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Evan Lutz
CEO & Founder of Hungry Harvest
Evan Lutz is a prominent social entrepreneur and the CEO & Founder of Hungry Harvest, a company dedicated to combating food waste and hunger. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Lutz established Hungry Harvest in 2014 with the mission of rescuing surplus produce that would otherwise go to waste due to cosmetic standards or overproduction. The company delivers these fruits and vegetables directly to consumers through a subscription model, operating in several states across the U.S..13
Background and Education
Lutz graduated from the University of Maryland where he initially founded a project called Food Recovery CSA, aimed at redistributing surplus food to students. His experiences there inspired him to tackle broader food waste issues, leading to the creation of Hungry Harvest.23
Achievements
Under Lutz's leadership, Hungry Harvest has made significant strides:
- Rescued over 27 million pounds of produce from waste.
- Donated or subsidized more than 1.5 million pounds of food to those in need.36
- Featured in major media outlets such as NPR and the Washington Post, Lutz has received accolades including being named in Forbes' 30 Under 30 for social entrepreneurship and Baltimore's 40 Under 40.147
Business Model
Hungry Harvest operates by sourcing "ugly" or surplus produce from local farms and wholesalers, which is then packaged into customizable boxes for delivery. This model not only reduces food waste but also provides affordable, healthy food options to communities often lacking access.57
Lutz's innovative approach has garnered attention and investment, including a recent Series A funding round that raised $13.7 million to further expand the company's impact.6 His work exemplifies a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility within the food industry.
Highlights
Hungry Harvest is hiring! #foodasmedicine #healthcare #food #hiring
Hungry Harvest is marking its 10th anniversary, a milestone that prompts reflection on the journey so far.
Ten years ago, when we launched, the world was a different place. Barack Obama was president, the Orioles were good, and gas prices stood at $2.99 a gallon. Back then, concepts like ugly produce were relatively unknown, and funding for food as medicine programs was scarce. At just 21, fresh out of the University of Maryland, I embarked on this path of entrepreneurship and it has defined my entire career and adult life since. Hard to believe I’ve been doing this for 1/3rd of my life!
My mentor, early investor, and dear friend, Jeff Cherry always emphasizes the importance of authenticity. As I try to articulate my feelings about this significant milestone, I strive to honor his advice.
Honestly, I’m feeling a mix of emotions. There’s a deep sense of exhaustion from the constant fundraising. The ongoing challenge of organizing multiple departments to get everyone to communicate. The myriad administrative tasks, like accounting, IT, bill payments, taxes, and proper registration that come with running a business. Some of these tasks suck the soul out of me like a dementor.
Yet I also feel a profound sense of motivation. I’m invigorated by the progress of food as medicine as an industry.
I’m determined to improve the working experience and career paths of my colleagues.
I’m driven to bring healthy food to more people’s homes, regardless of their ability to afford our services, and to shape the future of the food industry.
A decade ago, I recognized that persistence and learning would be crucial to Hungry Harvest’s success, and those skills remain paramount today. Persistence requires a mindset that refuses to break, while learning demands humility.
Today at age 31, I practice these skills daily. They’ve enabled me to build Hungry Harvest to the point where I could afford to buy a home, start a family, and find more happiness than I ever imagined.
Speaking of persistence, I find myself working just as hard, if not harder, in year 10 as I did on day one. No one tells you that! And that’s okay.
In terms of learning, one of the practices I have picked up over the years is mindfulness. It has given me insights and awareness into how my brain functions - for example how my motivations have evolved over the years.
Initially, I was driven by impact, scaling, experiementing, and the prospect of a big exit. Today, I’m still motivated by impact and learning, but also by creating a better workplace and achieving financial freedom for my family, rather than exclusively personal gain.
As we embark on our second decade, I’m excited to see how my mindset continues to evolve. And for Hungry Harvest, as Kevin Plank likes to say, we’re just getting started!
We have delivered millions of boxes to hundreds of thousands of people.
Here’s to 10 years and another decade of impact ahead!
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Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
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