Jessica Jackley built her view of entrepreneurship by living alongside microentrepreneurs in East Africa rather than in traditional finance, and she still points to a Ugandan brickmaker as proof that people can build something from whatever is in front of them, without waiting for perfect resources. That same belief shaped Kiva, which she and Matt Flannery started by raising about $3,000 from friends and family to fund seven entrepreneurs they had met in person, and it continues to guide her teaching at USC, where she challenges students to rethink startup success beyond fast growth alone.