# The surprise that's saving food with Lucie Basch of Too Good To Go (2023)

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2023-11-30
- Length: 41m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023

## Summary

Lucie Basch, co-founder of Too Good To Go, explains how she pivoted from a career at Nestlé to fighting food waste by creating an app that sells 'surprise bags' of unsold food from restaurants and grocery stores. Basch describes collaborating with Danish founders to merge their concepts, bootstrapping the initial launch in Norway with a WordPress site, and overcoming early technical failures like server crashes and payment module bugs. She details the company's growth to 17 countries, its commission-based business model, and its strategy of partnering with B Corp venture capital firms to maintain its social mission while scaling.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=0) Introduction: Lucie Basch and Too Good To Go
- [1:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=118) Nestlé Experience and Realizing the Scale of Food Waste
- [4:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=284) The Surprise Bag Concept and Horizontal Power
- [7:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=449) Collaborating with Danish Co-founders in Oslo
- [17:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=1027) Bootstrapping, MVP, and Early Technical Failures
- [20:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=1210) Pitching Stores and Overcoming Brand Skepticism
- [28:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=1712) Rapid European Expansion and US Launch
- [30:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=1846) Raising Venture Capital and B Corp Partnerships
- [36:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=2170) Addressing Criticism and Partnering with Charities
- [39:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-11-30-the-surprise-thats-saving-food-with-lucie-basch-of-too-good-to-go-2023#t=2392) Future Vision, Acquisitions, and Global Mission

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Too Good To Go (product)
- Nestlé (company)
- KitKat (product)
- Nisle (company)
- Eric Kaiser (company)
- Blisq (company)
- Codabene (company)
- Airbnb (product)
- WordPress (tool)

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- [016: Gluten-free & allergy-friendly food with Luke Lucas of Foddies](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-08-30-016-gluten-free-allergy-friendly-food-with-luke-lucas-of-foddies) (Product Startup)
- [Ep. 8: Build a Food Business with Teeth - Chloe Sorvino, Forbes Magazine](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2020-08-13-ep-8-build-a-food-business-with-teeth-chloe-sorvino-forbes-magazine) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [#179 - Bootstrap Heroes: Hazard's Hop Water, SWAIR, Gourmend Foods](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-01-21-179-bootstrap-heroes-hazards-hop-water-swair-gourmend-foods) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
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