Social Media For Social Good With Vikas Garg

In the fifth episode of the Principles of Change podcast, I sit down and discuss social media for social good with CEO of ''Abillion'', Vikas Garg. Abillion is the fastest growing social media platform of the vegan and plant based community and its aim is to make it easier to be vegan while simultaneously donating more than a million dollars to non profits and animal sanctuaries worldwide!

In Today's Episode:

• Intro
• Vikas's Background
• How was Abillion born?
• Any new features may see?
• How can restaurants join?
• Where does the money come from?
• Vikas's Principles of Change

Download Abillion here!
https://abillion.onelink.me/42TD/abp

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📖 Find out more on my work and get your free ebook: www.sebalex.org
🙏🏽 To support my online and offline activism: www.sebalex.org/support

Transcript

Intro

Vikas Garg 0:00

Is this, this mission of, can we turn a billion people on to sustainability? Can we turn a billion people on to being more vegan or being vegan? Can we create billions of options for people through our activism and advocacy and building a technology platform that really is transforming The fabric of our society. Um, and that's really the experiment here

Seb Alex 0:24

That was the CEO of a billion because Clark, and this is the fifth episode of the principles of change podcast. And this podcast I invite, game-changers amazing people who have been doing whatever they can, using whatever talents they may have to make this world a better place in order to inspire you to get active and fight for a better world. Before we get started. I want to tell you a bit about because, and the work that they do. a building is an amazing application that I use on a daily basis. The way it functions is actually quite simple. And the impact it has is really, really great. A billion is an application that you can use to help humans or other animals and the environment from the comfort of your chair. The application works in a very simple way. Every single time you buy a vegan meal or a vegan product, you upload the review And that review is converted into dollars that you can use to donate to any animal sanctuary or nonprofit groups around the world. This is not your money. They are converting. You're reviewing$2 and then you're donating it. This is the fastest growing platform of the plant-based and vegan community. All you have to do is upload the photos, leave a review and decide who you want them to donate that dollar to on your behalf. The more you review, the more you can donate. And if you'd like to support this podcast and the work that we're doing with Lebanese vegans this month, during the month of December, a billion is doubling every single dollar that you donate after leaving a review. So I'm going to ask you for a huge favor before we start, and that is. To download the application. It's called a billion. I will be leaving a link in the description below. So it's easier for you to find. And once you are making your account, use the referral code, SEP Alex, during this month. Not only will a billion, double your donations to Lebanese vegans and all the work that we're doing with the animal rights center in Beirut, but they would also separately donate 50 cents to my activism, which helps support all the free content that I make for you. Now holding the application advance will also help you understand everything because we'll be sharing. it is a really great way to plan where you can go to have vegan options with your friends. It's also nice to see the photos and reviews of other users before you order something yourself in the restaurant. So go ahead, download the application, use the referral code set, Alex. And start reviewing. Now you can donate to other animal rights organizations or sanctuaries, but if I could ask you for one favor, It is to donate to lebanese vegans as this month all those donations will be doubled thank you again and i'll see you on the other side because thank you so much for making Time for everyone. Who's going to be joining and listening to this or watching it on YouTube. I really, really appreciate it. I know how busy you are usually. So I'm really glad that you managed to take some time for us.

Vikas Garg 3:17

Oh, so like, I was so happy to hear that you wanted to do this podcast with me and so delighted to be here and yes. Or in any way possible. I thank you for having us.

Vikas's Background

Seb Alex 3:27

thank you. Thank you. I want to start a bit with your background, how you got to where you are right now. What was your initial vision?

Vikas Garg 3:34

So my name is I'm the founder and CEO of a company called a billion, which we started four years ago here in Singapore, with the idea to build a global movement. of people, who we were inspiring and helping through this journey of being vegan and being more vegan. Of course, we all know that being vegan is a wonderful thing. It's for many of us, for including myself, it's probably one of the most inspiring choices I've ever made for myself. Right. It's, it's probably the most enabling most empowering thing that I have done for myself and for my family. but it wasn't so easy, especially when I started. you know, my journey actually started in India. and I was born in India. I just turned 40. so I, I was born in India 40 years ago and, I was very lucky in a way to be born into a, a vegetarian, Hindu, vegetarian family. So my mom and dad. Pretty much my entire family, especially back then everybody was vegetarian. but it was just, that was just who we are. We're from birth. It wasn't like in a way, a conscious decision I was making, it was a decision that had been made for me, but I was also very lucky that my mother was very, very passionate about animals, about, you know, about insects, about just this concept of this very fundamental concept that we have in Hinduism. And. Around a himsa and sort of nonviolence. Right. And so I kind of grew up around that practice, and grew up a bug lover. and, and that, eventually I got to the states. So when I was four years old, my mom and dad and my brother and I, we moved to New York city. it was at first it was not meant to be like a permanent move. It was like a temporary thing for one. Eventually after seven or eight years of these back and forth from India to the U S India to the U S every year, we eventually, we settled in, America. And, and so I spent most of my life growing up in America. what was really interesting was I don't think that any of us, so this would have been the 1980s when I was a kid. And I don't think that any of us really thought too much about it. but you know, in India,

