An Entrepreneurial Handbook by Darrell Kopke
“I build companies, not write books” says Darrell Kopke. That’s a shame, because his first book is a lulu. Part entrepreneurial handbook, part manifesto, The Generous Leader – A Business Case for Generosity in Business is a must read for anyone who ever dreamed that business can be a stand for good in the world. We are giving you an advance look here, before we officially launch the book later this month.
Generosity is the foundation of the future of business. You only have to look at the paradigm shift happening in capitalism. The days of exploiting others for our own personal gain are gone. Drawing on his own experience and using real life examples, Darrell proves how embedding generosity in the way you do business is the key to delivering audacious results and the kind of financial returns that make shareholders giddy.
Darrell Kopke has written a business book for modern attention spans. Succinct, clear points, compelling stories, and littered with lessons, from a guy who has seen from the inside of many companies.
- Joel Solomon, President of Renewal Partners and Chairman of Renewal2 Investment Fund
Considered one of the founding members of lululemon, Darrell Kopke was the original GM and a key architect responsible for the company’s explosive growth. Having fulfilled his mission at lululemon, he went on to establish institute B, a high-performance accelerator firm founded in generosity that develops entrepreneurs and for-profit social impact corporations.
A believer in what’s possible, an advocate for unreasonable business and passionate disrupter of the status quo, Darrell demonstrates in The Generous Leader why the future is founded in abundance. And answers the million-dollar question: Can you make money by being good?
I read the excerpt and was left wanting more…no, not a FREE copy of the e-book but your thesis, Your Big Idea?
Sorry, not clear from the few morsels provided here, unless I missed it somehow.
What more can you tell me?
Cheers,
Dam
Hi Dan,
This is my contribution to an important cause. The message that capitalism must evolve. Generosity is the foundation of the future of business. And when you combine generosity with an audacious corporate culture, companies can generate big results.
Happy to get your feedback.
- Darrell
Mr. Kopke, I couldn’t agree more with your thesis (about “generosity,” or more-so, transactional fairness); but the notion that “capitalism must evolve” I must say is preposterous in the current context of American business. America has not practiced true free-market capitalism is 100 years, since in 1913 we adopted the fundamentally Marxist models of a centrally controlled fiat monetary model; and graduated income tax. I recommend you read The Communist Manifesto, and understand that the United States is and long has been, a fundamentally corrupt Socialist country; bent on eradicating property rights and individual prosperity. Capitalism cannot “evolve” when you’re not practicing capitalism in the first place, so we must first restore capitalism in the United States. Before the business community can act in a spirit of fairness and “generosity,” we must first at the national level; restore a system that enables individual prosperity in the first place, a system where the purchasing power of your savings and your earnings do not evaporate through artificially induced inflation. As an economist, engineer, and entrepreneur….I too have recently written my first book, which will be released in early January. My book is about restoring property rights, constitutional authority, and the founding principles which were the cornerstone of the free-enterprise system; but which were abandoned almost exactly 100 years ago under the corrupt “progressive” administration of Woodrow Wilson. Until capitalism is restored, sustainable individual prosperity will never be realized no matter how “generous” private enterprise can be. In my view, the leaders of America’s business community have failed not only to act with fairness and generosity; but to act with the courage necessary to reject the onerous government overreach that has destroyed individual prosperity, and business’s ability to play fair. If American businesses want to be truly generous to their customers and their employees….they should peacefully revolt against the US Government’s policy of conscripting every employer in America, to be its de-facto tax-collection agent as a condition of being in business. Garnishing the wages of every worker in America against their will is not only Unconstitutional….but it is fundamentally immoral. Why don’t American business leaders ever talk about this insidious mechanism employed to fleece both employees and employers of their hard-earned wealth ? I have not yet read your book, but from the synopsis, I am certain it is extremely well-intentioned, full of outstanding ideas, and I will most certainly read it….but please, don’t believe for one minute that “entrepreneurial generosity” in and of itself will lead to better individual prosperity for the American people…..it won’t. Whenever increased compensation or rewards Americans gain from companies and producers, will most certainly be targeted for confiscation by their state, local, and federal governments. If you’re truly interested in restoring individual prosperity in this country…..we must start by restoring property rights….everything else flows from that.
Thanks Fred for your passionate comment. I very much look forward to reading your book and your proposed solutions. This is a very interesting debate. My perspective is evolution versus revolution; maybe its a Canadian thing! At institute B we grow companies committed to doing social good and my perspective is that if I can prove that being good and generous can consistently lead to more profits for shareholders, the mandate of business will naturally evolve to become more serving to society, rather than exploitative of it. Again, I appreciate your comments!
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