Profit and purpose – Balancing short-term imperatives with long-term sustainability goals

Business is an incredibly powerful force – how do you use it for good? 

How do you balance ambitious social impact targets with the realities of day-to-day operations? 

For Adam McCurdie, co-founder of social enterprise ticketing platform Humanitix, creating social impact was the priority from day one. How was he going to change the world? By starting a software company with a difference: one where he and his co-founder have no exit plan, and the profits go to charities around the world.  

But that’s not the only way to do well and do good. For Tristan Harris, the co-CEO of Harris Farm Markets, social impact evolved from a successful business model. After building a devoted consumer base that wanted more ethically produced products, Tristan realised he could make decisions that were good for the planet – and he could do this much faster than bigger competitors. And for Frances Atkins, the CEO of Givvable, long-term, ‘big picture thinking’ shaped the start up’s purpose. 

If you want to dive deeper into the business of profit and purpose, listen to previous episodes of The Business Of featuring Adam McCurdie, Tristan Harris and Frances Atkins. 

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The Business Of podcast is brought to you by the University of New South Wales Business School, produced with Deadset Studios.  

The transcript and show notes can be found on our website here. 

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