Hi! I’m Vinayak Garg, the founder of Lazy Gardener, a company and community that has inspired thousands of Indians and people around the world to take up home gardening. Our mission is to make urban gardening simple. We provide education to gardeners and useful products, like plant food sticks.
My journey to becoming a gardener wasn’t straightforward, but there are certain themes that have carried through my entire career. I graduated top of my class from the India Institute of Technology, Delhi. After college, I was fortunate to be a Gurukul fellow and spend time working at the monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This experience instilled in me the importance of mindfulness and having a positive impact on the world around me.
The first two companies I started, LeapEd Knowledge Solutions and ZestMD, were focused on using technology to bring people together and provide better networking solutions, whether it be for education or healthcare. ZestMD products are currently used by over 3,000 dietitians in 12 countries across the globe, serving over a million patients.
I have also worked on solutions like Night Shift, an app that reduces blue light to enhance sleep. While starting businesses and building technical solutions is something I’m proud of, I feel like my true calling is to explore nature and mindfulness, which is what inspired me to build a community of gardeners.
Lazy Gardener has blossomed into a positive online environment where we share useful tips, hold competitions, and host a community where gardeners encourage and support one another. In spring of 2020, I developed the Lazy Gardener Masterclass to guide people in a fluid and meaningful way as they discover insights about gardening.
After managing the social media channels for Lazy Gardener, filming a Masterclass, appearing in public to teach gardening, and presenting a TEDx about Digital Mindfulness, I feel comfortable talking to large groups of people. I am also more than happy to leverage the Lazy Gardener social media platforms to market my book. My goal is to create one million new gardeners by 2021.
I was a Challenge Cup Winner for the 1765 Accelerator in 2014 for ZestMD, and a TEDx speaker in 2011.
I am named as a “Sustainability Hero of 2020” by The Better India.
The complete list of all the organizations that Vinayak has been a part of and which have touched his life can be found here.
The list of companies I am advisor to can be found here.