Part 4 in a series where Krates Ng (co-founder of PlantMyPhone cellphone recycling) interviews fellow ecopreneurs. Today, Krates interviews Faisal Sethi of DoGood Headquarters. DoGood runs an ad network for cause-related advertising. In addition to a traditional ad network they also offer a browser plug-in that replaces generic ads with ads targeted to audiences that want cause-related advertising. Krates says that he enjoys seeing their ads and checking out their campaigns a lot more than the annoying debt-related ads that cover the internet.
1) Why did you start DoGood?
After some self introspection, I realized that although I was aware of many issues that plague our planet, I wasn’t overly active. I wanted to develop a solution that would allow anyone to do some good on a daily basis with minimal effect on their current lifestyles; to transform people from social and consumer pacifists to social and consumer activists.
See Good. Do Better
2) Is there a story about the name ‘DoGood’?
I was at SXSW in 2009 having some BBQ with a friend and we just sort of stumbled upon the obvious– we are trying to do some good, and encourage others to do the same.
3) What was the toughest challenge in getting your company started and how did you get over that?
As with most startups, one of the biggest challenges was funding. I was able to scrape together enough cash to get the initial product out to market with some creative budgeting. Since then, it’s been a steady diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to keep costs down to a minimum.
4) Can you describe the moment when you knew that DoGood hit full stride as a business?
I think we are just starting to get on our feet, hoping to get into a brisk walk soon enough.
good ideas
5) If you had to pick one habit, rule or feature about DoGood, which one would you showcase and why?
I think our mandate of donating a significant portion of our revenue to social and environmental causes is a significant rule of thumb. The capitalist infrastructure is built to dramatically improve and support the economic stability of the few rather than the many, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We are hoping our model provides perpetual funding to those initiatives that need it most.
6) How is DoGood going to grow in 2010? And how can other ecopreneurs help?
We are currently working on several exciting new approaches to our current technological infrastructures, collaborations and partnerships that will help expound on what we are doing. We’d encourage other ecopreneurs to download and share our DoGooder plug-in and use our self serving ad platform to get the word out about their own products and services to a group of people who love to share, are tech-savvy and actually give a damn.
Related posts:
Ecopreneur Interview Series: PlentyWays
Ecopreneur Interview Series: PeopleTowels
Ecopreneur Interview Series: Green Coriander
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