Iota Impact: SVF Unlocks Your Mindset and Potential

Six months before my 40th birthday, I realized that I had never attempted to launch my own company. It was something that I dreamed of doing since the beginning of college, but could never find the right time to take the leap. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, made me realize how safely I played my career. It was late 2020 when I realized the pandemic could become the catalyst for tech-driven change in the consulting and research world. This industry altering event pushed me to speak with hundreds of individuals before launching my first startup ten years after graduating from Stern and more than 20 after my first engagement as a management consultant. Despite the lack of a clear path, I knew I had valuable skills in consulting, market research, and automation (thanks to a few courses at Georgia Tech and MIT). 

My venture IOTA Impact has had a non-linear and an admittedly embarrassing non-strategic journey. Nevertheless, the SVF coaches and peers helped me to realize that the journey of personal discovery is one of the less spoken-about, but most common aspects of entrepreneurship. IOTA Impact gives me the chance to do what I love, what I'm good at, and what the world needs. Likewise, entrepreneurship has enabled me to work on what I'm passionate about all on my own terms.

In an industry dominated by incumbents who use a model designed in the 1950s, I saw the chance to offer better solutions to strategy, marketing, and sales. As a Stern alumnus, I applied to the SVF program because I knew it would offer a jumpstart for my venture. During this summer program, Danny, David, and my peers helped me develop my B2B sales skills, connected me to marketing experts to define my roadmap, and supported me in the difficult decision of cutting costs due to the risk of nationwide economic instability. Now, instead of flying to consultants to work with them Monday-Thursday, we're offering our clients an alternative that uses technology solutions, a network of global experts, and access to innovative data streams to make decisions. Thanks to SVF, my startup is "default alive," and we are well positioned for the future.

I launched IOTA Impact as a place to build core market research and analytics capabilities that can be deployed to solve critical business problems. We have since grown to have an agile tech-enabled approach to traditional consulting and research projects. This has allowed us to beat the Top 5 research and the Top 3 consulting firms in RFPs. We are also deploying our skills to understand business, consumer, and enablement aspects of the Metaverses. Thanks to our discussions with SVF experts, and the introductions from SVF sponsor David Ko to world-class Metaverse executives, we have refined our long-term vision for the company. With the lessons learned from the program, Iota impact will gain traction with clients that will result in a Seed round in 2023 to enhance and deploy our capabilities at scale. We view ourselves as pioneers in this new world, and our passion for learning and sharing that with our clients will likely help IOTA achieve a 20x return for our investors in the coming 5-7 years. 

  I'm grateful I chose this flexible program. The Stern Venture Fellows program has added tremendous value to my venture and has been a catalyst for my growth as an entrepreneur. Instead of focusing on rigid structures or frameworks, SVF has challenged me at every step to understand that every entrepreneur has their own path to success. 

Andres Satizabal

andres@iotaimpact.com

A Inside Look: How I Stay Inspired While Working on My Venture: TrovBase

If you only exercise when you’re motivated, you’ll be conditioned to only work out when you’re  "in the mood." You have to hope that a pump-up playlist or David Goggins hype video gets you off the couch and to the gym. For long-term gains, discipline must be greater than motivation. This holds true for both working out and entrepreneurship.

A growth strategy requires working on your venture's needs with a lack of inspiration. It can be a challenge to stay motivated when you've received your tenth "no" in a row from an angel investor  because you have an early-stage startup. Establishing key habits for self-maintenance, though, can be rewarding.

The importance of establishing rituals around tedious tasks is beautifully captured by Steward Brand’s Works in Progress piece, "The Maintenance Race."Brand writes thrillingly about the first round-the-world solo yacht race from the angle of the competitors' varying maintenance styles, which ultimately led to their respective outcomes. In its entirety, I would strongly recommend this book to readers. For those searching for demonstrable discipline and inspiration, please continue reading  below for the book insights I use to inspire me as an entrepreneur:

3 Competitive Maintenance Styles:

1. Knox-Johnston: "Whatever comes, deal with it." 

This advice exemplifies that actions are taken when forced by necessity, fostering innovation and problem-solving.  For instance, if there was a hole in his boat, he would patch it. If his battery charger broke, he would endeavor to fix it. In this sense, necessity breeds invention and inspiration. This strategy works, but the voyage is a constant physical and mental struggle of action and reaction.

