1. We interrupt #CrowdFundCanada for a very interesting debate occurring over the definition of “made in _____.” There is new legislation before Switzerland’s parliament that, if passed, would require stricter labeling for all exports including Swiss watches. But while the lower house are proponents of “Made in Switzerland” being defined as 60 percent of the value of an industrial product originating in the country, the upper house stands by 50 percent. According to Reuters:“Both versions are stricter than the 40-year-old “directive” currently governing the use of the “Swiss Made” stamp used for watches, which says at least 50 percent of the value of only the watch movements must be made in Switzerland. This means cost-conscious watchmakers in the lower-priced segment can import 100 percent of the cases, dials, hands and straps and still mark their watches “Swiss Made” as long as half of the parts of the watch movement are made at home.”The bottom line? If this law doesn’t pass, a “Swiss Made” watch can be almost entirely crafted in (insert country here).  Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we’re still getting over the original law. 50 percent made in Switzerland is still considered Swiss? *Photo from Esquire courtesy of Getty Images

    We interrupt #CrowdFundCanada for a very interesting debate occurring over the definition of “made in _____.”

    There is new legislation before Switzerland’s parliament that, if passed, would require stricter labeling for all exports including Swiss watches. But while the lower house are proponents of “Made in Switzerland” being defined as 60 percent of the value of an industrial product originating in the country, the upper house stands by 50 percent.

    According to Reuters:
    “Both versions are stricter than the 40-year-old “directive” currently governing the use of the “Swiss Made” stamp used for watches, which says at least 50 percent of the value of only the watch movements must be made in Switzerland.

    This means cost-conscious watchmakers in the lower-priced segment can import 100 percent of the cases, dials, hands and straps and still mark their watches “Swiss Made” as long as half of the parts of the watch movement are made at home.”

    The bottom line? If this law doesn’t pass, a “Swiss Made” watch can be almost entirely crafted in (insert country here). 

    Stay tuned.

    Meanwhile, we’re still getting over the original law. 50 percent made in Switzerland is still considered Swiss?

    *Photo from Esquire courtesy of Getty Images

  2. From Fast Company’s Sex, Love and Whether Either Can Survive A Startup: “Stereotypes notwithstanding, plenty of evidence suggests the young, Type-A, tech-savvy self-promoter who regularly sleeps alone on the office couch isn’t your typical founder. Indeed, 70% were married when they became entrepreneurs and 65% were over 30 when they founded their first company. “ But according to capitalists and authors of Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur, Brad Feld and his wife Amy Batchelor, successful relationships while at a startup require making time: “You do not need to do just one more email right before bedtime. Its repeated over and over that entrepreneurship is an ‘all-in’ experience and the partner of an entrepreneur has to accept that he is playing second fiddle to the entrepreneur’s startup,” they write. “We completely reject this notion. We reject the idea that the more you work, the better the outcome. We reject that time spent on work matters more than having a fulfilling life.” Instead, they contend, “both you and your startup will be more successful if you have a full experience on this planet.” Fun facts:Percentage of Everlane employees that are married: 17%In serious relationships: 43%Percentage who turn off devices to make time with their significant other: 14%(The rest are working on it.) Photo of Charles and Ray Eames.

    From Fast Company’s Sex, Love and Whether Either Can Survive A Startup:

    “Stereotypes notwithstanding, plenty of evidence suggests the young, Type-A, tech-savvy self-promoter who regularly sleeps alone on the office couch isn’t your typical founder. Indeed, 70% were married when they became entrepreneurs and 65% were over 30 when they founded their first company. “

    But according to capitalists and authors of Startup Life: Surviving and Thriving in a Relationship with an Entrepreneur, Brad Feld and his wife Amy Batchelor, successful relationships while at a startup require making time: “You do not need to do just one more email right before bedtime. Its repeated over and over that entrepreneurship is an ‘all-in’ experience and the partner of an entrepreneur has to accept that he is playing second fiddle to the entrepreneur’s startup,” they write. “We completely reject this notion. We reject the idea that the more you work, the better the outcome. We reject that time spent on work matters more than having a fulfilling life.” Instead, they contend, “both you and your startup will be more successful if you have a full experience on this planet.”

