Nathan Stuck: What it Takes to Become a ‘B Corp’

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nathan Stuck, an award-winning leader in the B Corp community and the Founder & CEO of Profitable Purpose Consulting, a culture and impact consultancy that helps companies certify as B Corporations. He also founded and chairs B Local Georgia, a non-profit dedicated to growing the number of purpose-driven businesses in the Peach State.
Nathan teaches an experiential MBA course on B Corps at the University of Georgia and serves on the board of B Academics, a non-profit committed to research and experiential B Corp learning opportunities around the world.
As of March 2023, the latest available data indicates that there are over 6,435 B Corporations in over 159 industries and 88 countries worldwide. The number of certified B Corps are steadily increasing with the largest growing number in the US. 48% of all B Corps are publicly traded companies and B Corp employs half a million workers worldwide.
On this episode the pair discuss: Why Nathan decided to focus his attention on B Corps, what does B Corp mean, why does B Corp movement matter, and what does it take to become a B Corp?
KEY TAKEAWAYS

• I always knew I wanted to work in business since high school, later I got an international business degree. By 2012 my career was going pretty well but I went through two lay-offs in six months in 2013. Then I tried to figure out what I was going to do next in my early 30s. I was working gig jobs while waiting to start an MBa and saw a lot of other people doing the same while trying to raise families and there was no hope. It was eye-opening to see what capitalism had become. I discovered B Corp in the second year of my MBa and the sky opened, and the angels started singing, and I realised I’d found my business community of people who believed in using business as a force for good in society.
• I’d invested so much in myself: late nights, early mornings, things that I didn’t get paid for, but I paid in time, equity, tears, sweat. I was finally starting to see the reward and I decided it would make a good book. It had to sound like me, I make fun of myself and talk about the stupid things I’ve done in my life, jobs that I took, times when I failed miserably, stretching outside of my comfort zone not well. I didn’t want it to be like every other business book where “I’m the most successful human being ever born”, this is more: “I’m just like you, I’ve had a bunch of jobs that I didn’t like and here’s how to hopefully come out of all of that prepared for opportunities.”
• B Corps are for-profit businesses with a certification that is a lot like LEAN for a building – an outside non-profit comes in and looks at the business holistically: How transparent you are, your corporate governance, your workers, what kinds of benefits you offer, your pay multiplier from top to bottom paid employee, what leave you offer for parents and caregivers, your community impact, your environmental footprint, and your policies for your customers. It scores you out of 80 and validates that.
• As soon as Gen Z and Millennials found their voices they got together to say business as usual isn’t working for everybody.  They’re fed up with why things aren’t more equitable, why we’ve allowed the status quo to continue when the status quo doesn’t work, and how do we leverage the business community to solve some of  society’s biggest problems? 

BEST MOMENTS
‘It isn’t necessarily capitalism that’s evil, it’s what we’ve let it become. There’s a whole community of business leaders, owners, and changemakers that are trying to change the world through business.’
‘It’s fun to see where you’ve come from, and what you’ve faced, and how you overcame it. A lot of times it’s those moments that unlock the opportunity to find happiness and your purpose in life.’
‘Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.’
‘I like Mondays so much that I start working on Sunday.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Nathan is an award-winning leader in the B Corp community and the Founder & CEO of Profitable Purpose Consulting, a culture and impact consultancy that helps companies certify as B Corporations. He also founded and chairs B Local Georgia, a non-profit dedicated to growing the number of purpose-driven businesses in the Peach State. 

He has appeared on multiple podcasts, spoken at events across the country, and hosts the Be the Change Georgia podcast. 

His first book, Happy Monday: Designing Your Career with Purpose, came out earlier this year.

Website: https://www.profitablepurposeconsulting.com/ 

ABOUT THE HOST

There are over 140,000 FinTech ventures out there, including FinTechs, InsurTechs, HealthTechs, and WealthTechs. And the number keeps on changing every month. One statistic remains the same: 25% of these ventures have received investment and support from the financing world. 75% of these businesses still seek financing support from institutional and corporate investors alongside value-creating commercial collaboration opportunities with Global Fortune 500. 

Through this podcast series, I would like to demystify the world of corporate venturing, including how corporations collaborate with growth ventures, how venture capitalists and corporate venture capitalists make investment and collaboration choices in ventures and give tech founders and entrepreneurs, the strategies, tactics, tools, and techniques to build, grow and scale their business by understanding how those with financing power think. So, listen in, share and comment as you see fit.

Twitter: SabineVdL
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