Weekend Briefing No. 604
Stakeholder Capitalism's Death -- The 2-hour School Day -- CRISPR's Personalized Medicine Revolution
Welcome to the weekend.
When I received this issue of Fast Company and saw that the cover read How Business For Good Went Bad, it immediately caught my attention. I'm featuring that cover story as the top article of the briefing below because it captures something important about where we are right now. But I wanted to share my reaction as someone who has championed stakeholder capitalism throughout my career—including in my book Profit & Purpose published over a decade ago.
I watched the period from 2017 to 2020 with both surprise and cautious optimism. The rapid mainstreaming of ideas that had long existed on the margins felt almost surreal. Suddenly, concepts that sustainability advocates and social entrepreneurs had been developing for decades were dominating boardroom conversations and investor presentations. While I was heartened to see these ideals gain widespread acceptance, there was something unsettling about how quickly corporate America embraced what had previously been considered fringe thinking.
The critique that followed was predictable and, in many ways, fair. The right correctly identified performative "wokeness" where companies pursued social media applause rather than operational change. The left accurately called out greenwashing where environmental commitments existed mainly in marketing materials rather than supply chains. What troubled me most was how the movement's rapid adoption created a culture where companies received credit simply for making the right statements or setting ambitious targets, regardless of whether they were doing the hard work of actually integrating stakeholder considerations into their business models. This performative aspect, combined with overpromising and underdelivering, likely set the movement back by years and gave ammunition to critics who were already skeptical of capitalism's capacity for self-reform.
Despite this setback, stakeholder capitalism remains not just relevant but inevitable for the future of business. The fundamental forces driving consumer expectations, employee demands, and regulatory pressure haven't disappeared—they've simply gone underground during the current backlash cycle. Many of us who were in our twenties and early thirties when this movement kicked off were brimming with optimism and a true belief that our generation was going to change the world. It turns out that as we enter our mid-forties, thinking about our own kids' futures, we're just as complicated as every other generation. Some have become cynical—including many journalists covering this beat. I've personally had to mourn the loss of that utopian ideal and come out the other side still believing in the power of business to do good, but my view is much more practical than idealistic now.
The companies that will ultimately succeed are those willing to do the unglamorous work of aligning profit and purpose in their actual operations, making real tradeoffs between short-term gains and long-term stakeholder value. This means accepting lower margins to pay living wages, investing in cleaner but more expensive production methods, or sacrificing growth opportunities that conflict with stated values. It's difficult, complex work that requires genuine commitment rather than clever messaging. But for those companies willing to embrace these constraints as competitive advantages rather than burdens, stakeholder capitalism will prove to be not just morally superior, but strategically essential in the decades ahead.
Prime Numbers
700,000,000 — Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, the world's largest fast food chain, sells 700 million ice cream cones annually at 40 cents each as loss leaders, deliberately losing money to drive customers toward 35 profitable menu items.
55 — The Beatles remain the world's biggest band 55 years after breaking up, having sold 74.1 million albums in the U.S. since 1991 tracking began—more than any other musical act during a period when the band wasn't even active.
14 — Speed cameras in New York City school zones reduced crashes by 14% and speeding tickets by 75 percent, adding to mounting evidence that automated traffic enforcement effectively improves road safety despite occasional motorist complaints.
Stakeholder Capitalism's Death
Stakeholder capitalism didn't die from political assassination—it committed suicide through its own contradictions and empty promises. What began as a genuine movement to balance profit with purpose devolved into performative corporate theater that satisfied neither shareholders nor stakeholders. CEOs who boldly proclaimed the death of traditional capitalism found themselves trapped between activist investors demanding returns and communities expecting real change beyond virtue signaling. The movement's collapse reveals that sustainable business transformation requires systemic restructuring, not just inspiring mission statements and PR campaigns. Fast Company (7 minutes)
The 2-hour School Day
Most education disruption attempts fail because they're led by people who succeeded within the system they're trying to change. Joe Liemandt hated school, dropped out of Stanford to build a billion-dollar AI company, then spent decades in stealth mode perfecting technology that could make his partner MacKenzie Price's "2 hours of learning beats 6 hours of traditional school" vision scalable to every child on Earth. Their Alpha School students consistently test in the top 1% nationally while spending only two hours daily on academics, the rest devoted to workshops like climbing 40-foot rock walls, running 5Ks, and passing Wharton MBA simulations. Liemandt's new product Timeback combines AI tutoring, vision monitoring, and gamification to create what he calls "aristocratic tutoring" for the masses—potentially ending the 200-year reign of the factory-model classroom. Colossus (29 minutes)
AI for Tax Advice?
