Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43191 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Chouinard, founder and owner of Patagonia Inc., presents his philosophy for a "new style of responsible business" along with a chronicle of his personal and company history in this sincere if self-congratulatory creed. A Californian of French-Canadian descent, Chouinard started forging climbing hardware and selling it out of his car in 1957 and published his first catalogue, a one-page mimeographed sheet, in 1964. Today, his sporting goods company has annual revenues of $230 million, but he nonetheless identifies himself as more of "a climber, a surfer, a kayaker, a skier and a blacksmith" than a CEO. In this vein, he lays out his alternative vision of business, detailing eco- and people-conscious philosophies on aspects of the supply chain from product design and production to human resources and management. Chouinard has backed up his rhetoric with action: Patagonia pursues sustainability, gives 1% of annual net sales to environmental groups and has set benchmarks with its employee-friendly policies. Patagoniacs and socially conscious businesspeople may appreciate this account despite its wooden writing, especially as an antidote to headlines of corporate fraud. (Oct.)
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Customer Reviews

Let My People Go Surfing
I read an interesting book called, "Let my people go surfing - the education of a reluctant businessman" by Yvon Chouinard who is the founder and owner of Patagonia. The surfing in the book refers to real surfing (in waves) unlike the surfing that most of readers coming to this blog are doing. The book is an interesting and farily easy read. Because his original start was a love of outdoor adventure and what they primarily sell is outdoor wear, his employees and his culture centre around the outdoors and the cool factor around outdoor adventuring.

He has created a perception that Patagonia is a "good for the world" company and much of the book centres around the good works that Patagonia does.

I am always inspired to read success and trials and tribulations of other business people and that is why I enjoyed the book.

This all ties back to my thoughts on branding. Patagonia has created a brand. The book is even part of it. The brand is the culture. Interesting.