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Sustainability on the Inside's avatar

Thanks for taking us on this interesting journey with you Sami. One thing I kept coming back to is how few publicly listed companies are B-Corps. This is surely because to become one they have to amend their constitution and put it to a vote - by the very shareholders whose status and personal wealth depend on their interests taking precedence over other (equally important) priorities.

Sami Makelainen's avatar

Thanks! Talking about B Corps was one of the things I had to cut from the already-long review. Ries is fairly even-handed about B Corps, but clear about how they are very different from PBCs: "Public benefit corporations (PBCs) and B Corp certification are fundamentally different tools." PBC changes the legal structure; B Corps are more of a brand standard. While the badge signals values, it doesn't lock anything very meaningful in. It's telling that Dr. Bronner's dropped its certification after multinationals like Nestlé got the same badge.