He's Giving It Away! Think philanthropy is a dotcom <i>don't</i>? Anthony Parks would like a word with you.
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Anthony D. Parks has been receiving a lot of attention lately.Sure, he's a dotcom multimillionaire-but this Internetsuccess story never let greed get in the way of his lifelongmission to give back.
In November 1999, Parks hit the jackpot after taking his FosterCity, California-based grocery company, Webvan, public-and isnow in the process of giving away 30 percent of his good fortune inthe form of stock, primarily to those who had helped him and theneedy he met along the way. Having grown up in a single-parent homein a low-income area of east Oakland, California, Parks workedextraordinarily hard from age 11, doing everything from sweepingfloors to owning a hair salon at 21 (which left him $55,000 indebt). In 1993, Starbucks hired him to open 20 outlets, and hediscovered stock options. Then, in 1996, he became one of thefounding members of Webvan. Parks left last year to pursue otherventures, including restaurant consulting. He spoke with usrecently about his philosophy of philanthropy in a time ofunprecedented wealth:
Who have been your role models in helping others?
Martin Luther King has been my greatest influence. He spoke andwrote about the importance of giving back and the biblical idea ofeven the greatest becoming servants. My mother's work ethic wasmy model-my brother and I often didn't see her 'til11 p.m. She taught us the right values.
What would you say to those who don't feel they'veachieved enough success to start being generous?
It isn't the nature or amount of the gift that'simportant, but the act of generosity. You don't have to givemoney; you can make time to help others no matter how busy you are.For example, I started a group called R.E.A.L. (Real Examples ofActual Life) Role Models (www.bereal.org) and I bring successful people to talkto kids about setting realistic goals. You should get startedexperiencing the benefits of philanthropy by finding something thattouches you.
What's been the reaction to the attention you'vereceived?
It's been embarrassing sometimes, but I appreciate the needfor public role models. After I appeared in The Wall StreetJournal, I received hundreds of responses, many from otherentrepreneurs and executives in Silicon Valley who said they wereinspired by the story. [But] you can't do this for theattention. [It's] much more satisfying to consider the joy yougave without having your ego stroked.
Scott S. Smith writes about business issues for a variety ofWeb sites, including Office.com.
