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Nov 9, 2023 · 18m · the-pitch

Monetizing Waste? AI Waste Sorting Technology Is Defining The Future of Recycling with AI!

Nicole Toole · 6m spoken Erica Wenger · 1m spoken Martin Tobias · 1m spoken Josh Muccio · 1m spoken Elizabeth Yin · 1m spoken Charles Hudson · 1m spoken Jillian Manus · 39s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Nicole Toole pitches Eco, an AI-powered waste sorting app designed to help universities reduce recycling contamination fees, seeking $750,000 in seed funding from a panel of venture capitalists on The Pitch. Although the investors praise the app's technology and early university traction, they ultimately pass due to concerns regarding student adoption friction and go-to-market scalability.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Josh holds 13.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Josh as informed peer 5.4 Guest teaching 3.2 Guest disagreement 1.2 Josh pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:001:40–5:03 · Josh as informed peer 3/10 Nicole Toole Introduces Eco and Her Fundraising Goal Nicole delivers her pitch and runs a live demo with Elizabeth Yin. She educates the investors on EPA contamination findings and explains her tech stack using OpenAI's CLIP model.5:04–9:51 · Josh as informed peer 6/10 Pilot Economics and University Contamination Penalty Reductions Martin aggressively questions the pilot economics, customer acquisition costs, and marketing responsibilities. Nicole pushes back by explaining how universities save on six-figure contamination penalty fees and gain data insights.9:53–12:13 · Josh as informed peer 5/10 Show Interlude: Assessing Trash to Treasure Potential Josh provides narration before Erica suggests leveraging Greek life rivalries and social gamification rather than financial rewards. Nicole shares her current round terms.12:14–16:21 · Josh as informed peer 7/10 Investor Feedback, Final Passes, and Group Selfie The investors pass one by one, offering strategic critiques around B2B2C CAC and the lack of a clear viral loop. Nicole remains gracious and asks for a commemorative selfie.16:27–17:36 · Josh as informed peer 6/10 Post-Pitch Debrief on Alternative Go-To-Market Strategies The panel debriefs after Nicole exits, exploring how a bottoms-up challenge model at schools like USC could build a viable business. Host score for schooled/combativeness is zero as no guest is present.1:40–5:03 · Guest teaching 5/10 Nicole Toole Introduces Eco and Her Fundraising Goal Nicole delivers her pitch and runs a live demo with Elizabeth Yin. She educates the investors on EPA contamination findings and explains her tech stack using OpenAI's CLIP model.5:04–9:51 · Guest teaching 6/10 Pilot Economics and University Contamination Penalty Reductions Martin aggressively questions the pilot economics, customer acquisition costs, and marketing responsibilities. Nicole pushes back by explaining how universities save on six-figure contamination penalty fees and gain data insights.9:53–12:13 · Guest teaching 3/10 Show Interlude: Assessing Trash to Treasure Potential Josh provides narration before Erica suggests leveraging Greek life rivalries and social gamification rather than financial rewards. Nicole shares her current round terms.12:14–16:21 · Guest teaching 2/10 Investor Feedback, Final Passes, and Group Selfie The investors pass one by one, offering strategic critiques around B2B2C CAC and the lack of a clear viral loop. Nicole remains gracious and asks for a commemorative selfie.16:27–17:36 · Guest teaching 0/10 Post-Pitch Debrief on Alternative Go-To-Market Strategies The panel debriefs after Nicole exits, exploring how a bottoms-up challenge model at schools like USC could build a viable business. Host score for schooled/combativeness is zero as no guest is present.1:40–5:03 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Nicole Toole Introduces Eco and Her Fundraising Goal Nicole delivers her pitch and runs a live demo with Elizabeth Yin. She educates the investors on EPA contamination findings and explains her tech stack using OpenAI's CLIP model.5:04–9:51 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Pilot Economics and University Contamination Penalty Reductions Martin aggressively questions the pilot economics, customer acquisition costs, and marketing responsibilities. Nicole pushes back by explaining how universities save on six-figure contamination penalty fees and gain data insights.9:53–12:13 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Show Interlude: Assessing Trash to Treasure Potential Josh provides narration before Erica suggests leveraging Greek life rivalries and social gamification rather than financial rewards. Nicole shares her current round terms.12:14–16:21 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Investor Feedback, Final Passes, and Group Selfie The investors pass one by one, offering strategic critiques around B2B2C CAC and the lack of a clear viral loop. Nicole remains gracious and asks for a commemorative selfie.16:27–17:36 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Post-Pitch Debrief on Alternative Go-To-Market Strategies The panel debriefs after Nicole exits, exploring how a bottoms-up challenge model at schools like USC could build a viable business. Host score for schooled/combativeness is zero as no guest is present.1:40–5:03 · Josh pushing back 2/10 Nicole Toole Introduces Eco and Her Fundraising Goal Nicole delivers her pitch and runs a live demo with Elizabeth Yin. She educates the investors on EPA contamination findings and explains her tech stack using OpenAI's CLIP model.5:04–9:51 · Josh pushing back 7/10 Pilot Economics and University Contamination Penalty Reductions Martin aggressively questions the pilot economics, customer acquisition costs, and marketing responsibilities. Nicole pushes back by explaining how universities save on six-figure contamination penalty fees and gain data insights.9:53–12:13 · Josh pushing back 2/10 Show Interlude: Assessing Trash to Treasure Potential Josh provides narration before Erica suggests leveraging Greek life rivalries and social gamification rather than financial rewards. Nicole shares her current round terms.12:14–16:21 · Josh pushing back 6/10 Investor Feedback, Final Passes, and Group Selfie The investors pass one by one, offering strategic critiques around B2B2C CAC and the lack of a clear viral loop. Nicole remains gracious and asks for a commemorative selfie.16:27–17:36 · Josh pushing back 2/10 Post-Pitch Debrief on Alternative Go-To-Market Strategies The panel debriefs after Nicole exits, exploring how a bottoms-up challenge model at schools like USC could build a viable business. Host score for schooled/combativeness is zero as no guest is present.