1. Crowhurst: "Hope for the best."

Some people only focus on what they’re good (i.e., fixing radios) and ignore the problems they’re less skilled in solving. It’s common to spend much time idealizing the journey and giving oneself rewards to motivate the completion of an unpleasant task. 

1. Moitessier: "Prepare for the worst."

Driven by discipline, continuously inspecting and maintaining your venture is a great way to make small fixes before they become big problems. Discipline as a lifestyle creates good habits that can make you happy. Routines are a great way to remain energized and accomplish your goals, and they may even propel your voyage further than imagined.

Inspiration was the driving force behind the first two of the three strategies, but I believe Moitessier’s method of "Prepare for the worst" is an exemplary growth strategy for entrepreneurship.  To more concretely draw the parallel between Moitessier’s maintenance strategy and one that could be beneficial to an entrepreneur, consider the following translations.

• Regularly check for water in the fuel → Reach out to potential angel investors every day, and revisit the ones that have told you no. Look for commonalities in rejection explanations.

• Check fuel lines for cracks and wear → Look at your logs to understand what your customers are doing on the platform every day.

• Check propeller and skeg for damage → Reach out to potential customers to build a pipeline. Regularly reach out to interview customers about their experiences.

When I go through my own TrovBase maintenance routine, I often discover fresh opportunities or connections that have been forgotten. Since I started my maintenance routine, burnout experiences have reduced since I'm not constantly adjusting to surprises. My personal experiences convince me that it is better to build habits of discipline instead of waiting for inspiration.

Overcoming Obstacles: Blip Labs

My grandfather was an extremely knowledgeable and wise instructor in my life. Among the many values he impressed upon me, the most important was: that if I am ever in a position to have a major impact on improving everyday life, it would be my obligation to do so.

The opportunity to make my mark arose when many of my friends, family, colleagues, and I were struggling to manage and pay bills efficiently. The existing digital tools on the market felt both inefficient and complicated. From my first-hand experience in making bill payments online, I noticed the process was entirely stressful and lacked appropriate market solutions. I recalled my grandfather's words and partnered with my similarly driven co-founder to take on the billing service industry in an attempt to fulfill my ambition of improving society.

We founded our fintech company with the mission of reimagining bill management for the millions struggling to navigate between income and debt. In the United States alone, insufficient bill pay infrastructure costs consumers $74 billion per year in credit score impacts, late fees, overdraft fees, and even identity theft. Nearly 48% of consumers struggle to pay all of their bills, and more than half of U.S. adults reported paying at least one bill after the due date during the last 12-month period. These late payments are exacerbated by the financial hardship and user difficulty of existing bill pay processes. To create a solution, we worked tirelessly to assemble our team, develop a product, and construct a strategic approach. 

We were on a strong path when we experienced a major challenge that rendered the future viability of Blip Labs uncertain. Our company nearly completed a contract with our 1st customer- a major financial institution- when the devastating economic effects of COVID-19 emerged. The pandemic created multiple obstacles for Blip Labs as well as our prospective customers who ultimately decided not to move forward. This rapid course of events shaped the debates my co-founder and I were forced to have as we decided whether to stay in the uncertain fintech industry. 

Ultimately, the decision to proceed required a substantial pivot in our strategy and product conceptualization. We revised the significance of our product services and revamped our go-to-market and software in order to uniquely position ourselves to integrate our product into any financial technology company. As a startup team with many hats to wear, we were all motivated to overcome these obstacles and efficiently improve our functional skills and knowledge. After navigating through these challenging circumstances, it was clear that seemingly insurmountable obstacles could be overcome with perseverance and adaptability. The unforeseen tests of the broader macro environment served as a reminder about the crucial role adaptability plays in entrepreneurship. The demanding experience of navigating the Covid-19 pandemic as a founder significantly benefited both the company's operations and pushed my leadership skills and personal growth to new levels.

