Past Participant

Sam
Age 17

Participated in

Upstart Challenge 2016 & 2017

I got involved in Upstart Challenge

“through another small business course mentor who prompted me to enter.”

Past experience in creating a business

“The business I pitched for Upstart was my first business and I’m looking to launch others and trying to come up with new ideas constantly.”

The 3 skills I took away from the Challenge

If there is an idea that you think may work, it’s possible for it to happen as long as you put in the required efforts.Show More I learnt a very large amount of techniques for evaluating ideas. Some of these include the “Testing chamber”, finding everything that’s wrong with your idea from peers, building something that you yourself would use (Pivot Summit – Steven Wozniak). Finally, my public speaking skills have improved by pitching my idea in front of audience. I really enjoyed being on stage at the pitching night.

The Problem I identified was

there is no real incentive for people to reduce their waste quantity. Show MorePeople can throw out as much as they want and it never comes back to bite them. All the while we are filling up our landfill. So I thought that if waste was treated like a service, much like water or electricity, and charged based on usage (aka weight), then the community would have a large incentive to throw out less rubbish. This creates a more mindful community and reduces environmental impact.

Future opportunities to develop my business

I would absolutely love to see this implemented within Geelong.Show More Apparently, Corio Waste Management is the only waste company in Australia that has a truck that can legally run Pay-As-You-Throw. So I would love to work with them to make it a reality for private companies (as that is their main clients), and then a reality for the average household.

Highlights of my time at Upstart

My highlights of Upstart would have to be the people.Show More I made some great friends such as Scarlett, Will and Sacha. My mentors, Andrew and Terry, were incredible and the Upstart Crew, Heather, Jen and Meg supported all the teams along the way. That being said, there isn’t much of Upstart that wasn’t a highlight. I remember coming back after the competition to Federal Mills (Upstart HQ) and feeling euphoria due to all the great memories that I had there.

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