Eric Ries, creator of The Lean Startup and author of Incorruptible, joins Ryan Honeyman for a conversation about why B Corp certification and benefit corporation status are no longer enough to protect a company’s mission over time. Drawing from both mainstream tech and business worlds and purpose-driven examples like Patagonia, Tony’s Chocolonely, and Mondragon, Eric explores how financial pressure, governance defaults, and ownership structures can pull even good companies off course. Together, they discuss what B Corps can do to design companies that remain accountable to stakeholders for 50, 100, or even more years into the future.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/how-b-corps-become-incorruptible-w/-eric-ries

What happens when a values-driven business movement tries to scale without losing its soul? In this episode, Ryan and Emmy speak with Todd Schifeling and Suntae Kim about their research (and article in the Harvard Business Review) about the “paradox” at the heart of the B Corp movement—balancing growth with authenticity. They explore why this tension is unavoidable, how B Lab has navigated it so far, and what it means for the future of the movement.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/the-paradox-at-the-heart-of-b-corps-w/-todd-schifeling-suntae-kim

The B Corp movement stands at a critical inflection point, with growing urgency to move beyond certification and toward true systems change in business and society. Marcello Palazzi, civic economist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of B Lab Europe, joins Ryan Honeyman to reflect on the evolution of the B Corp movement and what it will take to realize its original ambitions.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/can-b-corps-still-change-the-system-w/-marcello-palazzi

Ryan Honeyman and Emmy Allison speak with Corey Lien about the original promise of the B Corp movement, what it meant to build B Lab Taiwan in the early days, and why the movement now feels more fragmented and uncertain. Corey reflects on authenticity, interdependence, and the tension between certification as a tool and movement as the larger purpose. Together, they explore whether this is a moment for reinvention or a return to the deeper “why” that first animated business as a force for good.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/reclaiming-the-why-behind-b-corp-w/-corey-lien

Ryan Honeyman and Emmy Allison speak with Rooney Castle, President and CEO of Rhino Foods, about what it actually means to lead in a way that reflects an organization's values. Rooney shares how Rhino Foods has built a culture you can feel from the moment you walk through the door, through consistent small gestures, deep proximity to employees across all shifts, and a commitment to shared responsibility rather than centralized authority. The conversation explores how living your values is less about charisma or positional power and more about showing up consistently, listening carefully, and using whatever influence you have to elevate the voices of others.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/beyond-certification-what-living-b-corp-values-actually-looks-like-w/-rooney-castle

Ready or not, a new B Corp era has begun. Former B Lab standards analyst Jeffrey Stewart joins us to unpack what Version 2 means in practice. We discuss AI-enabled audits, mandatory documentation, digital audit platforms, major versus minor nonconformities, the shift to a five-year certification cycle, and more. If your company is preparing for recertification or trying to understand how European regulation and third-party auditors are reshaping the movement, this conversation provides expert insight.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/ready-or-not-a-new-b-corp-era-begins-w/-jeffrey-stewart

In this resurfaced 2019 conversation, Ryan Honeyman speaks with Vincent Stanley, Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, about what it really takes to operationalize values at scale. The discussion covers KPIs, pricing, materials, fair trade labor, transparency, repair, and the internal systems Patagonia uses to stay accountable as it grows. Vincent also explains how Patagonia’s benefit corporation structure, reporting tools, and employee practices translate purpose into day-to-day decisions.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/patagonia-case-study-4-of-4-operations

This resurfaced 2019 conversation with Patagonia’s Vincent Stanley remains one of the most replayed episodes in our archive because it offers a grounded look at how culture, strategy, and operations work inside a company that has shaped the global conversation on responsible business. In part three of our four part series, Vincent reflects on Patagonia’s evolution, its approach to marketing and activism, its expansions into film, food, and impact investing, and how the company has navigated questions of authenticity for decades. He also shares how the B Impact Assessment influenced Patagonia’s decisions and what the future looks like as the next generation leads.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/patagonia-case-study-3-of-4-strategy