Not only did the Covid-19 pandemic delay the launch of their product, but it also almost threatened to halt husband and wife team Christie Zwahlen and David Taffet’s move to North Texas.
As the couple was gearing up to begin taking pre-sale orders for their startup, Petal’s, initial pre-sale launch of its disposable waste product, they hit the road for investments in March.
“We chose the week that was just at the tail end of ‘oh my goodness perhaps this might be something,’ to ‘oh my goodness this absolutely is something,’” Taffet, who serves as CEO, told NTX Inno. “As an entrepreneur, you’re always looking to be where the wave is about to hit, as if you’re surfing, and it felt like a tsunami the entire way trying to be agile enough to make our goals and make it home.”
As they were heading back from a meeting in Canada, Taffet said the border closed almost immediately after they crossed. They made it through close call closings in New York and Philadelphia, before making it back to their home in Ohio.
Knowing there was little time to lose, the couple packed up and moved – bringing Petal along with them – to Fort Worth. Taffet said it was a place they had intended to move to, though that was accelerated by the pandemic. He said they were drawn to the region by its position of a transportation hub and by trade agreements there that allow businesses to trade more openly with Mexico, where Petal plans to have some manufacturing.
“We found a home where we’re more than happy to shelter in place for a while,” Taffet said. “I held on to what I understood to be the constant instead of focusing on what would be the change, and the constant was we’re going to survive and if we don’t survive, we have bigger issues. I always look for what is the opportunity amidst the chaos.”
Taffet and Zwahlen’s company Petal is focused on bringing a new type of disposal system to the market. Taffet describes it as a trash can that looks like it was designed by Apple. The product uses freezing technology that stops rot and odor in organic waste. The initial product is set to launch on September 21 and will focus on the home-use market, Petal sees its technology being implemented in a number of verticals in the near future, especially as the pandemic has increased consciousness of health and safety worldwide.
“You would think from eons of throwing things away that we would finally get to a point where that stench is enough to get away from… and secondly, it’s a health hazard the way we’ve handled the disposal of organic waste in particular,” Taffet said.
Petal’s technology was originally developed by rocket scientists in Toronto in 2015. Since then, the IP has been acquired by Taffet and Zwahlen, who hired the scientists and formed an LLC. In that time, they have gone on to raise more than $1 million in cash and services, including equity funding from Rainfactory and services from industrial designer Scott Henderson, a sign that Taffet says validates his notion that the product is a “category killer” – one that has the potential to dominate the market.
“The aha moment wasn’t in realizing this would be effective with diapers, which is where the original inventors had positioned it. I know that when you go head-to-head with a big competitor… you’re essentially just digging a grave for yourself. The only way to succeed is if you supplant your competitor,” Taffet said.
After taking pre-orders, Petal expects to begin delivering products within the next 4 to 6 months. The launch was originally set for about 5 months ago. However, delays in getting its prototype and promotional material pushed that back.
“I consider resilience and tenacity the most critical components of being an entrepreneur, and that is always best demonstrated at your point of failure,” Taffet said.
Despite those delays, Taffet said the pandemic has helped Petal decreased advertising costs have allowed the company to grow more quickly and cheaply. It has also increased the use of ecommerce and heightened awareness of hygiene for many people.
Zwahlen added that the couple’s different backgrounds – hers in higher education and community engagement and his in entrepreneurship – has allowed them to draw on their different strengths to navigate the crisis.
“One of the challenges is we come from different backgrounds… we have spectacularly different professional experiences and I think when we met initially, that was a concern of mine because I didn’t know if our world views were going to comport with one another. But then, what I realized is we have very similar values, convictions, beliefs and so we were able to draw on both,” Zwahlen, who serves as executive VP of social impact, said.
With a focus on community health and wellness, the 12-person team at Petal expects much of its growth into different verticals will happen organically. Taffet said he expects as students return to schools, word of the product will spread there. Similarly, users will want to see the product used in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities where they visit and their family members stay. Zwahlen added that the product could help more people begin composting who otherwise may not have due to issues with odor and pests. She also noted a growing trend in gardening and self-sufficiency during the pandemic.
“We have this real focus on figuring out how we can be helpful both in the local community and at the larger level too,” Zwahlen said.
