Insights
Traditional Kuna Yala governance considers impacts seven generations into the future while most CEOs can't plan past next quarter's earnings call
Indigenous resource management systems predate modern environmental science by centuries, but Silicon Valley thinks they invented sustainability last Tuesday
The companies building real long-term value are learning from communities that never heard of quarterly growth targets
Full Recap
Six of us eating fish that was swimming two hours earlier on islands so perfect they make the Maldives look like a strip mall parking lot, getting our entire worldview demolished by Kuna Yala community leaders who've been doing sustainable business since before Columbus got lost looking for India.
This wasn't some trust-fund eco-tourism photo op. This was a masterclass in long-term thinking that made our MBAs look like finger painting certificates.
Kuna elder casually drops this atomic bomb: "Our decisions consider seven generations into the future. How many generations do your shareholders think about?"
Real estate developer at our makeshift table just stared at his grilled fish like it held the meaning of life. This dude had been flipping properties for quarterly gains while sitting across from people who plan for their great-great-great-great-great grandchildren's great-great grandchildren.
"Most businesses optimize for the next ninety days," venture partner admitted, looking like he'd just discovered capitalism was a pyramid scheme wrapped in a PowerPoint presentation. "You're optimizing for the next two centuries."
Tech executive started taking notes like his life depended on it: "So you're saying the secret to sustainable business is... actually being sustainable instead of just putting it in your LinkedIn bio? Revolutionary."
The moment that broke everyone's brain happened during our village visit. Kuna leader explaining how every major decision requires asking: "How will this affect people who won't be born for 140 years?"
Meanwhile, most startups can't plan past their next funding round without having an existential crisis.
Cultural anthropologist who'd been studying traditional knowledge systems for decades jumped in: "Indigenous communities figured out sustainable resource management before Harvard started teaching MBAs how to extract maximum value from everything that moves."
By the time we left, everyone was questioning whether modern business was actually modern or just really good at destroying things efficiently while calling it innovation.
This exchange created relationships that'll outlast most venture fund lifecycles because apparently treating business like it affects actual humans living on an actual planet is cutting-edge thinking in 2025.
Your Seat at the Table
These insights came from a single conversation. Imagine the opportunities that emerge when you're in the room.
If you're a leader building at the intersection of culture and capital, we invite you to be considered for a future dinner.