The hot new business model that proves caring capitalism really works 

When we began covering and promoting Social Capital in business, we were determined to show the value of people, and how a people-first approach to traditional business could lead to better business, better policies in business, and greater prosperity and happiness for all because of it. We were confident we could find plenty of examples to prove our point, and we did.

However, we didn’t expect that the idea of “happiness for all” through capitalism could actually be the source of the business model itself opening up and involving social sectors we never even dreamed of when we set out to cover this — sectors historically known for the creation of nonprofit or government social services provisions. Issues like healthcare for those who couldn’t afford it, homeless resources, nutrition, job creation, women’s issues and education access, amongst others, are all important issues and concerns that typically drum up thoughts of government and/or nonprofit solutions. But this month’s amazing honorees at the Center for Social Capital prove that the market might present even greater, economically driven solutions.

Economic alternatives to nonprofit or government solutions have been springing up for the last decade or so. Their incredible success has led to many more entrepreneurs considering the model not just a possibility but a higher probability for success because of the volume and scale that for-profit businesses can achieve, not to mention the opportunity for aggressive funding and a slew of other advantages.

The formula for this dynamic new model has a few deviations, but all are focused on solving problems for underserved or undervalued populations by finding the pain point or need and then the value for consumers and/ or investors who genuinely would like to help but would also like an economic incentive to give them that extra little nudge. The capitalist model provides that in various ways by creating a company that serves the people with that need in a far more sustainable and powerful way.

Now, in all fairness to government and nonprofits, none of these companies see themselves as a total replacement for those other avenues of relief. In fact, many of them work in conjunction with government and nonprofit entities in some way. However, these companies have proven that capitalist solutions are not only a good idea but that they are an integral part of the goal of prosperity for all, including those underserved sectors, and can serve those needs in exponentially more powerful ways.

So, this month, we focus on leaders who are simultaneously making a tremendous economic and social impact and bringing you the amazing stories of how and why they took the routes they did — exclusively and in their own words.

We hope this article and these companies inspire and inform you as much as they did us. We also hope this is just the beginning of a great new world and new society where, one day, many of the perennial problems of human suffering become opportunities for powerful new profitable and dependable solutions.

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi has attracted legions of fans for its backpacks and other sustainably sourced outdoor gear, building a business model in which each purchase in one way or another helps to eradicate extreme poverty. Founder Davis Smith felt the brand, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, should stand for more than environmental sustainability when he founded it and introduced programs such as Gear for Good, in which its gear is made as ethically as possible and supports communities in need. Now new CEO Damien Huang is taking the baton and building on that mission, continuing to enhance a culture designed to help all team members reach their full potential.

Davis Smith, Cotopaxi Founder & Chairman

When starting Cotopaxi, I was very aware that we were entering a category that was incredibly competitive, with many billion-dollar incumbents that had been around for decades. However, this also meant that if we could somehow break through as a brand, there was an opportunity to build a billion-dollar brand committed to a new way of doing capitalism: using business as a force for good in the world. The niche I saw in the market was an opportunity to build a brand focused on eradicating extreme poverty, which I believed would connect deeply with a young consumer that felt brands needed to represent more than just environmental sustainability, which we saw as table-stakes.

I started my undergraduate studies after moving to the U.S. from Bolivia. My family had moved to Latin America when I was four years old, which changed the lens through which I saw the world. I imagined I’d work for a nonprofit creating a more just world and even did an internship working for a nonprofit in Peru. A professor at the university became a mentor of mine — he was a philanthropist, using the wealth he’d made as an entrepreneur to fight poverty. I dreamed of working with him to expand his efforts to Latin America where I had grown up. Instead, he convinced me that, if I really wanted to make an impact on the world, I shouldn’t work for him or another nonprofit but should become an entrepreneur. He was convinced I could make a bigger impact through entrepreneurship, which became my new life mission: to find a way to use the power of capitalism to do good in the world.

