A California startup is trying to redesign the end-of-life experience by offering trees as gravestonesAvailable trees at a Better Place Forests site are marked with ribbons, indicating the type and size of the trees.DEATH comes for all of us, but Silicon Valley has, until recently, not come for death.
The Better Place team is this month opening a forest in Point Arena, a bit south of Mendocino; pre-selling trees at a second California location, in Santa Cruz; and developing four more spots around the country. Still, Mr Gibson said most customers, especially those based in the Bay Area, like the idea of being part of a startup even after life. The first few people to buy trees were called founders.
"Pets are a huge thing," Gibson said."It's where everyone in your family can be spread. This is your tree." "The death services market is very big - US$20 billion a year - and customer approval is low," said Jon Callaghan, a partner at True Ventures, an investor in Better Places."The product is broken."
John O'Conner, who runs Menlo Park Funerals, said more than 90 per cent of his clients opt for cremation."Most of my people scatter on their own. They just go at night, scatter grandma, have a cup of champagne, and every day they drive by that park they know grandma is there.