How This 26-Year-Old Is Solving 'the World's Dumbest Problem' With an Ultra-Smart App
Working women get all sorts of advice. Lean in, lean out, ask for a raise, but don't ask in the wrong way, be aggressive, but not too aggressive. We're also told to make sure not to forget about our personal lives, lest we end up forgoing families or love or travel or friendship in service of our careers. It's confusing and maddening, and we're all still struggling to figure it out.
"This Woman's Work" is an ongoing series meant to highlight how women in different industries are living their lives. We hope to show that there's no one "right" way to succeed. There are so many ways, and so many different experiences.
Today we're talking to Komal Ahmad, founder and CEO of Copia, an app that aims to solve what Ahmad calls the world's dumbest problem-hunger-by matching businesses that have excess food with non-profits in need of food. The app not only helps redistribute leftovers from corporate cafeterias and events (Copia "Food Heroes" pick up and deliver to the ideal non-profit), it also provides ongoing feedback and helpful documentation for each client company. It's a symbiotic dream of a platform, one that's only been getting more and more popular in the past few years. Since launching in 2011, Copia has fed almost 700,000 people, including more than 23,000 people in the two days after Super Bowl 50 alone. In the process, it's saved companies an estimated $4.5 million.
Here, Ahmad tells us why the hunger problem irks her, how she keeps herself organized, and how very, very crucial it is to be unreasonable person.
For those who don't know your career path, tell us about life before COPIA.
I was born in Lahore, Pakistan. My family wanted more opportunity for us so they moved us to Las Vegas, Nevada, of all places. When I was probably two years old, I decided I wanted to be a doctor because that was the only way I thought you could help people. So I went to U.C. Berkley thinking that's what I was going to do. I was also in NROTC, Naval Reserve Officer Training Camp, so I was training to become a medical doctor in the U.S. Navy. What I realized when I came to Berkley was that we are one of the wealthiest, most prosperous countries in the world, and still 50 million Americans don't know where their next meal is coming from. That's preposterous, especially when a vast majority of them are women and children and veterans.
Where did the idea for COPIA come from?
One day I was walking down Telegraph Avenue in Berkley and encountered a homeless man begging for food and something about him compelled me stop and invite him to join me for lunch. He had just come back from his second tour in Iraq and was waiting weeks for his veteran benefits to kick in. He hadn't eaten in three days. That hit home for me. This is a veteran, someone who has made the most selfless sacrifice for our country, only to come home to face another battle. And then, adding insult to injury, right across the street the U.C. Berkeley dining hall was throwing away thousands of pounds of food. And so it's this very stark reality of those who have and waste and those who are in need and starve, and those two people are literally right across the street from one another. I thought, how cool would it be if people who had food could say, "Hey, we have food," and people who need food could say, "Hey, we need food," and we could match these two people and clear the marketplace. And that's essentially what we've built. If you can use your cellphone and get food within 15 minutes, if you can hail a car, if you can find a date for that night or order a puppy, you can definitely use that same technology to give away your surplus food.
What sort of advice do you have for someone who wants to start his or her own business?
Be unreasonable. I am unreasonable. I think that entrepreneurs and founders―there's something different about them. Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. So I think it's also about figuring out where you are in that. It's not easy, it will be difficult, you have to be resilient beyond belief. You have to manage your time, not everyone will believe in you. People will scoff at you―that's not your problem. If you believe in something, it is your job to see it through. If you're truly doing something that will add value to the world, stop at nothing to make it happen. For me, I am my own limiting factor. Nothing is going to get in my way except for me.
I'm very good about managing who I spend my time with and knowing who my true friends are, who are the people that actually support me and believe in me. And you create a tribe, you create a village of people around you. I used to think that I was Wonder Woman, that I could do everything. The truth is, I can do a lot, but I can't do it alone, especially not when you're trying to solve a problem like I am. So surrounding yourself with people who can help you, whether it's picking you up when you're down or supporting you to become something even bigger than you are, is super important.
What characteristics do you think somebody has to have if they want to start their own business?