Growing up in the developing world, I saw first-hand the amazing impact nonprofits had in the world. That said, I also saw them struggle to have their full impact because they always lacked resources. They were rarely the best fundraisers, but a huge part of their role was to constantly beg others for money. Having spent 10 years as an entrepreneur, I saw an opportunity to solve this problem. If I could build a company that could really scale, we could use our profits to sustainably fund nonprofits positively impacting the world. This would allow them to focus more efforts on doing good and less on begging others for money. The Benefit Corporation model doesn’t replace nonprofits, but instead amplifies the work they do.

Damien Huang, Cotopaxi CEO

As the current steward of Cotopaxi’s mission, I’m deeply inspired by the foundational work Davis set in motion. We stand at a unique intersection of commerce and philanthropy, where every product we create and every decision we make is infused with the purpose of making a positive impact. We’re proving that it’s possible to drive significant social and environmental change through business by directly linking product sales to initiatives that support global communities, from providing education and healthcare to reducing environmental impact and fostering economic development.

CRDC Global

Donald Thomson and his company CRDC Global should be all over the news, since they came up with a way to rid the world of plastic waste — with a for-profit company that puts those materials to valuable and profitable use. CRDC Global is an effective and profitable company that promotes a groundbreaking new philosophy known as REAP (Recover, Enrich, Appreciate and Prosper), based on a net-zero circular economy model linking the plastic and the construction industries into a connected system that will drive systemic change. Founded in 2018, CRDC Global has operations in Costa Rica, the U.S.A., South Africa, UK, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Samoa.

Donald Thomson, CRDC Global Founder & CEO

In my opinion, “business for good” is quickly becoming the norm and not the exception as almost all companies are now being judged by their consumers on their social, environmental and economic ethics and values. What was once almost the exclusive environment for nonprofits is now mainstream and competitive business and, as such, the boundaries between nonprofits and for-profits are blending and evolving. In today’s world, there is a direct correlation between sales and a company’s alignment with its consumers’ values and expectations, and those expectations are a healthy, equitable and inclusive world.

This current market dynamic is combined with an exponential growth in population, which I predict has provided fertile ground for what will become the future of business: zero waste resource utilization and, in the best case, regenerative growth. Regeneration when defined as where the sum of the output is greater than the sum of all the inputs implies a yield gain, or profitability. Therefore, in this context, all businesses in the future should strive to sustain regenerative yields that provide positive gains for themselves and the society and environment they operate within.

I have been self-employed for the majority of my long career and what inspires me to keep moving forward is an optimistic view of a business world in constant evolution towards a better society.

FIGS

FIGS, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is one of the hottest and most successful manufacturers of high-quality scrubs and other medical equipment in the world even though it’s only a little more than a decade old. And it includes as part of its operations, to cite its website: “The Threads for Threads initiative helps to donate scrubs to healthcare professionals who work in resource-poor counties and lack the proper uniforms to do their jobs safely.”

Trina Spear, Figs Co-Founder & Co-CEO with Heather Hasson

The idea first came to my co-founder Heather Hasson over a cup of coffee over a decade ago. Heather was meeting her good friend, Allison, a nurse practitioner, who was coming off a 16-hour shift draped in what essentially was a poorly fitting burlap sack with her size displayed in bright orange for all to see. This was the official garment for medical professionals, aka “scrubs.”

As Heather was staring at Allison’s baggy, boxy, ill-fitting scrubs, she could not help but think about how many multi-billion-dollar apparel companies were focused at that very minute on giving athletes every possible advantage through cutting-edge materials and purpose-driven designs.

Heather thought to herself, “What about the people saving lives? Who is focused on them?”