Written By: Michael Bank (MBA ‘24)

Mentor/Influence Reflect: My Home Pathway

Inspiration can come in many forms and from many individuals, ideas, and life experiences. Along with many others, I have spent the last few years of my professional career as a startup founder trying to solve the systemic issue of the wealth gap and make financial services work for everyone. To begin and sustain daunting this task, I have drawn inspiration from others in my own life. Two of these individuals are NYU Professor Glenn Okun and Former Senior Bank Executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co, Tracy Williams. There have been countless community members who have all inspired, counseled, and provided feedback; I have been and continue to be grateful for their assistance.

I first took Professor Okun's course not really thinking entrepreneurship was a path I would someday take, but after the first class, I started to wonder why not me. The principles discussed intrigued me about not only how to start a business, but also how to adjust businesses as required by the market. This was my first real dive into the Silicon Valley world of pivoting and being nimble to find the right solution to fill a market need. Professor Okun was open to sharing his time and expertise with me and other students, and was direct about the challenges of entrepreneurship. The directness of their advice about the ups and downs, as well as the long-term rewards, was something I kept in mind post-MBA over the years while working in banking. This desire to solve hard problems eventually led me to create Trifigo, my first startup.

Tracy Williams has been another impactful mentor of mine since my MBA internship at JP Morgan. We met in the summer of 2007, right before the Financial Crisis of 2008. Tracy offered his expertise in banking and encouraged me to look beyond the present situation and envision ways it could be better. The underpinnings of US finance are a mystery at best to most consumers, and the current structure and behavior of many market participants have led to continued disparate outcomes with very little incentive to change. Over the past 15 years, Tracy and I have had several coffees, lunches, phone calls, and working sessions, all of which have helped provide answers to my many questions regarding the inner workings of the industry today.

 Unwavering support is needed to be successful. It typically comes from the people that rarely get the recognition they deserve such as family, friends, former colleagues, accelerator programs, advisors, consultants, partners, and investors. For myself, Tracy and Prof. Okun are the two people who have helped make this entrepreneurial journey possible and continue to inspire me today.

To all those supporting the founder ecosystem, especially for underrepresented groups, please continue to do so. The success of individual founders and the overall competitiveness of the country needs you. One often has to go against the tide to create anything that produces a unique outcome, experience, or product. The journey is hard, yet fulfilling, and takes a number of key ingredients to build a successful venture.

Written By: Castleigh Johnson (MBA ‘08)

From Engineering to Marketing & Design: My Entrepreneurship Journey with Celer

The Stern Ventures Fellowship (SVF) program has given me the confidence, support, and community needed to transform my product into a business. Before the Stern Ventures Fellowship, I had a product that lacked a market fit and an idea to change the athletic industry. Now, I am solidifying my passions into a reality.

Celer (pronounced "Sell-Air") means quick and swift in Latin and is the first athletic company to utilize active resistance to realign and retrain joint movement during sport. Better movement patterns lead to a lower risk of overuse injury and improved performance, and our first product, the Celer Running Straps, helps to retrain the body to run with better form. I started the innovation journey to create Celer Running Straps in 2016 after experiencing running injuries from years of overuse and feeling burnt out by solutions and methodologies that only resulted in temporary relief. Everything on the market only provided a band-aid solution for an existing overuse injury. There wasn’t anything that actually helped me improve the root cause of my issues, which stemmed from my poor running biomechanics.

The NYU Stern, Berkley Center's SVF accelerator program is designed to help launch a business into its next growth stage within ten weeks during the summer. My experience as an entrepreneur in the program has been extremely rewarding yet highly challenging. Every day I am forced to step out of my comfort zone. Though our Instagram (@MoveCeler) may tell a different story, my safe haven is working behind the scenes. I like thinking of new ideas, researching, and understanding insights. As the founder of an athletic start-up, I realized that growing a business is all about making personal connections. SVF has given me the confidence to put me out in the New York City running community, pop up at races, and cold call runners and doctors alike. This confidence has helped me learn so much about the running community and Celer’s market fit within it, in addition to learning about myself.

