Purpose Ventures

Together with a network of Purpose Companies the Purpose Foundation aims to create the strongest possible impact for a paradigm shift - From an economy of private wealth maximization to an economy that serves people, society and our planet. Our approach is to create bottom-up change by challenging one of the fundamental paradigms of capitalism and the economic system: The conception of company ownership and private property. We understand company ownership as trusteeship and responsibility for a purpose, not as the right to extract limitless profits on a trajectory of endless growth. The Purpose Foundation helps founders, entrepreneurs and owners to build companies that reject short-termism and profit maximisation at high costs to humanity and the environment. Purpose companies adopt an innovative ownership structure that makes the company self-owned and ensures that it remains independent and mission-driven for the long run. To this end two principles are enshrined in the company statutes: (1) voting rights are always held by people who work in the company rather than outside investors and (2) profits are treated as means to an end, not an end in itself. The Purpose foundation - or a comparable organization - receives a veto-share and has an obligation to veto any changes to the relevant sections of the statutes in the future. Thus Purpose companies can make a legally binding commitment to self-ownership. Creating a network of steward-owned companies that commit to those two principles has the potential to change our assumptions about what ownership means. This paradigm shift will reduce the concentration of power and capital and remove the dominant role of capital in corporate decision making, which has led to irresponsible business practices and strong incentives to do environmental harm.