Why are we in business? (And by the way—what business are we really in?) Almost every company would acknowledge that it is in business to make money so that it can stay in business. But most companies, if you trace their origins, were started for more complex reasons than that. Many of the companies featured in this book—Patagonia, W. L. Gore, Nike, Airbnb, Panera, Netflix—started out on a quest to fill an unmet need, to make some aspect of our lives a bit easier, more convenient, more enjoyable. Most good companies are born trying to answer a question and solve a problem, which provides an
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