Charles Koch's new book shares wisdom to bolster social entrepreneurs

Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries since 1967, plans a book this fall based on the principle that "what made societies successful was empowering not just a few at the top, but people throughout society." 

Koch was at his desk at his Wichita headquarters when I talked to him about the book, which he said "is geared toward people who see problems and injustices in society, to help them see a way they can become social entrepreneurs."

• Koch said "Believe in People," which he's been working on for five years, distills more than 60 years of studying history and developing principles that he has applied to business and philanthropy.
• The publisher says the book describes a "bottom-up" approach "to improve a failing education system, fix a rigged economy, and improve public policy that stifles opportunity and emboldens the extremes."

The book — written with Brian Hooks, chairman and CEO of Stand Together, a nonprofit founded by Koch — is called "Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World," and will be out Nov. 17.

• Hooks told me the book is "a call to action for anybody who's looking at what's happening in our country right now and saying: There has to be a better way."