The goal of this project was to identify a proper application for the Mycelium biomaterial, create a business strategy around it, and have a concise development plan for investors. Throughout the semester, an overall exploration of mycelium as a material was conducted, with a long-term focus of discovering not only the most viable application for it, but also the easiest market to penetrate. Several different sectors were contemplated, with focuses on product development capability, available funding, impact, and scalability. Parallel research was conducted on the operations of several different businesses, with a focus on the research and development industry, patenting, and flexible operations.
The concept of flexible operations is a newfound one- the company would operate much like 10xBeta for example, a product development company that focuses their business on a constantly changing roster of teams and products, but which all inherently contain the company’s spirit (Like a hedge fund but for products, to put it loosely). What began as the research of a potentially revolutionary biomaterial turned into the study of how one would develop this material and incorporate it within a company. The flexibility of mycelium means that several wildly different industries would be able to incorporate it- but instead of following the traditional path of licensing the material and just being a materials supplier, the goal was to identify a suitable strategy that would allow for the creators of the material to expand in multiple different industries. The first step was identifying an industry that was easy to penetrate, had high revenue, a strong social impact, and would raise much awareness to the product. Once identified, the best step forwards was to develop a convincing business plan and investor pitch, with the aim of possibly developing this into a working company. In conclusion, this pitch is a summation of the process of prototyping a valid product, testing its viability within a laboratory, evaluating the market impact, and finally ideating several iterations of a product pitch that could convince investors to back it.
It was important for me to choose a problem space that was in dire need of redesign. Football helmets are petrochemical based, a huge issue to the environment. They also do little to prevent concussions, and football culture as a whole is slowly being recognized as being harmful to the development of young athletes. I believed that this two-part project, nonprofit and research+development, would really draw attention to the issue. Part of the prototyping included coming up with an interview style that would allow many young players to express their true feelings and opinions on the sport, in a clear and concise manner that would still be emotionally evocative. The other part was in coming up with a material derived from mycelium, tailored to the needs of the NFL, and environment.
I want to design for a world in which real problem solving is good for everyone, and I hope that this pitch demonstrates my interest.
