44: Biodegradable Biopolymer Materials Innovation Startup Discussion with Dr. Molly Morse, the CEO and Co-Founder of Mango Materials

July 10, 2018

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Bioplastics, methane based materials that are competitive with conventional, oil-based plastics that do not biodegrade or have the same fantastic features.

About Molly

“Dr. Molly Morse is an innovator, inventor and entrepreneur who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the CEO and co-founder of Mango Materials, a startup company that uses methane to manufacture biodegradable materials. She has engineering degrees from Cornell University and Stanford University and is excited about how innovation and science can transform the world, leaving it a better place.” Linkedin source

About Mango Materials

“Mango Materials produces biodegradable polymers from waste biogas (methane) that are economically competitive with conventional, oil-based plastics. Mango Materials produces poly-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA) powder, a valuable biopolymer that is converted into a variety of ecofriendly, plastic products such as children’s toys, electronic casings, water bottles, and food packaging containers. Due to a rising preference for green products, demand for biodegradable and non petroleum-based plastics is growing rapidly. Mango Materials uses affordable methane gas and a process that competes favorably with petroleum-based plastics to produce low-cost, biodegradable plastics.” Linkedin Source

Links

Website

Molly’s Linkedin

Startup Linkedin

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Hyperlinked Timestamped Show Notes

  1. [ 01:10 ] What made her choose Mango Materials as the name for the startup, and the story of how it came to be.
  2. [ 02:51 ] Her origin story of creating the company, the founding team, and her background.
  3. [ 05:34 ] Why PhD isn’t on her business card, and what advice she would give to people from a technical background to break the mold and start their own company.
  4. [ 07:33 ] Suggested accelerators.
  5. [ 08:16 ] What things from her technical background she uses to be successful now.
  6. [ 09:35 ] Her suggestions to someone from a non-technical background to level up their skills.
  7. [ 11:41 ] How to reach out to people effectively.
  8. [ 12:18 ] What she does for fun outside of eating mangoes.
  9. [ 12:59 ] Things she won’t try.
  10. [ 13:14 ] Thoughts on clean meat.
  11. [ 14:01 ] How she gets the methane to produce her bioplastic.
  12. [ 15:15 ] Are there still redwoods in Redwood City, CA?
  13. [ 15:40 ] What the reactors look like, and what the process to creating the bioplastic is.
  14. [ 16:24 ] What application she is most interested in creating.
  15. [ 19:03 ] If it looks or feels different.
  16. [ 19:33 ] The cost of the product, and what she is working on to reduce costs.
  17. [ 20:25 ] What would help her and the startup.
  18. [ 21:21 ] How close she and the startup are to their goals.
  19. [ 22:50 ] Why now is the best time to create a startup like this.
  20. [ 23:21 ] How long it took her to say the chemical name correctly, why she says it a lot, and a quick reference to The Office.
  21. [ 24:35 ] A fun discussion on how to name products, such as PHAT.
  22. [ 25:08 ] What things people tend to get wrong about what she is building with examples.
  23. [ 26:58 ] Certifications and her thoughts on them.
  24. [ 28:15 ] How her vision for the company has only focused down versus pivoting over the years.
  25. [ 29:57 ] What keeps her up at night (i.e Funding and scale).
  26. [ 30:47 ] How much funding she needs to get to her goal.
  27. [ 31:32 ] Partnerships, and how they have helped them survive.
  28. [ 32:55 ] How she learns to be better (i.e. failures).
  29. [ 34:11 ] What biographies she likes, and our thoughts on the Hamilton musical by Lin Manuel Miranda.
  30. [ 35:24 ] Book recommendations.
  31. [ 36:42 ] How she loves to run, but can get lost easily.
  32. [ 37:46 ] What methods she uses to get things done at her company (i.e. walking meetings, etc.).
  33. [ 38:15 ] How taking traditional funding versus not taking traditional funding was one of the biggest decisions for her company.
  34. [ 41:29 ] How she chooses her employees and her scientific protocols.
  35. [ 43:13 ] How employees can drive long term growth besides just being good employees, and her thoughts on creating the right culture.
  36. [ 44:24 ] What she has learned this year that will be a game changer next year.
  37. [ 44:51 ] What a typical day/week looks like for her (i.e. starts working at 5am PST).
  38. [ 46:28 ] How she charts her time to ensure she isn’t wasting it.
  39. [ 47:13 ] How to be supportive and follow a long.

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