My buddies Bart Houlahan and Jay Coen Gilbert are on time with the beta of their B Corporation effort and I think it rocks. I am so glad somebody is doing what they are doing, and doing it in such a rapid, rush to market, entrepreneurial way.

What are they doing? Two things. The first is a ratings and certification play; they will certifify a for profit business as being and doing good. As they put it in an email: The need, the need now, is for purpose-driven entrepreneurs) 1) to differentiate their business; and 2) to maintain mission as they scale.”

We at GoodCap contributed to their still evolving rating system, as did far more traditional companies like Timberland and Patagonia which are consumer products businesses done in a good, or socially and environmentally responsible way. If they succeed — and these are guys who built and sold a $200 million sports shoe company — they will provide an umbrella for all of us in the full spectrum of the social capital market. They can take one objection off the table. When someone asks, “So, this is business is good according to what?” We can say “According to B Corporation certification.” We are going to be really glad to refer people to them and ask our portfolio companies to use their rating system as a tool for themselves as well.

The messaging on their private beta site is only one element of what makes me confident that they have the chops to deliver on the best branding platform for the social capital market that I have seen.

The second part of their effort is around a new legal structure; a new corporate form that does not have a fiduciary responsibility to drive for the highest financial return for its shareholders but is instead set up to be a good business, pure and simple and as deep as the meaning of that word gets.

We have a lot of partnerships at Good Capital. The one with the B Corporation folks is the one that is the clearest. We each have a vested stake in each other’s success. I’m glad I can talk about it now, after working with them for a few months. If you want to know more, or be involved in their beta, send me an email and I will connect you.