Tech Crunch reported today on a new seed fund, Collaborative Fund, based in Los Angeles. Every good venture capital fund has a specialized focus that explains the technologies and/or market segments where their capital will be invested. Collaborative is planning to invest in companies where the "brand means something". In other words, values are used as a competitive advantage. Collaborative cites two companies, Zappos and Honest Tea, as examples where values are a significant part of the brand message.
Zappos, the customer service fanatics, and Honest Tea, known for "truly" healthy organic beverages, appear to me to just be well run companies that consistently communicate a clear message that appeals to today's customers. In other words, clear communication of a "good" message appears to represent value for Collaborative. There seems to be something missing in these examples.
I think that Collaborative would have better explained value if they had cited TOMS Shoes and Better World Books. Both of these companies clearly communicate a concept of value in a truly substantive way. TOMS gives a free pair of shoes to a needy person for every pair of shoes they sell and BWB devotes a significant part of the cash flow from book sales to alleviating illiteracy in Africa. These social activities bound into a brand message are what I think of when I define "values".
