The Entrepreneurial Story that Started RyeStrategy
This article was originally written and posted in partnership with Go Solo - Subkit titled: Affordable & Supportive Carbon Neutrality with RyeStrategy
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Cooper Wechkin, Founder and CEO of RyeStrategy, located in Seattle, WA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
RyeStrategy is a mission-oriented software and services company specializing in helping small-medium-sized enterprises quantify their comprehensive carbon footprints for subsequent reduction and offset. Our offering includes sustainability research, comprehensive carbon footprinting, mitigation strategy development, offset portfolio creation, and consulting on leveraging the results of carbon neutrality.
From enterprise-scale supplier decarbonization programs to direct SME consulting services, we provide an interactive, affordable, and efficient client experience to help organizations achieve their carbon neutrality and net-zero goals, furthering our mission of creating a greener tomorrow today.
Tell us about yourself
I was first inspired to start RyeStrategy while taking sustainable business classes in the Netherlands in 2019 -- having grown up in the United States, I saw a stark contrast between the almost systemic expectation of business being sustainable in the EU, while in the U.S., a business could be sustainable, but bottom line profit came above all else. With this contrast in mind, I was motivated to find ways to achieve similar levels of corporate environmentalism in the U.S., but in a manner that could truly work and be sustainable, so to speak, in the long run: by making impact profitable.
Beginning as a side project while finishing school at the University of Washington, I founded RyeStrategy in March 2020 -- nearly 3 years later, we have been fortunate enough to work with some of the world's largest organizations and tech companies to take their SME suppliers through the carbon neutrality process, and are now expanding our team across the board. I'm motivated each and every day by the urgent need for action -- if we don't all work together against climate change now, there may not be anything for us to work on in the future.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We secured our first major enterprise partners in 2022 and are now supporting 20+ organizations on the path to corporate carbon neutrality. Having started in the still nascent carbon accounting space when it was practically an unheard-of process for SMEs, finding a strong product-market fit for our specific software and services has been an incredibly rewarding experience. We're excited to continue making sustainable impact accessible to all and for further growth in 2023!
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The uncertainty of what the following year, quarter, month, and sometimes even day will hold is one of the most exciting and simultaneously difficult aspects of being a business owner, in my experience. With so much uncertainty and a lack of structure (or set "path"), the experience of owning a business often feels like a bit of a black box, which, when unchecked for too long, can lead to unnecessary mental stress.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Find and prove a present or future product-market fit.
Determine your "why" for your business early on.
Gravitate towards those who see the "why" of your business but are also not afraid to challenge it as circumstances change and evolve over time.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.ryestrategy.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryestrategy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ryestrategy/
Learn about our affordable carbon footprint solutions for small and medium-sized businesses
Book a free strategy session to discuss your climate goals with a sustainability manager.
About RyeStrategy
Based in Seattle, RyeStrategy is a CDP-accredited, mission-oriented company specialized in carbon accounting, mitigation coaching, and climate disclosure solutions for organizations at any point in their sustainability journey. Learn how RyeStrategy helped Salesforce, Ideascale, and Wazoku achieve their sustainability goals.
From exhaustive carbon footprinting and mitigation coaching, to setting science-based targets and reporting climate data to CDP, SBTi or custom reporting platforms, RyeStrategy acts as a hands-on extension of the team, custom-tailoring services to fulfill climate disclosure requirements easily and accurately.
Meet with a sustainability specialist to learn more about RyeStrategy solutions.