Seb Alex 5:43

right. So,

Vikas Garg 5:44

the, the subsea Vala, the guy who would bring your vegetables, right? He would bring a cart around town. He would push a cart, a fresh fruits and vegetables every day in the morning. And then again in the afternoon. And that's how most people bought their fruits and vegetables. Right. They wouldn't come through your neighborhood or maybe you'd go to a neighborhood market and America, you get to America and you've got these massive groceries. And then you've got, you know, you've got pizza on every corner. You've got junk food everywhere. And I don't think that any of us really realized how much dairy became a huge part of our lifestyle, but, you know, I'll, I'll save the details. But I would, I always joke with my friends. I was just saying, growing up in New York city was like, my food pyramid was basically like a big slice of. so that was kind of, you know, that was my, my growing up and teenage years and in a way being vegetarian probably was a little bit like being on autopilot. It wasn't very easy, but it, wasn't also very hard. you know, you could generally get by finding things and whatnot. in 2008, I decided to make my life complicated and that's when I embarked on becoming. You know, ironically, I've been part of the animal rights movement since I was a kid I'd always loved animals. always, you know, fought for them spiritually and mentally and through my actions. But, uh, it wasn't until 2008 that I actually made the plunge to, to go vegan. And that journey was really interesting for me. Um, that was actually felt like, Hey, this is something that I've now decided I want to do, but wow. It's really, really hard. And that also made me think like, wow, if it's hard for me, if it's hard for somebody who's already vegetarian to give up dairy, right. And to give up things like leather and all of this, and it part of giving it up or is, is finding the alternatives, right? Like, the other options and everything that you're used to, all the places that are familiar to you, the play, the restaurants you like, and that everything is, it's almost like you're starting from scratch in a. And so that was, uh, that was very eye opening for me. And by the time I kind of got to, you know, a few years after that, I really felt there was an opportunity and I felt a really strong desire to make that experience better for people. For me. What's what switched was. It went from feeling like a sacrifice and a compromise all the time to feeling like, oh my God, I was living my life with purpose in every single decision I made. Right. Like I get to fall three, four times a day, choose what I eat based on my values and principles. And for me, a person like me, I really, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was making conscious decisions about my place in life, my place in this world. and, so it became hugely inspiring to me. And I wanted to just create something that made that, that, that. Took that gap from feeling very compromising and sacrificial to feeling truly inspiring. And I wanted to reduce that gap and I felt like if we could build something that reduced that gap, we could make the world a much, much, much better place. So in 2017, I set out to create a billion.

Seb Alex 9:04

Wow. What a journey. And how did the idea of, I mean, I understand you want it to make it easier and everything, but how did you come up with the idea? Because the way it functions, she can please go ahead and tell to the centers what a building is and how it functions. And I'm really interested in. How you came up with it because it's, it's not like an idea that comes from another idea that already exists. No, it's a, it's a one-time thing. It's the first time something of the sort exists.

Vikas Garg 9:32

Well, that's really, that's, that's really nice of you to say that that's the, that's the nicest compliment that anybody given me all week, and it's been a tough week, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm going to bask in this. Ray of sunshine for a second. now I mean, it, you know, it's, I, so thank you for saying that. but you know, I think that it is a matter of drawing from things that have, have been part of your own life. If you know what I mean, like to some degree saying the things that you're influenced by, and if I look at my own journey, right. I remember, so growing up in New York city, right? Like every. Person in an office. And my dad had one of these had like this little red book and it was, does a GAT survey. Right. And what is the gap? Was, it was a restaurant director. With all of these ratings of all of the restaurants in New York city. And they had one for a lot of different cities around America, the cool thing was it, wasn't just some snooty food critic going to restaurants and saying, oh, I like this. And I don't like that. It was the voice of the people. So this, this, this publisher, what they would do is every year in the New York times, they would take out a full page. Which you could rip out and then you could fill out this whole questionnaire about what are your favorite restaurants and what do you like? And, you know, you could rate different things and then people would mail that in. And if they mailed it in, they actually got, I think they got a discount or they got the guidebook if they mailed it in. Right. So that was kind of even before Facebook, even before Instagrams of the world. And even before TripAdvisor and Yelp and all these businesses. I almost think like, wow, this was like one of the

