You can read the full article on TerraCycle which is billed as one of the coolest startups in USA.
To me it illustrates how lead entrepreneurs manage to create buzz , inspire people and run operations on a shoestring. At Terracycle the lead entrepreneur is 23 and has managed to surround himself with talented individuals where no one is paid more than $30,000 a year but have options. He now has 11% of the company.
At one point he gave away 1% of the company for $2000. Terracycle does not buy furniture/computer equipment etc. and their office is in a dangerous neighbourhood.
I am not sure what exact lessons can be learned from this but it is inspiring to read.
On another note. India could lay claim to being the garbage capital of the world ( lots of garbage available). Worms should not be a problem and soda /mineral water bottles are a lot. Would Terracycle’s model of making vermicompost tea work in India?
A couple of issues could be. Is there enough consumer demand for “Miracle Gro” type products ? The regulatory process of getting approval to sell maybe a nightmare. Maybe there could be interesting variations that would work in India.
Vermicompost tea anyone ?
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Rajesh,
Your friend is probably happy with what he is doing and has no desire to grow etc.
Reminds me of the joke where a consultant goes to an expert fisherman and tells him that he could help him become a billionaire. The fisherman asks what will happen after he becomes a billionaire. To that the consultant responds that he could enjoy life and spend time with his family . The fisherman says that is what he already does so why should he go through the trouble of becoming a billionaire. He then tells the consultant that maybe the consultant should learn to fish.
A friend of mine has a huge farm in Chail and runs an adventure camping business there, specialising in camps for Children. The farm also produces tonnes of manure, from earthworms they have seeded into the land. He sells this by truckloads and wouldn’t take advice to package it nicely and sell it to Khadi to be marketed as part of their organic product line.
The product need not be identical, but another generic `organic’ variant could work wonders in the Indian context, depending upon the type and quality of waste available for process in India. The idea was what I banked on. Mass production is only a question of scale up efforts. I’ll try and find out and will surely lodge a post.
That’s the beauty of that ecosystem – Sinha ( Angel ) did not look down upon the idea even as he had only $ 2,000 to offer….he valiantly offered it and Szacky accepted it sincerely….the intentions were so genuine on both sides…kudos…!
Krish,
Good points. A few comments.
I am pretty sure that Szacky had a company by the time Suman invested. He had also done bootstrapping with atleast $20,000 of his own/friends and family money. He had also got a worm gin built etc. etc. The amount he raised from Suman was also interesting. Not an angel round of $250,000 but a small sum of $2000. In the article Szacky was ready to close shop when Suman invested.
I think Terracycle thrives on marketing to the consumer and not to plantations etc. The process may not be suited to mass production. Just guessing here. If it is a consumer play then distribution is key and the most appropriate parallel that I can think of in India is “Nirma”.
There sure can be a good market for Miracle Gro type composts in India since we have enough Agri based businesses / plantations in the Eastern & Southern India. Organic composts are normally preferred for Tea / Coffee / Rubber / Cocoa / Vanilla / Banana / Cardamom / Pepper plantations as they are mostly cash ( Export ) crops ( Organic label fetches good prices in overseas markets ).
The lesson(s) one can learn from this story –
(a) Don’t ignore a biz plan – not even the one with lots of garbage in it – Your garbage could be someone else’s pot of gold ;
(b) Early bird gets the worm ( and its poop ) ;
[ Suman Sinha getting 1% of the company for $ 2,000 – had he sloshed over the biz plan waiting for the entrepreneur to float a company, get an expensive lawyer, have an excellent management team / eminent Board etc., before he could invest his 1st dollar, well Szacky would anyway have got his money as he was all fired up, but Sinha would have lived to rue his fate. ]
In India, there are a few waste management companies that I know of. Exact methods and their processes I shall find out and post.
best,