Proper Pack LLC

Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business

Industry: Sustainable Packaging

Founding Student Name(s): Jeff Watkins

Brief Description of Solution: Single-use plastics have a polluting effect on our oceans and wildlife. The same can be said for plastic can carriers made through an injection molded process. Proper Pack will alleviate this pain by offering a paper, properly recyclable can carrier.

The packaging industry as a whole is beginning to make this same transformation. With numerous legislative pieces driving out plastic and polyethylene products, businesses and governments alike have taken notice of consumer’s push for sustainable business practices.

Proper Pack is uniquely positioned as one of the pioneers of paper sustainable can carriers–currently providing a sustainable solution to a microbrewery market pushing for eco-friendly packaging.

Funding Dollars: $37,500

What led you to launch this venture? The idea for Proper Pack started in 2019, sparked by a family member’s founding of a new brewery in Minneapolis. I was surprised to see a huge lack in affordable, durable paper can carriers to get away from using plastic. At the time, I was working in packaging engineering and found many of the products our equipment was making could just as easily make paper can carriers. That company is now the supplier of Proper Pack paper can carriers.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far with venture? The greatest accomplishment so far with Proper Pack was in onboarding our first customer. There is an incredible amount of work in developing your own novel product, putting in the time learning from your target market, and putting all of the instruments in place to support a business. Along the way, you may be told how great of an “idea” your business is, but it’s not until you have your first customer where it feels as if your “idea” has become a business.

What has been the most significant challenge you’ve faced in creating your company and how did you solve it? The most significant challenge, which is a continual presence in trying to grow Proper Pack and I imagine every other startup, is in finding the best use of my time. Whether it involves bills, part-time work, or social life, there are constant pressures which all require attention. The challenge is in first placing yourself in a financial position to be able to bootstrap your own company, and next to rigorously review how you use your time dedicated towards growing your startup. For me, this means focusing on a select handful of aspects where I would like to grow the business and to put the right people around me to help grow the company where my time is not well spent.

How has your MBA program helped you further this startup venture? My MBA education has helped further develop my startup through learning new data-driven tools to making great network connections within our talented class. I’ve transformed much of my initial approach to business strategy by now having the tools to put data behind various scenarios. This is aided by being surrounded by a diverse and talented set of classmates, all with their own experiences and skillsets.

I’ve transformed as an entrepreneur and a leader through my new-found rigorous time prioritization and continual attempts to “think like a manager” by influencing only the decisions that are truly necessary to a project’s success. These two work hand-in-hand by understanding time is my most constrained resource which I need to use on only what is truly the most important.

What founder or entrepreneur inspired you to start your own entrepreneurial journey? How did he or she prove motivational to you? My father is the most inspirational entrepreneur in my entrepreneurial journey. From a young age I have watched him run a successful packaging business, which has been a close part of our family’s life. Frequent trips to the grocery store to browse over new food packaging is just as familiar to me as running to the shop to work on some new project. I have watched him be relentlessly hardworking with a never-give-up attitude that I hope to have even a fraction of in my entrepreneurial journey.

Which MBA class has been most valuable in building your startup and what was the biggest lesson you gained from it? The most valuable classes in building my startup were a series of decision modeling classes taught by Professor Reynold Byers. The class covered the basics of how to program decision models using Excel. This hidden pocket of Excel gave me the ability to conceptualize complex business decisions in finding the best possible outcome.

There are an incredibly wide range of problems this procedure could deal with. However, they all require the same procedure of defining your constraints, identifying what variables you can control, and picking one piece to optimize for. The underlying value and biggest takeaway from this practice is in putting data to complex business decisions.

What professor made a significant contribution to your plans and why? Scott Wald of New Venture Challenge had the most significant impact on my startup journey during the MBA program. His guidance as a seasoned, successful entrepreneur is inspiring to current students. He teaches practical lessons on how to become a successful entrepreneur which range from technical financial skills to knowing how to think like your customer. Scott candidly shares both the rewards and the sacrifices of what it means being a successful entrepreneur. I appreciate him sharing his real-world startup wisdom to all of our class.

How has your local startup ecosystem contributed to your venture’s development and success? We are working on an exciting partnership with a local small business non-profit to provide friendly financing terms to our brewery customers investing in green business practices.

What is your long-term goal with your startup? I would like Proper Pack to inspire sustainable packaging solutions to all of the single-use plastic waste, which is commonplace in our daily consumption. I feel changing the sustainability of our packaging is the path forward rather than pushing for mass consumer habit changes. Initiating sustainable packaging solutions at a company-level gives consumers the peace of mind in enjoying their same consumer habits—but in a more sustainable fashion.

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