Insight
Chouinard says relying on customer feedback is too late for true innovation
“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.”
Insight
Chouinard claims the faster a business grows, the faster it dies
“And in fact, that's why the faster a business grows, the faster it dies also.”
Insight
Retrofitting radical workplace flexibility into existing companies is destined to fail
“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.”
Insight
Copying Patagonia's flexible work policy fails without early cultural buy-in
“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.”
Disclosure
Chouinard insists Patagonia will never sell out or go public
“We're not gonna sell out. We're not gonna go public.”
Insight
The faster a business grows, the faster it dies
“And in fact, that's why the faster a business grows, the faster it dies also.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Patagonia's advertising budget is only 0.5% of its total sales
“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.”
Disclosure
Patagonia will never sell out or become a publicly traded company
“We're not gonna sell out. We're not gonna go public, and so it's good business.”
Insight
To understand entrepreneurs, study juvenile delinquents who reject the status quo
“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”
Insight
Chouinard argues immediate iterative steps beat overthinking plans beforehand
“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…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Patagonia spends only 0.5% of its total sales on advertising
“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.”
Disclosure
Chouinard says Patagonia has no interest in producing inexpensive clothing lines
“And I'm not interested in, in coming out with a line of inexpensive clothes.”
Disclosure
Chouinard takes five months off yearly to fish, barely calling in
“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.”
Insight
Chouinard advises entrepreneurs to invent new categories rather than fight incumbents
“If you want to be successful in business, you don't go up against Coca-Cola and You know, these big companies there, they'll kill you. You just do it differently. You figure out something that no one else has thought about, and you do it a totally different wa…”
Insight
Entrepreneurs should learn by doing incrementally rather than through exhaustive planning
“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…”
Insight
Being your own target customer unlocks non-obvious product breakthroughs
“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.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chouinard rejected 18% loans from mafia figures during Patagonia's 1980s crisis
“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…”
Assertion Supported
Patagonia runs mobile trucks that repair damaged clothing from any brand
“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.”
Disclosure
Yvon Chouinard refuses to produce a line of inexpensive Patagonia clothing
“And I'm not interested in, in coming out with a line of inexpensive clothes.”
Disclosure
Chouinard takes five months off annually to fish, checking in thrice
“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.”
Assertion Supported
Chouinard's reusable climbing pitons cost 10x more than European competitors
“The European pitons were selling for 15 cents a piece, and mine were a dollar and a half.”
Assertion Supported
Chouinard's first company controlled 80% of US climbing hardware market
“We had 80% of the market.”
Disclosure
Chouinard's early equipment company ran on 1% profit, paying founders hourly
“We were making about one percent profit at the end of the year. We were basically paying ourselves by the hour.”
Assertion Supported
Chouinard: Patagonia operates North America's largest garment repair center
“In fact, we now have the largest garment repair center in North America.”
Yvon Chouinard