21 Mai „How to grow a business from worm poop – Tom Szaky“

This is the fa­s‍test, densest interview I did so far, both in terms of information and topics we covered! Talking to Tom is like surfing through Wikipedia: for every topic, he has the facts and figures and a nice intere­s‍ting story. Terra Cycle, Tom’s company, is a world leader for recycling of “non-recyclable products”, operating in 20 countries today, and what I found most fascinating about Tom and Terra Cycle is how imaginative they are with the purpose of reducing wa­s‍te.

In our conversation we cover Terra Cycle’s purpose, its business model (getting everybody to the table and figuring out a way how everybody can benefit – simply great!), his personal path to being a social entrepreneur and why the ultimate answer to wa­s‍te is not Terra Cycle, but something else… 😉

If you have only two minutes, li­s‍ten to Tom’s example how they recycle baby diapers in Holland… 😉

In this episode:

• How Terra cycle started from making compost from worm poop and developed into multinational company today that recycles the un-recyclable
• Terra cycles business model: I would call it a “multi-stakeholder benefit approach” – very intere­s‍ting!
• The story about DM Drogeriemarkt and Terra Cycle’s Aerosol collection (including Germany’s last company building metal bicycles!)
• Their first packaging using recycled ocean pla­s‍tic – including Procter & Gamble as well as a bunch of NGOs…!
• The key to innovation: Go back one step first and under­s‍tand where the problem is coming from!
• “… and then don’t make the steps to big!”
• The key to success with business partners: take their perspective.
• Tom’s personal path to Terra cycle: his early idea of a business built completely around purpose
• Why he loves entrepreneurship
• The importance of focusing on your core: e.g. as a garbage company, recycling soda bottles as packaging material because you have no money to pay the package for your worm poop…;-)
• The three things you should be willing to face if you want to be an entrepreneur

Advice to people figuring out their own path:

• Finding a job you love: by finding something you’re passionate about first.
• The importance of purpose in what you do – for you personally, not for anybody else!

Worklife and personal development:

• Efficient emails and meetings
• The importance of free time for personal development
• The greatness of building with your hands
• Family and work life

Links:

Tom and Terra Cycle:

• Homepage: http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terracycle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerraCycle/?fref=ts
• Book: “Natural Capitalism” – Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, Paul Hawken. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Capitalism-Creating-Industrial-Revolution/dp/0316353000

Tom’s early day role models:

• Ben and Jerry: http://www.benjerry.com/
• Seth Goldman: https://www.honesttea.com/about-us/our-story/
• Gary Hirshberg: http://www.stonyfield.com/

Hat dir dieser Podcast gefallen? Dann teile ihn doch; vielen Dank dir!