The funeral industry, steeped in tradition and established family businesses, doesn’t seem like one that’s rife for disruption, or even entrepreneurship for that matter. But in death, and during a 24-month period where we’ve experienced a lot of it, Christopher Taktak sees inspiration and a more sustainable path forward.
“Death is often said to be a taboo topic, no one wants to talk about it,” said Taktak, the London born, Los Angeles-based founder of Doola, a southern California water cremation company. “I’ve found it’s just the opposite — once you’ve provided a safe space to talk about death, everyone has something to say about it.”
It was during Taktak’s bachelor’s degree at Columbia University where he took a class on Human Centered Design. The course focused on building products and businesses based intrinsically around human values as opposed to building from a traditional problem-solution dynamic. It wasn’t so much a lightbulb flicking on in his head as it was a lightning bolt straight to his cerebellum.
“I really got into this during the pandemic,” he said. “How can I apply the principles of human value, human centered design, to what appeared to be the hardest part of the pandemic — death?”
Taktak buried himself in information and research on the funeral sector. He surveyed friends and family, he consumed as much as he could find online. Most importantly, he went to the source — people who had or were currently experiencing loss to gain their insight, perspectives, and experiences.
“I found numerous bereavement groups online where strangers would form communities of support for each other during a time of loss,” he said. “They’re safe spaces, places of kinship. I would message the admins of the groups and ask to join so I could learn more about their experiences and the process of death.”
What he discovered was a sector suffering from a lack of transparency, predatory business practices, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and a lack of consumer focus. He also uncovered the dirty (quite literally) little secret of traditional flame cremation and a cleaner alternative making waves in the sector.
“When you think about it, it becomes obvious: why are we burning people as a means of saying goodbye?” he said. “It’s deeply unsustainable and misaligned with a lot of the sustainable practices we’ve adopted in most other industries.”
“It’s an open secret in the industry that water cremation will eventually replace flame cremation,” Taktak continued, adding the process is now legal in 23 states, including California, with more soon to follow. “Water cremation releases absolutely no emissions. Compare that to more than 540 pounds of greenhouse gases released during each flame cremation and the 28 gallons of fuel used per body. If every person who was cremated in 2021 had been given water cremation, we would have saved over a billion pounds of greenhouse gases last year alone.”
Flame cremation uses a series of flame jets to incinerate body tissue at 1,800 degrees, leaving behind scorched bone fragments that are then crushed and returned to the family as ashes. Water cremation emulates the natural decomposition process that might happen underground, only much faster.
“Water cremation, otherwise known as Alkaline Hydrolysis or aquamation, is a natural method of decomposition that uses water, not fire, to cremate bodies,” said Taktak, adding Anglican archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu recently opted for the more sustainable process. “It works with a solution of 95 percent water and 5 percent minerals, Alkali salts, that help speed up the natural process of water decomposition. For around four hours, the water solution gently rushes around the body and leaves behind only pure, unscorched bone fragments. These are then broken down into fine ash, which become the take home remains for families.”
Taktak says water cremation provides about 30 percent more bone fragments, which are pure white compared to the sandy-grey ashes derived from flame cremation. The solution that’s left at the end of the process is benign and nutrient rich, which aids with municipal water treatment where it’s usually disposed.
Graduating from Columbia in December 2020, Taktak moved to Los Angeles and formed Doola the following month. He spent most of 2021 working through the stringent checks and balances to get fully licensed (he’s the youngest funeral director in California), finding logistic partners, and validating the need and desire with their consumer base.
Additionally, and arguably just as important, he brought on his critical first hire with support from Hirect.
“What I loved was Hirect’s setup; posting a job took less than 10 minutes,” he said. “It’s very convenient, very easy.”
“I posted jobs on LinkedIn and AngelList and got tons of applicants, but none were as hardworking and enthusiastic as the one I found on Hirect.”
That one was Sean Heath, a seasoned specialist in web and e-commerce and self-described serial entrepreneur with 15 years of product experience.
“We connected through the app’s DM and scheduled three phone interviews,” Taktak continued. “We talked and I thought we’d work well together. Sean demonstrated he was a hard worker, had a big vision, and is dedicated to what we’re doing, so obviously I was a fan of that.”
This year, Taktak and Heath are preparing for a seed round as well as an eventual rebrand. Following the funding round, their attention will once again turn to building out their team, with a focus on marketing, product, and operations positions, plus a dedicated customer care team.
“We’re focused on getting our message out there, ensuring our service works flawlessly, and making sure customers are being looked after no matter what,” he said.
Taktak says in the next 10, 20, 30 years as younger generations begin to plan the end-of-life process with their parents, he hopes more circular, sustainable solutions like water cremation are no longer considered novel or startup ideas.
“We’ve had customers go through the pre-planning process already; they’re younger and are making a commitment to the environment,” he added. “For a lot of people, it’s important to make that commitment while they’re still here. If they’re recycling every day, driving electric cars — this is equally important.”
Doola currently serves the Southern California region, including Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern Counties.
For more information on Doola, visit them online, call 310–861–4505, or email hello@doola.life. To see what startups like Doola are hiring on Hirect, download the app on the App Store or on Google Play.