The biggest takeaway in my entrepreneurial journey: No matter how great a product is, it will NOT sell itself! Apart from the development of a sound product that fits a true market need, launching a business requires a lot of marketing- both in person and on social media. When I was advised at the beginning of this program to delegate nearly all of my operational responsibilities to my co-founder so that I, as the creator of the Celer Running Strap, could focus on marketing events and social media, I nearly had a panic attack. As a product developer with an engineering and analytical background, I had zero previous experience in marketing and design. This push transitioned me from being an expert who knew her exact next move to a rookie who had no idea what to do. I began to feel a bit of imposter syndrome, which I believe most entrepreneurs can relate to. Regardless, I threw myself into these new challenges in an effort to push through new boundaries and grow my brand. Now I find myself spending early mornings and late nights learning new skills like graphic design, video editing, and website design, as well as the ins and outs of social media platforms.

Fast forward two months, both Celer and my personal life have  evolved incredibly. Not only has my presence and my brand grown, but I’ve also grown to enjoy the marketing and creative side of the business. I even switched my MBA focus from operations/strategy to marketing as a result of this experience. Throughout the course of this accelerator program, I came to the revelation that I am actually pursuing (and achieving) dreams I’ve had since I was 8 years old. When I ran my first 5k race then, I dreamed of changing the athletic industry with a product(s) that helped people achieve better mobility. SVF is the family and community support system that I never knew I needed, and this program has enabled me the confidence, backing, and support to turn a product I developed for my own personal problems into a business that is able to help people live a healthier lifestyle every day. I am thrilled to continue my entrepreneurial journey with Celer, and I encourage each of you to check us out to elevate your run and receive all the good that comes with better movement!

Written By: Sarah Anderson (EMBA ‘23)

From Burned Out to Living Wholely™: Wholely

Wholely™ is a digital wellness platform that offers whole-person care for preventative health issues, starting with burnout. The platform helps professionals recover from burnout and build preventative health lifestyle habits through evidence-based digital pathways, group coaching, and community so they can live healthier and happier lives with more energy.

Read on to learn more about why I started a life-changing platform that encourages working professionals to live healthier and joy-filled lives:

When I landed in the ER after working around the clock for years on Wall Street, it was a wake-up call for me. I was exhausted, in an extraordinary amount of pain, and couldn’t do the most basic of tasks for months. I realized that no matter how ambitious I was or how much I loved my work to the point of using most of my time and energy on it, I am not a machine; I am human after all. After multiple diagnoses, in-depth research, and talking with professionals, I took time off to recover from burnout and design my own ‘wellbeing operating system.’

Despite having leadership training and degrees from schools like Columbia and NYU, I realized none of us are taught how to recognize and take care of our health needs as whole human beings. After watching friends and family members across industries and age ranges struggle to find the same balance I sought, I began training as a well-being coach and mentoring them on how to recover.

This was an issue that didn't only affect me or the people on Wall Street. In fact, Burnout has been classified as a workplace syndrome by the World Health Organization that can predict other preventable chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, high cholesterol, gastrointestinal issues, respiratory problems, and even death below the age of 45. It is a gateway to conditions that can have lifelong effects and could have been prevented.

This problem has only grown worse with the pandemic as people across walks of life struggled to balance their work-life.  89% of employees feel burned out and 42% are quitting due to burnout.  This syndrome results in employees spending $125 billion annually and employers spending $68 billion annually in the U.S. on medical expenses related to burnout.  Additionally, for the employer, the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary.  As a society, the U.S. economy loses $500 billion from stress and lost workdays each year. 

In order to bridge the gap between the recommended positive behavioral changes for lifestyle medicine that doctors, therapists, and wellness coaches recommend and the daily implementation of those practices in the lives of busy professionals, I believe the platform can be a transformative experience for everyone. Unlike other solutions that address only one aspect of well-being, such as physical health, our whole-person model fills the gap between the recommendation and implementation of healthy habits across the whole self, including mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being dimensions. 

