Kindred is powering purpose-led business transformation
When Ian Schafer left Deep Focus, the digital ad agency he started, we caught up over lunch to discuss what he wanted to work on next. As an innovative thinker who foresaw the digital transformation brands faced 10–15 years ago, Ian saw business leaders on the verge of facing a purpose-driven transformation. With 2019’s Business Roundtable Letter, it became clearer than ever that companies couldn’t thrive solely thinking about shareholders — key stakeholders are now customers who want to support companies not for just what they sell, but what they stand for.
Titles that include Corporate Social Responsibility, Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability, Philanthropy are popping up on job boards everywhere, but these nascent functions are still figuring out what to do to achieve the level of change required. Excited by the problem but still tackling the most productive way to solve it, we connected Ian with Anil Aggarwal, who we backed in TxVia (acquired by Google) and who went on to launch successful conferences Money20/20 and Shoptalk (which he just sold). Anil understood that conference businesses were antiquated, but had the potential to be powerful if done right. With Ian zeroing in on a horizontal issue cutting across multiple industries and Anil being an expert in running conferences that are mandatory for forward-thinking C-suite execs, pairing them together led to the creation of Kindred.
Kindred is an events business and multi-platform brand that brings together leaders at companies and nonprofits, as well as creators, to collaborate with one another and exchange best practices on how to transform companies to be more purpose-driven. The inaugural event, Kindred2020, will gather 2,000 business, nonprofit, and cultural leaders to unite on this cause.
We can’t wait to see the impact the event has bringing exceptional people together around the same purpose, and expect this to become the most important meeting ground for this transformation to take place. Beyond what we’ve shared so far, here’s what you need to know about Kindred, which we’re incredibly proud to be backing…
At its core: The first and only events business and multi-platform brand that inspires and accelerates sustainable, purpose-led business transformation.
Its mission: To drive meaningful social impact at the intersection of purpose and profit by making conversations about important issues easier to participate in and too loud to ignore.
How: Its inaugural event, Kindred 2020, will take place from May 11–14, 2020, and will gather 2,000 business, nonprofit, and cultural leaders to collaborate and chart the future of purpose-led business transformation.
Why now: After a year marked by “cancel culture,” heated conversations around diversity and inclusion, an eventful UN General Assembly and global social movements, businesses and brands are facing higher consumer expectations around accountability. With the rise in roles such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion, and Social Impact and Philanthropy, Kindred is perfectly poised to empower business leaders looking to learn, collaborate and transform their companies to be more purpose-led.
The “it” factor: Kindred 2020 already boasts a lineup of over 150 prominent speakers from companies including Acorns, Andreesen Horowitz, B-Labs, Ben & Jerry’s, Bombas, Bravely, Diane von Furstenberg, Dole, eBay, Good Money, HBO, Procter & Gamble, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, TOMS, WarnerMedia, and WW. Featured nonprofits will include Comic Relief, St. Jude, and UNICEF. Attendees will also hear from cultural leaders including keynote speaker Chance the Rapper, who started the youth empowerment charity SocialWorks.
If you are a purpose-driven investor or startup, want to create a better culture for your teams, or interested in how you can better intersect purpose and profit, join Kindred 2020 (May 11–14) in San Diego, and be a part of a new marketplace for ideas, companies, and partnerships that will shape the world for generations to come.
— Ben Sun, Primary General Partner and Co-Founder
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