She went to a scrubs store to learn more and quickly realized that not only were the product offerings depressing but the experience was even worse. The store was filled with racks and racks of indistinguishable scrubs, there were boxes strewn about that had crude markings to designate sizing, and right next to the scrubs were bed pans and knee braces. Worse yet, the store closed at 5 p.m., which made it beyond difficult for healthcare professionals, many of whom work 12-hour shifts, to even get there before closing. Leaving that store, Heather could not believe that medical professionals who are literally saving peoples’ lives had to shop like this to buy their uniforms.

Right then, it was clear to Heather that both the design and distribution of scrubs were antiquated and ripe for disruption, and that healthcare professionals deserved innovative, functional products and an efficient distribution model built around their particular needs.

The reaction was overwhelming. When nurses at Cedars-Sinai started asking about where these new scrubs were coming from and how they could get them, we knew we had an “aha” moment. Nurses started reaching out to Heather — now known as “scrubs girl” — asking if she could fix their scrubs as well. We realized there was a huge demand and opportunity to revolutionize the healthcare apparel industry — because, while companies were innovating and creating technical gear for athletes, no one was creating fitted, technical, comfortable gear for healthcare professionals working grueling 16-hour days while serving others.

Our mission is to improve the lives of healthcare professionals with apparel that offers an unmatched combination of function, durability and style with innovative fabrics for easy care, long wear and comfort. An advantage of being a for-profit company is that we have raised capital and become profitable based on this overarching mission. Having cash on our balance sheet makes it possible for us to invest more into the business — whether that’s into our product innovation; DTC platforms; retail stores; or advocacy efforts through our “Awesome Humans Bill” focused on solving issues that matter to healthcare workers such as fair pay, hours and working conditions. We also give back to the healthcare community through our Threads for Threads initiative, which donates scrubs to professionals in underserved countries where proper healthcare uniforms are not available. The financial means that we have as a for-profit company are beneficial in achieving our main goal of serving those who serve others.

I think my background in finance certainly helped me and Heather to identify the white space that existed in the scrubs industry, and it helped us to understand how we could grow FIGS into the global company that it is now. We started selling scrubs out of Heather’s car outside of hospitals, and those same customers would give us feedback about the product — including what they loved and how we could improve it. Personally, seeing those near-immediate reactions from healthcare professionals was extremely rewarding and made me feel like I was impacting one of the most important communities in the world.

Since those early days, our mission of “serving those who serve others” has really resonated with me. It became even more important during the pandemic, and we were so happy to be able to play a part in supporting healthcare workers during the pandemic by, among other things, quickly adjusting our supply chain to produce 360,000 masks, donating 100,000 isolation gowns and 70,000 scrubs to healthcare professionals in need, and donating $100,000 to the Frontline Responders Fund. Our impact has grown significantly since then, including having just opened the FIGS Operating Theatre, which we funded through a $500,000 investment, to provide life-saving surgical services to a community of 500,000 in rural Kenya that was in desperate need. Beyond that, I’m very proud that FIGS is the first company led by female co-founders and co-CEOs to go public, and I hope that it can inspire young women to follow in our footsteps to become leaders.

Footprint

Footprint is an award-winning global materials science technology company that aims to replace single-use plastics with packaging made of plant-based fibers, addressing the plastic-waste problems by wiping out a huge source of environmental contamination and landfill volume. The company, headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona, was founded with a mission to create a healthier planet and healthier people through the elimination of single-use plastics.

Corey Berends, Footprint CEO

The emergence of Footprint as a business stems from a profound recognition of the pervasive challenges posed by plastic pollution in our society. Footprint’s inception in 2014 by Troy Swope and Yoke Chung, former Intel engineers, reflects a visionary response to the urgent need for sustainable packaging solutions. Witnessing the detrimental impacts of single-use plastics on both environmental and human health, they identified an opportunity to innovate within the business landscape by providing plant-based fiber alternatives.

The company’s core mission is to build a more sustainable future by eliminating single-use plastics. This focus aligns with the growing public awareness and concern regarding plastic pollution, positioning Footprint at the forefront of sustainable packaging solutions. By leveraging patented technologies, Footprint addresses the pressing need for eco-friendly alternatives across various industries.

