The Vitals
Birth Name: Michael Moll
Nickname / Desired Superhero Name: The Full Time Optimist
Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya (Born) – Vancouver, British Columbia (Lives)
Company Name: my green space
Company Founding Year: 2014
The Story
What’s your professional background? Have you always been an entrepreneur or have you paid your dues working for “The Man” too?
I have been an entrepreneur since I was 5 years old selling candy to my neighbors.
I started two other start ups before My Green Space. One was a restaurant loyalty app called what’s good and then a Concert/Event ticketing app called goodnights, now Guest manager. I studied Marketing at UBC with a sustainability minor.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur and go out on your own?
My Grandad was an entrepreneur and I saw how he had creative control over his life. I wanted that for myself. I have lots of ideas that I want to execute on.
How did you find the time, money and people to get your business off the ground?
I came to Canada from Kenya on a scholarship and did my MBA at University of British Columbia. My plan was to become a global capitalist. Seriously. I’d dreamed of that since I was little. But once I came to Vancouver, I started to think differently. I studied Marketing with a minor in Sustainability. I started to meet a lot of people who actually cared about the planet, who were actually doing something to change the way we consume and live. I also love technology. I could talk about that all day. My other business idea was an app to get concert tickets on their phone. But then I started to think that wasn’t a worthwhile mission.
That is when I decided to really get serious about my green space. I went to Startup Weekend with the idea and our team ended up winning second place along with a sponsored spot at Spring U. We graduated the LAUNCH program (previously referred to as Kick) and also participated in FUNDING.
What is your company all about and why should everyone care?
My Green Space is an app that makes it possible for anyone to grow their own food and avoid 80% of mistakes made by first-time and early growers. Our Vision is to have a garden in every home on earth. Every home can grow food, regardless of the type of space. You’ll notice there is no ‘garden’ in the company name. The app just asks how big your space is and how much sun it gets…and then gives you, step by step, all you need to successfully grow your own food.
The way we grow food now is environmentally destructive. We have gone way wrong with the industrial food system. Big monoculture crops that use mass amount of fertilizers create runoff that leads to dead zones in our oceans. Growing your own food is the Trojan Horse of climate change. People all over the world are embracing it but it’s the best defense against the destruction happening from big food industries. But it’s also not what humans need; people need to do something with their hands, to work the soil. It’s been that way for thousands of years. It’s only been the last few decades that we’ve gone off track.
Where do you hope to see your company 5 years from now? What are you going to do to make it happen?
1 Million users with our app available on every continent and in 50 countries. My goal is to get so big we can buy Monsanto and shut them down.
What has been your favorite part of founding and growing your business?
Designing software and digital storytelling through social media.
What has been the most frustrating part of founding and growing your business?
Raising funds. It’s a full time job and a slow process.
What do you do to keep yourself balanced and sane? Could be anything from hobbies to software to food…
I write songs and poetry, I go to open mic’s, I play golf (Pitch and putt) and do yoga.
If you could be doing one other thing full-time, what would it be?
Write Plays, Musicals, Short Stories
What’s your motto? If you don’t have one, make it up right now…
Teamwork Makes The Dream Work.
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Love the green movement. Showing others what it is like to grow your own food and how efficient it can be when you do it yourself is a very refreshing concept.
I really hope these guys have somewhere else to take this company rather than just to rooftops and things like that. They seem smart and investors are going to want to see more.
For a company like this, raising funds would be a full time job and that really takes away from how much he can do for the company as a startup. That is something that will separate a good business from a bad one.
Even though there is a lot of bad things that come from today’s farming, the humans have created it to be that way through demand. Right? Farmers are only trying to find a better, faster way of creating more food and the side effects are very much impacting the environment in a bad way.
I LOVE these kind of startups. Get people thinking about being healthy and doing some of the work on their own.
One would hope that a person with an MBA would be able to run a successful business, right?