13. The most exciting shift in corporate thought

A key theme you would have found at SXSW2019 is how corporations are increasingly looking to how their social impact is part of their identity. The degree of movement and the openness of thought on display was often inspiring, and on Saturday morning was one of the most inspiring sessions.

You can find out more of the themes of each speaker in future posts, but the headline is that they were Viveka Hulyaker, a founder of Beam, an app startup that helps customers contribute socially as part of the buying process, Marcus Byrd from Dos Toros, a restaurant chain that has giving back as part of its core identity, and Helena Hounsell, from Brandless, a company that provides quality products without the associated costs of big name brands. The session was moderated by the fabulous Jessica Santana from New York on Tech.

The bottom line of the session was how profoundly giving affects the bottom line. All of these organisations are enthused about how giving themselves, and helping customers to give, makes them who they are. More about them all later.