Rob Schuham and John Bielenberg, COMMON: The New Industrialists

When corporate profits rival the GDP of certain nations, don’t multi-billion dollar corporations have some sort of societal obligation to fultfill? John Bielenberg and Rob Schuham discussed a new kind of capitalism, at thePSFK CONFERENCE SAN FRANCISCO, that creates a more collaborative, responsible economy that still turns a substantial profit. Their solution is COMMON, the collaborative brand for products, businesses and shared-value communities.

Under this large brand umbrella, hundreds of companies and products can make the commitment to work for social good. Billed as an ‘open-source living network for a new brand of capitalism,’ John and Rob are redefining how we think about contemporary economics, and the anatomy of a company.

Points of note from John and Rob’s talk:

• Under the Common brand, scaling social good takes on a new dimension beyond local bamboo bikes and towards creatively reclaiming materials on a national scale.
• Common allows young creative people to do what they want, how they want, as a social venture.
• Working for the greater good can, and must be, fun like brands such as Nike or Virgin.
• Angel investors and venture capitalists have shown great interest in Common sponsored projects.