Goodtrepreneur

Can you really make money out of doing good? 
Is it possible to make systems-level change on your own, or more effective to be part of a collective? 
And is all the role of business, government or nonprofits anyway?
Questions like these take a big brain to work out and that big brain has a name: Mark Kramer. 
He’s an impact investor, philanthropist, company founder, Harvard lecturer and co-creator of the world-changing concepts of Shared Value and Collective Impact, two frameworks that have been deployed the world over to make social and environmental impact a driver of business for some of the world’s biggest — and smallest — companies.

In this episode, Mark gives a Harvard-level masterclass on:   

⚡️ The power of business to create at-scale solutions to social and environmental problems in a way that nonprofits simply cannot.
👴 Why most business models are built on outdated information and why those that update them for the current context will be the ones that win the future. 
💡 Practical examples of real-world impact that is making companies real-world money. 
⏳ The importance of thinking long-term and why that can be hard in a world where leaders are rewarded on a quarterly or annual basis.
🙌 The fundamental determinant of success when implementing a Collective Impact project
🇺🇸 What on earth is going on in the USA and why, in a business sense, it makes no sense. 
🌪️ What it’s going to take to give humanity the jolt it needs to treat poverty, climate, deforestation and other big issues with the urgency they deserve. 

Mark also gives a simple explanation of what business strategy is, explains the concept of impact investing and provides career advice for anyone wanting to do business and change the world while they’re at it. Yes, he is truly is an oracle of the space. 
We gave AI a listen and here's what it had to say: 
What if the smartest business strategy starts with solving real problems? We sit down with Mark Kramer—co‑author of shared value and a key voice behind collective impact—to explore how companies can win by treating social and environmental challenges as core to competitive advantage.

We trace Mark’s path from philanthropy to strategy, then break down shared value in plain terms: new products and markets that lift outcomes and margins, operational shifts that pay for themselves, and industry‑wide moves that strengthen the ecosystem every firm relies on. You’ll hear how Enel fused innovation and sustainability to lead in renewables, why Nestlé’s health science bet outpaced legacy “sugar water” models, and how Walmart’s wage lift cut turnover and boosted productivity. We also confront the hard part: boards clinging to cash cows, quarterly pressure, and the courage it takes to rebuild a business model for a hotter, more fragile world.

From there we zoom out to collective impact—the structured way to coordinate government, business, and community around shared goals and measures. Mark shares a citywide “kindergarten readiness” win and the tough truth about supply chains like cocoa, where collaboration is the only path to a future market. We then tackle investing: why simple ESG screens fall short, how impact investing is growing, and what active ownership in public markets can do when investors co‑create sustainability plans with management. The throughline is clear: align incentives with reality, and profit follows purpose.

Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world. 

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

Learn more at goodtrepreneur.co

Humble, charming and whip-smart, Professor Mark Kramer is co-creator of both Shared Value and Collective Impact, two of the most seminal concepts in sustainability and social impact of the last 20 years. 
But, while the words are thrown around regularly, how many of us really understand what these concepts mean and how to apply them?

In this special edition bonus episode, Goodtrepreneur has teamed up with the Shared Value Project to bring you a 30 minute Mini-Masterclass with Mark where he explains them once and for all. 

He also outlines the fundamentals of a smart business strategy as well as what he thinks it will take the workd to get back on track when it comes to prioritising the health of people and our home planet. 

Here's a quick summary to get you in the mood: 
🤨 What is Shared Value?
Shared Value recognises that the success a company depends on the sustainability of the environment in which it's operating: a healthy and educated workforce, consumers that have enough money to buy your product, the natural resources needed to make it. Therefore there is a business benefit and competitive advantage to be had in helping solve social and environmental problems.
🤨 What are three kinds of Shared Value?
1. Creating a profitable new product or market, such as sunglasses made out of what would have been waste plastic
2. Improving efficiency, such as reducing costs by going solar
3. Strengthening the supply chain, such as training farmers to improve their soil in a way that also improves yield
🤨 What is Collective Impact?
A framework for systems change that recognises most social and enviro challenges are too big for any one organisation to tackle alone, so companies, govt and nonprofits benefit from working together to do so.
🤨 What are the five fundamentals?
1. Common agenda - we all have the same goal
2. Shared measurement - we all measure impact the same way
3. Mutually reinforcing activities - everyone has a clear role
4. Continuous communication - everyone knows what everyone is doing
5. Backbone support - it’s someone’s job to lead the team effort
🤨 What makes a smart business strategy?
A smart business strategy recognises that if you do the same as your competitors, you will end up competing on price and sooner or later that will end in an unattractive business model. So you want to aim for superior profitability. To do that, you need a competitive position that is serving a specific type of customer and delivering them value in a way no competitor can by tailoring everything you do to deliver that. As Michael Porter says, ‘if you're not making some customers unhappy, you don't have a strategy.’

