Social entrepreneurs often speak to the market forces that allow them to make the social impact they do. As in, because they can make a lot of money, they can then donate a lot of money, either personally or as a company. And when you think about it, a real philanthropist gives money that is theirs, not a portion of their companies’ profits.

Even so, companies like Tom’s or Bombas have been able to create really profitable companies with 1 for 1 models that really do help a lot of people.

My question has always been about intentionality and how the structures we employ secure specific ends.

If Exxon Mobile needs to degrade the environment horribly, as we know they do, to extract oil and sell it to us, then the fact that they take a tiny percentage of their profits to combat environmental degradation is really a token effort to create the perception that Exxon isn’t, on the whole, fucking up the earth.

I’m not saying Tom’s is Exxon, and I’m not saying Exxon is the devil.

But let’s not kid ourselves when we talk about social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is 99.9% of the time, a for-profit enterprise. That means they are incentivized toward profit first. Above all else. So they can continue to exist.

And that’s gravy. I’m not mad at it.

But don’t tell me Tom’s or Exxon was built to make the world a better place. They were made to make money. And the good they do respectively, exists on a scale within which their transgressions are also weighed, with the rubber meeting the road precisely where we spend our dollars.

If your company is intended to serve a mission MORE than it is intended to create personal wealth for you - make it a nonprofit.

I’m even happy to chat with you about the various reasons why.

Intentionality is everything. And it means we get to decide.

But let’s be real about when its really about us and when it isn’t. There’s a lot to be gained from being honest about our priority list.

Including clarity for ourselves and others, as to why we’re actually doing this.