Patagonia

“We're not gonna sell out. We're not gonna go public, and so it's good business.”

“So we were our own customer, and I think that was the secret of coming out with products that, a lot of the products people didn't even know they wanted or needed.”

“I have probably 70% women working for me. I have women in all upper management, and I don't wanna lose them.”

“In fact, my accountant introduced me to some mafia guys who wanted to loan me some money at 18% interest, which I turned down, but what saved us is, is we got some personal loans from some friends and pretty much Fired some management that got us into this pro…”

“If I get an idea, I immediately take a step forward and see how that feels. If it feels good, I take another step. If it feels bad, I step back. You know, it's different than people with a scientific view where they think everything out to the nth degree befor…”

“I take off from June until November. I'm gone. I got a place in Jackson Hole, and I go fishing every day, and I call in maybe three times in the five months that I'm gone.”

“In fact, our advertising budget is one half of one percent of sales, and so I wait for the customer to tell us how much to make.”

“And I'm not interested in, in coming out with a line of inexpensive clothes.”

“In fact, we've got a truck that's going around the country, repairing people's clothes, no matter whether they're Patagonia or not.”

“If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. Because they're saying, you know, this sucks, I'm going to do it my own way”

“In fact, we now have the largest garment repair center in North America.”

“So despite the fact that endless growth may not be Ivan Chouinard's thing, Patagonia reportedly did three quarters of a billion dollars in sales last year. Their best year ever.”

“He never took a penny of investment, by the way. He still owns a hundred percent of the company.”

“I've had other companies come to me and say, oh, I love that idea. I think I'll institute it in my company. I say, forget it. You'll fail. Because you have to start with the very first person you hire.”

“If you wait for the customer to tell you what to do, you're too late. So we were our own customer, and I think that was the secret of coming out with products that a lot of the products people didn't even know they wanted or needed.”

“He never took a penny of investment, by the way. He still owns a hundred percent of the company.”

“And I'm not interested in, in coming out with a line of inexpensive clothes.”

“We're not gonna sell out. We're not gonna go public.”

“And you know, I've had other companies come to me and say, oh, I love that idea. I think I'll institute it in my company. I say, forget it. You'll fail. Because you have to start with the very first person you hire.”

“In fact, we now have the largest garment repair center in North America.”

“We, in fact, our advertising budget is one half of one percent of sales, and so I wait for the customer to tell us how much to make.”

“You know, I take off from June until November. I'm gone. I got a place in Jackson Hole, and I go fishing every day, and I call in maybe three times in the five months that I'm gone.”

“I mean, I have probably 70% women working for me. I have women in all upper management.”

“And in fact, that's why the faster a business grows, the faster it dies also.”

“Patagonia reportedly did three quarters of a billion dollars in sales last year. Their best year ever.”

“We made a list of if we had been founders of XYZ company, what would it have been? And it was telling because It wasn't a bunch of Silicon Valley companies. I don't think there was, I mean, maybe, maybe we put Apple on there. I can't remember, but otherwise it…”

“I could say, I'm gonna be carbon neutral, and you're gonna pay an extra 10 bucks for every unit of clothing in our stores, and because how consumerism works, and how markets works, and economies work, it would be a very, ah, noble thing to do, but you wouldn't…”

“One of our first cold calls was from Patagonia, and they have a take-back program where you can come in with a Patagonia garment that's used, it doesn't matter how old, it'll give you some value for it, and then they try to resell it. Or they'll even try to re…”

“We're studying that right now, actually. And, you know, we've looked at things like what Patagonia has done, and, you know, they become kind of this poster child a little bit for this idea of the purpose, trust.”