With a relentless commitment to environmental stewardship, Footprint’s business model exemplifies the fusion of profitability with purpose, catalyzing positive change on a global scale.

[I’d like to recognize] the significance of both for-profit and non-profit sectors in tackling the issue of plastic pollution. Remarkable non-profit organizations have played a crucial role in raising awareness, driving legislative changes and clearing substantial amounts of plastic waste from both land and water. Footprint is committed to collaborating with non-profit entities worldwide, recognizing that our combined efforts can amplify awareness and foster meaningful change.

The advantage of a for-profit model over a nonprofit in addressing the plastic pollution problem lies in its capacity for scalable impact. Footprint’s for-profit structure enables agile innovation and strategic growth, underpinned by market-driven incentives. Unlike nonprofits reliant on donations and grants, Footprint’s revenue-generating activities facilitate ongoing investment in research and development, driving continuous improvement in sustainable packaging solutions.

With a diverse leadership team boasting extensive industry experience, Footprint fosters a culture of entrepreneurial agility and operational excellence. Moreover, the for-profit model empowers Footprint to attract top-tier talent and investment capital, fueling its expansion and amplifying its influence within the sustainability sector. Through strategic partnerships and market-driven innovation, Footprint exemplifies the transformative potential of for-profit enterprises in addressing complex social and environmental challenges.

Personally, my decision to join Footprint reflects a deeply rooted commitment to environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Footprint’s innovative approach to sustainable packaging resonated with my values and aspirations, inspiring me to pursue a career aligned with my passion for environmental advocacy. By harnessing the power of business to drive positive social and environmental impact, Footprint empowers individuals to effect meaningful change and leave a lasting legacy of sustainability for future generations. As we collectively strive towards a more sustainable future, Footprint embodies the transformative potential of purpose-driven entrepreneurship.

Guild

Guild, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, helps people gain an education through their employer’s tuition benefits. While benefiting employers through increased employee satisfaction and improved retention, Guild’s goal is to break the cycle of poverty in many families by bringing the opportunity of education and upskilling to masses of workers throughout America.

Rachel Romer, Guild Co-Founder & Executive Chair

Guild started as a research initiative fueled by work from our founding team across 2008-2015 in the community college sector, in the Obama administration, and across Stanford’s School of Education & Graduate School of Business.

We had a simple problem statement: How do you help the hundreds of millions of workers who need skilling gain access to it in order to prepare for the future of work?

Our research pointed to a few founding principles for adult learners — connecting school and work, eliminating or significantly reducing cost, and providing career coaching and services support — which fueled the proposal that ultimately became Guild. But we actually thought we’d be a nonprofit!

That said, we quickly learned the complexities of relying on philanthropy to fund innovation, and we found a business model that allowed us to serve learners without them having to pay tuition costs out of pocket, while having employers invest in the tuition and learning providers in our coaching services. Our mission-aligned business model set up Guild to become both a public benefit corporation (PBC) and a certified B Corp, which has been a fantastic model to support our scale as well as our social impact.

Being a PBC means we operate under a constrained version of stakeholder versus shareholder capitalism. Through that mechanism — both in our company charter and in our ongoing B Corp certification — we’ve chosen to hold ourselves to a higher bar, asked others to measure our impact, and ensure we’re a force for good in the world. It’s allowed us to hold our learner and member outcomes as a central measurement of success, and as our business has grown we’ve never needed to sacrifice on our mission.

Additionally, structuring ourselves as a PBC allowed us to raise money and invest in our technology and services at a much quicker rate than we would have as a nonprofit, which has enabled us to better deliver on our mission to unlock opportunity for America’s workforce by supporting many more working adults on their career journey.

While the problem Guild solves revealed itself in my graduate school research, it’s also deeply connected to my family’s story.

