Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual

The first precept of industrial design is that the function of an object should determine its design and materials.

In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness.

So in 2013, Patagonia launched a venture capital fund to invest in environmentally and socially responsible for-profit start-ups. We wanted to apply the many lessons we have learned in trying to conduct our business more responsibly to applications beyond the outdoor apparel industry. We were willing to sacrifice short-term returns for long-term fi

“Make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

seems to me if there is an answer, it lies in these words: restraint, quality, and simplicity.

Lastly, “Impossible.” The lamest of the lame excuses! Difficult maybe, or impractical, or too expensive, but rarely is anything impossible.

I’ve always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about an 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession and degree of specialization that doesn’t appeal to me. Once I reach that 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different; th

What they all do share, as our organizational development consultant noted, is a passion for something outside themselves, whether for surfing or opera, climbing or gardening, skiing or community activism.

Consumers become very conservative during recessions. They stop buying fashionable silly things. They will pay more for a product that is practical, multifunctional, and will last a long time. We thrive during recessions.