"Individuals, acting on deeply held beliefs and passion, are boldly imagining and bringing into existence a different world... Whether you're a business entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur, an investment entrepreneur, or an academic, artistic, or civil servant entrepreneur, devour this important and wise book."-From the Foreword by John Fullerton

Responsible entrepreneurs are a special breed, seeking to transform industries and even society itself. They challenge and refine cultural assumptions, laws, regulations, and even the processes of governance. This requires them to do and think far beyond what is usually required of business leaders.

The Responsible Entrepreneur offers a blueprint for this new kind of business leadership, describing the means by which any entrepreneur can pursue a higher order of work. In it, Carol Sanford, one of the most trusted names in responsible business development, brings her vast expertise in helping executives and corporations to the entrepreneur looking to launch and scale a venture. She maps this journey through four archetypes:

• The Realizing Entrepreneur: Industry Game-Changer
• The Reconnection Entrepreneur: Society Game-Changer
• The Reciprocity Entrepreneur: Culture Game-Changer
• The Regenerative Entrepreneur: Governance Game-Changer

By understanding the archetype most aligned with their goals, entrepreneurs will learn how to grow their business into a powerful platform that can leverage change, and even change the foundations that create our most pressing problems and issues. To illustrate these principles in action, The Responsible Entrepreneur features case studies based on long-term work and in-depth interviews with Google Innovation Labs, Indigenous Designs (the primary supplier for Eileen Fisher), FishPeople (who supply Costco and Google with gourmet seafood entrees), and many more.

For entrepreneurs seeking to pursue world-changing results, or impact investors looking to align their capital with their values, The Responsible Entrepreneur provides the frameworks to build a business and to evaluate and direct investments to create the greatest benefit for all stakeholders.

For anyone who wants to make a difference in the way businesses affect the world, The Responsible Entrepreneur lays out ways to make that aspiration focused and doable.

Praise for The Responsible Entrepreneur

"When I founded Joie De Vivre, I wanted to change an industry. You do that by connecting to the lives of people who buy from you. As Carol Sanford says, responsibility also starts with something big enough to change an industry that transforms people's lives. The stories and guidance in The Responsible Entrepreneur make responsibility come alive."
-Chip Conley, author, Emotional Equations and Peak; head of global hospitality, Airbnb; and founder, Joie de Vivre Hospitality

"If our society is not only to survive but also to flourish we will need a generation of entrepreneurs who are fully aware of the fragility, complexity, and interconnectedness of the world and committed to building outstandingly successful businesses. In this passionate and inspiring book, Carol Sanford presents the stories of a wide range of entrepreneurs who are mastering this tension, and presents an actionable road map for everyone who is determined to follow in their footsteps."
-Rebecca Henderson, John & Natty McArthur University Professor and cochair, Business & Environment Initiative, Harvard Business School

"Through Seventh Generation's work with Carol Sanford, we learned the value of systems thinking, and her frameworks made us a more effective business and helped me become a better values-based leader. The approach in The Responsible Entrepreneur makes it possible for people in our company to be more conscious and work from a commitment to a higher set of values."
-Jeffrey Hollender, founder, Sustain; cofounder, Seventh Generation; and coauthor, The Responsibility Revolution

"Graduate students aspire to make big changes in the world and strongly prefer to create their own path forward. Carol Sanford speaks directly to the current generation. She gives lessons and inspiration on finding the uniqueness in themselves to play a large role in the world. The Responsible Entrepreneur contains powerful stories, half from female entrepreneurs who have contributed to a better world, as well as stories of women of color. It is perfectly suited to the new generation of entrepreneurs and the people who coach and teach them."
-Kellie A. McElhaney, Whitehead Faculty Fellow, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and author, Just Good Business

"Carol Sanford says this book is about being responsible, and it is-but The Responsible Entrepreneur is also about being courageous. I dare you to read it and implement the bold, useful advice."
-Chris Guillebeau, author, The $100 Startup

"The Responsible Entrepreneur is for people who create enterprises that create good work in the world. Carol Sanford, an extremely experienced member of that movement, has written a book that puts its leading figures in context, and helps you realize that you're in it with them."
-Art Kleiner, editor-in-chief, strategy+business, and author, The Age of Heretics