Finding the right team
Many founders suggest finding the right team is very difficult and is an issue right at the top of the list with other business challenges. Esther, Founder of Gryllies noted that finding the right team is the #1 challenge and the #1 reason why start-ups fail. She noted business challenges you can overcome, but finding a well-functioning team is hard. If you don’t have a business, but you have a good team, you will continue to shift until you find the right fit. It is the team that needs to execute on that great business model and product.
And Gryllies has a great product! Their product focus is on future friendly protein sources. Their first product line is featuring a protein source familiar to probably half of the world, but it hasn’t really been introduced to the North American, Western diet. They are using edible insect protein and are currently focused on crickets. The current product is a tomato sauce infused with cricket and rice protein. It is a great source of protein and extremely sustainable. This combination creates a super food, but she noted they went through a number of iterations of their product to get here.
This product stems from the core idea to create a way to eat that is better nutritionally for us and is better for the environment. With the way the population is growing and with cattle producing more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation industry, Esther noted that they knew there had to be a better way to eat that made sense. After they read an article from the World Health Organization about edible insect protein as a viable way to feed the growing population, they decided to dig further into the concept. They then found the largest cricket farm in North America is right here in Ontario! The further they went through this road, pieces started coming together. Esther noted they realised they wanted to create full meal options because that’s where they could create the most impact to actually displace a person’s meat intake, unlike their competitors who mainly focus on snack items. They will be selling online and have also sold their products in farmers markets in Toronto.
With this great product, it has been a journey for Esther to get to where she is today. She noted growing up in Orillia, a small town north of Toronto, she really had no exposure to entrepreneurship and few opportunities. She was surrounded by her two parents, who took a hard route immigrating to Canada from China in their 30’s, integrating into the community by learning English and finding jobs. She noted that through this she really learned how to make a life when times were tough, which is very relatable to starting a company.
Her exposure to entrepreneurship really began in her 3rd year at Queens University where she studied environmental science and economics. Esther noted she essentially couldn’t find a summer job and really wanted to learn and gain experience, but no one would hire her. She thought if no one would hire her, she may as well hire herself. She started looking at resources on campus and looked for ways to get involved in environmental related activities. She came up with a project proposal, found a professor and some funding to hire web developers to create a website now used by faculty, research facilities and student groups.
After that experience she still didn’t consider entrepreneurship as a career. But while on exchange to Hong Kong, she worked for a start-up and noted what an eye-opening experience that was. She noted even as an intern she could bring so many ideas to the table and have a large impact. Coming back to Canada she had an internship in a corporate company, but it just didn’t feel right to her, so in her 4th year she continued to get involved in entrepreneurship. She participated in a 4-month program at Queens called Queen’s Innovation Connector Summer Initiative (QICSI) where they give you seed capital, courses, mentorship and a chance to win funding. At that point she stopped job searching despite pressure from family and friends. At this time, she was working on a fitness-based app around charity and they continued it for a few months after the program where they faced a lot of pivoting and team members finding alternate career paths. Gryllies worked out of the same office and in January they were looking for members to join; for Esther, it seemed like a seamless match given her background.
At this point, Esther runs every aspect of Gryllies: the strategic vision, next steps, production, operations, marketing…Everything! She noted being one person, you can only do so much. The scale is small until they find the right channel and the right market fit. Her team currently consists of a part-time graphic designer, an intern, and a number of mentors and advisors. She is also currently looking for other members to join as a co-founder or through a partnership role.
Esther noted that it can be hard to stay motivated. Especially when you come across a challenge that seems impossible, you ask yourself why you are doing this. But entrepreneurship provides immense personal growth. You are on the front lines, facing everything that comes your way. She noted there really isn’t anyone else you can rely on and it’s up to you to make it work or not. It also means doing something that you love, being your boss, and bringing something amazing to life. She noted that entrepreneurs receive a lot of praise in terms of their bravery, they are so confident that they have the ability to create something people will want to buy.
Esther noted pursuing anything on your own is really hard. She decided to pursue this idea because her skills and personal passions. She found passion in creating a profitable business while moving our planet forward and is something she wanted to create a career out of. She noted a lot of start-ups are tech-based, while Gyrilles is product-based and her skillset is more in line with that given her exposure to branding, marketing, and managing. She noted that to pursue something like this it is 50% emotional, how you feel about the idea. The other 50% is how you can rationally contribute and the potential of the business. But if you are going through any difficult times, that is where mentors are great! She noted mentors are invaluable to helping facilitate you making it through difficult situations and decisions.
Learn a bit more about Esther!
If she wrote a book: She would write about modern day female empowerment. She noted growing up she noticed a lot of common themes that girls are socialized to be that manifests norms and mentalities that inhibit their potential. She noted there are differences in ways that you are brought up, socialized, and interact with the world that girls don’t realise, but if they were spelt out that hopefully it would empower girls to pursue what they really want to do.
How she stays grounded: Esther re-gains energy by speaking with people. She tries to get opinions and tries to keep up with friends running other businesses and sees where she can help. She thrives off of community and relationships. She also thinks you can find the most inspiration from people who are going through similar things in life as you, but are a little further ahead.
Favorite food: Eggplant! She noted if you simmer it in soy sauce, rice vinegar and other spices, the eggplant soaks all the flavours.
Favorite travel spot: Hong Kong! She said she likes the mix of nature and a mega city. You can be downtown and 15-20mins later you can be hiking on a mountain. She also noted it is such an international city and people come from all over the world.
Esther has some great advice! She noted that she wished she knew earlier how hard it would be to find team members. You are going to take what is said for face value even if the person you are interviewing doesn’t realise themselves that entrepreneurship is not for them. It comes back to how to handle people, and how to really know if someone is a good fit.
Esther also noted: don’t start until it makes sense to start. She said you see a lot of people start businesses, just for the sake of starting. It is really hard this way and it is best to start if you personally have an issue or you’ve worked closely with an idea for a while and had time to think about it. She noted that is the right time to start a business, instead of the other way around. If there isn’t a particular idea you’re after, you’ll keep shifting, and when you are just after the dream, you don’t have a focus. She also noted to make sure you have worked with someone before you decide to jump in with them; she noted it’s like a marriage partner, don’t get hitched before you date. You are going to have a lot of issues you are going to solve together.
Thank you for reading the post about Gryllies! If you would like to learn more about their product, please check-out their website. If you have any feedback for me, please reach me here.
