Cockroaches-by-the-Sea - SHR!MP S01E10 (Season Finale)
26 October 2025
In our end-of-2024 review, we looked at what worked and what didn't.
The SHRMP.bio story worked in some ways:
Everyone easily understood it (the straightforward company name also helped); it inspired audiences based on the sustainability angle alone. Support could be recruited from all over the world, and volunteers had spent some time on it – for free!
But the story suffered from being early, requiring a long (too long for most) development horizon and possibly had a vision that is (way) "too big" or "too science fiction" for many in Australia.
In addition, we were learning the hard way that, overall, aquaculture is de-facto a non-existent industry in Australia and generally that seafood is also severely economically challenged at the moment, and that globally.
Ironically, part of this is the reason why we think the SHRMP.bio vision has so much potential as a Future Industry for Australia.
What absolutely did not work in a meaningful way was LinkedIn, with the only exception being for recruitment purposes - and well, a surprising number of people started calling me SHRMPy when I met them in real life! So, maybe SHRMPy worked, too.
A consulting firm invited me to a workshop around that time, a very enjoyable and insightful event. Overlooking the city from the high-rise meeting room, a glass of Champagne in hand, the view of the setting sun made it a festive occasion, but also offered a reflective moment, thinking about the year that nearly was.
A workshop speaker from the firm dropped by, and we had a nice chat. He asked if I had any concerns about animal welfare or the potential perception of people concerned with animal rights. It had not been of big concern to me so far at all. In fact, the choice of shrimps as the organism was part of the reason why I was neither personally concerned too much nor about the perceptions of others: “They are basically cockroaches of the sea” I answered, suggesting their land-based brethren didn’t generally elicit much love.
“Hmm.. well, should you ever have to, you can just call your company Cockroaches-by-the-Sea”.
