Yvon walks the talk

[Conundrum]

Comments on this thread are amazing.

That’s it. I’m donating my 10,000 comments to the environment. Mostly useless drivel and trolling but what are you doing to help?

[Danno]

Wait till you see that comment about boosters & immune system some idiot made in the Covid thread!!1!!

*golf clap*

[dunfree]

Heh. I hate Pinterest. But it’s all I could find when mags said he lived in gtnp
Moose is pretty close. And that’s a nice house. Good for him.

6 acres for $90k in the 1970s wasn’t something many people could swing, but it’s way different from now. Same with the SoCal place, which is nice but not a billionaire trophy by any stretch

[ticketchecker]

Friend of mine is one of their sales reps, he didn’t find out about this until yesterday afternoon. I worked at the company for four years, some of the greatest people in my life are friends I met working there. YC is the man.


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[Djongo Unchained]

The Chouinard's place north of town is not a mansion. It's an older house down by the river. Their property is less than 20 acres; and he still drives a little beater in town.
He beat me to a parking spot the other day in the Albertson's lot. As soon as I saw it was him, I smiled.
If ya know his face, ya can't miss him.
Quick to smile too.

[jackstraw]

If more companies were like Patagonia, the world would be a better place.

Here's a brief history lesson.
https://www.patagonia.com/company-history/

[doebedoe]

The Chouinard's place north of town is not a mansion. It's an older house down by the river. Their property is less than 20 acres; and he still drives a little beater in town.
He beat me to a parking spot the other day in the Albertson's lot. As soon as I saw it was him, I smiled.
If ya know his face, ya can't miss him.
Quick to smile too.

Oh how local knowledge trumps a bunch of blowhards behind keyboards.

Besides, WTF would Danno know about trusts and non profits...not like he's a lawyer....

[fomofo]

All lives well lived. Some made some $$, did some good.

Shit - what's not to like?

[Danno]

Besides, WTF would Danno know about trusts and non profits...not like he's a lawyer....

hah, I don't actually know shit about trusts and nonprofits from a real legal perspective, I'm a water lawyer. Still, I understand the basics, like complete ownership of a company is vastly, hudgely, different than complete control of a company through a trust or nonprofit. Not because of any specialized legal knowledge, I don't think. It's a pretty basic concept, it's not rocket surgery.

[The Reverend Floater]

If you’re in consumer goods marketing, you likely already have or will study Patagonia’s loyalty business model, which is nothing short of genius. It’s a philosophy mechanized through scalable modeling and empirical management with unheard of customer lifetime value.

The thing about it that really makes it stand out is that it wasn’t born out of purchase-driven strategy nor any sort of consumer behavior study. It is literally YC’s philosophy on why Patagonia deserves to exist, translated into several different business practices, channels of trade and of course, product. Truly one of those real life business cases that make you believe that morals, ethics and doing good can intersect with very successful business practices.

[neufox47]

What a surprise that two of the biggest cynics on TGR see someone do something truly good and try to find a way to shit all over it….


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[yeahman]

Met the man once at the lower saddle of the Grand Teton about 30 years ago. Fortunately I was wearing a Patagonia shell when I shook his hand. Props YC!

[easyrdr]

I worked at Patagonia for two years at their distribution center in Reno. Cool place to work, while they never let me go surfing, they did let me ski quite a bit. They do a lot of cool shit for their employees........like pay a year of your salary to go join any environmental cause on the planet. People were going all over the place, South America, Europe, Australia, Africa, etc. And the employee deals are solid, very solid, though I am not at liberty to discuss in an open forum. Patagonia is one of a few companies that I can stomach paying retail for. And sure a lot of it is marketing but show me any other company that has pumped that much money into saving the environment. Nice work Patagonia, nice work............

[dunfree]

Oh how local knowledge trumps a bunch of blowhards behind keyboards.

Besides, WTF would Danno know about trusts and non profits...not like he's a lawyer....

it’s honesty vs dishonesty, not knowledge

[cat in january]

I have taken advantage of their free repair program several times and when the traveling repair crew visited a local brewery they happily repaired a cloudveil jacket. Patagonia definitely walks their talk.

I have been dismayed at the new Patagonia store in Freeport, Maine as it is much more upscale than the former one and not sure if I will ever buy something from them. TNF outlet has much better deals, but you have to be picky.

[doebedoe]

it’s honesty vs dishonesty, not knowledge

I'd say it's a bit of both. I dont have local knowledge of what Yvon drives around Jackson or if he secretly lives in a mega mansion in the woods.

And while Danno is not a corporate lawyer -- I made the presumption that law school at least gives you some background on legal entities like corporations, trusts, etc.

But yes -- there's certain dishonesty.

For those critics -- how would your purpose a company acts to ensure their founder's commitments outlive them? What are the better models out there? Shuttering a business like Patagonia isn't going to reduce consumption or environmental impact, it'd just shift it to new, potentially less responsible brands. And I don't see any models that are more obvious or likely to be a success at achieving their mission than this one.

[Meadow Skipper]

Yvon talks the walk.
https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/

[bagtagley]

I'm a water lawyer.

[muted reborn]

Yvon talks the walk.
https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/

Just a ploy to sell more jackets! I'm too smart to fall for this!!!

[Self Jupiter]

[Danno]

And while Danno is not a corporate lawyer -- I made the presumption that law school at least gives you some background on legal entities like corporations, trusts, etc.

oh, fuck no. They require that you learn some very basic legal principles of contracts and property, that's probably as far as it gets. Maybe it was on the bar exam, I can't recall, that was a long time ago and info I learned for a single test and promptly forgot. Mostly what they want you to learn is how to think like a lawyer and how to find the answers to things you don't know. But ain't nobody got time for that so we mostly just avoid the subjects we don't know.

Exactly.

Only if they don't have beaks.

[Core Shot]

Yvon talks the walk.
https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/

What a scam


Here’s how it works: 100% of the company’s voting stock transfers to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, created to protect the company’s values; and 100% of the nonvoting stock had been given to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature. The funding will come from Patagonia: Each year, the money we make after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis.

[Danno]

What a surprise that two of the biggest cynics on TGR see someone do something truly good and try to find a way to shit all over it….

Also, a shocking turn of events, when the significance of the move is explained in crystal clear terms -- the rest of us didn't need it explained -- crickets.

[Trace Hardslab]

Mr Chouinard's vision and success are admirable. The company makes great coats, I own a couple.

Everyone accepts at face value that the money "will go to the environment". It would be interesting to know exactly how.
Will the money fund serial-lawsuit filing environmental organizations? Will it go to universities to churn out a generation of idealistic young wildlife biologists who stay up at night inventing problems to solve, then solve them by banning or restricting hiking/skiing/fishing, etc? Will it go to govy agencies that do the same?

Color me cynical and I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but the law of unintended consequences may apply.

[byates1]

found this entertaining.