Davis Smith explains the ultimate scale and impact potential of Cotopaxi as a benefit corporation to Guy Raz.
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Bain Capital tied Cotopaxi executive bonuses to social impact metrics
“The first thing that they did was they tied our bonuses, our compensation as leaders in the company to our impact work.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cotopaxi reached profitability in 2020 and grew revenue 90% in 2022
“We ended up having our first profitable year in 2020, and it was significantly profitable. And it allowed us to pay those bonuses to our team. And then in 20, 21, we grew a little over 60%. And then in 20, 22, we grew over 90, about 90%.”
Disclosure
Smith: Cotopaxi decided to transition to remote-first forever in August 2020
“And all of a sudden, you know, in August of twenty-twenty, we made the decision, we're remote first forever.”
Disclosure
Smith: Cotopaxi no longer needs to raise venture capital
“Over the last two years, our focus has really been on becoming sustainable and profitable, and we've made some amazing progress, and we're finally to the point where we don't have to raise more venture capital moving forward.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Cotopaxi avoided 2020 layoffs via temporary pay cuts repaid with bonuses
“Instead of doing layoffs, we decided to cut our executive salaries in a pretty significant way, and we cut everyone's pay by 10% for three months, and then we cut it down to five percent for the rest of the year, and then by the end of the year, we ended up gi…”
Assertion Supported
Cotopaxi hired former Eddie Bauer CEO Damien Huang as president in 2022
“We just hired the CEO of Eddie Bauer, joined our team last year as the president, Damien Wong.”