    Fun facts:
    Percentage of Everlane employees that are married: 17%
    In serious relationships: 43%
    Percentage who turn off devices to make time with their significant other: 14%
    (The rest are working on it.)

    Photo of Charles and Ray Eames.

  3. You’ve heard of farm to table, but have you heard of farm to factory? Apparently neither have many companies.A recent initiative by Not for Sale—an organization dedicated to ending modern-day slavery and human trafficking—looked at fifty apparel brands to assess how well they knew what was happening at each stage of their supply chain. They then graded companies on an A-F scale. The report cards were not impressive. Of the fifty, twenty-eight scored C and below, meaning they were completely disconnected from the practices of their sources and subcontractors. Only seven scored an A. Findings further showed that a mere 8 percent engaged in unannounced audits and interviews in the factories they worked with. All of this raises the question: If companies have no idea about practices down their supply chain, how can consumers make informed decisions? This topic was already foremost on our brains. In the past year, we’ve visited six out of our nine factories. We plan to visit the remaining three and explore our raw material sources in 2013.

    You’ve heard of farm to table, but have you heard of farm to factory? Apparently neither have many companies.

    A recent initiative by Not for Sale—an organization dedicated to ending modern-day slavery and human trafficking—looked at fifty apparel brands to assess how well they knew what was happening at each stage of their supply chain. They then graded companies on an A-F scale.

    The report cards were not impressive. Of the fifty, twenty-eight scored C and below, meaning they were completely disconnected from the practices of their sources and subcontractors. Only seven scored an A. Findings further showed that a mere 8 percent engaged in unannounced audits and interviews in the factories they worked with. All of this raises the question: If companies have no idea about practices down their supply chain, how can consumers make informed decisions?

    This topic was already foremost on our brains. In the past year, we’ve visited six out of our nine factories. We plan to visit the remaining three and explore our raw material sources in 2013.

  4. *Pre-read fun fact: Men at Everlane—7. Women—15. An excerpt from Lauren Bacon’s “Tech Companies, stop hiring women to be Office Mom”:“Whenever I visit a tech company’s website…more often than not, I have to scroll past four or more men before I see a woman (on the Team page)—and very frequently, her title places her in one of the “people” roles: human resources, communications, project or client management, user experience, customer service, or office administration. This wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself…except that there are a couple of complicating factors: Coders are lionized in the tech sector, and are compensated for their technical skills with higher wages and positional power—so women without coding chops are automatically less likely to advance to senior positions or command the highest salaries. There is a culture in tech companies that simultaneously reveres the “user” (at least as a source of revenue and data) and places low expectations on coders to empathize with users (or colleagues, for that matter)—creating a disconnect that can only be bridged by assigning user (and team) empathy responsibilities to another department.” Do you work at a tech company? Do you find these dynamics to be true? Photo from Life Magazine.

    *Pre-read fun fact: Men at Everlane—7. Women—15.

    An excerpt from Lauren Bacon’s “Tech Companies, stop hiring women to
    be Office Mom”    :

    “Whenever I visit a tech company’s website…more often than not, I have to scroll past four or more men before I see a woman (on the Team page)—and very frequently, her title places her in one of the “people” roles: human resources, communications, project or client management, user experience, customer service, or office administration. This wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself…except that there are a couple of complicating factors:

    1. Coders are lionized in the tech sector, and are compensated for their technical skills with higher wages and positional power—so women without coding chops are automatically less likely to advance to senior positions or command the
      highest salaries.

    2. There is a culture in tech companies that simultaneously reveres the “user”
      (at least as a source of revenue and data) and places low expectations on coders
      to empathize with users (or colleagues, for that matter)—creating a disconnect that can only be bridged by assigning user (and team) empathy responsibilities
      to another department.”

    Do you work at a tech company? Do you find these dynamics to be true?

    Photo from Life Magazine.