My passion for self-improvement, my experience as a healthcare investor, and my own encounter with severe burnout all inspired me to launch Wholely™. Together, our team uses evidence-based techniques from lifestyle medicine, cognitive behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, positive psychology, mindfulness, and soul-based leadership for healing across the mind, body, and soul. We utilize the most proven methods for helping people remove their inner blocks so they can realize their wholeness and achieve whatever goals they set. We equip our members with the mindset, tools, and techniques they need to build sustainable habits and live the life they dream of.

Wholely™ is led and built by business professionals who themselves successfully recovered from severe cases of burnout. We’ve designed the entire experience with busy professionals in mind, with short content length, convenient meeting times, and flexibility. Beyond being a pure tech platform, our coaches and weekly support groups that members can join offer personalized guidance, encouragement, and accountability from others that are actively seeking to better their health. Sharing thoughts with a community of like-minded individuals and reducing loneliness is one of the many positive side effects of our platform.

Our platform strives to improve the lives of our community members so they can live with energy, joy, and purpose. It is supported by research and directed by wellbeing experts. Our aim to prevent chronic illnesses that burnout can cause, improve health outcomes, and lower medical costs for both employees and employers is driven by this vision.

The company name is a play on the words "whole" and "wholly", which means fully. Come join us on your journey to healing and living Wholely™.

Written By: Heran Getachew (MBA ‘17)

1. Wouwe et al. (2017, October 4) Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5627926/

2. Kurschner, T. (2021, September 30) Burnout Blues: Korn Ferry Survey Shows Professionals’ Stress Levels Skyrocketing. Korn Ferry. https://www.kornferry.com/about-us/press/burnout-blues

3. Deloitte. Workplace Burnout Survey - Burnout Without Borders. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/burnout-survey.html

4. Blanding, M. (2015, January 26) National Health Costs Could Decrease if Managers Reduce Work Stress. Working Knowledge - Business Research for Business Leaders. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/national-health-costs-could-decrease-if-managers-reduce-work-stress

5. Azagba, S. and Sharaf, M. (2011, August 11) Psychosocial Working Conditions and the Utilization of Health Care Services. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163554/

6. McFeely, S. and Wigert, B. (2019, March 13) This Fixable Problem Costs US Businesses $1 Trillion. Gallup - Workplace. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx#:~:text=The%20cost%20of%20replacing%20an,to%20%242.6%20million%20per%20year

7. Moss, J. (2019, December 11) Burnout Is About Your Workplace, Not Your People. Burnout - Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/12/burnout-is-about-your-workplace-not-your-people#:~:text=In%20high%2Dpressure%20firms%2C%20healthcare,to%20 stress%20on%20the%20job

Impact: SAFE Driving Sim

Ability Overlooked

Learning to drive and getting your driver’s license has been an important rite of passage for adolescents across America and much of the world. It is often the start of becoming an independent adult, gaining employment, and having a full social life. Essentially, outside of major metropolitan areas with extensive public transportation systems, it’s an outright necessity to get around. Unfortunately, this landmark achievement is often out of reach for many people with autism and other disabilities.

Contrary to the expectations of many people, there is nothing about autism that inherently prevents anyone autistic from learning to drive. It is often assumed by caregivers or instructors that an individual would be unable to do so. As a result, only 1 in 3 autistic people without any intellectual disabilities actually obtain a driver’s license. It takes longer to get one because they need more time to practice and get acclimated to driving situations (on average about 30 extra hours). Driver’s ed programs also do not provide lessons designed for the ASD community.

Our company, Auriga Interactive Studios, is developing S.A.F.E. Driving Sim, a driving simulator for drivers with Autism Spectrum Disorder who want to practice their driving in a safe environment to gain more confidence behind the wheel. The S.A.F.E. Driving Simulator uses state-of-the-art technology like virtual reality to create a simulator that mimics real-life driving situations. We are specifically designing the simulator to incorporate skills that a new driver with ASD may find difficult. We hope to make S.A.F.E. Driving Simulator widely available for the PC and gaming consoles so that drivers with ASD can practice as much as they need—affordably and effectively.

