By Deborah Fleischer, CRB Communications Consultant, and Christina Meinberg, CRB Associate Director.  This is part of a new fall blog series focusing on the work of CRB alumni. In this post we focus on Siddarth Sanghvi, MBA ’03.

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Siddarth Sanghvi, MBA ’03

Siddarth Sanghvi, Haas MBA ‘03, recently left his position as GM of Sustainable Commerce at eBay to join Back to the Roots, a start-up (started by Haas BS ‘09 alums Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez) focused on turning waste into local, fresh, sustainable food.  Its initial success was an at-home mushroom growing kit that sells online and in retail stores. Sanghvi’s new position as VP of Operations and Marketing lands him in the heart of helping Back to the Roots launch their second product:  the AquaFarm home aquaponics tank, a small 3-gallon fish tank that allows the owner to grow herbs or other small plants in a closed-loop system that keeps the water clean and the plants thriving.

Sanghvi is not a new comer to start-ups. Directly out of Haas, he co-founded World of Good, a fair trade gift company eBay acquired in 2010.   We had the chance to speak with Sanghvi about his new position and how Haas has influenced his career path.

What are the big picture trends you see around the local food movement?

We are at the epicenter of a few powerful trends related to food. One trend is a heightened awareness around healthy eating and knowing the source of our food.  The second one, somewhat related, is the locavore movement and sourcing food from local farms and local businesses.  Other trends are around good design and education, educating children around the benefits of local, healthy food.

This area of convergence is a pretty good place for us to be in, and I think these trends are only going to grow. I don’t even like to call them “trends” as that somehow implies they are ephemeral. As people learn about the negative impacts of fully processed, industrialized food and awareness grows, the heightened awareness here in Bay Area is going to percolate throughout the rest of the country.

You say a key trend is around “good design”.  Can you say a bit more about this?

People appreciate good design.  A classic example is Apple, where much thought goes into the product.  Nest thermostats and Tesla are two others companies that focus on design as much as performance. More and more people are appreciating form as well as the function and while this combination has gained traction in many other categories, its not as widespread in the sustainable products category.  With the AquaFarm we made a conscious effort to build something that is sustainable and also looks cool—something that I would want to put in my house. Sustainable doesn’t have to be ugly. People are willing to pay for good design and appreciate it.

What attracted you to work at Back to the Roots, and what are your main responsibilities as VP of Operations and Marketing?

Right after business school, I started World of Good and grew it over 6 years before selling it.  It was a fantastic experience.  I was learning a lot, having a ton of fun and I was doing something I was really passionate about.  At eBay I was working on how to create more sustainable purchasing experiences  and it was definitely intellectually stimulating and a great opportunity to head sustainability at eBay.  We were able to build the world’s largest green automobile site and build amazing programs with organizations like Patagonia and The Sierra Club.  But after a couple of years I really missed the fast-paced environment of a start-up where you can make decisions and changes on a dime—you can drive things forward much faster and make a bigger impact in a short span of time.

The move to Back to the Roots happened organically.  I had known Nikhil since they initially started the company as seniors at Haas and I had kept in touch and had been informally advising them. After a meeting in February where I got a detailed overview of the company and its recent growth I saw that I could really help them  in operations and marketing.  While not a typical combination of job titles, because one is more analytical and the other more creative, it was perfect for me as I really enjoy both.  The mission really resonated with me as well. Through Back to the Roots, I want to get millions of people to think about what they are eating, where it comes from and how it impacts their environment. I firmly believe that creating awareness around our food supply chain will prompt people to make choices that do less harm and more good.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your new position?

In operations, we are scaling up really quickly with new product launches and new retail partners.  I am focusing on building up the infrastructure and processes so we can fulfill the demand we have, efficiently and cost-effectively. On the marketing side, I’m blessed with having two founders who do an amazing job promoting the company.  We have received a ton of earned media which is great given our relatively small size.  Now I want to have our voice and tone and brand catch up—tighten things up so the website, content and packaging are all consistent.

When it came time to raise funding for the AquaFarm product, instead of turning to angel investors, Back to the Roots took its story to Kickstarter.  Can you talk a bit about crowdsourcing as an investment strategy? 

fish pictureThe AquaFarm is expensive to build.  The injection mold for the tank alone cost over $100,000. The Kickstarter campaign served two purposes: to gauge market demand and to raise money to make it a reality. The founders leveraged their networks to the hilt and through the Kickstarter community raised a quarter of a million dollars in 30 days.  Most of these funders were investing $50 at a time so they could be the early adopters of the AquaFarm. The campaign really helped us prove there was a huge demand for the product and one unexpected surprise was the incredible feedback we got through the process that allowed us to improve the product significantly before it was finalized.  Kickstarter was an important source of funding as we launched this second product as the company is completely boot-strapped.  There are no outsider investors and we have been profitable from the first year.

As you mentioned, it can be harder in a large company to make quick changes and to take risks.  How did Back to the Roots make the decision to create a product for an emerging market and take the risk to go for it?

The AquaFarm is a unique product and defies categorization. This does make it harder to sell in the sense, it has to be explained first. However, one way we have been building a lot of momentum is through the media. We have been pitching a wide spectrum of publications ever since the launch in June and have received a ton of PR from national publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc, Associated Press. Etc. We also have some big names in print and TV lined up for the holiday season. On the sales side, we have partnered with three key retailers – Nordstrom, Whole Foods and Petco for national distribution. The media and national distribution deals will go a long way in building momentum over time. The three main ways launching the Aquafarm was different from a traditional product launch at a larger company was the speed (faster), budget (tiny) and the relentless push by the founders to get the product in front of the press.

How did your experience at Haas shape your career?

At Haas, Professor William Rosenzweig’s Social Entrepreneurship class and Kellie McElhaney’s CSR class helped me realize I could combine the sustainability and the business side of things, that I can do good and do well at the same time.  Haas is an incredible environment that brings a special mix of students, professors and businesses together.  At Haas I was able to build a network that is responsible for a lot of what I have achieved. I found my World of Good co-founder at Haas (I should say she found me, Priya was the visionary behind the company) as well as some of our investors, board of directors and employees.  Even our connection to eBay was through Hass. So for me personally–World of Good, eBay, Back to Roots–everything is a result of Haas.

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