Heroic Companies: Innovation that Matters to the World

By Jamie Daves on October 26, 2009

Steve Pearlstein interview with HBS Professor Rosabeth Kanter

Steve Pearlstein, the respected business journalist from The Washington Post has a terrific interview series titled “On Leadership.”  One of the best interviews in the series to date – and one of the most on point for City Light Capital – was a recent interview with Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Kanter.  Dr. Kanter has a new book out entitled “SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovations, Profits, Growth, and Social Good” and this interview covers a number of topics central to the City Light investment thesis.

In the interview she discusses the competitive advantages that “SuperCorps” gain from focusing on innovations that solve big social and environmental challenges and leveraging a focus on problem solving and strong corporate values to attract the most talented employees searching for meaning in their work.

At City Light, we are certainly experiencing firsthand through our operations and those of our portfolio companies that the companies that tackle the most pressing challenges attract the best people and partners.  We welcome rigorous, research-based contributions like Dr. Kanter’s to the field and hope to do out part in adding more early stage companies to the list of SuperCorps transforming our world for the better.

Look for more posts about Dr. Kanter’s work and from the outstanding “On Leadership” series of The Washington Post.