Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry of Method | photo by Suzy Poling
What worked at Pixar that is now helping Disney?
We’ve made two short films at Disney like we do at Pixar. A small team does everything--the story, the technology--and it allows them to stretch. “Glago’s Guest” is more somber and realistic than the usual Disney look.
How do you encourage innovation?
In a hierarchy, everyone is working for the person making the film, but we push control far down into the organization. Does everyone own the project? Are we taking an honest-to-goodness risk? If we’re not scared, really scared, we’re not doing a good project.
The first bendable OLED screen. An ultrathin double-sided LCD. A solid-state drive to replace the hard disk in your laptop. And soon, in a collaboration with game company Reactrix: a TV that lets viewers move what’s on the screen with the wave of a hand. Just a taste of the impact of the world’s fastest-growing consumer-electronics company.
“I describe it as green trench warfare,” says Adam Lowry, cofounder of Method, the San Francisco–based company that makes ecologically sound cleaning products. Last February, Lowry and his partner, Eric Ryan, launched an assault against Procter & Gamble’s blockbuster Swiffer. Method’s Omop, a sleek silver reusable mop, employs sweeping cloths made from corn-based plastic (PLA). Instead of clogging landfills, they’re 100% biodegradable -- and just as effective.
This isn’t the first time Lowry, a 6-foot-6-inch chemical engineer who founded Method with his highschool buddy Ryan eight years ago, has given the middle finger to the consumer-products playbook. Two years ago, Method rolled out dryer sheets that use plant-based oil instead of the industry standard, beef fat. The company had a triple-concentrated laundry detergent a full two years before Unilever and P&G started crowing about all the water and shipping waste they would eliminate with their own. Meanwhile, Method’s were also nontoxic, and packaged in bottles that look more MoMA than Kmart.
Last year’s numbers were a landmark for Method, proving to the industry that clean products are as viable as conventional ones and that slick design can transform even the most mundane commodities into objects of desire -- all while priced for the masses. In 2005, Method’s sales clocked in at a mere $15.3 million. In 2007, they hit nearly $100 million. Seventh Generation, the green products pioneer, hit $100 million last year too, but it took nearly two decades to get there. The fast-rising Method is on a completely different trajectory.
“Method changed consumers’ viewpoint from ‘This [cleaning product] is something necessary and not good-looking’ to ‘This is something that’s almost an art object that I want everyone who walks into my house to see,’ ” says Lynn Dornblaser, who tracks consumer-product trends at global research house Mintel. “They’ve lured shoppers who hadn’t thought about environmental cleaners by getting them to come in through the back door.” Method’s minimalist bottles of surface cleaner, detergent, soap, and air freshener -- originally designed by Karim Rashid, now designed in-house -- can be found everywhere from Whole Foods and Target to Duane Reade and Staples. Last year, Lowry and Ryan opened their first European office, in London; in January, they launched a television show on the Home Shopping Network; and in May, they will release their first book, Squeaky Green, a home-detox guide that reveals some of the industry’s nastier secrets.
None of it has been easy. Ryan, a former ad guy who sports skinny ties and metal-frame glasses, explains that in 2005, when they first set out to create the Omop, he and Lowry met with every U.S. manufacturer of Swiffer-style cloths. “Every single one of them said you cannot make [the cloths] out of PLA,” Lowry says. So the duo scouted out a factory in China that was willing to take on the challenge. Now that Method has proven the formula works and there’s consumer demand for it, Lowry says, the manufacturers who snubbed them are crawling back.
The trench warfare with the majors is only going to intensify, though. Last December, Clorox launched Green Works, the first entirely new plant-based line to emerge from one of the dominant firms. Instead of heading for cover, Lowry and Ryan plan to stay ahead of the competition as they always have--by using ingenuity to feed the product line. “When we started this company, we had a saying that we were never going to try to out-Clorox Clorox,” says Ryan. “We shifted the playing field where now companies are trying to out-Method Method.” -- Danielle Sacks
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Recent Comments | 16 Total
February 17, 2008 at 6:48pm by john ralston
sorry if this is a repeat - not sure the last post went thru.
I was surprised to see Prosper in this article for several reasons. Among them is high default rates - below is information from Prosper's site showing that defaults are 4.24% for the highest rated borrowers and 45% for the lowest rated borrowers (note actual default rates will be higher since some of these loans are only six months old).
Prosper, unlike other 2.0 firms, has squelched input from the community by deleting all the old forum postings and putting in a new process that screens all comments. Screening is usually fine, but many posts do not make it thru - seems like Prosper does not want its community to be engaged.
Here are the stats - hopefully they will make sense with this cut/paste...
