Let My People Go Surfing
Yvon Chouinard started forging climbing pitons in his parents' Burbank backyard in 1957, sold them out of his car trunk to other Yosemite climbers in the early 1960s, and slowly built Patagonia from a tiny climbing-gear shop into a $1 billion outdoor apparel company that pioneered organic cotton, lifetime repairs, and a pledge to give 1% of sales to environmental causes. The book is part founder memoir and part operating philosophy, walking through Chouinard's early years as a climber, the near-bankruptcy of Patagonia in 1991, and the eight values that guide every business decision the company makes. Chouinard ends by giving the company away to a climate trust in 2022.
Where Let My People Go Surfing keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about Let My People Go Surfing
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Yvon Chouinard tells how he turned backyard climbing pitons into Patagonia, a $1 billion outdoor apparel company built on environmental values and reluctant business growth.
Let My People Go Surfing was written by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. First published in 2005 with a revised edition in 2016, it serves as both a business memoir and a manifesto for environmentally minded entrepreneurship.
Yes. The book chronicles the founding and growth of Patagonia, from Chouinard's climbing-tools-in-a-tin-shed beginnings to its current global apparel business. It is widely cited as one of the most influential business memoirs in sustainability and ethical business circles.
Let My People Go Surfing is 272 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Let My People Go Surfing takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
Let My People Go Surfing is a standalone novel by Yvon Chouinard, not part of a series.
Let My People Go Surfing is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
