We continue along the hustle of 2021 with today’s featured team of Col-Lab — Benjamin and Pamela, who also happen to be the newest additions to the VB18 family. Let’s read on to find out what the 2 have been up to since the inception of their project 4 weeks ago.
Col-Lab is a bioengineering-based project focused on the commercialization of collagen. A well-known source of collagen peptides, fish skin, led Col-Lab to embark on a full day “fishy” field trip to better understand the process of fish skin disposal and management in Singapore. The field trip brought them to various places of Singapore in order to gather information and groundwork for their project.
Their first stop was a wet marketplace, where they wanted to find out what the majority of marine discards were comprised of, and how were they disposed of. As luck would have it, they were greeted by a friendly fishmonger upon arrival who took them under his wing. Their interactions with him engendered some key insights, including the knowledge that the vast majority of discards were innards, and that fish skin was quite difficult to separate from the fish body, depending on the thickness of the skin.
The second stop of the day was a koi farm. The goal was to find out more about their expansion plans and how their produce contributed to the fishery supply chain map.
During our time at the Koi farm, we observed how an ornamental fish farm is run, what edible produce are available for public sales and how a consumer may purchase these edible produce. — Pamela
Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, Benjamin and Pamela decided to check out a couple of other aquarium supplies stores and ornamental fish farms.
To cap off their journey, they also visited major local supermarket stores to observe how fresh marine produce were handled and what fish-related products were offered.
For a full recap of their exciting field trip, do look here.
The field trip encapsulated a tiring but rewarding journey for the team. From their first 5 weeks on the job, they had the following insights to share:
- Time and tide wait for no man.
Given we’re constantly stretched for time, we’ve naturally started to see where each of us can take a task on single-handedly. This has been especially useful in conducting interviews: something as simple as talking to people separately doubles the rate at which we can garner data and process them. — Benjamin
2. The importance of mentors.
Having mentors who are unafraid to show us perspectives of the realities of the world outside our cozy and comfy four walls (while dreaded at times) has been much needed.
In addition to their wealth of experience, they serve as really great avenues to keep us accountable for our targets, without which our progress would be a lot slower. — Benjamin
Each challenge comes with its own solutions, just as with crisis comes opportunity. The team strongly believes that in the coming weeks as they refine their methods and get their hands even dirtier, they will eventually get better at navigating the waters of entrepreneurship.
Finally, here’s to wishing everyone a very prosperous Niu Year!
Until next week, this is VB18 signing off.
