Alain de Botton & Anne-Marie Huby: How to do good, better

Nov 17, 2020

In this live episode, hosted by Alex Depledge, Anne-Marie Huby and Alain de Botton discuss the benefits of building for-profit companies for social good, the role of government in social good, and the challenges faced by charities. They also explore the anxiety around capitalism and the importance of identifying market gaps for new businesses to make a positive impact. Thought-provoking topics include reimagining the honor system in business and the different behaviors and motivations of investors and founders.

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Pet Peeves, Bad Internet, and the Importance of People in Business

20:23 • 3min

The Anxiety Around Capitalism and Identifying Market Gaps

23:02 • 18min

The Role of Government and Private Enterprise in Social Good

40:53 • 11min

Security Certifications, Startup Track Record, and Saving Money on SaaS and Cloud Spend

51:25 • 3min

Reimagining the Honor System in Business

54:45 • 8min

Different Behaviors of Investors and Founders

01:02:22 • 4min

With host Dan Murray laid up in hospital, this special live episode is hosted by none other than the feisty, joyous force of nature, Resi founder, Alex Depledge.

“We have a foundation at Resi that does pro bono work for architecture. People look at me a little bit sceptical, like, what's the motivation? You can't really earn a profit and do good at the same time. So why is building a for profit company better for society than building a charity?”

Alex, alongside special guests Anne-Marie Huby of Just Giving and Alain de Botton of School of Life, discuss social enterprise, building for profit companies for good, and the question of whether this does or doesn't make more of an impact on society than charities.

“When you think of the size of the charity sector, which in this country is commendably big, but you look at the wider overall economy, it stands to reason that if we want to live in a more fulfilling, equal, decent society, we're going to have to attend to what companies do.”

Both of our guests, Anne-Marie and Alain, share their motivations for why they chose to create their businesses as for profits, rather than as charities, and spoiler alert, it’s not all about financial gain.

“A business that wants to achieve good and make money has a double role, a business that merely wants to make money has a single mission. It's much harder to be a so-called good capitalist, because you're trying to hit two targets. You’ve got to work doubly hard.”

Inspirational and insightful, this is another cracking, not-to-be-missed live episode.

We chat about:

Churches don't have the monopoly on doing good
Good capitalism v bad capitalism
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
The core issues with building charities
How can we make capitalism work
The effective altruism movement

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