Growing up, my family was incredibly entrepreneurial though we never used that word. Instead, we approached it as public service or “solving big problems.” It’s always been part of my DNA.

My family’s experience is an example of an A / B test on higher education in America. On my dad’s side, my grandfather was able to pay for 22 of us grandchildren to go to college without accumulating debt. My mom was one of nine and one of the few siblings to put herself through college, but they all found paths to middle class careers — college or not. Come my generation, things have changed. The cost of higher education has skyrocketed, and the ability to land in the middle class without higher education is much harder. My cousins on my mom’s side have faced a tremendous financial barrier that the cousins on my dad’s side never had to grapple with.

This experience within my own family, and the opportunities my education afforded me, inspired the founding of Guild.

HeartPoint Global

HeartPoint Global makes groundbreaking medical devices to treat life-threatening cardiovascular diseases that affect millions of people worldwide every year. With 90% of children in the world underserved for cardiac care, the company, headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, is looking to address the pulmonary hypertension caused by congenital heart disease through products such as Intellistent, under the leadership of CEO Seth Bogner.

Seth Bogner, Heartpoint Global Chairman & CEO

The stark healthcare access disparities, particularly between the affluent and marginalized, highlighted a significant market gap. Observing the challenges faced by underserved pediatric populations spurred the recognition of a business opportunity. HeartPoint Global identified this niche to provide innovative cardiac care solutions, aiming to bridge the gap in access to essential healthcare services for pediatric patients.

I saw this as a business niche because of the tremendous need in the market. HeartPoint Global’s first and only patented structural non-surgical heart system (INTELLISTENT) addresses a variety of life-threatening cardiovascular diseases, specializing in pediatric Left Ventricular Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). HeartPoint Global is on a mission to provide innovative, minimally invasive, and accessible cardiac care globally to ensure those who would otherwise suffer from or die of cardiovascular disease receive the care they need.

A for-profit model offers distinct advantages in addressing healthcare disparities compared to nonprofits. Operating as a for-profit entity, HeartPoint Global can attract investors with essential capital and expertise, enabling scalable solutions. Unlike nonprofits, for-profit ventures face fewer funding restrictions and can generate revenue to sustain operations. Additionally, the for-profit structure allows for recruiting top talent and fosters economic growth through job creation.

INTELLISTENT is the first and only minimally invasive, adjustable heart system that brings affordability, accessibility and the potential to save millions of lives in the developed and developing world. It is a patented, safer and affordable solution that reduces the risk of cardiovascular treatment. Notably, it allows pressure adjustments during and after the initial intervention to improve pulmonary flow of the heart-lung system. It is the first of its kind adjustable, minimally invasive percutaneous intervention to replace surgical Pulmonary Artery Banding (PAB).

With my more than three decades of experience in principal investing and structured finance, realizing the immense need for accessible cardiac care solutions ignited a personal drive to establish HeartPoint Global. Witnessing the profound impact inadequate healthcare has on vulnerable populations, particularly children with congenital heart defects, catalyzed action. Combining business acumen with a passion for social impact, running HeartPoint Global became a fulfilling endeavor to address critical healthcare challenges and make a meaningful difference in the lives of pediatric patients globally. I am excited about what HeartPoint Global will do in the future to provide more democratized healthcare.

 Helaina

Helaina is a nutrition startup based in New York, N.Y., that utilizes fermentation to produce breast milk proteins with the same health and immunity properties as breast milk Noting that any human over the age of 1 can live on varied nourishment but that formula (or breast milk) is the sole source of nourishment for infants, Laura emphasizes the need for innovation and investment in food technology to support foods that are essential to human health, especially in the infant sector And she’s built her business to serve that social need.

