In episode four of The Flipside, hosts Sali Sasi and Julie Stevanja are joined by Mike Smith, the founders of Zero Co, a company that’s tackling the world’s plastic crisis by producing household and personal care products that people genuinely want to use, sans single-use plastic. 

After taking an 18-month trip to some of the world’s most far-flung locations, Smith realised that everywhere he went, there was a huge plastic problem. So he founded Zero Co as a way to try and fix it. To date, Zero Co has stopped one million plastic bottles from entering landfill — and they’re just getting started. In this episode of The Flipside, Smith explains how he overcame the hurdle of every investor in Australia knocking back his idea and how that lead him to launch the country’s most successful Kickstarter campaign ever. 

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• The difference between crowdfunding and venture capital funding a startup.
• The guerilla marketing campaign that earned Zero Co early media coverage.
• How radical transparency builds community authentically.

In this episode, Zero Co is offering $20 off orders over $100, when you shop via the Her Black Book app. You have until midnight on Sunday 26 September to take advantage of the discount, so be quick!

This podcast is presented by POPSUGAR.com.au and sponsored by Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4. It’s time to unfold your world. Available now at Samsung.com

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POPSUGAR Australia, Sali Sasi, and Julie Stevanja acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Producer: Nick Rowse, Forbes Street Studio