated to the United States for my education. I know what it's like coming from less than modest means and wanting to make a difference in your community. I started my first social venture to help children from low-income families gain access to college.
This early exposure to the power of creation and entrepreneurship drove me to become a professor of entrepreneurship and fund manager for the impact sector.
Why did you build your app on Bubble?
I always had an idea to teach what I've learned during my journey to a global community and learning Bubble made that dream a reality. I have tried to learn code for years but have never been able to launch a product. In my humble opinion, Bubble could be the key to economic mobility and entrepreneurship for millions of people. If Bubble doesn't have a Head of Social Impact thinking about program design, I'd love to help.
What have been your milestones or successes so far?
- Launched the app and signed our first regional leader in Medellin, Colombia.. stage 1
- Created Social Innovation Cluster (growth strat) and add the Impact Hub Medellin at our first regional partner ..stage 2
- Hosting our first global event (Impactathon) with one of the most prestigious universities in Colombia
- Signed our first paid service contract - to develop social impact education courses for a media company in America.
- Finishing (proposal under review) our first Joint Research Agreement with a university in Colombia
What are your next steps or future plans for your app?
- Grow user base through university partners
- Add donation function for "Followers"
- Add courses free courses
- Add Video engagement function - its a pop up that greet new users with a bot in video form
- Generate 10 Joint Research Agreements across North & South America
Learn more about The School of Impact: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn
About Bubble
Bubble is a leader in the no-code movement. Bubble offers a powerful point-and-click web editor and cloud hosting platform that allows users to build fully customizable web applications and workflows, ranging from simple prototypes to complex marketplaces, SaaS products, and more. Over 500,000 users are currently building and launching businesses on Bubble - many have gone on to participate in top accelerator programs, such as Y Combinator, and even raise $365M in venture funding. Bubble is more than just a product. We are a strong community of builders and entrepreneurs that are united by the belief that everyone should be able to create technology.
Do you want your app featured by Bubble? Reach out to us and tell us about your app. In addition to this series, we sometimes select our best apps to showcase on our website.
