GOOD Goes Around (or at least gets published)

July 28, 2006 Filed under: Ethics

Cousins, Brother, Imposters,
Last week I was reading the Wall Street Journal and came upon a very interesting article gracing the front of one its sections: "Wealthy Son Aims to Build His Legacy," shouted the headline. With an inclination that this would have some relevance for a Westheimer Investor, I read the article (and for the next 7 days you can find a copy of it here).
Turns out: the son of the founder of Inc. Magazine (an informative, yet at times pedestrian, magazine for entrepreneurs) was given a pretty interesting mandate by his father upon his death: tens of millions of dollars of inheritance that he could ONLY use for entrepreneurial endeavors. At 26, Ben has now figured out what he wants to do with that money. In September he ships the first issue of GOOD Magazine, which, according to its website, has this mission:
GOOD, a new voice in media, embraces this generation's merger of capitalism and idealism.
We provide an entertaining, thought-provoking, cultural platform for those who want to do well by doing good.
We engage and challenge the people, ideas and institutions driving change in the world.
Our mission is to stimulate the culture of good by creating dialogue around things that matter.

Basically, this is a magazine for rich kids that want to use their privledge to make a better world. Now, we can speculate on how good of a magazine this will be - I'm skeptical it will sustain itself or find enough subscribers (after this HUGE feature in the WSJ, the subscription counter on their web site bounced only 1,000 subscribers closer to their 50,000 goal), but I'm a fan of the idea and have subscribed already. I believe in the basic premise of their publication: capitalistic forces are not to be feared when trying to right the world; they are to be harnessed and directed in a positive direction. My hope for these young fellows is that they're able to articulate and convey this message, and hopefully bring an entrepreneurial spirit out of all of us "chosen" ones.
(Note: Ben also founded his own indie film house. Now that sounds fun!)

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