Ep. 20: Seth Syberg - Coconut Jerky Maker, Programmer, and All-Around Dilettante On the Programmer's Brain, Launching New Products, Working in the Philippines, and Accidental Entrepreneurship

Hidden Apron Radio

OH SNAP! We just hit our TWENTIETH episode! Didn’t think we’d make it this far? Well neither did we! To the hundreds of you who have been downloading our episodes, thank you so much for tuning in. We hope that these episodes are at the very least, educational, and hopefully, as inspirational to you as they were to us.

This week’s episode highlights the many things that characterize Hidden Apron: tangents and twisting paths, serendipity and “success”, and not entirely being sure where the delicious roads of our lives will lead. Our guest for today is Seth Syberg, who caught my attention at a Food Tech Connect event here in NYC with his story of how he founded, ran with, and grew his company Cocoburg. Cocoburg produces what they call the world’s only raw, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, soy-free, Coconut Jerky, which by the way, is sourced, handled, and produced in the Philippines! They operate under the motto: “Just Eat Real Food". Now, you may be thinking: "OK, Seth’s probably some hipster, warrior vegan who bikes everywhere and wears Vibrams, hellbent on changing how people eat. Well, there’s some truth to that. He does describe his diet as "vegan-ish", bike competitively, and wants to use Cocoburg to offer people healthier snacking options BUT, he also spent two decades in the world of tech doing everything from app/database development, programming, and even teaching. He describes himself as a complete dilettante having done things like become a car mechanic, a woodworker’s apprentice, a CTO for an e-commerce platform for small farms, and with this current venture, an entrepreneur, a label he himself did NOT realize applied to him until a year into running his company. Now his product is in Whole Foods, retailing nationwide, and is creating lasting change for his partners in the Philippines.

It’s a longer episode filled with a lot of unexpected turns. We talk about:

- A programmer’s approach to recipe testing and building a business,
- How testing for failure actually led to massive success,
- The dilemma of educating consumers a product they’ve never heard of,
- Product development and the challenges of operating in the Philippines,
- Using business for good,
- And just what the hell even is Coconut Jerky?

Seth is a great example of how there are many, many roads to your destination and you don’t have to fit the textbook formula for your given field. Play a little! Give this one a listen, and again, thank you for keeping us rollin' on this unexpected ride of a podcast.

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