Closer Look
Dagan Kay
Age: 24
Education: Graduate, University of Portland
Company: Produce Mate
What the company does: Mission-driven food waste company who makes the worlds first antibacterial kitchen mat designed to extend the shelf life of your fruits and vegetables.
Accelerators, incubators and competitions: Winner and Best Pitch, InvestOR 2018; Winner, UO New Venture Competition (undergraduate); Second place, UP 100K Startup Venture Challenge
Funding: Crowdfunded $21,521, bootstrapped
How did your company come about? Produce Mate was founded out of the pervasive need to give ordinary people simple ways to cut back on their household food waste. We waste 40% of all the food that's produced in this country, and roughly 1/4 of that waste occurs at the household level. The cascading impacts food waste has on our economy and environment are truly tremendous.
What is your ultimate vision for your company? A net-negative, mission-driven B-corp that designs and builds useful, sustainable, and long lasting products that help people eat more of the food they pay for.
Do you ever feel like you are missing out on anything because you are following this path at such a young age? I'm certainly sacrificing a massive amount of comfort and stability to pursue this path. The overall outcome of Produce Mate ultimately falls on my shoulders. For 90% of my work days I'm completely alone, I don't spend a cent without massive consideration, and I only really ever meet investors and other entrepreneurs - so my social circle since college has certainly shrunk a bit. All that said, I'd rather have the risk and potential upside than do 9-5 for just about anyone else.
Have you felt any specific challenges around your work because you are still so young and early in your career? Absolutely. My job sort of works like this: I come up with an idea or a plan, I follow that plan, I track the results, I weigh them against the original plan, I evaluate my work individually and as a part of the business plan as a whole, then I pivot and try something new. It can be quite taxing when you have to critique your own work and ideas all the time: It's tough to quell the negative thoughts about my own abilities. To really embrace the cycle of constantly failing/pivoting is perhaps is the most daunting challenge for me.
Are there any founders or business people you look up to or want to emulate? I think of my fellow young entrepreneurs mostly. I think of artists and people who have found atypical ways to live their life. Priyav at mychesstutor.com, Bill at heyhumming.com, and Amelia at Wonderfil.world. Big shout out to all three of you, and so many others, who have been brave enough to take the first step on this lifelong entrepreneurial journey.