Being a founder personally is not my career, it's who I am. It's not about my passion, it's about my obsession. And being a founder or a CEO is not about accolades, it's largely about how much you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish your goals. Being a founder means leading your team when you've missed out on a huge deal, and it's up to you to motivate your team through the rest of the day even though you may not have any idea where the rest of the money is coming from. It means finding something that you love to do so much that you can't wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again, in spite of the inevitable setbacks and frustrations that come with entrepreneurship. And aside from making sure there's always money in the bank, being a founder means attracting the world's best talent, setting and executing the vision, and accepting the responsibility when the company messes up.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned is that you should be willing to take on any role at any time, so that means scrubbing vans, packaging and delivering food, and I've done it in saris even after Indian weddings, and also completing monotonous spreadsheets and data reports.
What do you look for when you're hiring new talent?
People who are unstoppable, who are unreasonable just like I am. Obviously solving the world's dumbest problem requires some of its smartest people. I also see that genius ideas, all of the best ideas, don't come from me, which is a very humbling thing. But they'll come from new people. People that are willing to give it their all. You're not going to get paid a Google salary with us, but you are going to build something that is going to serve and help the lives of billions of people, so its about having the right perspective and being a really great team player.
Solving the world's dumbest problem requires some of its smartest people.
I've also seen people have a little bit of arrogance depending on what alma mater they come from. But talent is everywhere and it doesn't matter if you have this shiny degree or no degree. If you have the ability to adapt and the ability to grow, I think those are very important qualities. I don't care where you went to school or where you grew up, what's relevant is how hungry are you to actually create.
Do you have any tips to ask for a raise or to negotiate for a raise?
I'm actually not the highest-paid person in my company, and that's totally okay with me. I think it's important not to ask for a raise with an emotional reason, like, "I have three kids, I have to put dinner on the table," because everyone has responsibilities, so nobody's going to care. But if you show how many years you have [at the company], you've done XYZ for the company, how you're going to take the company not just steps forward but light-years forward. Be logical, even data-driven, if you can. And a closed mouth doesn't get fed. If you don't ask for it, it isn't going to happen. Be shameless. I'm so uncomfortable so often, but that's what pushes me to grow. So be uncomfortable, ask. Know your value.
What is the best piece of career advice that you ever received?
We try so hard in life to avoid mistakes, but it's not about avoiding mistakes, it's about learning from them. It's about growing from them and not making the same one twice. It's about what you're going to do after the mistake was made. And stopping at nothing. My mom has been working since she was 18 or 19 years old, and I don't think she'll ever retire. She worked three jobs when I was growing up so I saw that you get out what you put in. Things were never handed to me on a golden platter. If you want something, you've got to work for it. It's not going to just come to you.
What is the worst piece of career advice that you have ever received?
I think when people who are like, "Don't be too noisy," or "don't try and rattle this too fast," and tell you to be patient. Patience is important in some ways, but I'm not going to tolerate someone's inability to see the future that I want to have for the world. I'm not going to play small so that you're more comfortable.
What are your tips for staying organized?
You need to have one to-do list in one place. When everything's a priority, nothing's a priority (I've learned that the hard way). So then take this to-do list and assign priorities to things. Put them onto a calendar and say: "These five things, I'm going to do them from 10-11am. And these things, from 11-12." Starting the day with a workout is always the best way to start; I just see a difference in terms of clarity, energy, and purpose.
I'm not going to lie, I have an assistant. It is the best decision I've made. Mine is virtual, so it's not like I'm paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for her, but it has helped me so much. And optimize your time, if someone can do something better than you can, let them. Done is better than perfect.
When everything's a priority, nothing's a priority.
Where do you hope to see COPIA go in the next two or three years?
I want it to be in all the largest cities in America. I want it to grow globally. I want to create a replicable, highly scalable model. I want this to be much faster. I want to create a playbook of customers and of cities and how we expand, customer by customer. I want us to have that global presence and reach. Do I think necessarily that we will be operating in Shirati, Tanzania? No, not necessarily. If we are, fantastic. But in the UK, France, Italy, those are places that we can operate. And now that France and Italy have both banned food waste, it's an ideal place for us to expand.
This interview has been edited and condensed for space.
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