Happy Sunday!
Welcome back to Founders Feature, a weekly newsletter all about the journeys of young startup founders.
For this week's edition, I interviewed Joe Gobara, Founder of Vizopay, a carbon offsetting payment platform based in the UK.
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Here’s what Vizopay is all about:
🏠 The Basics
The Problem:
On a wider scale, the problem we're trying to tackle is climate change. More specifically, we're working on effortless carbon capture. So far, there is no systemic solution for people to give back to the environment in a seamless and effortless way. For customers to make an impact on the environment they often need to donate or switch away from products and brands they currently enjoy. Meanwhile, businesses have to come up with new solutions and product offerings to appease the social pressures of sustainability.
The Solution:
We've created the only carbon offsetting payment platform that rewards both the customer and merchant by planting trees for every transaction made online or in store, at no extra cost, whilst also providing instant analytics to track their environmental impact.
We're partnering with online and in-store merchants to offer Vizopay as a payment option during checkout. When you go to pay with your merchant you select Vizopay as your checkout option and effortlessly plant trees, without any extra cost. You can track how much carbon you've offset and how many trees you've planted through our website.
The Team:
Founder & Co-founder: Joe & Salah Gobara (brothers). Joe is a University of Exeter graduate, passionate about all things technology and sustainability, and working as CEO. Salah is currently pursuing his MPhil in Economics & Finance at the University of Cambridge and is working at the company on a part-time basis. Jazz Brell is leading the Marketing & Strategy at Vizopay on a part-time basis, currently working in London for Ogilvy.
🚀 The Journey
How did you come up with your startup/solution?
I was in Australia in late 2019 and was exposed to the devastating effects of the bush fires that were ravaging the country at the time. This is when I first noticed the severity of how climate change is affecting us. I realised that there is currently no solution for people to give back to the environment in a completely effortless way and without having to undergo drastic changes in their day to day activities. We then realised that the payment space would be a huge market to capture to make a difference. This combined with my previous background in finance, led to Vizopay being born.
Today, the total online retail sector is worth $4.1 trillion in sales. If Vizopay was used for just 0.1% of these purchases we could plant 500 million trees, capturing up to 6 million tonnes of CO2 every year. By 2030, we would be able to offset the entire UK car industry’s CO2 pollution.
Why is this the right time for this problem to be solved?
If we continue along the path we are currently on, there will be no more rainforests in 79 years. The longer we wait to act, the harder it will be to reverse this trend. Sustainability should be on everyone's mind right now, and how better to achieve that than by making it completely effortless.
What is a recent success you are proud of?
Most recently, I'm really excited about reaching our alpha product. Going from concept to alpha, with limited funding and actually being able to build a working product is something I'm really proud of. Right now, we're actually in the final stages of launching our beta product.
What is a recent challenge you have faced?
I coded much of the initial product myself, and what I've struggled with most is finding the time to actually engage with the technology and innovation side enough, while also acting as CEO, working on strategy and all the business activities. I'm working on finding that balance, and I'm definitely getting better at it.
What do you wish you knew before you started and is there anything you would have done differently in hindsight?
I wish I had known how beneficial it can be to just be transparent about what you're working on. In the beginning, I was concealing my product a bit, not wanting to reveal too much too early even when speaking to industry experts who could have offered invaluable insights. In hindsight, I guess I would have been more open sooner. You learn a lot from people.
🧠 The Lessons
What is the best advice you have been given recently?
Going hand in hand with what I would have done differently in hindsight with regards to over-concealing your idea, some of the best advice I've been given is that if your business is that easily replicable when sharing it with someone then you’ve got a pretty big flaw in your business model and it's probably not that good of an idea anyway. While you obviously have to conceal some business logic, don't be afraid to get out there, be open and get feedback and learn from experienced people. It's good to get out there as quickly as possible, even if you feel like you don't have much to show yet.
What advice would you give to other young founders?
Now is the time to take risks. If you've got an idea and you want to start a business, the best time to do it is now. The risk to just leave your job increases with time. When you're young, your risk reward ratio is much better. Plus, it's such a great experience starting your own business.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned so far?
When you want to start a business, and you're excited about your idea, it's going to seem like the best idea to you. You'll likely start to get very wrapped up in the idea, so it's important to validate that idea early on, by going out there and talking to people.
Accordingly, the biggest lesson I've learned is in communication, and just getting out there. By putting myself out there more and just talking to people, I've learned how to build better relationships and how to adapt my communication style based on who I'm talking to. Speaking to people with lots of experience can be a bit intimidating at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.
✨ The Inspiration
Who inspires you?
I take inspiration more from the things people do than the people overall. So, while there's no single person I could name, there are a lot of different people who have inspired me based on things they have done.
What book do you think everyone should read?
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Enjoyed this and want to see more?
Know a founder who should absolutely be featured or have any feedback? Let me know in the comments!