Driver’s education has been static for decades. After passing a written exam to get a learner’s permit, students take a 5-hour course, practice behind the wheel for a certain number of hours with an instructor or another adult, and take a final road test. More commonly, parents or other family members do most of the instruction as an alternative to expensive private lessons.  In the driving school industry, there is no marketing outreach for autistic drivers. ASD drivers are only provided with expensive occupational therapists, and neurodiverse and neurotypical drivers are expected to accept the status quo. Although state governments provide some benefits, they are hard to access and not widely known, and specialized instructors or occupational therapists are not an affordable option for most. So, whether you are diagnosed or have difficulty learning to drive, it’s either you get behind the wheel or you don’t. There has never been an alternative.

The S.A.F.E. Driving Simulator is a supplement to the existing driver’s education program. We provide an affordable and accessible way for customers who need more practice beyond the standard driver’s ed. Customers will save money and time by using our simulator at home. By practicing enough to increase their skills and confidence, we can help increase the number of autistic people capable of driving. This will dramatically improve the independence of individuals with autism, allowing them to further their education more easily, widen their range of employment options, and improve their ability to maintain social relationships.

Although our S.A.F.E. Driving Simulator will initially assist the autistic community, there are opportunities to help a broader population of drivers. Some examples include but are not limited to, those overcoming PTSD following a car accident, nervous drivers who need more time to practice, and drivers without convenient access to a car to practice. The simulator’s unique feature of adapting to the driver's specialized needs allows a broader population to practice their driving skills.

Written By: Jihye Lee, Jonathon Lentine (MBA ‘23)

Getting Back to Basics: Muse Tax

Finance. Data. Reimagined.

Starting a company is unlike most things in the world. In just about everything else, you have an idea of what to do when something happens but it’s not the case when building a company from the ground up. You encounter things you’ve never experienced in your life. Black Swan events (statistically unlikely events) seem to happen frequently and there’s no playbook because no one has done what you’re doing before. For that reason, it is one of the most humbling experiences yet it is all so rewarding in the end if you stick around ‘til the end.

I was listening to How I Built This podcast with Guy Raz and he was interviewing Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress, Matt said two things that stuck out to me:

1. If you’re solving a difficult problem that has value then you’re onto something great, and

1. Sometimes success is not giving up

Looking at my entrepreneurial journey, these two statements rang true. I co-founded a company called Muse with my longtime friend, Busayo Ogunsanya. Muse uses A.I. to extract data from tax returns and uses it to maximize tax refunds and helps users make smart money decisions. You simply upload your tax return and our A.I. checks to see if you got the largest refund and search to see if there are any financial products that could help you save money. It is a problem that millions of Americans face every year because everyone wants the largest refund and no one wants to overpay their taxes. 

Interestingly enough, Busayo and I initially set out to solve this problem independently of one another until we both ran into issues and a chance call made us realize we needed one another.

I had the idea of using A.I. to review tax returns because a computer can analyze large amounts of data better and faster than any CPA can. As I worked tirelessly to build out the A.I., I went through numerous iterations trying to find the right customer fit. I kept asking myself, “Okay, so you found users missed tax deductions, now what?” I wasn’t sure where the value added would be beyond letting people know that they could’ve gotten a larger refund. I was despondent and started feeling like I wasted my time. I applied to several accelerator programs and shopped the A.I. to several people but found no takers. Months had gone by and I had nothing to show for it. I built something that solved a difficult problem but what was the value added? I felt like a failure.

During a chance discussion with Busayo, he mentioned that he’s working on a way to connect consumers to the right type of tax and financial planning. He was also in a trough of despair and wondering which direction to take his idea. Our discussion led us to realize that we were both trying to solve the same problem. We saw that taxes sit at the intersection of the most crucial financial and life decisions Americans make. It dictates where you live, work, invest, save for retirement, and where you send your kids to college. Despite knowing that we are both working on the same problem, Busayo and I were hesitant to accept that our individual approach was not the right solution. It was a humbling experience because it almost felt like accepting failure.

There is often a negative stigma attached to pivoting. Busayo and I were aware of this but knew that our combined efforts would foster a much better value proposition. We had to overcome our pride and accept that our initial ideas weren’t the answer but together we could build the right product. We were both at our wit’s end when we had the conversation to keep going. It is an internal struggle to accept that something didn’t work but we knew that we had to persevere. We had a mission and we were dedicated to seeing it through. We decided to start from scratch and crafted a value proposition that encompasses both of our ideas.

