Danny Alexander, Who Gives a Crap: Giving a crap – Well Made E128

At the beginning of the pandemic, we all discovered that toilet paper is a product that we've taken for granted. But since 2012, Danny Alexander, Co-founder and CPO of Who Gives A Crap has unraveled the true potential of the stuff. 

From launch, Who Gives a Crap has had purpose built into their business. They donate half of all their profits to non-profit organizations that are working to improve access to hygiene, water and basic sanitation in developing countries. With a 1,100% increase in sales, that's totaling out to a staggering $4m donation this year.

On top of that, the bulk of the toilet paper they sell is made from 100% recycled paper, and the rest is made from bamboo.

Their witty toilet humor and playful patterns may not be what you'd expect from a brand so grounded in giving back, and that's exactly the idea. In this episode, Danny talks sourcing, branding, and scaling to meet the demands of a pandemic.

Danny shares what problems he and his co-founder Simon Griffiths set out to solve with their toilet paper company (0:45). The beginning of the pandemic was the height of the toilet paper rush. To deliver more orders before selling out completely, Who Gives a Crap repacked millions of rolls into smaller order sizes so they could deliver orders to more people (4:00).

Danny talks about how trends are changing and more folks are buying products online that they weren't before (7:04). They get a lot of attention for their humorous copywriting and colorful branding. Danny shares why they ran full-page an ad in Australia while they had a 600,000-person waiting list — plus, why they decided to launch in Australia in the first place (13:17).

Zooming out, Danny and Stephan discuss happiness. Danny takes us back to how he got passionate about toilets and designing sanitation solutions early on in his career at IDEO (35:38). His primary advice on launching a company that gives back is to give back right from the start, and to push yourself to give back as much as possible (41:13).

Also mentioned in this episode: 

• How I Built This
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo, Michael Eric Dyson