1. Where were you the moment you decided your business plan?

Teresita:

I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, when I had the idea for Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology or SMIT as a three-tiered business that would do sustainable design, education and consulting. I was in my first year of grad school at NYU at the time (February 2004), focusing on combining sustainability with new and emerging technologies, and the whole concept for a business plan came pretty slowly, but became clear once I thought of the name.

Sam:
For most of my time while an undergrad in Pratt's Industrial Design department, I had been thinking of a design firm that pushes the boundaries of what is possible in product design. When Sita and I met and talked about 3/4 of the way through our thesis years, we saw that her business plan for SMIT fit quite well with my thesis project, GROW (the concept for Solar Ivy came out of that idea) and that they had the potential to do well together. At my thesis show, we teamed up and soon uncovered what we each knew and didn't know about starting a successful business.

2. What was the one thing you didn't know that you had to bluff your way through? 

Teresita:

Having gone to an art school for undergrad (Rhode Island School of Design), I had experience with fine art, creativity and design, but no experience understanding how to make a business work. It didn't stop me from putting my ideas on paper, but it did pose challenges to knowing where to begin. Sam and I have always known how to ask questions and seek out coaching, and that has definitely helped us improve and refine our business strategies and planning.

Sam:

I would actually call bluffing "practice" in our case. With a background in design, I knew how to design a good product, yet had no experience in starting an innovative design business from scratch. Luckily, we knew we didn't know how to do this, which allowed us the space to ask for help. In the beginning, we were bluffing our way through pitches and business presentations over and over, since we didn't know what our audiences wanted to hear nor how to present ourselves well. Fortunately, we did this in front of people who knew a lot about starting businesses and were "safe" to bluff in front of. As a result, they advised and coached us, and our business plan benefited. "Bluffing" equals "practice."

3. What one life lesson did you learn that helped you build your business?

Teresita:
Perseverance and commitment. For the past three years I have traveled between my home in Boston, Mass., to SMIT's office in Brooklyn, N.Y., and slept on couches of various friends and family. My husband and I got married 10 days before Sam and I started SMIT in September of 2005, and until last month (I am six months pregnant now), I have been home with him for only half of our marriage!

Sam and I have never paid ourselves for our work on SMIT since we started the company in September of 2005. We have taken side jobs to be able to work on SMIT and have been fortunate to have loving friends and family who have believed in our business and have provided us with angel funding to pay for patents and early prototypes to get us through the past few years. We have also had occasional luck and serendipity on our side and have never given up on our vision for SMIT as a sustainable design company that can make a difference.

Sam:

Commitment. SMIT had only the two of us for the first two years. Sita was coming down from Boston, and I was working free-lance jobs to make it work. It has been our commitment to create a business which designs sustainable products to better all of our lives, that has gotten us to this point.

4. Who is your role model or inspiration?

Teresita:

There isn't one person, per se, that I can point to as a role model or inspiration...I think that being observant of the world around me and the interactions amongst living and inanimate things has been my greatest inspiration.

Sam:

I have many role models and inspirations. The two inspirations that stick out are:

1. creating something from nothing...in other words, to have an idea or vision, then, making it real.
2. the power of design...the role models here would be: Charles and Ray Eames, and Einstein.

5. What do you wish you had more of: time or money?

Sita and Sam:

Money, because, well, it costs money to design, test and manufacture our products, as well as to hire an experienced and solid full-time staff (engineers, marketing/sales people, etc), not to mention to pay ourselves--for the first time in three years--and ultimately, to bring our product to the marketplace as quickly and as soundly as possible. Money can shorten time, by allowing us to fully put our business plan into action.

6. What is the one word your employees would use to describe you and why? 

Teresita:

Our first employees would call me dedicated. Even when I didn't know where I was going to sleep, I would come down to SMIT by bus and find a couch to crash on for the Monday through Wednesday that I was in town, so that I could contribute to having SMIT move forward.

Sam:

I think they would call me a dedicated, creative problem solver.

Want to know who's next? Check back every other week for more Young Guns...And if you know a young entrepreneur with an interesting story, e-mail us at youngguns@foxbusiness.com.