Alan Newman, co-founder of Seventh Generation, describes the management philosophy behind the unconventional workplace culture he established at the company.
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Newman: My co-founder fired me by letter while I was on sabbatical
“I didn't know until I sent an email or a letter or however we communicated in those days
Saying, okay, getting ready to come back, why don't we get together and let me talk about some of the ideas that I have put together that I'd love to start implementing, a…”
Insight
Newman: Eco-friendly products must sell on personal benefit, not just environment
“And this is really where I personally learned that you really need to sell from benefit, not feature. You know, the feature that you're saving the environment, yeah, that was nice, but it was only good after you passed the what's in it for me.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Newman: The Gulf War crashed our daily orders from 1,500 to 100
“When the Gulf war started, everybody turned on their television and was glued to the television. And our, we went from, I seem to remember 12 to 1500 orders a day down to less than a hundred.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Newman: I held up the IPO until Seventh Generation bought out my shares
“If you really want to solve this problem, you need to buy me out. And that's when that's when I got paid out.”
Opinion
Newman: Hollender was brilliant in turning Seventh Generation around
“I think what Jeffrey did with the business after I left was in many ways, brilliant, you know, certainly deserves a lot of credit for taking this concept and this fledgling business who was really down on its luck and finding the way”
Prediction Open · timeframe Jan 2024
Newman: It makes me sad that Magic Hat probably won't survive much longer
“I was watching Magic Hat, you know, tank, and, you know, it's continuing to tank, and it's probably not going to make it much longer, and it made me really sad to realize that that's not living in my legacy.”