Seb Alex 11:19

The real

Vikas Garg 11:19

least the oldest form of user-generated content that I can think of the real deal, like, but it was published and it was a book and people loved it. They would buy the book every year, the ratings would change and it became such a important Bible for people who like food that, you know, the restaurants have the stickers on the windows with. Does the gap rating the numbers? The restaurants were very proud to display their ratings, right? Because it was not the voice of some food. It was the voice of their customers, of the people. Definitely what we're doing around like consumer reviews, right? Where people are rating and reviewing things. It's so hard to find information about vegan food. And the thing about vegan food is if we're going to drive the world to be more sustainable through food, which I truly believe that means that we need to figure out how to get more people to eat more vegan. Yeah. That doesn't necessarily mean that we need to figure out the, the end all be all, which is how do we get more people to be vegan a hundred percent of the time, but even just, what are the incremental steps to move in that direction? Right. And so if we're going to do that, we need to make sure we need to, we need to serve. This information we need to help people find well, where are the great vegan options? Well, if you just direct people to vegan restaurants, well, of course you and I love vegan restaurants, but like, if we just direct people to vegan restaurants, it's not such a great, like, it just doesn't work for most people in their lifestyle. Right? Like my. In spite of me being vegan now for a really long time, I used to joke that I say that like, I go to as many vegan restaurants every year as I probably go for an Ethiopian restaurant. It's just not something I do. All the time, because 90 plus percent of my friends are not vegan. Right. And so we go to all sorts of restaurants. So it was important. Let's not, let's not even start with restaurant reviews. Let's start with food reviews. People take photos of the actual vegan dish. And then what that does is it creates a meritocracy for who's got the best vegan. Even a steakhouse might have great vegan food and we want to feature that. Right. So I think that we were really thought through about how do we build a user experience that brings the widest group of people around the world in, including businesses. And then beyond that, the lifestyle is of course not just about food, but it's about all the products that we buy. So, whether it's, you know, it's the cosmetics and skincare products we put on our faces and our, on our, on our bodies or it's, you know, it's, it's ethical fashion. All of this is really connected. And so we started with this idea that let's build a consumer review platform and then let's really build a place where people can kind of communicate. Using a framework of consumer reviews, but make that really in a way, social and engaging. And then we layer on impact because most of us who live in cities, we don't really see or know or can measure the impact of the choices that we're making every single day. Right. So I was like, how do you create that bridge? So people are more conscious and make better choices. And so what we did is we partnered up with nonprofits around the. And I think this is probably the most unique point about our platform is when people make that decision to eat vegan, we back that up with life-saving life-changing impact, that we make and, you know, and, and, and we're pretty, I think we're pretty, we're calculated pretty determined to just put it out there that, you know, we donate a dollar, a UI, one us dollar, every time somebody eats something vegan and it's been a key. You got to take a photo and post it on our app, but it's a key part of what makes our platform very unique.

Seb Alex 15:04

Wow. Amazing. So as simple as that, you just, you go out to eat, you choose the vegan option. You take a photo, which let's face it. Almost everyone does nowadays. Like if you go to anybody's photo album, you're going to find so many photos of food outside and restaurants. And all they have to do is just upload that as a review. A billion com basically converts that review into a dollar that this user decides who to donate to from animal sanctuaries and not non-profits all around the world.

Any new features may see?

Vikas Garg 15:35

Yeah, I it's amazing. It's amazing what a dollar can do.

