An assortment of BOP-related news stories came out over the weekend (or over the last week or so).  Some are longer than others - particularly well-written are the two Forbes stories on Good Capital and Tata Motors.

First, my friend Kevin Jones was profiled in Forbes late last week.  Kevin, who blogged from the Skoll World Forum for NextBillion, is a principal in Good Capital, a pioneering social venture capital firm based in San Francisco.  Unlike other VCs (Acumen Fund, Aaviskaar), Good Capital is structured as a private equity fund.  So far, they've raised the first $10 million of a $30 million fund.  From the article:

Good Capital is structured much like your typical private equity fund. It requires a minimum capital commitment, in this case $250,000. The life of the fund is seven years; small distributions will likely begin in the fifth year. Fees are rich: 2.85% annually and 20% of any profits. The justification, per Jones, is that Good Capital has to analyze social benefits as well as business prospects. Like some venture capitalists, it will do lots of hand-holding for the businesses in which it invests..."This is patient capital," says Jones. Risky capital, too. Good Capital won't have any claim on assets if its investments go awry. "If we blow up, we really blow up," he admits...For-profit investment candidates include firms that employ troubled youth and fair trade vendors, which are commodity producers that profess to pay good wages in the developing world (for example, to cattle ranchers and coffee growers). These portfolio companies need to spend a sizable chunk of their energy on doing good. "Because we're the first to try this, we're picking from the best," argues Jones.

The other Forbes piece is a cover story on Tata Motors' much-ballyhooed 1-lakh car, The Next People's Car.  Since we profiled the idea here on NextBillion last year, it has been one of our most-viewed stories; people are clearly interested.  Forbes' Robyn Meredith describes how Tata management fought has cut costs and engineered solutions in search of the 1-lakh goal (1 lakh is about $2500 USD).  From the article:

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