The Story
It started at a scary movie night. Bride of Chucky was playing, but the real conversation was about donuts.
A friend couldn't stop talking about the handmade donuts he'd had once. Before long, the whole room was sharing donut memories. Then someone asked: what would you call such a shop? Another friend just blurted it out: "The Good One."
The next morning, the name stuck. Within two weeks, there was a business plan.
"I set out to create a business that does good, feels good, and reminds people that they are good."
The founder spent nearly two decades building tech startups in San Francisco - working on everything from Elasticsearch to self-driving cars. Impressive technology, but the rewards mostly went to venture capitalists.
Moving back to Chicago, to Andersonville, the goal changed: apply those skills to enriching the community instead of enriching VCs. A queer-owned business in a queer neighborhood, built to bring joy.
Why donuts? Because there's only one ingredient that makes a donut a donut: joy. Someone made it, called it a donut, and gave it to someone else with the intent to bring them happiness.