No Guts No Glory

Insisting that the company must switch to organic cotton after learning of all the toxic chemicals used in regular cotton, Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, went a year without making a profit on the organic cotton products.  Eventually, the changeover has been profitable and growing steadily at a conservative rate.  But more importantly, it was the right thing to do, a concept that corporations don't get according to Chouinard.  "Corp. are weenies," he says.  "They are scared to death of everything.  My company exists to take those risks and prove that it's a good business."