“We cashed in our savings because we believed in our idea,” says bambu co-founder and owner Jeff Delkin. “Now, we’re a start-up within a start-up. Others have followed our lead, replicated our products. But people can’t easily replicate our passion and execution.”

Jeff Delkin and Rachel Speth, founders of bambu eco-friendly homewares, have built a company around a larger mission to reduce our reliance on plastic by providing people with natural alternatives. Jeff and Rachel are both from Portland, but their previous, corporate careers — Jeff in advertising with Ogilvy and Rachel in product development and corporate responsibility at Nike — took them throughout Asia to live in Taiwan, southern China, and Thailand. These new settings introduced them to a world of renewable, native resources. They quickly became enamored with bamboo as a material and its range of uses in daily life.

You’ve built this great purpose-driven business, have nurtured a strong culture and now for any number of reasons you’re contemplating a transaction, looking for capital or thinking of selling your business. You’re concerned.  You’ve heard the horror stories of unaligned buyers and investors and what became of the business after the deal.  Unfortunately, your concerns are well founded.  The research suggests that more than 70% of business combinations never meet their financial expectations.  Success with private equity is equally as elusive.  None of this is encouraging, so how do you find a solution that works? 

Earlier this year, we celebrated the launch of our inaugural Small Giants Journey, a 3-year, transformative experience for leaders of values-driven organizations. Journeyers (the name we coined for Journey participants) learn alongside an intimate cohort of like-minded leaders. The program works to strengthen a leader’s practice of the six qualities of a Small Giant, institutionalizing strategies for growing their organizations with purpose, and resulting in a Small Giant designation for their company.

 May 16th - 19th, 2017, more than 150 leaders took to Detroit for our annual gathering of values-driven leaders. #SGCSummit2017 immersed participants in two full days packed with interactive workshops, authentic, engaging panels, and honest storytelling from practitioners in our Long Story Short talks.

 Our annual Summit is a unique, relationship-based experience, defined by a shared spirit of meaningful networking, vulnerability, and connection. A picture’s worth a thousands words - check out our photo gallery of the Summit in action, courtesy of Rooney & Company.