We gave AI a listen and here's what it had to say:

The biggest mistake we make about “doing good” is treating it like a side project. Mark Kramer joins us for a sharp, practical conversation on why social impact and corporate performance are already linked, whether leaders admit it or not. When the workforce is unhealthy, when communities are unstable, when climate risk hits supply chains, profitability takes the hit too. Mark explains shared value as a way to stop managing harm at the edges and start building business models that solve real problems while creating competitive advantage.

Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world. 

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

Learn more at goodtrepreneur.co

It’s been said that perfect is the enemy of progress. Yet it is in the seeking of perfection that progress is made. So how do you overcome this paradox?
It’s an important question because, when we’re talking about things like plastic in the ocean or children in poverty, perfect has to be the goal, right?
But perfect is also often unachievable. And too often that gets used as an excuse for inaction. 
‘Sure solar panels are good but I heard they don’t get recycled.’
‘Yeah you chose an eco-tourism holiday but what about the flight?’ 
What if the answer was to always seek perfection but also accept that constant improvement is the real goal? That’s the philosophy that has led Bronte Campbell to win three Olympic gold medals. And, with a track record like that, her wisdom is worth a listen:
‘An Olympic medal was a meaningful thing for me to pursue for a long time. But once I achieved it, it didn't hold all the meaning that I thought it would. And that's when I first realised, the victory is in the striving. To have something meaningful to aim towards, that's the hard thing.’ 
It’s a valuable lesson for all of us trying to ‘build a better world’ and one that Bronte is now applying as she dives into her latest pursuit, Earthletica, the ever-so cool activewear brand seeking to deliver world-class sustainability together with the function and performance that an Olympic athlete needs:
‘I want to tell to everyone that we've solved everything. But the fact is that we can't. We can just do better than what is available now. You just got to keep doing it. Like, what's the other option? You don't do anything. If you can't do everything, you don't do anything? Like, that's not it. You pick the pieces that you can do, you do them, and then you pick the next pieces that you can do. Do it to the best of your ability, then move to the next thing.’
In this episode, we get a masterclass on what it takes to become best on the world, then keep getting better, as well as:
🥇 What it feels like to win gold at the highest level
🦁 How many of the materials and answers we need are out there, it just takes courage for brands to take a chance and give them a go
✨ Why the magic mix of function, comfort, style and sustainability drives success for Earthletica
😎 Which creative genius came up with such a cool company name
Plus Bronte gives us a personal performance of the poem she wrote for the 🏊🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️ Australian swim team to help catapult them to their outstanding performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

We gave AI a listen and here's what it had to say:
What does it take to build activewear that feels incredible in a workout without costing the earth? We sit down with three-time Olympic gold medallist Bronte Campbell to unpack the real work behind Earthletica, from recycled performance fabrics to a plastic-free future—and why the victory is in the striving, not the finish line.

Bronte starts by reframing the problem: most tights blend nylon and elastane for compression and recovery, but those oil-based fibres shed microplastics and complicate end-of-life. Natural fibres like cotton, hemp and wool are gentler on the planet yet often fall short on support and sweat management. The answer isn’t to pick a side; it’s to design gear that athletes prefer on performance, then keep lifting sustainability. 
Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world. 

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

Learn more at goodtrepreneur.co

What if 1% of everything you bought helped buy you a better world? That's the good idea behind 1% for the Planet.

With thousands of members who have collectively donated over US$846 million to help our home planet, it's one of sustainability's great success stories. So why has it been so successful when other attempts to get companies to fund things that help people and planet have failed?

In this episode, CEO Kate Williams breaks down some of the many reasons, including:

💡 It's a simple idea. A company can’t commit to something it doesn’t understand. 1% for the Planet keeps things simple: give 1% of sales to support the planet that supports you. Easy to understand, easy to explain and easy to account for.
 👍 Credibility comes built in. One big challenge in supporting a cause is knowing the impact is real. 1% for the Planet vets environmental nonprofits, then certifies member giving to approved partners. This means orgs can be trusted, impact is verified and companies don't have to source and screen on their own. 
😊 Employees can get involved. With thousands of vetted partners, it’s easy to give employees the chance to choose which the company funds, creating a feeling of ownership. This creates a clear business benefit via measurable employee engagement.
📣 The story tells itself. 1% is easy to explain to customers. In fact, you don’t need to explain it. This makes it easy to create brand loyalty and give people a reason to choose your product.
🤝 It helps you find your tribe. Working out how to run a company in a way that is good for people and planet can be a lonely journey. With almost 12K members and nonprofits, 1% makes it easy to find and connect with like-minded organisations. 

Kate also gives some good advice for young people looking to get into a purpose-led career, as well as some hot tips on how to reverse a truck with a trailer. Yes, she is a multi-talented legend.

🎥 You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

We gave AI a listen and here's what it had to say:

A tiny pledge, a big shift: we sit down with Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet, to explore how a simple, certified commitment—1% of annual revenue to vetted environmental partners—turns good intentions into durable impact. Kate breaks down why this model works: direct relationships between businesses and nonprofits, annual certification for credibility, and a global community that shares tactics for brand lift, employee engagement, and measurable outcomes.

We dig into the psychology of action and why simplicity beats overwhelm. Rather than freeze at trillion‑dollar estimates, start with a number everyone understands. Make it local and emotional—your trail, your surf break, your park—then layer in data to drive solutions. Kate shares how members embed the commitment across hiring, volunteering, and staff-led partner selection, and how that internal pride often translates into customer loyalty and sales lift. We also highlight a gritty, under-told story: Thin Green Line’s work training rangers who protect wildlife and habitats at great personal risk.

If you care about climate, nature, brand trust, or the future of business, this conversation offers a clear playbook: keep it simple, repeat it together, and lock it in where it counts. Subscribe, share with a fellow change-maker, and leave a review with the one cause you’d choose for your 1%.
Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world. 

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

Learn more at goodtrepreneur.co

Last August I set out to talk to founders of companies and other ideas on a mission to do good for our home planet. 
I've since spoken to more than a dozen of these legends and learned a lot. The idea is to assemble their collective wisdom into some sort of simple playbook that makes it easy for more people to have a go—and succeed.
This season wrap starts with an updated missive on why these 'good ideas' are so important for speeding up sustainability in the business world, then outlines my first three thoughts on what makes the difference between a 'good' idea succeeding or not. Spoiler alert they are:
👉 They tend to 'do good' at the ends of the value chain 👈
Take Who Gives a Crap. It creates impact by donating money from sales. That  changes how the value created (profit) is distributed at the end of the value chain. Thankyou, GreenPay and Hawke's Brewing work similarly. So does Newman's Own, Inc. which has been doing it since the 80's.
On  the flipside, Tony's Chocolonely, Alt.Leather, Good Citizens and WAW Handplanes change the start of the value chain, by innovating how the product is made. In the 70's, The Body Shop did the same starting with the words Against Animal Testing. 
Of course there is also the middle of the supply chain—manufacturing with renewables and so on. It just rarely seems to be a differentiator big enough to build a brand from. 
👉 There's something for we and something for me 👈
Let's take Good Citizens as an example. Their frames are made from 100% recycled plastic from rivers and waterways, which is good for the planet. At the same time, each pair is made from just 5 pieces, so if you break an arm, you can replace it - which is good for me as a buyer. Plus they look cool. As Nik Robinson says, 'they've got to have street appeal'.
Sustainability creates a reason to look, but being better for the use I need it for creates the reason to buy.  
👉 Everything can be rethought 👈
When you’re doing something new, it’s hard to see past the ‘rules’ of your category. 
Take Talk Club for example, a charity supporting men's mental health. If you were working out how to fund such a thing, you’d naturally think about grants and donations. Ben Akers and team thought differently, creating Clear Head, a zero alcohol beer that has delivered them over 100K pounds to date. It's a completely different business model. 
💪 But here's the biggest discovery 💪 
Almost no-one I've spoken to had experience in the thing they created.
Nik Robinson & Jocelyne Simpson from Good Citizens had never worked in eyewear.
Maddi Ingham & Glenn Bartlett from GreenPay had no experience in digital payments.
Lucy Jackson & Rikki Gilbey from WAW Handplanes had never worked in the surf industry. 

David Gibson and Nathan Lennon from Hawkes had never brewed a beer before.  

Ben Akers from Talk Club had never worked in a charity. 
Maria Baker from Nobody's Princess knew nothing of snow wear. 
Tina Funder from Alt.Leather had never run a deep tech company. 
Now best-selling author Natalie Kyriacou had never written a book before. 
Showing no matter your idea to make the world a better place, if you’re prepared to put in the time to learn, you can do it.
Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world. 

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

Learn more at goodtrepreneur.co