Episode description

Recognized as one of Zagat’s 30 under 30 in 2013, Tim West is a Slow Food chef turned Social Entrepreneur. He is a Culinary Institute of America (CIA) graduate and grandson of Arch West, the inventor of Doritos®.

Tim cut his teeth in the the kitchens at The St. Regis Hotel in New York and the Facebook headquarters in California before entering the world of entrepreneurship.

Tim co-created The Food Hackathon + Forum as a business plan competition and alternative educational experience to encourage entrepreneurs to work on more meaningful problems and to expose corporate teams to a more collaborative and inspiring working methodology.

We had a great conversation about the future of food and how to get involved:

• How Tim became a chef
• His family's past food experience
• Definition of "Slow Food"
• What is wrong with food today?
• Tim's realization "that he can feed more people with a cell phone and a computer than a chef knife and a flame."
• True cost accounting
• How do we change the food system?
• What is a "hackathon" and why is it important?
• The Startup Bus Competition
• How to win business plan competitions
• The art of the pitch
• What Tim learned from his time at Facebook
• Thoughts on "digital discipline"

Selected links from the show:
Food Hackathon
Tim West - iFTF Profile
Learning From A Banana Tycoon
Tim's Ted Talks: Cultivate Innovation and Hacking: Food for Thought
Camp Grounded - Summer Camp for Adults
A Taste of Generation Yum
StartupBus
Guy Kawasaki - The Only 10 Slides You Need in Your Pitch
Tim West - AboutMe
Terra Madre
Future Food Institute