Career News 24/7: INSTANT MBA: Be Flexible In Your Business, But Not In Your Ideals

Friday, September 9, 2011

INSTANT MBA: Be Flexible In Your Business, But Not In Your Ideals

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Friday, September 9, 2011

Today's advice comes from TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky:

"Be flexible in your business model but not in your ideals, and harbor determination."

Szaky founded TerraCycle when he was just a 19-year-old Princeton freshman. The company made worm refuse into fertilizer and packaged it in recycled bottles.

Now, TerraCycle has completely altered its focus, after Szaky saw an opportunity and went for it. TerraCycle's main business is now in 'upcycling' -- the repurposing of used material -- and things are going better than ever.

"I've gotten to this point with TerraCycle because I was open to adapting my plan when I needed to, but I stuck to my principal of an eco-friendly company built from, and run on, trash. No one was going to change that.

I was determined to make it work, and the trick was doing what was needed to make it happen -- not always the path I had in mind, but the same end result nonetheless. Be willing to consider a different path."

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