Keith Hearon and Matthew Stellmaker - Good Chemistry

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Two brilliant scholarship kids became friends at Georgia Tech and went on to found a company that could change the world. This is the story of Matthew Stellmaker and Keith Hearon and of the good chemistry manifested in their friendship and in the creation of new polymers friendly to people and nature.

The idea came to Matthew when he was working at a large company that produces 50,000 tons of citrus waste per year. His friend Keith thought that he could do something interesting with the citrus rinds so Matthew got the company to fund the research into creating a use for this natural material.

These two young founders display remarkable self-knowledge and reveal discoveries in the art of founding companies that could help other founders, technical or not. It’s a valuable conversation that includes the following topics:

• Keith Hearon Bio
• Matthew Stellmaker Bio
• Keith Hearon Views Himself as an Entrepreneur Who Uses Science to Commercialize Valuable Products – Inspired by Ken Gall, Founder & Inventor
• How Keith & Mathew Became Friends
• How to Find a Job in Architecture in a Down Market
• Challenge of Langer Lab Further Energized Keith Hearon
• How Poly6 Got Started
• How Poly6 Zeroed in on its First Use Case
• How Poly6 Zeroed in on its First Use Case
• How Being Co-founders Changed Their Friendship
• Should You Found a Company with Your Friend?
• The Risks of Moonlighting
• The Care & Feeding of Advisors – Busy People Generous with Their Time
• Other Startups Matthew & Keith Admire