The new tax year is fast approaching, and with it comes a massive wave of information to sort through. AI has emerged as a powerful tool to help analyze vast amounts of data and can quickly identify potential deductions you might have overlooked or alert you to new rules that apply to your situation, giving you a comprehensive view of your tax landscape. While AI can be a game-changer for its speed and analytical power, it's essential to understand its role. Think of it as a highly skilled research assistant, not a replacement for a human professional. AI can help you gather and organize your information; however, it can’t provide nuanced, personal advice that comes from a certified tax professional who understands your unique financial goals and long-term strategy. That’s where TaxFrame comes in. They have professionals who can help with personalized strategies for your taxes. Click on the link to book a call. TaxFrame (Sponsored)
CRISPR's Personalized Medicine Revolution
Most genetic diseases affect too few patients to justify traditional drug development economics, leaving families trapped in medical dead ends. The new Center for Pediatric CRISPR Cures in San Francisco will create custom gene therapies for individual children with rare Mendelian disorders, building on the successful treatment of baby KJ who was cured of a life-threatening metabolic condition. With $20 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the center plans to treat eight children initially while working toward FDA recognition of CRISPR as a platform technology that could dramatically reduce approval times and costs. The center will share all regulatory documentation and clinical data openly, potentially transforming how rare disease treatments are developed and accessed globally. Nature (4 minutes)
Hidden Working Poor
What if being a "race car" professional still leaves you choosing between soil for tomatoes and food for dinner? Despite juggling multiple skilled roles as a private investigator, emergency management coordinator, and freelance writer, financial survival requires constant creativity—from watering down cream to make it last longer to declining social invitations with fabricated emergencies. The gig economy's 85% growth since 2022 reflects a harsh reality where nearly 25% of Canadians struggle with basic living standards despite regular employment, as traditional career paths crumble under stagnant wages and soaring costs. Success becomes redefined as simply avoiding financial collapse while maintaining the exhausting performance of middle-class stability through thrift store finds and strategic social deflection. Maclean’s (12 minutes)
Winners Take Shortcuts
What if the people you admire for their "willpower" are actually just better at avoiding situations that require willpower in the first place? High achievers consistently engineer their environments to make success feel effortless rather than grinding through resistance—hiring personal trainers to come to their homes, using medication to control appetite, or restructuring their entire social circle to support their goals. The concept of willpower itself becomes a harmful myth that prevents people from seeking practical solutions, causing them to blame character defects instead of designing better systems for themselves. Success comes from maximizing leverage and minimizing friction, not from white-knuckling through obstacles that could be eliminated entirely through strategic thinking and resource allocation. Useful Fiction (8 minutes)
Women Shifting Left
The more equal societies become, the more men and women actually differ from each other in personality, preferences, and politics. While women have achieved educational and economic parity with men, young women have shifted dramatically leftward politically since 2014, creating the largest gender gap in political affiliation in 24 years. This paradox stems from evolutionary psychology: when societies remove constraints and provide freedom, underlying biological differences in traits like agreeableness and emotional stability emerge more clearly rather than disappearing. Understanding these persistent differences—rather than ignoring them—is key to designing institutions that work for both sexes and building a more cohesive society. City Journal (12 minutes)
Should We Work Together?
Hi! I’m Kyle. This newsletter is my passion project. When I’m not writing, I run a law firm that helps startups move fast without breaking things. Most founders want a trusted legal partner, but they hate surprise legal bills. At Westaway, we take care of your startup’s legal needs for a flat, monthly fee so you can control your costs and focus on scaling your business. If you’re interested, let’s jump on a call to see if you’re a good fit for the firm. Click here to schedule a one-on-one call with me.
Weekend Wisdom
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. - Winston Churchill