Seb Alex 15:39

it's, it's really amazing. I have been, uh, an ambassador with a billion for a while now. And I was checking the dashboard and, you know, there's around, I think around 500 people, more or less that have signed up using my referral code. And I can see also how much money those people have collectively raised. And last time I checked, it was$6,500. I'm just one person who has shared that. So imagine the impact of every single one of us sharing this. And that's 6,500, not from the user's pockets. It's literally because of the reviews. no. one is out there putting money into the application and then sending it. It's all like that. The donation part is being done by a billion. And I think to play that card of saying, you're going to have vegan food, we're going to donate money on your. That is what I find so amazing. It's really, I mean, a lot of people, I think you are so used to the idea now that you were, you, you came up with this and this is something that exists that you forget what it's like for someone who hears it for the first time. And I know, because I shared with my friends and they like what? Like they, they donate money. Like I get to the site or to give it to so. Really, really amazing. And what kind of future projects do we see or, uh, let's say, uh, certain actions that people can take on the app. Cause I know recently you just introduced, um, making well, similar to Instagram, but what more do you think we can see in the future by a

How can restaurants join?

Vikas Garg 17:19

Yeah, well, so for sure, right? It's it's uh, what we're trying to do is really an experience, a user experience that people feel like this is a home for them to talk about anything around the sustainability space. So while consumer reviews are really effective, because now I can put things on a map for you. So anywhere you go to in the world, or even in your own. You can see where you can go and have vegan food. And, you know, when you walk into a store or when you're curious about what kinds of brands can I use, what kinds of plant-based meat products, if you like, if you're interested in trying plant-based. Um, you can see information, you can see can see a lot of content that then helps you have a better experience because that's the whole thing, right? Like I think for anybody who's ever tried vegan cheese before, if you go to the grocery store, especially in the U S right, like here in Singapore, if you go to the grocery store, there's maybe two, maybe three vegan cheeses. Um, if you go to the grocery store in the United States, there's hundred different kinds. Right. And so. The problem with that is some of them are very, very good. And then some of them are not so good, right? Like, you know, some of them can be quite bad, right. And, but it's very hard to tell just from the packaging or whatever. So we want to make sure that if we're going to help people live this, or we're going to help people really enjoy this lifestyle that you gotta make it easy. You gotta make. You got to help them have a great experience. Right? So that's where the reviews sort of started ongoing extending on from reviews. Right? For me, my goal here is not to just build a consumer review platform, but my goal here is how does. Build a platform that, you know, for decades from now, for beginning next year, actually, but is around decades from now and is responsible for helping tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, young people, right? Like, like you said, to start businesses in this space. So another business that I besides the God that I draw a lot of inspiration from is. Right. Or even Kickstarter, those are companies that were formed in the early two thousands that really brought entrepreneurship to people's doorsteps, right? Like, Hey, if you're somebody who has an idea for make some handcrafted product, you can sell it on Etsy. Or if you're somebody who just has an idea for a product, don't even have a product, but you have an idea for a product, you can raise money through Kickstarter. So we want to do things like. For the sustainability space and you're going to see a lot more of that, starting to surface, early next year, uh, as we marketplace and sort peer to peer in a direct to consumer marketplace on our platform. Um, the other side of it is just, Hey, sustainability is, is is, hard. how do you bring it into every everybody's life? How do you provide a place where people can have those conversations? in a way it's sort of, if you look at what did, right. LinkedIn basically is kind of like Facebook for your work. And we think that the S the planet deserves something similar. Right. So I wouldn't exactly call it Facebook for the planet, but I call it, you know, I'd, I'd call it like, we deserve a great sort of social platform for social. And that's really what we're trying to build. So over the next couple of months, you're going to see video introduced. So this podcast, this recording, you'll be able to post on a billion. Uh, yeah, you'll be able to post, recordings. You'll be able to post, you know, films of your activism and you'll be able to create a lot more content. That really helps you form that tribe and community on our platform. And of course, really help the people who are making this transition of which nearly 70% of our users today are meat eaters. Right? So a lot of people who are out there trying to make this transition, and you know, th this sort of stuff

Seb Alex 21:21

Of course, cause it's basically positive reinforcement you're and it's amazing. It's almost 70% of the users are not vegan and they are donating that money by consuming plant-based foods. So what about that? Restaurants, what do they get out of it? And are they supposed to contact a billion to be listed? Or how does it work? Exactly. In case someone is listening and they want to have the restaurant there.

