Saving the f#$%ing rainforests with Shara Ticku of C16 Biosciences

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2023

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Palm oil is a wonder ingredient, used in almost everything from toothpaste and oat milk to biodiesel and laundry detergent. But to keep pace with rising global demand, producers have burned down millions of acres of rainforests to create more palm oil plantations, worsening climate change and making the air hazardous for entire countries in the process.

C16 Biosciences has a plan to save those rainforests – and to shake up the behemoth palm oil industry while doing it. Since founding the company in 2018, Shara Ticku and her co-founders have cracked the code on its first beauty product made with lab-generated palm oil. And once they brought it to market? It sold out immediately!

This week on How I Built This Lab, Shara talks to Guy about how introducing C16’s initial product to a secondary market laid the foundation for even greater commercial success. Plus, Shara shares how a tight budget, scrappy science, and home-brewed beer were the keys to unlocking substantial funding.

This episode was produced by Carla Esteves and edited by John Isabella, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Katherine Silva.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today!
0:30.0	The thing about running your own business is every single higher counts.
0:35.0	And no hiring partner understands that, like indeed.
0:38.0	Indeed is a matching and hiring platform where you can attract, interview, and hire all in one place.
0:45.0	One of the things that I really love about indeed is its powerful matching technology.
0:49.0	In fact, indeed UK data shows over 85% of employers using indeed find quality candidates
0:55.0	who see these on indeed match their job description the moment they post a job.
1:00.0	Indeed knows that when you're growing your own business, you have to make every pound count.
1:04.0	And that's why, with indeed, you only pay for applications from quality candidates who meet your must-have requirements.
1:10.0	Start hiring now with a 100-pound sponsored job credit for your job post at indeed.com slash how I built.
1:17.0	Offer good for a limited time.
1:19.0	Claim your 100-pound credit now at indeed.com slash how I built.
1:25.0	Indeed.com slash how I built. Terms and conditions apply.
1:29.0	Need to hire? You need indeed.
1:33.0	Hello and welcome to How I Built this Lab. I'm Guy Razz.
1:37.0	So chances are if you brushed your teeth today or did the laundry or swiped on deodorant or ate a protein bar,
1:43.0	you came across palm oil. It's in almost everything, more than 50% of products on supermarkets shelves to be exact.
1:52.0	And there's a good reason for that.
1:54.0	Palm oil is the reason toothpaste and shampoo's foam up so nicely.
1:58.0	It's white chocolate melts in your mouth rather than in your hand.
2:02.0	And it's a really effective natural preservative for tons of food products.
	...

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