I was working as an Account Manager in a well-known Spanish advertising agency. My daily routine was the usual: I would arrive at the office and I would organize myself to attend the different meetings I had in the offices of the clients I managed.

I used to move around with my things in my computer case. In it I carried my Mac, my mouse, an A5 size Moleskine notebook and a pen. In addition, in the other hand I carried my reusable cylindrical bottle. This is where the problems began, since I had to disable one hand just to carry the bottle and this prevented me from carrying the phone comfortably. Of course, this had a consequence, and that is that on numerous occasions I ended up leaving the bottle at home or in the office. As they were long meetings where there was a lot of talking, I ended up making use of the disposable plastic bottles that were put there for me. As a result, I used more than 10 such bottles every week.

As I have always liked to find new products on the market, I thought that a flat bottle would be much more useful for me and I started looking on Amazon and Google to see if I could find something that would fit me. To my surprise, there were only these types of products made of plastic, not steel or aluminum. This is where it occurred to me that I could make it myself.

I have to talk about two great sources of inspiration when I think back to that moment. I like brands that do different things. Those brands that dare to innovate with different concepts, with materials, with colors. And I also like brands that are committed to purpose. Like Patagonia, which generates income for environmental actions, or Apple, which makes you feel different.

When I did the usual market research when you start a business, I identified two things. On the one hand, I saw that there was a lot of supply, especially on platforms like Amazon. This means that the demand is in line and therefore there is a niche market to offer a solution to. On the other hand, I saw that all supply was focused on plastic as a base material. The solutions that stood out in other materials such as steel were focused on models that were more similar to traditional flasks, and that has a negative connotation for the product.

It was clear to me that I had to exploit this flat format, and it was clear to me that I had to follow a sober, minimalist line. I looked around me. I saw my Mac.

I saw no other option. The finish had to be in that style. The edges had to be just that, and not curved. A cap that would never get lost, or fall on the floor. It had to be sturdy and secure.

A bottle that would last forever. Your bottle, the one that makes you feel good and act now for the planet.

This was not all. I could not conceive the possibility of creating a company without purpose. A brand has to convince from the product and make you fall in love from the speech, and that was the plan I drew.

A brand that would act now for the planet by financing environmental initiatives through product sales.

I didn't know the industry, the market, or the logistical complications of manufacturing a product thousands of miles away from my home and then shipping it all over the world. It was a major challenge that Laura and I were facing alone. In addition, it should be noted that we did not have a large amount of capital behind us, but it is the result of the decision to dedicate our savings to set up this company and not to put down a deposit on a house.

We allocated the initial investment to product development. To design and structure the foundation of the brand and the core product within it. One of the first decisions we made was to fund the initial manufacturing of 10,000 bottles through a crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo platform. It was the perfect thermometer. If it went well, we were manufacturing and could fight to recover the investment. If it went wrong, we lost the equivalent of buying a car. We decided to take the risk... I don't know if anyone in our situation would have done it.

We were successful. We raised over $100,000 with which we were able to get started. It sounds like a lot, but scale economies require very high initial investments and so this is not that much money in reality. With manufacturing came the problems, delays in delivery of these pre-sales, and complaints from some unhappy customers. Whatever you do this is always going to happen.

However, the first joys also came, the affectionate mails from our first customers congratulating us for a job well done, the good reviews on our online channels, and the first environmental actions financed thanks to it's logic business activity.

Today it's logic is an established company, with 5 people on staff happy to be working with a purpose.

Many things have happened since our beginnings, starting with a pandemic that almost knocked us down, just as it did with thousands of companies around the world. Things got tough, but this company knew how to tighten its belt, knew how to gather its strength and, in short, knew how to survive.

In terms of business, we have exceeded half a million euros in turnover, and we have collaborated with companies such as Balenciaga on an international level, working hand in hand with them and working so that they are part of this movement towards sustainability that we all must make.

Today we can think about the medium and long term of the company. We have projects of social responsibility that go beyond that, and we are working firmly towards the creation of a community that involves more and more people in environmental and social efforts.