ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Paul Tasner - Entrepreneur
TED Resident Paul Tasner is the co-founder and CEO of PulpWorks, Inc., designers and manufacturers of biodegradable packaging for consumer goods.

Why you should listen

PulpWorks, Inc. is the capstone in a 40-year career in supply chain management for Paul Tasner. He held leadership positions in procurement, manufacturing and logistics in ventures ranging from start-up to Fortune 100. Included among them are: The Clorox Company, California Closet Company, Method Products, Hepagen, OM2 and the Reclipse Group. 

In 2008, Tasner founded and continues to lead the San Francisco Bay Area Green Supply Chain Forum -- the first such assembly of supply chain executives anywhere. He has authored many papers and presentations on supply chain sustainability and currently lectures on this timely topic in the MBA Programs at San Francisco State University and Golden Gate University.

Tasner is an Industrial Engineering graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and holds a PhD in Mathematics from Boston University.  

More profile about the speaker
Paul Tasner | Speaker | TED.com
TED Residency

Paul Tasner: How I became an entrepreneur at 66

Filmed:
2,185,984 views

It's never too late to reinvent yourself. Take it from Paul Tasner -- after working continuously for other people for 40 years, he founded his own start-up at age 66, pairing his idea for a business with his experience and passion. And he's not alone. As he shares in this short, funny and inspirational talk, seniors are increasingly indulging their entrepreneurial instincts -- and seeing great success.
- Entrepreneur
TED Resident Paul Tasner is the co-founder and CEO of PulpWorks, Inc., designers and manufacturers of biodegradable packaging for consumer goods. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I'd like to take you back
about seven years in my life.
0
250
2910
00:16
Friday afternoon,
1
4050
1120
00:17
a few days before Christmas 2009.
2
5170
3040
00:20
I was the director of operations
3
8210
1910
00:22
at a consumer products company
in San Francisco,
4
10130
3110
00:25
and I was called into a meeting
that was already in progress.
5
13240
3770
00:29
That meeting turned out
to be my exit interview.
6
17150
2990
00:32
I was fired, along with several others.
7
20150
3010
00:36
I was 64 years old at the time.
8
24090
2060
00:40
It wasn't completely unexpected.
9
28020
1270
00:42
I signed a stack of papers,
10
30010
2120
00:44
gathered my personal effects,
11
32140
1930
00:46
and left to join my wife
12
34070
1950
00:48
who was waiting for me
at a nearby restaurant,
13
36030
2180
00:50
completely unaware.
14
38220
1810
00:53
Fast-forward several hours,
15
41050
2160
00:55
we both got really silly drunk.
16
43220
2000
00:57
(Laughter)
17
45230
2860
01:00
So, 40 plus years of continuous employment
18
48180
4870
01:05
for a variety of companies,
large and small,
19
53060
2150
01:07
was over.
20
55220
1800
01:09
I had a good a network,
a good reputation --
21
57020
3010
01:12
I thought I'd be just fine.
22
60040
1130
01:14
I was an engineer
in manufacturing and packaging.
23
62180
4830
01:19
I had a good background.
24
67020
1140
01:21
Retirement was, like for so many people,
25
69010
3090
01:24
simply not an option for me.
26
72110
1980
01:26
So I turned to consulting
for the next couple of years
27
74100
2950
01:29
without any passion whatsoever.
28
77060
2030
01:31
And then an idea began to take root,
29
79240
3880
01:35
born from my concern for our environment.
30
83130
3150
01:39
I wanted to build my own business,
31
87170
2830
01:42
designing and manufacturing
biodegradable packaging from waste --
32
90010
4110
01:46
paper, agricultural, even textile waste --
33
94130
3000
01:50
