How Footwear Startup Allbirds is Decarbonizing Apparel | Cold Call

How Footwear Startup Allbirds is Decarbonizing Fashion | Cold Call 23 Aug 2023 --- In 2021, the footwear startup Allbirds was extending its product range into apparel and expanding beyond its online store to open more retail stores around the world. It was also freely sharing its know-how and material innovations with its competitors to try to scale its efforts to decarbonize fashion, by substituting natural materials for conventional petroleum-based materials and leather. But the company also had to find ways to remain differentiated, based on design and comfort. Harvard Business School professor Mike Toffel and Allbirds co-founder and co-CEO Joey Zwillinger discuss the growing environmental impact of the fashion industry and how the company managed the tension between advancing its environmental mission and staying ahead of competitors in the case, Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion. This episode originally aired on Cold Call on January 25, 2022 You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts: - HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2022/01/how-footwear-startup-allbirds-is-decarbonizing-fashion - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-footwear-startup-allbirds-is-decarbonizing-fashion/id1156646189?i=1000548941901 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6yV1HQLK0dGhkla5xvODdE?si=110173655b4c4352 - Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/89959207&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/89959207&deep_link_value=stitcher://episode/89959207 - Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2NvbGQtY2FsbA/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAxNi0wOS0xNjpjb2xkLWNhbGwuMDE2NQ?sa=X&ved=0CAIQuIEEahcKEwjg5tDZ9tyAAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLQ Series Description: Harvard Business School’s legendary case studies, distilled into podcast form. About Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 2:09 – Central Case Theme 4:17 – Footwear Industry’s Environmental Impact 5:39 – Allbirds’ Business Goals/Origins 11:12 – Pitching Allbirds to Investors 17:26 – Sustainability Throughout Allbirds’ Supply Chain 20:41 – Maintaining Competitive Advantage 25:36 – Allbirds’ Business Model as a Blueprint 27:35 – IPO 30:27 – Outro Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harv... https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_bus... Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #business #management #harvardbusinessschool Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices