Seeding Innovation - by Robyn O'Brien (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Gen Z and others are looking for companies with purpose. They are calling out the meaningless press releases and fabricated realities of yesterday. They are consumer advocates who want the truth. They want transparency, purpose and future proofing for themselves and the planet they're inheriting. Cut throat, extractive capitalism is destroying their planet and holds little to no appeal. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said that the future belongs to those who give the next generation reason to hope. Market share says the same. Brands like Sara Blakely's SPANX and Blake Mycoskie's Tom's Shoes brought a purpose to their products, and their successes have been legendary. But a lot more is happening, and break out brands and authentic stories are carving out market share at record growth rates. So what do a morbid water brand, a food delivery driver, a homeless woman on the floor of SFO, and a mac and cheese company have in common? Profit, purpose and authenticity and enormous market share. They are showing us the smartest way to lead today and how we can live tomorrow. Leadership is changing. The homogeneous profiles of leadership teams and boards are yielding to female-led companies, diversity, equity and inclusion that are becoming signature characteristics of some of the most successful and powerful brands. As business schools, business leaders and investors focus not only on profitability, but also employee retention, recruiting, collaboration and more, Seeding Innovation, will show you how to build resilience and purpose into your business plan that enhances your bottom line, fortifies employee retention and so much more"--

Book Synopsis

Build and grow a company ready for the next generation of consumers

In Seeding Innovation: The Path to Profit and Purpose in the 21st Century, veteran entrepreneur, award winning author, global strategist, speaker, and Rice University Innovation and Entrepreneurship professor, Robyn O'Brien, delivers an insightful and data driven roadmap to authenticity and smart leadership in the face of accelerating technological, environmental, and social change. In the book, you'll discover how to build resilience, authenticity, market share and purpose into your business plan and move beyond box-ticking, virtue signaling and one-dimensional metrics, in a way that strengthens your business model, enhances your bottom line, attracts investors, fortifies employee retention, and more.

With her characteristic candor and attention to data and deep experience on the frontlines of industry change, Robyn explains how you can transform concepts like paradigm blindness, scarcity, imposter syndrome, rejection, and fear to build durable, lasting, and profitable businesses that integrate social and environmental principles, with courage and integrity to drive long term shareholder and stakeholder value.

You'll also discover how to:

• Develop a purpose-driven product line that holds strong appeal for new generations of consumers and avoids the ruthless practices associated with PR nightmares and externalized costs
• Build an iconic company that focuses on integrating meaningful change to inspire customers, investors, and employees and that eschews meaningless press releases and virtue signaling
• Overcome imposter syndrome and naysayers using the S.T.O.P. Protocol (TM)
• Develop supportive scaffolding and a resilient mindset in order to leverage courage and gain market share
• Build boards (not echo chambers), why equity and governance matters, and how diversity is good for your bottom line
• Integrate authentic marketing and storytelling into your brand strategy to drive revenue and capture market share
• Avoid the dangers of silos, fundraising traps and toxic capital and build a model with value-aligned, informed investors.
• Spot greenwashing, gender washing, and carbon washing, and more importantly, how to avoid them within your own organization and drive change
• Address headlines around ESG and DEI metrics in order to meet the needs of asset managers and investors, build successful teams and integrate goals that are central to outperformance and higher returns

Gen Z and the modern consumer are looking for companies with authenticity--they want transparency and purpose from brands that are future proofing for the planet they're inheriting. With this changing consumer focus and mindset emerges an urgent need for emotionally intelligent leadership. Along with profitability, 21st century leaders must focus on environmental stewardship, equity and justice, employee retention, recruiting, collaboration, and emerging other key aspects of modern business.

From the Back Cover

Praise for SEEDING INNOVATION

"In Seeding Innovation, Robyn inspires readers with her data, action items and examples of industry changing leadership. With a call for courage, a strong compass and a gentle hand, she provides informed guidance for 21st century business leaders."
--Rose Marcario, former CEO of Patagonia, Board of Directors, Rivian

"I do not know of an author who has a broader vision when it comes to connecting the systemic breakdowns we are witnessing and who can reconnect us to techniques and pathways that restore our love for each other and our home, the planet."
-- Paul Hawken, American environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, economist, and activist

"Stop and read my friend Robyn O'Brien's Seeding Innovation. She'll inspire you to embrace how protecting the planet and turning a profit have become inseparable elements of the deal flow we desperately need to have a world worth living in. And there's a decent chance she'll reroute you to a purpose-driven life."
--Ken Cook, President, EWG

"Robyn O'Brien's wise and infallible moral compass always points us towards a better world. I'll go anywhere she leads."
--Katherine Center, New York Times bestselling author

"In a world where businesses are increasingly judged not only by their financial performance but also by their impact on the planet and society, Robyn O'Brien's Seeding Innovation stands as a timely and essential guide for investors and 21st century innovators seeking to make a meaningful difference."
-- Don Wakamatsu, Former Seattle Mariners Manager and Founder of The WakWay Foundation

"Finally, a book, Seeding Innovation that creates a real guide for practical and tangible innovation and change from the old, outdated limited measurements of GDP and capitalism. Robyn paves the way through her brilliance and expertise to help create a new and expanded lens of how we move forward here and now, together with greater purpose and impact in business and how we live on this planet."
-- Darin Olien, Author and Emmy Award Winning Host of Down to Earth with Zac Efron

About the Author

ROBYN O'BRIEN is a partner at Montcalm, an impact investment firm that blends personal empowerment and planetary integrity. She is a 4x founder, most recently co-founding Sirona Ventures and rePlant Capital, financial services firms scaling climate solutions. She is also on the Forbes Impact 50 List, the founder of Do Good Consulting, AllergyKids Foundation, and a board member of other NGOs in food, energy, and agriculture.