replacing the toxic,
disposable plastic packaging
34
98130
3970
01:54
to which we've all become addicted.
35
102110
2020
01:56
This is called clean technology,
36
104220
2000
01:58
and it felt really meaningful to me.
37
106220
2010
02:01
A venture that could help to reduce
the billions of pounds
38
109050
4110
02:05
of single-use plastic packaging
dumped each year
39
113170
3900
02:09
and polluting our land,
our rivers and our oceans,
40
117080
3070
02:12
and left for future
generations to resolve --
41
120160
3040
02:15
our grandchildren,
42
123210
1830
02:17
my grandchildren.
43
125040
1090
02:19
And so now at the age of 66,
44
127020
3150
02:22
with 40 years of experience,
45
130170
2050
02:24
I became an entrepreneur
for the very first time.
46
132220
2910
02:27
(Cheers)
47
135140
1020
02:28
(Applause)
48
136160
2890
02:31
Thank you.
49
139060
1050
02:34
But there's more.
50
142100
1050
02:35
(Laughter)
51
143150
4050
02:39
Lots of issues to deal with:
52
147200
2870
02:42
manufacturing, outsourcing, job creation,
53
150080
4030
02:46
patents, partnerships, funding --
54
154120
3980
02:50
these are all typical
issues for a start-up,
55
158100
2130
02:52
but hardly typical for me.
56
160230
1950
02:55
And a word about funding.
57
163030
1230
02:57
I live and work in San Francisco.
58
165060
2150
02:59
And if you're looking for funding,
59
167220
1920
03:01
you are typically going to compete
with some very young people
60
169150
3920
03:05
from the high-tech industry,
61
173080
1950
03:07
and it can be very discouraging
and intimidating.
62
175040
3170
03:11
I have shoes older
than most of these people.
63
179090
2110
03:13
(Laughter)
64
181210
5050
03:19
I do.
65
187150
1040
03:20
(Laughter)
66
188200
1030
03:21
But five years later,
67
189230
1940
03:23
I'm thrilled and proud to share with you
68
191180
3040
03:26
that our revenues have doubled every year,
69
194220
2940
03:29
we have no debt,
70
197170
1840
03:31
we have several marquee clients,
71
199020
2230
03:33
our patent was issued,
72
201260
1810
03:35
I have a wonderful partner
73
203070
1130
03:36
who's been with me
right from the beginning,
74
204200
2030
03:38
and we've won more than 20 awards
for the work that we've done.
75
206240
2980
03:41
But best of all,
76
209230
1770
03:43
we've made a small dent --
77
211010
1270
03:44
a very small dent --
78
212290
1750
03:46
in the worldwide plastic pollution crisis.
79
214050
2950
03:50
(Applause)
80
218160
4030
03:55
And I am doing the most rewarding
and meaningful work of my life right now.
81
223150
5890
04:02
I can tell you there's lots of resources
available to entrepreneurs of all ages,
82
230060
5000
04:07
but what I really yearned for
five years ago
83
235070
3060
04:10
was to find other first-time entrepreneurs
84
238140
3070
04:13
who were my age.
85
241220
1050
04:14
I wanted to connect with them.
86
242280
1860
04:17
I had no role models, absolutely none.
87
245230
2910
04:20
That 20-something app developer
from Silicon Valley
88
248150
3130
04:23
was not my role model.
89
251290
1820
04:25
(Laughter)
90
253110
1000
04:26
I'm sure he was very clever --
91
254120
1130
04:27
(Laughter)
92
255260
1820
04:29
I want to do something about that,
93
257090
1190
04:30
and I want all of us
to do something about that.
94
258290
2770
04:33
I want us to start talking more
95
261070
1160
04:34
about people who don't become
entrepreneurs until they are seniors.
96
262240
4050
04:39
Talking about these bold
men and women who are checking in
97
267100
2920
04:42
when their peers, in essence,
are checking out.
98
270030
2240
04:45
And then connecting all these people
across industries, across regions,
99
273150
3960
04:49
across countries --
100
277110
1890
04:51
building a community.
101
279010
1150
04:52
You know, the Small Business
