# WCW Linda Pouliot: Using robots to achieve sustainability
Welcome to the All Raise Woman Crush Weekly (#WCW) series, where we highlight genius women who are funding or founding tech companies. Please come back to the All Raise blog weekly to find a new profile of an awe-inspiring female VC or founder. Meet Linda Pouliot, co-Founder of Dishcraft Robotics.
Consider the trash can. I had never thought about mine until talking to Linda Pouliot, founder and CEO of Dishcraft Robotics. Sustainability is core to the ethos of Dishcraft in both their business model and their day-to-day operations, which led to the ambitious mission of transitioning to a zero-waste office. Linda is the kind of person whose words stick with you and make you consider changing your behavior. For example, she mentioned to me that moving access to trash bins made it more difficult to throw things away so people created less waste. So the next day I hid my office trash can and suddenly I was using less plastic. All my empty LaCroix cans were recycled and I started using glass plates instead of paper ones. I would have had to get up to throw things away anyway so I ended up making more sustainable choices.
Linda’s commitment to sustainability is ingrained in Dishcraft’s business model and culture. Dishcraft helps food service operations reduce waste and conserve water and energy with their dishware delivery service. Similar to a linen service, Dishcraft provides clean, ceramic wares every day allowing operations to replace single-use disposable foodware with reusables. Dishcraft then brings dishes back to it’s dishwashing hub where the company’s robotic dishwashers sort, scrub, and rack the wares. Dishcraft’s dishwashing robots are eco-friendly — using cold, recycled water and less sewer utilization than traditional dishwashing solutions.
I spoke with Linda about how Dishcraft offers a more sustainable solution for food-service operations and the iterative process of developing a robotics company.
Q: What made you first think to apply robotics and computer vision to the food-service space?
A: I am a big believer in using robots to automate the dull, dangerous, dirty work and leave the jobs that require thought, negotiation, and empathy to people. So when someone from the restaurant industry wrote me (at least four times) about the problems he was having finding and keeping dishwashers at his restaurants I was intrigued. As an entrepreneur, it is very compelling to hear about a problem that technology can solve. Little did I realize, at the time, that this problem was universal. It did not matter if it was a pub, casino, or dining hall, the dishwashing labor shortage was a huge challenge because the entire operation depends on clean plates. always start with a customer problem and this was an opportunity to use robotics for good and use robotics to make a real difference.
Q: Once you understood the market opportunity, what were your first steps in building the company?
A: We needed to completely understand the situation, challenges, and opportunities of commercial dishwashing. So, to start we worked in dishrooms to get a clear picture of the role and functions. We then conducted interviews and surveys and did 200 hours of time-motion studies and used the observations to inform the technology features. As the company grew, we required every single employee to put in a shift or two washing dishes so that they really understood the customer’s point of view. We used that information to create a hypothesis of how we could do it from a technical standpoint, then they kept iterating, iterating, iterating.
Q: How did you and your co-founder handle the moments when you had to tell your investors about things that weren’t working?
A: Every company goes through ups and downs and Dishcraft is no different. Early on, when we faced some obstacles with initial business strategy, I remember going to the board and saying “Look, if we try to continue to try the original thesis we’re going to fail. We have to look at other opportunities to make this work because that’s what’s important for everyone. We will find a way to solve this problem in a way that makes sense as a business.” With startups, you create a theory and you’re constantly testing against that theory. You measure against metrics and test to see what works. After that process, we were able to develop a business strategy t that is working today.
Q: You have written about how sustainability is very important to you. How does Dishcraft’s business model integrate sustainability?
A: Single use disposable foodware is a huge environmental issue around the world. We know that having clean reliable dishes conveniently delivered to you means you don’t have to use single-use wares and it’s a better experience. Our customers overwhelmingly prefer reusables, they say “It’s like being treated like an adult.’’ They say the food looks and tastes better on a china plate. There are even minor things like the sounds of a knife and a fork against a plate that add to the customer experience. But mostly, customers also like the not adding to the waste problem by throwing out their plates. Our customers also have well over 60% less waste after using us. Sustainability is such an important factor here at Dishcraft. One of the things we wanted to focus on is sustainability. We have a goal to become zero waste this year.
Q: What steps has the company taken to achieve those goals?
A: Transitioning to zero waste doesn’t happen overnight but we’re on the path. It is little things like buying in bulk rather than single-use snacks. Or moving some of the garbage cans to places that reduce the amount of waste because it reduces the habit of just throwing things away. If there isn’t a garbage can underneath every desk, then one has to think more about waste because it’s such a hassle to pick it up and bring it to another space. Things like that can naturally reduce waste.
