After selling half his company, Toms founder Blake Mycoskie is doubling down on social entrepreneurship.
Last year, Blake Mycoskie confronted the one dilemma all entrepreneurs dream of: what to do with a personal windfall. In Mycoskie’s case, the $200 million (after taxes) that arrived after he sold half of his company, the buy-one, give-one shoe retailer Toms, to Bain Capital. He consulted family and friends, intending to find a philanthropic cause that he could embrace and attack, in the manner of other entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Mycoskie has always been an unusual businessman, a free spirit sprinting down a path of his own invention. His decision: use $100 million of his money to launch an investment fund that will back, well, companies that want to be like Toms.
Encouraging clones isn’t high on the list of strategies recommended by the world’s finest business minds, especially when, as with Toms, dozens of companies have already mimicked the pioneering idea that once distinguished your brand. When Mycoskie launched Toms a decade ago, the one-for-one approach was radical. “No one was talking about business being a force for good,” recalls Mycoskie. “Nobody was talking about social good, or the triple bottom line, or B Corps.” But now brands from Warby Parker to the Company Store offer customers the feel-good thrills of one-for-one shopping, while a host of other companies are being founded on similar principles. Threatening stuff? Not to Mycoskie. “The moment the model is not really a competitive advantage for Toms is the moment when we’ve won, society-wise,” he says.
This story is from the February 2016 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2016 edition of Fast Company.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Reimagining the ways we work and meet
As business leaders rethink their real estate footprint, they're embracing smaller, high-quality, amenity-rich spaces that are more focused on human connection.” In other words, Convene.
10 Trend
From the Most Innovative Companies | Plus 606 Honorees From Advertising to Video
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies
"The 1920s, water went into a generator, and DC Power came out. Now electrons go into a generator, and intelligence comes out."
Orange Crush
Y Combinator was designed to be a supercondensed version of Silicon Valley. Now that it's at full potency, can it maintain its outsider pose while being the ultimate insiders' network?
Hollywood
AI is going to transform Hollywood But it won't be the horror story everyone's afraid of.
Chick-Fil-A's New Testament
Boycotted for years by liberals - and now by conservatives, too - a christian-driven brand is trying to walk the narrow path toward growth. What happens next could be enlightening for businesses everywhere.
The Office You Want
Business leaders want workers back. Workers are loath to resume their commutes. We asked five leading design firms to create plans that might make leaving home seem worthwhile.
Fan With a Plan
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin parlayed a ski shop in suburban Philly into a $31 billion sports apparel juggernaut. Now, he's adding trading cards, gambling, live events, and more.
The Helpful Hardware Man
Marques Brownlee has rewired the way people shop for gadgets-and how companies sell them. Inside the humble factory with the power to shape the $1 trillion consumer electronics industry.
PIZZA, ROBOTS, and MONEY
THE ZESTY TALE OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST FLOPS IN SILICON VALLEY HISTORY