Around the globe, poverty has held too many people in its grip for too long. While microfinance, small loans to impoverished individuals, initially attracted attention in the press, it didn’t achieve the scale, scope, and profitability necessary to substantially combat poverty. All that changed with the author’s creation of SKS Microfinance. In this work, he reveals how he pieced together the best of both philanthropy and (to his surprise) capitalism to help millions of India’s poor transition from paupers to customers to business owners. His story shows how traditional business principles can be brought to bear on global problems in new ways. This book offers not only inspiration but also lessons for anyone seeking to transform tenacity, creativity, and innovation into potent tools for fighting even the most seemingly intractable human burdens