conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is a description for a book titled Start Something That Matters about Wall, Street, Journal with the genre: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A creative and open-hearted business model for our times. The Wall Street Journal
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the first paragraph for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Start Something That Matters
  Finally, a note about my co-writer, Gene Stone, who has been such an amazing writing partner, mentor, and friend for the past few years. Little did you know at that first breakfast meeting that you would play such an important role at TOMS. I am so grateful for everything you have done.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is another paragraph?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Blake is an avid reader and traveler. A favorite quote of his by Gandhi: "Be the change you want to see in the world."
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the last four paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS, describes the idea that would come to define TOMS' business model: "With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One."™ Key to TOMS' growth has been the company's commitment to giving. It attracts customers, inspires employees, generates media attention, and appeals to partners who also want to give back. Blake then identifies the six elements that have helped TOMS to flourish. These six principles—Find Your Story, Face Your Fears, Be Resourceful Without Resources, Keep It Simple, Build Trust, and Giving Is Good Business—serve as the focus of each of the following chapters.
  Having no resources, Blake argues, can sometimes be a blessing in disguise. For one thing, if a company has no money in the bank, it cannot possibly lose very much. There's nowhere to go but up. If your "office" is really a garage or the back room in an apartment, you pay no rent for office space. Plus, your employees will feel the excitement of being involved in a start-up. This shared experience of hardship can draw your company together, promote group unity, and keep everyone energized and pointed in the same direction. Having limited resources is not just good for morale. It also creates a culture of creativity and entrepreneurship that will come in handy when the company has more money and resources at its disposal.
  Simplicity can be difficult to achieve, but a simple product can have an advantage over its competition, even when the competition's product has extra features. The iPod, for example, originally consisted of nothing but a wheel, a button, and a screen—a radical simplicity that has helped it overcome the fact that it lacks, for example, a radio and an easily replaceable battery.
  Tyler Eltringham was inspired by TOMS to create OneShot, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing meningitis vaccinations to college students living in university housing; and for every vaccine administered in the United States, OneShot gives a shot to a person in need in the meningitis belt of Africa. Eltringham was still an undergraduate student when he launched OneShot, and had no previous experience in business or entrepreneurship. But he didn't let that stop him. The "final step," Mycoskie explains, is actually the first step: You will never be fully prepared, but you have to start something anyway. You have to get moving!