Sustainability and Purity of Intention

In response to my recent piece on sustainability, a friend of a friend whose name I won’t use writes:

Thanks for the link, but sustainability can come only after one gets a business started. Day 1 you receive the money, day 2 is about sustainability. Sustainability is also about a term called the triple bottom line …. Now, back to finding the money to start our business.

To which I responded,

(Name):

I don’t want to sound holier than thou, but I respectfully disagree. There’s nothing the matter with being a capitalist; I’ve made a considerable buck in my life as well. But I ask you to look at what you’re saying:

You’re starting a business, (company name), to manufacture electric vehicles and you want money to do that … and you’ll think about sustainability after you get your money?

What’s the metaphor again? Putting the cart before the antelope? No… the wildebeest? No, that’s not it either…

I’m sorry; I’m not trying to be a smart-ass. But trust me here: if you were making potato chips, that would be one thing.  But you’ll raise money for this business to the degree that you’re sincere about doing something decent for the other seven billion people on this planet. Do you think we need a new group to build more Hummers, plastic water bottles, or Big-Macs? No. Don’t join the rapists. You have the rare opportunity to make a difference in a positive way; take advantage of this moment. 

I’m reminded of the heyday of my marketing consulting business as a (much) younger man. My biggest years happened when I was so busy working to make my clients successful that it was November before I had a chance to ask my bookkeeper, “Hey – have we made any money yet?”

Do yourself and everyone around you a favor — get into it, man. You will thrive to the degree to which your business adds honest value to its customers.  Trust me here.