M Business 5th Edition by Ferrell,Geoffrey Hirt,Linda Ferrell

Exercise 4

Mark Herrema and Kenton Kimmel were two entrepreneurs with an idea they knew would succeed-despite the skepticism of naysayers. Herrema observed how nature had the ability to capture carbon from the air. As concerns over global warming continued to grow, Herrema believed it was possible to imitate nature by capturing this carbon and using it to create plastic. Experts in the industry thought they were crazy. The entrepreneurs were told time and again that their idea would be too costly to implement. Despite the doubts, the men were confident they could develop the right technology to make it work. They worked 14- to 16-hour days as a bellhop and valet to generate money to test their ideas. California-based New light Technologies was founded in 2003.
Against what seemed like impossible odds, the company has succeeded in finding a way to turn methane captured from dairy farms into plastic. Called Air Carbon, it is being used to create chairs, food containers, and cell phone cases. New light Technologies has raised $19 million in funding to expand production of its carbon-negative plastic so it can compete with traditional oil-based plastics.The company is working with Fortune500 companies to turn plastic into products for different industries. However, perhaps the greatest advantage is that unlike traditional plastics, Air Carbon takes carbon emissions out of the air instead of emitting them. Herrema believes wide scale use of this invention will have the ability to reduce the effects of global warming. 37
What did it take for the two entrepreneurs to succeed with their idea?