Vikas Garg 21:45

Oh, well, so restaurants, it all starts with a consumer review. so yes, restaurants can claim their listing. They can go to business dot a billion.com. It's a website that we have set up and there's basically like a dashboard in a way that gives a business once a business claims and verifies their information, they can then add their own photos and, you know, they can, they can engage. The, the members, who are actually creating the posts. They can, They can, even like do research, right? So if it's like a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo and they're confused about what kinds of vegan food, um, P they should create, because they don't know, they can actually find that that information, but they can see what the best. Vegan Japanese food is from Japanese restaurants around the planet. Um, and one of the things that we of course do is with restaurants is our goal. If you've, you know, when you post a review, our goal is to actually get that feedback back to the business owners. So we've built up this huge database of hundreds, of thousands of businesses around the world. And what we do is we are pushing this back to the restaurants to show them that, Hey, there's this move. And they want to be in front of it. They need to be in front of it. They need to be creating more vegan options, even, you know, we love having this conversation with the steak houses of the world, because for them it's just like, Hey, here's a younger consumer. Who's not necessarily so turned off by going to your restaurant, if you have great plant based options. Right. So take the next step. So we serve up activists. In a really big way. And that's a big way that we also work with restaurants. So if, if a consumer, if a user rates a vegan dish from a restaurant, chances are that we've already reached out to that restaurant and sent them their information, let them know that, Hey, this is happening. And this is, you know, this is, this is how you could, you know, really participate and, and do, even though.

Seb Alex 23:40

Wow. That's really amazing. And it's really, it seems that it's something that's here to stay. It's not. temporary. So when it comes to,

Vikas Garg 23:51

Well, we hope not.

Seb Alex 23:52

I doubt it because it's always, it's quite often. There's always like something new being added to the platform and more and more people are, are using it. And I know for example, if I'm in a city where I don't know a lot of the local restaurants, I open the app and I check, explore, and I see all the restaurants that offer plant-based foods. And I, and I, for me, one of the most important things is see the photo of the food I'm going to order because the portion is what matters most to me. And

Vikas Garg 24:23

it's great. Isn't it?

Seb Alex 24:25

Ordering and then looking at your fleet and thinking, ah, what did I order? I mean, it looks good, but I'm really hungry. The idea that I can in advance know in which restaurant I can eat and people can even in the review at, um, from one to five stars, how expensive or cheap it is, it helps so much. And especially for people traveling or even if you're in your own city, because there's new options popping up every single day in different restaurants. In my experience, one of the first things that I get people asking when I shared this with them, uh, obviously is first of all, they're, they're shocked. They can't believe that something so good exists. And because it's something that offers positive value to the user's experience, but also a donation monetary donation to a non non-profit. They get the. Uh, skeptical. And they're like, but wait a minute, where does all the money come from? Why are they willing to donate money on my behalf? So how does this work? And I was wondering, what would you say to that? Where is this money coming from? And, um, most importantly, how much longer it? can discontinue.

Vikas Garg 25:36

Sure. Yeah, it's a really important question. We get this question all the time, and I think that if you type in like a billion into Google, uh, one of the first, you know, how does the auto-fill of the question? So one of the first things it suggests is how does a billion make.

