Why startups should be better than charities at solving social problems

Startups exist to develop new solutions to problems.

But many of society's biggest problems fall outside traditional startup business models.

Today we explore why that is, and how it might be changed as we sit down with Robin Lewis, co-founder of Mymizu, a startup focused on reducing plastic waste by encouraging reuse.

We take a deep dive into possible monetization strategies, why startups should be better at solving social problems than non-profits, and we discuss a possible roadmap for a middle path between startups and non-profits.

It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Show Notes

The Japanese middle-ground between NGOs and for-profit startups The hidden strategy behind beach cleanup programs Mymizu’s current business model The challenge of mixing environmental and social sustainability When Tim became “The Destroyer of Dreams” The unexpected (positive ) impacts of COVID-19 Why startups should be able to do more social good than NGOs How bottled water breaks economic theory What happened to Japanese water fountains One common recycling scam in Japan A roadmap for the middle path between NGO and startup

Links from the Founder

Everything you ever wanted to know about Mymizu Follow Mymizu on Instagram Check out Robin's personal home page Follow his blog on social sustainability Follow him on Twitter @robintlewis Connect with him on LinkedIn More about sustainability in Japan

7 Surprising Facts About Plastic in Japan Sanpo Yoshi: the Japanese business principle of success through responsibility 25 Opportunities For Volunteering and Social Good in Japan

Milton Friedman's landmark NYT article on corporate responsibility

Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs. I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me. Water, it’s one of the most common molecules in the universe and you personally are made up of about 60% water. There are a number of significant problems today that revolve around water but water is rarely the focus for startups, and today, we’re going to explore why that is and why that might be changing. Today, we sit down in a properly socially distanced matter and talk with Robin Lewis, co-founder of Mymizu. The Mymizu app enables you to find places to refill your water bottles all over Japan, and the company itself exists in a very interesting space between nonprofit and a regular for profit company. Robin and his team are already making an impact in Japan, and we have a deep dive into how startups can be a force to achieve meaningful social change. The challenges of balancing the need for revenues with staying true to your social mission, and we brainstorm about possible monetization strategies that could enable that, and also, you’ll learn something that will probably really piss you off about how recycling is done in Japan. But you know, Robin tells that story much better than I can, so let’s get right to the interview.

Interview Tim: So I’m sitting here with Robin Lewis, the co-founder of Mymizu, a water refilling app. Thanks for sitting down with me. Robin Lewis: Thanks so much for having me, Tim, I’m excited to be here. Tim: Actually, you can explain Mymizu much better than I can, so what is Mymizu exactly? Robin: Mymizu, what we’re doing is we’re on a mission to help people live more sustainably, starting with plastic bottles. We accomplish that in, I’d say, four main ways. First, we have the app which you mentioned and it’s essentially a tool where you can find 200,000 locations around the world where you can take your reusable bottle and refill that for free, and so this includes public water fountains like in train station, in parks, and so on, but also, we have this network of what we call ‘refill partners,’ this is cafes, shops, hotels, and other businesses where you can walk in, you can get your water, and then walk out. It’s that simple. Tim: So tell me about your customers on both sides, so what kind of shops are acting as these free refill stations and who are your users? Are they a particular demographic or particular age? Robin: The main businesses that are passerby refill network as we call it, it really ranges from tiny mom-and-pop stores all the way to really big brands, so it really depends, as I say, we have everything from cafés, restaurants, hotels, fitness centers, tourist information places, so there is a huge range. Tim: For the refill partners, why are they on the app? Are they hoping to get additional traffic or they're concerned about single used plastics and they want to contribute to a solution? Why are they signing up? Robin: So our pitch to the refill network partners is that it's a really simple way to contribute to the environment. It also, as you say, brings in foot traffic. It's a great way to get people through the door smelling the coffee, seeing the products, whatever it is, and that's the first step to building a new relationship with potential customers, so it's really simple. It's free and it's a great way to get new customers as well. Tim: Yeah, actually, I want to really dig into the business model in just a minute, but just quickly, you guys, you're not quite an NGO, you're not quite a for-profit, you are sort of a uniquely Japanese corporate structure, right? Robin: So in terms of how we work, we consider ourselves a full purpose organization and as you said, we are not a for-profit kabushikigaisha structure. we operate under what's called a general Incorporated Association which is closer to the nonprofit side and in terms of philosophy, we are really trying to ensure that we can continue our work and scale up to a social business model, so we don't necessarily rely on donations, we really have these kind of various projects that bring in revenue to ensure that we can continue what we do. Tim: Okay, and I want to dig into the business model specifically in just a minute, but before that, I want to back up. You and your co-founder Mariko founded Mymizu pretty recently, you just launched it last year, and I heard that it was based on a trip you took to Okinawa, like the year before or something like that, right? Robin: That's right, so the story of Mymizu began in April 2018 and my co-founder Mariko and I were on a trip to Okinawa, just one of my favorite places in the world, and we are taking a walk along the beach one day and when we discovered this quite significant pile of rubbish that had floated in from the ocean - fishing gear, flip-flops, cosmetics, packages, all kinds of stuff, but the biggest culprit we found was actually pet bottles, and so kind of the pin dropped because we thought, hang on, there are so many pet bottles, many of them bottles of water in a country where we can drink the water around us. We are so fortunate to be in this extremely good situation with safe and drinkable water, so we thought, okay, we gotta fix this problem at the source. Tim: Was that the startup or part of the open loop initiative where you were doing a lot of beach cleanups and things? Robin: Yeah, I mean, at that point, we thought, okay, we have got to do at least two things. One is tackle the issue at the source, let's ensure that we replace the current system in terms of buying bottled water, and then secondly, let's get people together, build community, and for example, do beach cleans where we can actually remove the litter from the rivers, from the oceans, and also educate people, engage people, and create movement. Tim: I mean, that's awesome, but cleaning the beaches with the trash, it's like Sisyphus rolling the stone up the hill, I mean, the trash washes in with every tide from God knows where. Robin: No, I agree. I am under no impression that we could clean up the entire world, that's a huge task and that's why our main focus is really this reduction component, let's fundamentally reduce the usage of plastic, but I think the power of, for example, of beach cleans is that it's a great way to engage people and for people to see the impact with their own eyes, and that helps shift the behavior on a daily basis. I think if you sit in a classroom and you watch videos and you hear people talk, it's one thing, but if you go to the beach, the river and you see all this crap in the oceans, then it really hits you, and after you spend an hour bending over getting sweaty and picking up these bits of cigarette butts and whatnot, you remember that, and it has an impact. Tim: Okay, so the purpose of getting 30 people together to go clean up the beach is not so much just to clean up that particular beach but to motivate people to change and support environmentally friendly policies and vote for politicians who are supporting environmentally friendly policies as well? Robin: I would say that, for me, is kind of the bigger goal, but I think the picking up of trash is a great way of visualizing the impact of people working together . Tim: Awesome. Well, let's dig into the business model. I mean, it's easy to see why Mymizu is getting so much attention and you've been earning a lot of really well-deserved awards, but what is the business model? I mean, the app is free, the stores don't pay for the foot traffic and the water is free, so how are you making money on this? Robin: You know, it's funny, I think I get asked this question every single day. Tim: It's not obvious. Robin: No, and I think if you Google Mymizu in Japanese, the first thing that comes up is Mymizu, and then business model, so I think they’re really curious. So to break it down, and I should be perfectly honest from the beginning, we've had to shift many times and we were kind of making things up as we go, but I think we have finally found a number of ways to generate revenue to continue what we are doing. So firstly, it's our work with corporates.