#141 - Dave Whorton: The Competitive Advantages of Evergreen Businesses
Outthinkers · 2025-04-29 · 49 min
Episode notes
Dave Whorton is a tech investor and founder who spent 20 years of his career at the highest levels of Silicon Valley venture capital and tech startups. At the preeminent tech venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, he worked directly with John Doerr for several years. He cofounded four companies, including drugstore.com and Good Technology. This episode is longer than our usual shorter format - and with good reason. It's about companies that last longer. We dive deep into the world of evergreen businesses - those built to adapt and grow profitably for 100 years and more. Think of these as the direct juxtaposition to venture capital-funded enterprises - where those are built with the sole intention of selling, going public or shutting down if not performing, evergreen businesses are built to endure. In 2013, Dave founded Tugboat Institute to connect, support, and inspire purpose-driven leaders of these businesses, and this upcoming May 2025, Dave, with Bo Burlingham, releases Another Way: Building Companies that Last...and Last...and Last.
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