Startup Success Formula: ‘Jump In and Do It’

Transforming from scientist to entrepreneur was a family affair for 2024 CALS Distinguished Alumni Award winner Giles Shih. For the founder and strategic advisor of Big Ripple Innovations and co-founder of BioResource International Inc. (BRI), curiosity, ingenuity, family and science came together at NC State University to launch his successful international business career.

“It took a couple decades from incubating those early laboratory concepts at NC State’s Centennial Campus into ultimately developing a very good business that was able to bring innovation to the animal health and nutrition space,” Shih says.

Birds of a Feather

Working on a waste processing project on the NC State Lake Wheeler Poultry Education Unit back in 1978, poultry science Professor Jason Shih, Giles’ father, noticed that feathers mixed in with chicken waste tended to disappear during the anaerobic digestion process. On a mission to pioneer sustainable practices in poultry farming, the elder Shih hypothesized that there was something in the poultry waste capable of breaking down the keratin protein in the feathers. Working with graduate student Mike Williams at the time, Shih was able to isolate a microbe in the poultry waste that produced a robust enzyme capable of breaking down feather proteins. This discovery led to six patents and laid the groundwork for future innovations.

In 1999, Shih’s son Giles, now armed with a master’s degree in microbiology from NC State and a doctorate in microbiology and molecular genetics from Emory University, faced a pivotal decision: pursue an academic career or venture into industry. His father suggested they co-found a company (BRI) to commercialize his patents related to the enzyme discovery. They licensed the patents from NC State and recruited his recently-graduated doctoral student J.J. Wang to explore how they could use their know-how to make a difference in the poultry industry. 

“It’s been an amazing journey for me as a scientist to take something from the lab and develop a sustainable business around it.” — Giles Shih

“In the beginning it was just the three of us out there in that 300 square-foot lab and incubator space on the Centennial Campus. And we struggled for a while, like all startups do, and went through a couple of different iterations,” Shih recalls. “We had a breakthrough when we found that not only could this enzyme break down chicken feathers, but it was also good at breaking down vegetable proteins, such as soybean, which is a key ingredient in poultry feed.”

The novel discovery that adding the enzyme to feed could help supplement the chicken’s natural digestion process resulted in a new patent for NC State and BRI. And the product that resulted from that innovation ensured the chickens gained more nutrients from the feed and enabled farmers to use less protein to grow chickens to the same size in a sustainable manner.

“In our industry, there’s this key metric known as feed conversion ratio — basically the amount of feed needed to grow one pound of chicken. It’s a very simple but very effective tool to measure how efficient you are as a poultry grower,” Shih says. “Anything you can do to improve that ratio makes the process more efficient and saves money. So we pivoted into that realm and created a nice niche product (Versazyme) that became widely adopted by the poultry industry.”

A Boost From Novus International 

BRI made another breakthrough in 2008 when it signed a distribution agreement with Novus International, a leading animal health and nutrition company, to distribute Versazyme around the globe. Versazyme’s ability to improve feed efficiency was a game-changer in poultry and swine production. Subsequent to that partnership with Novus, BRI was able to develop additional products to help their customers reduce feed costs.

Under Shih’s leadership, BRI scaled its production from a few kilograms of product samples to truckloads of commercial products. They leveraged their contract manufacturers’ state-of-the-art facilities in Taiwan and BRI’s blending plant in North Carolina near Research Triangle Park to become a global supplier of feed additives for poultry and swine producers, enabling more efficient and sustainable farming.

During the company’s development, Shih and his BRI colleagues remained in close contact with NC State’s poultry science and animal science departments, collaborating on several trials for its products.

After 15 years of growth and innovation, Novus International acquired BRI earlier this year. 

“It’s been an amazing journey for me as a scientist to take something from the lab and develop a sustainable business around it,” Shih says. “And it made a lot of sense for us to integrate with Novus International after being such close partners with them. They have a great team in place and have continued to maintain operations in North Carolina.”

What’s Next for Shih

Through the 25 years from starting up to selling BRI, Shih has learned a lot about business and entrepreneurship, and the importance of maintaining a pipeline to industry for graduates of NC State.

“We’ve had the good fortune to recruit a lot of very talented NC State alumni who work in animal nutrition, biochemistry and microbiology. Several of them are still with the company and have taken on leadership roles in BRI. It’s very satisfying to see that growth and follow their career progression,” Shih says. 

As founder and strategic advisor of Big Ripple Innovations, a consulting firm helping entrepreneurs achieve success across a range of industries and stages, Shih hopes to continue developing new business ideas and is currently mentoring entrepreneurs at NC State and around the Research Triangle as they begin their business journeys. 

“Persistence and grit are key,” Shih says. “My advice to the graduate and undergraduate students interested in entrepreneurship is to jump in and do it. Get a good team around you and keep a growth mindset — know that you’re going to miss the mark some of the time. But keep moving forward. Those experiences will only make you better.”