Cradle to Cradle
Yesterday was one of those days that made me think… think not only about the nature of corporations and business plans, but about what I want to do with my life. Here’s why.In my Sustainable Global Enterprise class yesterday, we had a guest speaker. He was a CEO of this company that made organic fertilizers from worm poop. The concept was that they take (even get paid to take in) natural wastes and garbage, feed them to worms, and liquidize their poop to convert them into fertilizers that can be sold and commercialized. And to make this business plan ultimate eco-effective, he used recycled plastic coke (and other) bottles for packaging, as well as misprinted boxes from other companies for distribution. In another words, everything from the product to packaging were made out of wastes. It’s cheap, effective, and environmentally friendly.
Pretty impressive, don’t you think?
What was even more impressive (at least in my view), was the fact that he started this business when he was a Freshman at Princeton. He then decided to take what they call an “indefinite leave”, to concentrate on the business. He’s currently 24 years old.
I guess I’m always amazed at the Entrepreneurial spirit people have here in the states, and this spirit people possess at such an early age. It’s hard to imagine such a story to take place (both in terms of the idea and action) in Japan, just simply because the society is not ready to accept them. I always thought it’s more wise to gain some professional experience when you are young, and wait until you get older to start something on your own. But the guest speaker said something interesting that had a contrary view:
It’s better to start something new and take risks when you are young, because it’s easier to make mistakes. The society is more likely to accept mistakes when you are young.
I guess I’m starting to realize that I’m not as young as I thought to be.
posted by dkambe @ 7:18 PM
5 Comments:
What about Chindogu? Okay, so I really have no idea about what this really is, I just know one book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393326764/sr=8-1/qid=1141190448/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4477566-2312838?%5Fencoding=UTF8
I would pay to buy some of those inventions.
yes, i bet u would.
i'll get u one when i go back to japan.
geez, i thought i was too young to come up with any cool ideas as well. aren't those marvellous interventions come with age and experiences?
Colonel Sanders found KFC when he was 75 so after all I still have another 50 years or so to come up with something, no?
Yeah when you're older you have experience, but when you're young you're more ignorant, which I think can help more. I don't think a 75 year old would consider making a business out of recycling worm droppings. Young people also tend to be more idealistic and naive, which in starting radical new ideas can be exactly what you need. Even if they fail they have no family and they'll have no problem just starting over in some other company.
It is kinda weird that it isn't as prevalent in Japan though. I blame the high context.
yes. and i blame u for giving up msn.
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