Fast forward a few months and Busayo and I are starting to see the benefits of our combined efforts come to fruition. Going through a pivot made me question everything about myself and I struggled with doubting my abilities. I was so used to being a good worker at previous jobs but there are no stellar manager reviews in startups. It either works and people want it or it doesn’t. What matters is seeing your mission through and not giving up.

Written By: Colin Horsford (MBA ‘15), Muse Tax

Kicking Off SVF: Steer

There’s something wrong with the meat industry. It’s not the cows, it’s not the consumption of meat, but it's how we’re producing it. The U.S. agro-industrial complex is optimized for output, which increases profitability even at the expense of everything else. For cows, this means being fed corn and other grains that have been genetically modified to be pesticide resistant so that they can be doused in chemicals that kill every other living organism. It means farming and grazing land that has been tilled and pumped full of fertilizer so that when it rains, the topsoil erodes and the phosphates and nitrates run into the rivers. It means stressed cattle living in inhumane conditions, injected with growth hormones, and in need of antibiotics due to overcrowded feedlots that promote the spread of disease. For us, it means poor-quality beef from improper diet and exercise.

Luckily, there are solutions to these environmentally destructive, inhumane, and unhealthy practices. One solution solves all three—regenerative farming.

Regenerative cattle farming is the practice of rotating high-density cattle herds between fields with low-to-no synthetic inputs in the soil and no tilling. The cattle graze until the grass is cut low, producing manure and trampling it into the soil in the process, and then are herded to the next pasture while the previous is given time to regrow. The result is the sequestration of carbon in the soil through the manure and the grass root systems as they photosynthesize to regrow. As this process mimics natural grazing patterns, it also rebuilds topsoil, increases biodiversity, and makes the grasslands more disease and drought-resistant. Plus, the cattle are able to roam and forage, giving them a healthier lifestyle with a nutrient-rich diet. The net carbon emissions of the farm are greatly reduced, the cattle receive humane treatment, and the beef they produce is leaner and significantly healthier with higher concentrations of vitamins and essential fatty acids. And finally, small farmers using these regenerative practices are more profitable as their expenses on fertilizer and heavy machinery are reduced while their beef sells at a premium.

This is where we come in. 

In high school, Jackson Baris was eating beef jerky, and a lot of it. But every time he ate it, it sat heavily in his stomach and left him feeling sick. Determined to curb his jerky cravings in a more satisfactory way, Jackson began making beef jerky at home, iterating over and over on the recipe. Before long, his friends began asking for more, and in order to afford to produce it, he began selling bags. In the process, he learned about the horrors of the meat industry and was determined not to be a participant. He began a relationship with Thousand Hill Lifetime Grazed farms, which is now one of the regenerative farm networks.

This past spring, Jackson began working with me, Cortlandt Meyerson (another NYU student), to start scaling. Currently, we are producing and scaling the beef jerky business to get into retail. We’re making artisanal, sweet & spicy jerky with all organic ingredients and shipping it out. However, we’re building not just a company for beef jerky but a brand for regenerative farming. We believe there needs to be a shift in how we’re producing our food, and sustainability is no longer enough. We need to be regenerative.

Over the past few months, we participated in NYU’s Startup Bootcamp and Sprint, and are now participating in the Stern Venture Fellows (SVF) accelerator program. We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’re receiving from fellow participants, mentors, and MBA students. The depth and breadth of knowledge have allowed us to move forward with a clearer plan for growth, and the non-dilutive funding has given us the boost we need to pursue it. We couldn’t be happier with the coaching we’re receiving. It’s helping us grow as entrepreneurs and build a strong foundation of skill sets. We’re looking forward to meeting with other teams and learning from each other's roadblocks; to coaching sessions that make sure our efforts are propelling us towards our goals, and to the successes and challenges we will face as we begin expanding our customer base!

Written By: Cortlandt Meyerson (BS ’24) and Jackson Baris (BS ’24), Steer