Seb Alex 25:51

No way

Vikas Garg 25:52

As like an auto populated question. Yeah. but you know, the, if you type in it's the same thing. How does Instagram make money? Right. And Instagram of course does very, very well. Right. Um, so for us, like we are, an early stage startup. Um, we are, now a four year old company, uh, and we are just starting to make money. So actually beginning next week. Uh, brands will be able to go. And there'll be able to add in product purchase links. So imagine if you're you have a brand that's making something that's been reviewed and you sell that directly to the consumer, through a website, or maybe you sell it on Amazon, you can then put your link in, right? You can, then you can also advertise and you can do things to just promote your brand. Not in a. In a way that makes really make sense for our users and our members, not in a, kind of a cheap inorganic way, but in a way that, that, that still feels very, very organic. And of course it has to be vegan. So it's not like the other platforms where you're going on and, you know, you see photos and you, if you're typing food, you're going to see photos of steak and this and that. We are after all a vegan platform focused on vegan vegan values. Right. So all of the content is. There no Google banner ads or any of that sort of stuff. So in building that and eventually getting to the place, like I've talked a little bit earlier about the marketplace that we want to build, right. And how we want to support entrepreneurs around the world. All of these things will then start to generate revenues for us. What's important for us right now is to build a user experience where, you know, in tech, they have this notion of product market fit, right, is to build a product. That people in the market actually start adopting and using. Right. So it's really important for us to build that. So the money for all of our donations actually just comes from us. It comes from our investors. So whenever we rate, we are a venture backed startup and we've raised capital and every year, part of the capital that we raise, we allocate to. So, for example, for 2021, we've made a commitment and we've carved out that, Hey, we will donate up to a million dollars, a million us dollars to fund impact around the world. Right now, if we, what that means is in the current construct is if we were to, if we were to get to a million reviews and then all those people donated their allocated there, that would be a million dollars. What I really want to have. Is that we, you get to 2 million or 5 million because then that pushes us and pushes our investors and get it it'll happen. We'll do it. We'll, we'll we'll have that capital because that could be, that would be the best thing that could happen is to grow even faster than, you know, that you've, then you've predicted in a way. Right. And so part of that is that, I mean, that's how we, that's how we find. Um, and then the second part of your question as well, how we keep going? Right. And well, we can keep going for a while. Uh, you know, we've got good money in the bank, but the reality is like anything. What I am trying to do here is show the world that from day one, you can build a business. That's making massive impact doing the right thing and building a business where purpose and profit are completely aligned with. Even with the way that we work with our clients, the way that we work with various different stakeholders, our investors, for example, to show that you can create this kind of alignment and build a truly phenomenal world-class business. So we are building a business, right. And we do need to prove ourselves. Otherwise, of course it will eventually, you know, it won't work if it, if it doesn't work. Eventually then, you know, we'll, we'll go, I'll have to go the way of a lot of other companies, right. That try different things. But we think that, I think that will, one thing that we're really excited about is just how far we've come. We've come a really, really long way. And, and, um, we're just right now, actually, uh, getting ready and getting close to announcing our series a, which is like our first, like really big round of fundraising for our company. It's sort of a, it's a milestone for sure. And, uh, and the response to that has been really phenomenal from people around, from investors around the world. So with that, uh, with that money in the bank, um, you can rest assured that we're going to be around for a long, for a while

Seb Alex 30:38

I have no doubt. I have no doubt. And I do want to say it has happened to me where I've been in places where. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have thought that, yeah, I can check a building and I will find the review in this town, have some plant-based and then I opened and I realized, wow, someone has been here and has left a review and I'm going to be able to use it. And I'm not talking about like, let's say being in Barcelona or like a big metropolitan city where for sure there's a big concentration of people using the app. I'm talking. Places where you wouldn't have thought that someone would have added a review because they've been there because it's definitely spreading. And I say that as, as a user of the, of the platform. So I doubt that you're ever going to wonder. What would happen if the money runs out or you don't get enough for it, I'm actually really excited to see all the things that you shared. Now that will be announced in the coming months. Just to have an idea, if you are able to share with us how many users are on the platform, more or less, if that's okay to know.

Vikas Garg 31:41

Yeah, of course. So the app has now been downloaded, uh, about a million times. By people around the world. Um, and in terms of active users, right? So people who are coming, you know, at least once every month we have about a 300,000 people.

Seb Alex 31:57

Wow.

Vikas Garg 31:59

Yeah. So it's good. It's a still, I, you know, it, it's, it's hard to say, is it a small community? Is it a large community? But, um, especially when we look in the context of something like Facebook, which has 2 billion people on it, right. Um, Um, but I think I'm really proud of how far we have come. Um, and, uh, the, the, especially in the last three or four months, six months, the growth has been just getting stronger and stronger. So with sort of our current rate of growth, we should be hitting a million active users over the course of the next 12 months or so. And that's, I think that's when things start to get really exciting for them.

Seb Alex 32:42

Are you aiming for a billion active users?

Vikas Garg 32:45

Well, it's in the name of the company. It's, it's, it's not so much about users, right? I, I really don't like the word users, but it's just, it's, it's, it's just the easiest, shortest word to use. Right? We even, we don't call our users users. We call, we call a billion members of our community. Um, and, uh, for us what's really important. Is this, this mission of, can we turn a billion people on to sustainability? Can we turn a billion people on to being more vegan or being vegan? Can we create billions of options for people through our activism and advocacy and building a technology platform that really is transforming The fabric of our society. Um, and that's really the experiment here, right? Is can we, can we create that kind of meaningful impact around the world? Um, and that's, that's what the name of the company is all about. It's, it's less, so it's not really about a billion users. I mean, obviously if we got there, that would be, that would be extraordinary. Um, but I, I, it's not so much about that. I mean, I would be personally, I'd be very happy. you know, when we, you know, when we get to a million, I think I'll be very, very, very happy. because I think that even with a million people, we can do such amazing things

