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How I Built This · December 4, 2017 · 52m
Patagonia: Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard never wanted to be a businessman. He started forging climbing pitons by hand, accidentally built Patagonia, and then gave the entire company away to fight climate change. The reluctant billionaire who rejected the hedonic treadmill of growth.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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Chouinard: when Patagonia hit $100M in revenue, Wall Street told him to grow to $500M. He asked: 'Why? We already make great products and take care of our people. More revenue means more environmental damage.' He chose to grow slower, make better products, and give away the profits.
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Chouinard: he wore board shorts to board meetings, surfed during business hours, and titled his management book Let My People Go Surfing. He refused to perform the CEO role — and the company thrived because of it, not despite it.
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