Michael Stausholm
Pure interviews entrepreneur Michael Stausholm about Sprout, the plantable pencils and more…
Please could you tell us a little about yourself and your background. Where you grew up; education etc.
My name is Michael Stausholm and I’m the CEO and Founder of Sprout World. I am born and raised in Denmark. I began my career in the shipping industry, working for A.P. Møller/Mærsk and travelled to Indonesia in 1993, where I lived for 14 years. My greatest interests are green entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Was there a moment, person, or place that you feel influenced you or set you on the journey to where you are now?
Actually I’ve got two and they are two early ones.
The first one was seeing the plantable Sprout pencil on Kickstarter.com back in early 2013. It was the world’s first pencil that you could plant after use and grow into herbs, vegetables or flowers. Wow. Having worked with sustainability for some years, a subject everyone was talking about but no one could really define, suddenly the Sprout pencil came along and was an amazing tool to illustrate sustainability
The second one was 10 months later when sales were going wild in Denmark and starting to gain traction in Europe also. I was suddenly spending full time on the “project” but still not making money, and a friend advised me to get a real job and worry about my family etc. After careful consideration for a few days, I had an absolute Eureka moment when I realized that this was such an amazing idea with a patent behind, and this was something that could really inspire people to make small changes in their everyday lives, and I decided that I would go all in on the Sprout pencil.
Was the Sprout pencil concept the outcome of a lightbulb moment or did the idea evolve over time?
The plantable Sprout pencil was invented by a group of students at MIT in Boston. They were assigned to develop “a sustainable office tool of the future” and came up with a plantable pencil with a seed capsule in the end. The idea was to give it a new life when it was too small to write with simply by planting it upside down and transform it into herbs, vegetables or flowers.
What has the process of developing Sprout as a business taught you?
Many things over the years. First of all; keep going when things get tough. Trust that the problems will be solved in the end and that no company avoids dealing with challenges, it’s just a matter of patience and perserverance.
I’ve also learned how big an impact press coverage can have on the awareness of a brand. In our case, we didn’t pay for any marketing the first 3-4 years, we only focused on getting our brandstory out in selected European and American media which was a success, simply because we have such a strong story to tell.
Another thing that I’ve learned is that you cannot be 100% sustainable as a company from the start. It’s a step by step journey. Things take time and you have to also look at the bottom line when building up a green company. If your products are 100% sustainable from the start but very expensive, you can’t sell them and your company will die before you even get started.
How has this experience influenced your perspective further on sustainability?
At Sprout World, sustainability is a part of our DNA but we continuously work to improve production, packaging, transportation etc. Our goal is to become CO2 neutral in 2022 and climate positive at the latest in 2023.
What advice would you now give your younger self?
I’ve spent many sleepless nights thinking of problems that in the end turned out to be solved. Seeing challenges as a natural part of building up a business instead of the end of the world would probably be my advice, although it’s not easy at all.
What advice would you give others setting out to create a business with the health of our planet and sustainability at its heart?
To take it step by step – see previous answer:
Another thing that I’ve learned is that you cannot be 100% sustainable as a company from the start. It’s a step by step journey. Things take time and you have to also look at the bottom line when building up a green company. If your products are 100% sustainable from the start but very expensive, you can’t sell them and your company will die before you even get started.
Please could you describe your typical day and what makes a good day.... And conversely what makes a bad day?
A good day:
Starts with a good cup of coffee, good and constructive meetings at the office, having a good laugh with my team at lunch break, seeing my colleagues thrive and succeed, having the time to go for a long walk after work and cooking together with my 22 year old son at night.
A bad day:
I hate to be in a hurry in the morning, when traffic is too heavy and it takes me more than 1,5 hours drive to get to work, in winter when it rains all day and we haven’t seen the sun for weeks, when I have to spend too much time fixing things that should have been solved.
What type of books do you like to read?
I’m a passionate reader. I read 2-3 books a week, from biographies to historial novels, crime novels to books about leadership, behavioral design, politics, startups and sustainability.
What is the most important thing to know about you?
If I get upset I usually get over it quite fast
Please tell us one unexpected thing about yourself.
I love football, I played it myself for many years but now I like to watch it. I’m an all time Liverpool fan. I love to travel and see new places, try new food and just suck in new surroundings, that’s why I got a bit restless when traveling was not possible last year due to Covid. I get new energy from the sun and I love Italy, France and Spain.