Seb Alex 34:04

Yeah, for sure. And for people who might be wondering so far more or less, how much have you been able to donate through the years have been

Vikas Garg 34:15

We've, we've donated close to 800,000 us dollars. And so we're on track. We should, we should hit a million total, in the next two months, three months. But I think we are, we, it with a little bit of luck, we ended up hitting like, uh, by the end of the year, maybe almost one and a half million

Seb Alex 34:40

That's so

Vikas Garg 34:41

dollars donated. Yeah. Yeah.

Seb Alex 34:43

great.

Vikas Garg 34:44

And, you know, it's, it's, it's amazing. Just, just one, just one point. You know, we, we started, we have a lot of, we work with a lot of our animal rescue organizations, and, but we also work with people around the world and it's amazing for a dollar, you can feed a hungry child in Africa, three square meals a day for a dollar, you can put a girl in school or by a local language children's book or plant a tree. you know, somewhere in the world. And so there's just so much impact that a dollar can create in society and it all, it benefits us. It benefits humanity, it benefits the environment, it benefits animals. Right.

Vikas's Principles of Change

Seb Alex 35:23

Definitely the other does go. I mean, it sounds like just the dollar, but a building helped Lebanese vegans, the organization that I'm part of in Lebanon to be listed as well. And each dollar that's donated that's, uh, around. We are four meals for homeless people that we distribute every single week as part of our animal rights center that we have there. So it's definitely a lot like that. That is a lot, that's a meal for at least three people a week with$1. So that being said to finish things I wanted to ask you, what are the. Principal values that are pushing you to seek change.

Vikas Garg 36:03

one of my biggest principles is being vegan. Um, and I don't know if we call that a principle. Is that a principle?

Seb Alex 36:11

I think it would be if feminism is about justice

Vikas Garg 36:14

So for us, it's compassion for, for me, it's always been compassion. Uh, and teaching people compassion and being compassionate to each other, that is a guiding principle for me. Um, it's often one that I have to wrestle with because we're also star trying to build an early stage technology startup. Right? So sometimes it feels like it's no holds bar and you know, you get, you still get in fights and arguments, but I think compassion is really a guiding principle and compassion towards all life, uh, is, is, is, is a very, very, very big one. Honesty and integrity. Is another principle, um, because it's really, really important, to not lose yourself, uh, and it can happen. I think it can happen really quickly. So we are always, you know, we, even, when we interview people, um, to join the company, it's something that that's a core principle that I look for. We look out for. Right throughout the interview process. Um, and it's something that, you know, we care a lot about at the company, um, and, uh, and humility. Uh, this is going to be a really long journey and, um, we need to be prepared. we, we need to be prepared and sometimes we'll be successful and sometimes that's successful follow, be followed by a lot of failures. And vice versa. And I think the only way to leave yourself open to experiencing that, you know, and, and riding that wave is to be humble. So, um, you know, that's, that's another, that's another core principle of mine that I, um, that I really believe.

Seb Alex 37:57

Thank you so much because I want to thank you one more time for making time for us. I really, really appreciate the work that you do and the whole team, basically at the billion. And I'm so glad that you were able to share this with us. I hope. One day we can celebrate with another, with another episode, if you hit maybe, uh, when it comes to 5 million, Um, members or even more, we'll do more of this and share more things with the community until then. Thank you so much again for you.

Vikas Garg 38:28

Thank you very much for having me on the show. So I really appreciate everything that you're doing for the movement. And, uh, it's been an honor to get to know you and work with you.

Seb Alex 38:37

Thank you for joining because, and I end this conversation. I hope if you had any questions about a billion, now you understand how it works. And if I could ask you one more time to please remember to download the application, use the refill code, set Alex and start leaving reviews. That would be so amazing because let's face it. If by leaving one review, you can have such a big impact. What is holding you back? I usually do the reviews. The second I get home from a shop, It would take me around three minutes to leave around 10 or 12 reviews. And just like that I have raised at least$10 for a sanctuary or an organization. I hope you enjoyed the application. I would also really appreciate if you can share this podcast with at least one friend and leave a review on apple podcasts or whatever platform you're using this on. Thank you again for listening until next time, please don't forget the actual power of the individual