The TOMS Story: One for One — a Business Model You Could Retell in Four Words

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie — a serial entrepreneur who had once raced around the world on a reality show — was travelling in Argentina when two things caught his attention: the canvas alpargata shoes worn everywhere, and children in poor villages growing up barefoot. His response fused the two into one of the most retellable business models ever devised: sell a version of the alpargata, and for every pair sold, give a new pair to a child in need. One for One.

The genius was that the story sold itself at the moment of purchase and again at every sighting: the shoes' distinctive look made them a conversation starter, and every wearer could answer with a four-word model. No advertising budget could compete with millions of customers explaining their own feet. TOMS gave away its first ten-thousandth pair within a year and eventually put tens of millions of shoes on children's feet, spawning an entire wave of buy-one-give-one businesses.

Then came the story's second act, the one most retellings skip: development researchers questioned whether donated goods help or distort local economies, and TOMS listened — shifting manufacturing partly to the regions it served and later evolving its model to give a third of profits to grassroots causes. It is a rare example of a company editing its most famous story in public. Purposeful brands age well only if their purpose is allowed to learn.