Rick Sapio is on a mission. The founder and CEO of the investment holding company Mutual Capital Alliance recently launched A Billion Entrepreneurs, a nonprofit organization aimed at inspiring a new kind of entrepreneurship around the world.
The first step is creating a crowd-funded documentary that’ll feature entrepreneurs sharing their challenges and triumphs. A Billion Entrepreneurs, the movie, was successfully funded on Kickstarter Oct. 9. With the $200,000 goal reached, the movie—ABE for short—will debut around April 2015.
“My definition of entrepreneurship is to take responsibility for outcomes. It’s not just [about] business,” Sapio explains. “What would the world look like if people took responsibility for their lives?”
It sounds like an ambitious task, but Sapio has faced seemingly insurmountable odds before. “My father passed away from cancer when I was 13, leaving my mom with no money. Unfortunately, she had a nervous breakdown and never recovered. There were nine of us kids, and all of us became entrepreneurial,” he says. “From the age of 13, when I opened a bicycle shop with a friend, I have never looked back.”
Entrepreneurship can change lives, says Sapio, a member of the Dallas chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. “It’s impacted me at every level—my social life, my business connections, my happiness, my commitment to learning and growth all were born out of EO, which reoriented me around learning, growth and giving back.”
To watch a trailer from A Billion Entrepreneurs or take the pledge to become an entrepreneur, visit SUCCESS.com/ABE.