Laura Katz, Helaina Founder & CEO

The spark for Helaina hit me on the New York City subway. I was listening to a podcast about black market breast milk. It featured moms telling stories about how they went to extreme lengths, traveling across state lines and digging into the dark web, to get the powerful nutritional benefits of breast milk for their babies. This made me wonder if the compounds in human bioactive proteins might serve other populations, too — people of any age seeking immunity support or high-performance athletes. And what if we could make and scale those components to improve health for all phases of life?

This is precisely why I founded Helaina in 2019 on the premise that nutrients must be more impactful and multifunctional for all people and the planet. We are a nutrition startup utilizing precision fermentation to recreate proteins found in breast milk and throughout the human body.

Our first protein is Effera™ Human Lactoferrin. Lactoferrin is an iron-modulating protein that is highly concentrated in human colostrum. Lactoferrin has been clinically studied to balance the immune system, support healthy gut function and optimize iron levels.

I pursued my business in the private sector to optimize for innovation speed without compromising on scientific standards. We’ve raised over $35 million to help bring better, smarter nutrients for people of all ages.

Sackcloth & Ashes

Both sustainable and socially conscious, Sackcloth & Ashes makes blankets from 100% recycled material in an eco-friendly wool blend. After founder Bob Dalton’s mother became homeless many years ago, he discovered that homeless shelters are short of blankets. He came up with an answer: For every blanket sold, the company, based in Salem, Oregon, donates a blanket to a homeless shelter in the buyer’s zip code, helping customers make a direct impact in their communities. 

Bob Dalton, Sackcloth & Ashes Founder & CEO

I never thought I’d own a business, and didn’t even think I would end up in business at all. I was always looking for opportunities to make a difference and believed my only options were to be working at a church or nonprofit in order to do so. When my mom experienced homelessness in 2013, her journey had inspired me to call shelters in my community to see what they needed. They all said blankets. That’s when I came up with the idea that for every blanket I sell, I’ll donate a blanket to a shelter in the buyer’s local community.

From a business perspective, blankets are a universal product and used in every household in the world. The blanket industry is growing, and, even more so, the gifting industry is growing. Over 50% of our blankets sold are to businesses that buy them as gifts for their customers or clients. My hope is to disrupt the gifting industry (a $242-billion industry) [with our blankets] and [beat out competitors like Cutco Knives and Yeti as the No. 1 most gifted product and the best type of gift to give.

[Choosing a for-profit model over nonprofit] was really a coin flip at the start. I just went with the for-profit model because it had been done prior with the TOMS business model. When I launched Sackcloth, TOMS had been valued at around $1 billion and showed that you can accomplish a mission and still build a brand at the same time.

I also prefer to have a model of scale and investment over fundraise. The economics of operating a business can be more sustainable for growth, whereas a nonprofit is reliant on consistent outside funds to continue its mission — some of which comes with red tape. I believe capitalism can be done in the right way, to grow something for the sake of communities and the environment rather than at the expense of it.

Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere, headquartered in Mexico City, is a brand that works with indigenous artisans in remote, rural communities. It was created to combine their traditional handicrafts with sustainable materials and, using technology, provide the artisans a connection to the world’s market.

Antonio Nuño, Someone Somewhere Co-Founder & CEO

More people than ever care about the social and environmental impact of their purchases, but most of the genuinely ethical products available make us sacrifice other things, like design and durability, or are significantly more expensive. We thought that if there were a brand that made amazing products that also turned out to be sustainable, a completely new market segment would open. Later on, we realized that this value proposition would be compelling for other companies, too, so we opened our B2B channel to help them build more ethical and sustainable value chains.

We strongly believe that employability and sustainability are two problems that need to be solved by finding market-based solutions. It may take a little bit more time in the beginning, but once product-market fit is found the impact potential is 100 times bigger

I always knew I wanted to focus my time and energy on solving our world’s biggest problems, and I believe that poverty and climate change are the two issues that our generation needs to solve. I have always loved design and traveling, so I’m very lucky that these four elements are a core part of what we do at Someone Somewhere.