Estimated ROI Help
Performance metric AA A B C D E HR
Average lender rate 10.74% 12.69% 15.05% 17.78% 20.81% 24.03% 23.80%
Net defaults -4.24% -7.01% -11.72% -15.63% -19.09% -29.65% -45.55%
Adjustment (interest and fees) -0.22% -0.43% -0.76% -1.21% -1.72% -2.85% -4.29%
Prosper servicing fee -0.49% -0.48% -0.70% -0.68% -0.67% -0.56% -0.53%
Average annual return 5.80% 4.77% 1.87% 0.25% -0.67% -9.02% -26.58%
Sorry this is not more positive, but I want to make sure you had perspective from someone who has been (was) a long term lender on Prosper.
John R.
February 19, 2008 at 12:00am by Jeremy Fretts
It is ironic to me as a user of AutoDesk products to see them on this list. I suppose their success as a business, and as a technology innovator merits #25. However, it is worth noting that many of their users are at best begrudging at accepting their market dominance.
In ten years of architectural practice, I can't say that I've met ANYONE who truly loved AutoDesk's products. In many cases, they are in fact loathed.
True competition would serve the industry well-- someone needs to inspire improvements to AutoDesk's user interfaces, help documentation, and pricing structure.
February 20, 2008 at 1:08pm by Mike Adam
Tesco's 'Fresh and Easy?' How innovative can that be? Trader Joe's has been around for years, and the concept sounds the same. They sell organics for prices you'd normally see for non-organic/natural at the grocery store, have fresh meat and produce, and are indeed just slightly larger than a 7-11. And yet, Trader Joes' has just about everything you need. They had $1 cliff bars while everyone else still had them $1.50-2.00.
February 20, 2008 at 2:08pm by Brock Stout
I suppose that each company can be argued with, but Toyota's inclusion made me laugh out loud. They helped invent just-in-time manufacturing (decades ago), but everything else, including auto designs, has been copied from other companies. Even in Japan, Toyota is known as the non-innovator, "borrowing" from competitors. Like most American press representatives, Fast Company just prints Toyota press releases without editing them. Sorry, I can't possibly take you seriously in the future on any issue.
February 20, 2008 at 11:54pm by Christoph Spitzenpfeil
I have to add a similar comment to this article about the 50 most innovative companies. I agree on Toyota as a co-commentator did before. The Lexus cars and even the new Camry are just design copies of the real innovator in the Auto industry - BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche; all three dare new technologies whereas Toyota only deploys them when these new technologies have proven themselves in the market.
I am also missing companies in this list which are helping making our environment cleaner and more livable. Where are those companies - the wind turbine and solar panel manufacturers? I am sorry Google, video game companies & Co. do not belong on this list as innovators. The world would be as good or as bad as it is now with or without them! Last but not least it would be nice if this list would contain more companies - and there are really good ones - from outside the English speaking hemisphere. Innovation does not always have only to do with good balance sheets, more sales, more entertainment, and higher volumes; the world has more difficult issues to deal with than those. This is where the list of the 50 most innovative companies massively falls short.
February 28, 2008 at 2:24am by akram uddin
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March 18, 2008 at 8:52pm by Kristen Wachsmuth
I was surprised and disappointed that Walmart made your list. They have to do more than market energy saving lightbulbs and teach employees about sustainability to be considered a company that is making an environmental transformation. What about all the wetlands and marshes and land that is being destroyed to build their behemoth supercenters right down the street from their current store? Selling 100 million light bulbs in nine months does not make up for that.
August 9, 2009 at 2:36pm by Sergio Mokko
In my opinion, deservedly dominate google and apple. 2 the most innovative companies. By Sergio
August 15, 2009 at 10:36pm by Todd McCalla
There are several companies that looked next to the Cool Springs Galleria that could easily fit into the worlds most innovative companies list. They are startups totally bootstrapping all operations with not one person taking a dime in salary. Williamson County Tennessee, primarily Cool Springs, is a petri dish for venture capital and bright minds.
October 7, 2009 at 9:38pm by cartier jewelry
Nice Post!!
October 20, 2009 at 10:16pm by dd dd
There are several companies that looked next to the Cool Springs Galleria that could easily fit into the worlds most innovative companies list. They are startups totally bootstrapping all operations with not one person taking a dime in salary. Williamson County Tennessee, primarily Cool Springs, is a petri dish for venture capital and bright minds.
http://www.uggboots365.co.uk
October 21, 2009 at 11:29am by Howard Carl
Nike's latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience. jeep grand cherokee
October 21, 2009 at 11:29am by Howard Carl
Nike's latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience. jeep grand cherokee
November 23, 2009 at 2:09pm by Faraz Alam
I am big fan of google. I like the way the company has evolved. They are seriously best at web.
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December 23, 2009 at 12:26am by Goemesee Osame
This man is extraordinary. He inspires many young men worldwide about going to college and achieving their dreams. people may have different perception though. To me, it is about balancing study, creativity, and work.
elite
December 23, 2009 at 12:46am by Goemesee Osame
This man is extraordinary. He inspires many young men worldwide about going to college and achieving their dreams. people may have different perception though. To me, it is about balancing study, creativity, and work.
elite