1. Upon what basis did Szaky make decisions throughout the development of the venture?
Tom Szaky is an entrepreneur, known for starting TerraCycle, a company that makes consumer products out of waste. Although the environment and the venture itself changed a lot throughout the development, Szaky always remained true to himself. He believed that a waste management business could make a profit and promote environmental protection at the same time. However, gut instincts and being in the right place at the right time was also an important issue for the former success - commencing with the idea for the startup business when he visited his friends and discovered the fertilizer which they had developed. Shortage of money was an essential subject in the first years of the business and therefore many decisions were based on capital procurement. Later on as the business was running better, a lot of decisions were not based on financial matters but to snap a chance to advance growth.
2. What are the critical moments that TerraCycle faced, and how did they define the firm?
The corporate history of TerraCycle includes a plethora of critical moments and challenges. Starting with the disappointing place at the business plan competition, wherefore the entire foundation of the company was made for. As they found a possibility to implement their idea by using worm gins from an investor, they had to scramble up some money. The testiest struggle was raising capital and getting investors on board. The first years were characterized by permanent shortage of cash so that the startup was faced with bankruptcy many times. Another challenge was to figure out in which business they were in – TerraCycle had to redefine their business from being a waste-management company into a manufacturing company. This was made possible by the invention of their first
