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VV Show #16 - Tom Szaky of TerraCycle
Venture Voice – interviews with entrepreneurs
English - October 04, 2005 05:15 - ★★★★★ - 23 ratingsCareers Business Technology entrepreneur venture capital technology entrepreneurship startup business Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Previous Episode: VV Show #15 - Launching Companies at DEMO Conference
Next Episode: VV Show #16 – Tom Szaky of TerraCycle
Dropping out of college to start a technology company is almost a cliché. But is technology the only industry that can seduce an ambitious student into entrepreneurship? Tom Szaky dropped out of Princeton because he saw an opportunity in trash. At 19, he started developing an alternative to Miracle-Gro by using the excrement of worms that eat compost. To keep costs down, he reused soda bottles to package his product and located his business in Trenton, New Jersey. He's now got seven-figure funding and is pushing six-figure revenues by selling TerraCycle in select locations of Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and Home Depot. TerraCycle is planning on a full national rollout over the next three months. For this show we ventured into the heart of New Jersey to bring you on a tour of the TerraCycle factory. We talk with several TerraCycle employees and have an in-depth discussion with Tom about trash and cash.
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