How a 23-Year-Old Founder Raised $1M to Tackle Food Waste | EP 36

In this episode of UNinvested, host Sahil sits down with 23-year-old entrepreneur Eddy Connors, the non-technical founder of Goodie Bag—a startup tackling restaurant food surplus. Eddy shares his inspiring journey from backpacking in Indonesia to founding multiple companies focused on sustainability and social impact. They discuss the challenges of building a tech company without a technical background, the importance of conviction in entrepreneurship, and the innovative strategies that have propelled Goodie Bag to the brink of closing a $1 million pre-seed round. What We Explore:How a transformative gap year in Indonesia inspired Eddy's entrepreneurial spiritThe creation of BerBeda, Eddy's first company making athletic wear from recycled ocean plasticThe decision to graduate college in two and a half years to pursue entrepreneurshipChoosing to build a startup over entering the corporate worldOvercoming hurdles as a non-technical founder and bringing Goodie Bag to lifeThe significance of a strong team and early sales tactics in startup growthInsights into fundraising and the TechStars Farm to Fork programEddy's personal routines that contribute to his focus and productivity Where to Find UNinvested:Website: https://www.uninvested.org/X: https://x.com/UNinvested_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uninvested In this episode, we cover: [00:17] Introduction to Eddy and the mission of Goody Bag [00:35] Eddy's journey: from a gap year in Indonesia to founding BerBeda [03:22] The decision to accelerate college to pursue entrepreneurship [06:04] Choosing startups over traditional career paths [09:38] Building Goodie Bag as a non-technical founder [12:22] Committing fully to GoodieBag and validating the idea [14:43] Navigating fundraising and experiences with TechStars [17:55] Early sales strategies and the importance of team dynamics [19:28] Reflecting on the entrepreneurial journey and lessons learned [21:41] Eddy's daily routines that enhance focus and productivity