Rebuilding the house of capitalism with Daniel Epstein
The Unreasonable Group says it wants to have the greatest impact possible on the world’s toughest challenges. It runs programs for growth stage entrepreneurs, it has a global network of partners, which includes Accenture, and it also operates an investment firm. Among its collaborators are a sustainable car company, a fusion energy group, and a London organisation growing crops underground.
In this episode of our regular DockPod podcast, Unreasonable Founder and CEO Daniel Epstein and Human Insights Lab director Claire Carroll discuss a range of topics, including why managing energy is more important than managing time, why his company offers unlimited vacation to employees, and why ideas are welcome, but execution is worshipped.
During their discussion, Epstein acknowledges that there is “a lot of cynicism” surrounding the ability of capitalism to solve the world’s problems, but he argues the case for sticking with it: “I believe capitalism is the most powerful tool in our toolbelt, but a hammer can be used to make or destroy a house so how do you choose to wield it? And so, our belief is that you can use the most powerful tool in our toolbelt to build a regenerative economy, one that’s inclusive for everybody, but you can use the same toolkit.”
His hopefulness, he says, is based on the innate abilities of entrepreneurs.
“Entrepreneurs have a curiously warped perspective. Where most of the world sees market failures, we would look at it and see a market opportunity.”
According to Epstein, his motivations for setting up Unreasonable were “totally selfish.”
“It was feeling like a misfit, and wanting to seek refuge among other misfits, other entrepreneurs and business leaders who are foolhardy enough to believe they could change the world but they’re so hellbent and so determined they won’t stop until they do.”
With this in mind, he says: ‘There are market-based solutions that are not just 10% better but 1,000% better’.
If you want to learn more about some of the most vital topics in emerging tech and innovation — from how failure works, to the future of the smart home to the feasibility of sustainability– you can check out our other DockPod episodes on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and Google Podcasts.
