Entrepreneurship, Second Edition

10.1. Jim Poss, BigBelly Solar

During the second year of his MBA studies, Jim enrolled in Babson's Entrepreneurship Intensity Track, which is for students who want to develop a new venture that they will run full time as soon as they graduate. Jim's first product, the BigBelly® is an automatic, compacting trash bin powered by solar energy. The innovative BigBelly® dramatically cuts emptying frequency and waste handling costs, trash overflow, and litter at outdoor sites with high traffic and high trash volume. The BigBelly's® target end users, such as municipalities and outdoor entertainment venues, face massive volumes of daily trash and very high collection costs. By the time he graduated in May 2003, Jim had a company, originally named Seahorse Power Company, and a business plan, and he was developing a prototype.

This chapter is written by William D. Bygrave.

While still in school, Jim won $1,500 worth of legal services at an investors' forum held by Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels, LLP, a leading Boston law firm. Jim used this as part payment for the legal fees associated with his patent application. He invested $10,000 from his savings in BigBelly Solar (BBS) and was awarded $12,500 through the Babson Hatchery Program. He recruited two unpaid Olin College engineering students to help with the design, manufacture, and testing of the prototype. Jim then developed a partnership with Bob Treiber and his firm, Boston Engineering, from which he received a "ton of work" pro bono and ...