Mission-driven companies lose their mission as they scale — through sale, investor pressure, or profit extraction

Split voting from economic rights: put voting stock in an irrevocable purpose trust whose deed binds the company to its mission, and give non-voting economic stock to a mission nonprofit so profits fund the cause. The company stays for-profit but can never be sold away from its p

Get certified against a published social/environmental standard (e.g. B Corp) as a public, audited signal of commitment. Cheap, requires no ownership change, useful as a complement — but it locks nothing: it's voluntary, revocable, and the first thing dropped when it conflicts wi

Sell a tiny veto share (~1%) to an independent purpose foundation that holds no economic stake but permanently blocks two actions: selling the company for owners' personal gain, and extracting profits as dividends or capital gains. Founders keep full operational control; the lock

When a sale can't be stopped, negotiate an independent 'social mission' board into the acquisition agreement—with defined authority over values, advocacy, and brand integrity held separately from the parent's commercial control. Only as strong as courts will enforce it, but bette