Founder Interview - Pablo Muñoz Ledo
Q&A with the CEO of LookInto
Company Quick Facts
Founded: 2014
Industry: CPG Software
Location: Novato, CA
Tagline: Share Your Story
Website: lookin.to
Social: 100stori.es
Tuesday, February 9, 2021 from Novato, CA
ZK: Tell us about the moment you knew you had to launch INTO?
PML: That moment for me was back in Mexico City, where I am originally from. I had just spent 15 years helping purpose-driven brands, many dealing with organic food, and through this, I learned how important the farmers’ stories were to their customers. That’s what sold many of these products, yet for too many producers there was a disconnect where their story was not able to reach the end consumer.
So I got very excited about the idea of fixing this on a large-scale – rather than working on a one-on-one basis, or from the perspective of an advertising agency, I wanted to create a platform that everyone could use to tell their story, in a self-service way. And I made the determination to launch this in a place with a great combination of technological know-how and an appreciation for the purpose-driven market – hence, us launching INTO in the Bay Area.
ZK: Yes, this certainly is an incredible place to build on such a vision. What is broken today about the relationship between organic producers and consumers and how is INTO working to fix that?
PML: There’s a general disconnect with what consumers know about the products they buy. With every act of consumption, there is a person and supply chain somewhere on this planet involved, and for the most part, we are blind about this. There are deep global concerns like the climate crisis and equity, and the ripple effect of our choices as consumers – how they affect people and the planet – determines if we are a part of the problem or the solution.
Sure, we trust some labels and certifications and know some stores are better than others in how they curate their products. But, ultimately, every product was made by someone, somewhere, and we’re working to bring that transparency to consumers. As we push forward, as the climate crisis intensifies, more consumers will demand tools like INTO to help guide their purchases, and producers are eager to jump in and tell their story. The purpose-driven economy is becoming more mainstream, and we are creating a new way to connect that’s far more direct and immediate.
ZK: This vision is such a powerful one. With what you’ve built, consumers can pull out their phones, focus their camera on an item, and interact with rich content about that product’s origins. Can you tell us more about the INTO product and how producers are using it?
PML: Our platform was very consciously designed to be a Wiki resource, where everyone can build their own story. We provide the medium, or vehicle per say, where everyone from an independent farmer to a large company with a marketing team can become their own storyteller without needing technical expertise. It’s really a way to curate the stories that go alongside your products, and we help those stories gain attention all the way to the end consumer.
ZK: As you mentioned, you are originally from Mexico, and some years ago you left your life in the urban center and moved to a small, organic farm. How did that experience inform the INTO product you ultimately came to build?
PML: This was a critical moment for me. It was the late 1990s and I was working at a large, integrated marketing firm, and we were very focused on using technology to help our customers. I left my house in Mexico City and started living on a farm nearby, commuting to work. It was not a commercial farm, but an experiment where I grew my own food, raised animals, and really discovered a completely different dimension of life. I was very humbled by this experience and came to know a lot of farmers who I grew quite close to.
For me, this was when I made the connection to leading a more purpose-driven life. I wanted to spend my time on things that were better for people and the planet and I felt that drive. I started to connect with organic food producers, first in Mexico, then in the U.S., and this all opened the door to my next steps in business and what I’m working on now with INTO.
ZK: And this led you all the way to the North Bay, where we certainly have a large number of purpose-driven brands and companies.
PML: This is such an incredible place to be. When I was first getting started in the organic food space, as a part of the Slow Food movement, I had the opportunity to meet Alice Waters, who explained to me many of the innovations happening with the food system in the Bay Area. I was fighting to create something similar in Mexico City, which was very difficult. She ended up inviting me to come see things for myself – I met with her in Berkeley and she helped organize this pilgrimage of sorts.
We started in Sonoma, came south to Marin, and this was my first opportunity to meet so many of the amazing farmers here in the North Bay. I thought to myself, if I ever left my country to go anywhere else, this is where it would be. I guess you have to be careful what you wish for because, well, here I am.
ZK: That is such an amazing story! Talk to me more about what it means to you to be a Marin entrepreneur – what type of culture are you building in your organization and how does that draw inspiration from the community around you?
PML: Marin is a place of respect. It’s a place where we respect nature. When you have a food system that is mostly local and mostly healthy, that speaks a lot about a community. We are all more connected here, to the point where we witness firsthand what happens when it rains, the devasting impacts from the wildfires, and how climate change impacts us as farmers. That connects our team very directly to the mission of our company and to the producers around us – and we’re building a product that helps farmers from Marin to Mexico City to anywhere on the planet tell their stories.
ZK: We really are unique as a community in that regard, and we agree that this ethos permeates into the mindsets of the local entrepreneurs we get to work with.
PML: I celebrate your efforts to strengthen the community of startup founders here – it’s critical for the community that we all know each other and can find ways to help one another. There is so much innovation happening in Marin + Sonoma that we are mostly unaware of, and I hope we can change that.
I’ve visited cities all around the world where there is an incredible concentration of talent, and it touches everything you do in that city, from the energy and feel at restaurants to the feeling you have just being in a community. We have that potential here in Marin, to build a more robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
Zachary Kushel is Founder & Managing Partner of Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures.
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