"A well-written and informative business book that provides valuable tips and background for anyone interested in starting up or managing a socially conscious company. Recommended for all business collections."—Library Journal "Companies on a Mission brings academic rigor to the age-old notion of 'going well by doing good.' Mission-driven companies succeed, as Mike Russo makes crystal clear in this compelling book, not just because their missions make them greener, but because they make them better. They create quality products, garner a fanatical following, and engender innovation, passion, and fun for employees and customers alike. What could be a better model for business?"—Joel Makower, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com, and author, Strategies for the Green Economy "A highly informative and extremely well-written analysis of the creation and growth of ecologically and socially minded firms. What makes Russo's book particularly valuable is his balanced assessment of both the opportunities and the risks that enterprises face in trying to combine social and environmental accountability and survival in the marketplace. While focusing on small firms, the lessons it offers are relevant to all businesses seeking to position themselves and their products as eco-friendly and/or socially responsible."—David Vogel, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley "Mission-driven companies continue to grow in number and are moving from a small niche into the mainstream. The time is right for an analysis of these firms and their approaches to business. In Companies on a Mission, Michael Russo documents both the direct economic benefits of taking a mission-driven approach and the intangible benefits of brand value, product positioning, customer satisfaction, and more. Full of stories about well- and lesser-known companies, this book will give any business reader—from entrepreneurs to managers in big corporations—take-away points to transform their businesses into profitable, mission-driven enterprises."—Andrew Winston, author of Green Recovery and co-author of Green to Gold "True innovation comes from the fringes—from smaller players running rings around incumbents. After focusing for decades on corporate Goliaths, we need to investigate and support entrepreneurial Davids. Russo shows how mission-driven companies think, act, and cluster—and, critically, explains how we can help them jump to the next level." —John Elkington, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Volans Ventures, co-founder of Environmental Data Services and SustainAbility, and co-author of The Power of Unreasonable People