speaking balance: gold is Josh, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Josh 43.9% · guest 56.1%0:00 · Josh 43.9% · guest 56.1%3:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Josh 17.2% · guest 82.8%9:00 · Josh 17.2% · guest 82.8%12:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Josh 13.2% · guest 86.8%15:00 · Josh 13.2% · guest 86.8%18:00 · Josh 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Josh 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 8:32 Nicole reframes university ROI around data insights

Nicole directly rejects Martin's premise that pilot deals stall due to lack of marketing, arguing that the real value proposition is giving administrators visibility into student contamination behavior.

 Hardest push from Josh ▶ 7:40 Martin challenges marketing budget assumptions

Martin firmly challenges Nicole on how a $20,000 pilot contract can support customer acquisition if marketing execution falls on the startup rather than the university.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:32 Nicole details six-figure university contamination penalties

Nicole explains the economics of municipal and campus waste management, revealing that universities pay $75,000 to $150,000 annually in contamination penalties alone.

 Josh holds their own ▶ 14:03 Martin cites past domain investments to critique GTM

Martin leverages his experience investing twice in the waste-tech space to highlight why Eco's missing B2B viral loop represents a critical flaw in its current business model.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicJosh as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementJosh pushing backWhy
Nicole Toole Introduces Eco and Her Fundraising Goal 3512 Nicole delivers her pitch and runs a live demo with Elizabeth Yin. She educates the investors on EPA contamination findings and explains her tech stack using OpenAI's CLIP model.
Pilot Economics and University Contamination Penalty Reductions 6637 Martin aggressively questions the pilot economics, customer acquisition costs, and marketing responsibilities. Nicole pushes back by explaining how universities save on six-figure contamination penalty fees and gain data insights.
Show Interlude: Assessing Trash to Treasure Potential 5312 Josh provides narration before Erica suggests leveraging Greek life rivalries and social gamification rather than financial rewards. Nicole shares her current round terms.
Investor Feedback, Final Passes, and Group Selfie 7216 The investors pass one by one, offering strategic critiques around B2B2C CAC and the lack of a clear viral loop. Nicole remains gracious and asks for a commemorative selfie.
Post-Pitch Debrief on Alternative Go-To-Market Strategies 6002 The panel debriefs after Nicole exits, exploring how a bottoms-up challenge model at schools like USC could build a viable business. Host score for schooled/combativeness is zero as no guest is present.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Contradicted
Nicole Toole: Sending 219M tons of recyclable waste to landfills costs $200B
“Two hundred and nineteen million tons of recyclable waste enters our landfills every year. We spend over two hundred billion dollars just to send it there.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 2:10
Disclosure
Nicole Toole: ECGO uses OpenAI's CLIP model for waste image recognition
“And so right now we're using OpenAI's clip model, which creates a caption for every item that you take a picture of through the platform. And then it looks for that item in our database of materials.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 4:01
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Nicole Toole: Georgia State and Georgia Tech signed $20,000 annual ECGO contracts
“And then it rolled over into a full year implementation, that was 20,000 dollars and so that's what we are currently with both institutions on.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 5:29
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Nicole Toole: ECGO has 1,500 student users with 33% monthly active rate
“Yes, so right now we have 1500 students on the platform who use it. We have a 33% monthly active user rate, and on average students recycle 35 items each month. So we've seen really great usage, and the fraud was like less than one percent.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 5:46
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Nicole Toole: Universities pay $75K to $150K annually in recycling contamination fees
“Universities actually pay contamination fees on the recycling bills. And so these are fees that they have to pay on top of what they already pay in recycling. So this can be anywhere between 75 to 150,000 dollars a year just on contamination.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 6:34
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Nicole Toole: ECGO's campus user acquisition cost is $1.50
“Our user acquisition cost is only a dollar 50 because, like, we just put, like, we have cookies and whatever to get students to download the application.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 8:00
Insight
Erica Wenger: Consumer recycling behavior is driven more by ego than money
“I think you'll find over and over again it's actually more about the ego. It's not about the money.”
Erica Wenger Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 11:33
Disclosure
Nicole Toole: ECGO is raising a $750,000 SAFE at a $5M cap
“Yeah, so we're raising seven 50, and we just started and so we're doing a safe and the cap is five million, so we're just starting with that.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 11:52
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Nicole Toole: ECGO targets 20 institutions by end of 2024
“Yeah, so that lasts us 12 months and so our goal is to launch more universities and corporate offices in the southeast, so that is, like, our focus, and our goal is 20 institutions by the end of next year.”
Nicole Toole Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 12:03
Opinion
Elizabeth Yin: Recycling tech has potential, but ECGO's model is wrong
“I do think there's something in here, but this is not the right model.”
Elizabeth Yin Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 17:34
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