44. Growing FAIRPHONE to 16M€ in one year & transforming the entire electronics industry: an entrepreneurship and mental health guide
APR 24, 202468 MIN
44. Growing FAIRPHONE to 16M€ in one year & transforming the entire electronics industry: an entrepreneurship and mental health guide
APR 24, 202468 MIN
Description
<p>Only 15% of old phones get recycled.</p><p>And that’s not the biggest problem. </p><p><br /></p><p>When you get your new phone in your hand, most of the harm has already been done. 70 - 80 % of the phone’s footprint is in the making, not in the usage.</p><p><br /></p><p>If we use our phones longer, less resources are needed for their production. And there will be less electronics waste.</p><p><br /></p><p>But how do you design a phone for circularity and longevity?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Fairphone </b>managed to create and grow a phone company with a circular and fair model:</p><ul><li><p>A phone easy to repair</p></li><li><p>100% electronic waste neutral</p></li><li><p>Made in fair factories</p></li><li><p>Repairable, sustainable, ethically sourced</p></li></ul><p><br /></p><p>It all started with a campaign back in 2011.</p><p><b>Bas van Abel, founder of Fairphone,</b> was raising awareness around conflict minerals and mining practices in the electronics industry. </p><p><br /></p><p>They came up with the idea of a made-up, non-existing Fairphone.</p><p><br /></p><p>People loved the concept so much: they got 30,000 people on the pre-order list.</p><p><br /></p><p>That first year Fairphone made a turnover of 16M euro. They became the fastest-growing technology start-up in Europe.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fairphone was officially launched in 2013 and today they have:</p><p>- 40M euro turnover</p><p>- sold 500,000 Fairphones</p><p>- released 5 phone versions</p><p>- 150 employees across the world</p><p><br /></p><p>Listen to the episode with Bas van Abel, founder, board member, and ex-CEO of Fairphone, to learn <b>How to balance a sustainable mission with a profitable business model, while taking care of your health as a founder</b></p><p><br /></p><p>In this episode you will learn:</p><p>- How to operate a circular business model and make it fair</p><p>- How Fairphone found their product-market fit through campaigning</p><p>- What conflict minerals are and the complexity of the supply chain needed to make a phone</p><p>- How to make the supply chain as fair as possible</p><p>- How they managed to set up the Fair Cobalt Alliance</p><p>- What makes Fairphone fair?</p><p>- How to create a business model that supports a longevity mission and is profitable at the </p><p>same time</p><p>- How to move from an old to a new reality through the theory of change and set impact milestones</p><p>- How steward-ownership can help to have a healthier relationship with your stakeholders</p><p>- When is the right time to raise VC</p><p>- How to hire a management team</p><p>- How Bas went into a big burn-out and how to take care of your personal health as a founder</p><p><br /></p><p>Watch the full episode on YouTube - <a href="https://youtu.be/FwXlWn-PJ8A" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/FwXlWn-PJ8A</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Resources:</b></p><p>Bas van Abel <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/basvanabel/?originalSubdomain=nl" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></p><p>Fairphone <a href="https://www.fairphone.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Books recommendation:</p><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18176747-the-hard-thing-about-hard-things?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=1VFxQnln5A&rank=1" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Hard Thing About Hard Things</a> by Ben Horowitz</p><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127227.The_Human_Condition?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=AJdg7u9BH3&rank=1" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Human Condition</a> by Hannah Arendt</p><p><br />===</p><p>Watch my video presentation “3 key strategies to grow a following of 7500+ changemakers on Linkedin” 👉 <a href="https://gtimpact.com/case-study-3-key-steps-linkedin-personal-branding/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">watch presentation</a> </p><p>===</p><p>Save time: get a summary of all episode’s advice by subscribing to the Mission First newsletter - <a href="https://winning-musician-9615.ck.page/dfd3862aa7" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Follow us:</b></p><p>LinkedIn - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/mission-first-podcast/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">follow us on LinkedIn</a> </p><p>YouTube - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrbCqqKRNM5v3UE4QJhKdeg" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">follow us on YouTube</a> </p><p>Instagram - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/missionfirstpodcast/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">follow us on Instagram</a> </p><p>TikTok - <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@missionfirstpodcast" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">follow us on TikTok</a> </p><br /><p>Hosted by Ausha. See <a href="https://ausha.co/privacy-policy" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ausha.co/privacy-policy</a> for more information.</p>