Administration tells us
102
280170
2840
04:55
that 64 percent of new jobs
created in the private sector in the USA
103
283020
5070
05:00
are thanks to small businesses like mine.
104
288090
2970
05:03
And who's to say
that we'll stay forever small?
105
291180
2860
05:06
We have an interesting culture
106
294170
1860
05:08
that really expects
when you reach a certain age,
107
296040
2090
05:10
you're going to be golfing,
or playing checkers,
108
298140
2080
05:12
or babysitting the grandkids
all of the time.
109
300230
2830
05:15
And I adore my grandchildren --
110
303260
2970
05:18
(Laughter)
111
306230
1050
05:20
and I'm also passionate
112
308160
2030
05:22
about doing something meaningful
in the global marketplace.
113
310190
3820
05:27
And I'm going to have lots of company.
114
315090
1950
05:29
The Census Bureau says that by 2050,
115
317040
2130
05:31
there will be 84 million seniors
in this country.
116
319170
3100
05:35
That's an amazing number.
117
323180
2090
05:37
That's almost twice as many
as we have today.
118
325270
2870
05:40
Can you imagine how many
first-time entrepreneurs there will be
119
328140
3000
05:43
among 84 million people?
120
331150
2040
05:46
And they'll all have
four decades of experience.
121
334030
2180
05:48
(Laughter)
122
336220
1920
05:50
So when I say, "Let's start talking more
about these wonderful entrepreneurs,"
123
338140
5130
05:55
I mean, let's talk about their ventures,
124
343270
3760
05:59
just as we do the ventures
of their much younger counterparts.
125
347040
3180
06:03
The older entrepreneurs in this country
have a 70 percent success rate
126
351150
5990
06:09
starting new ventures.
127
357150
1130
06:10
70 percent success rate.
128
358280
1980
06:13
We're like the Golden State Warriors
of entrepreneurs --
129
361120
3030
06:16
(Laughter)
130
364160
1010
06:17
(Applause)
131
365170
2860
06:20
And that number plummets to 28 percent
for younger entrepreneurs.
132
368040
4250
06:25
This is according to a UK-based
group called CMI.
133
373000
3190
06:29
Aren't the accomplishments
of a 70-year-old entrepreneur
134
377000
2290
06:31
every bit as meaningful,
135
379290
1850
06:33
every bit as newsworthy,
136
381150
1110
06:34
as the accomplishments
of a 30-year-old entrepreneur?
137
382270
3740
06:38
Of course they are.
138
386010
1120
06:39
That's why I'd like to make the phrase
"70 over 70" just as --
139
387140
4930
06:44
(Laughter)
140
392070
1010
06:45
just as commonplace
as the phrase "30 under 30."
141
393090
3940
06:49
(Applause)
142
397040
1010
06:50
Thank you.
143
398060
1050
06:51
(Cheers)
144
399110
1180
06:52
(Applause)
145
400290
3910

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Paul Tasner - Entrepreneur
TED Resident Paul Tasner is the co-founder and CEO of PulpWorks, Inc., designers and manufacturers of biodegradable packaging for consumer goods.

Why you should listen

PulpWorks, Inc. is the capstone in a 40-year career in supply chain management for Paul Tasner. He held leadership positions in procurement, manufacturing and logistics in ventures ranging from start-up to Fortune 100. Included among them are: The Clorox Company, California Closet Company, Method Products, Hepagen, OM2 and the Reclipse Group. 

In 2008, Tasner founded and continues to lead the San Francisco Bay Area Green Supply Chain Forum -- the first such assembly of supply chain executives anywhere. He has authored many papers and presentations on supply chain sustainability and currently lectures on this timely topic in the MBA Programs at San Francisco State University and Golden Gate University.

Tasner is an Industrial Engineering graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and holds a PhD in Mathematics from Boston University.  

More profile about the speaker
Paul Tasner | Speaker | TED.com