From Island Life to Fiber Optics

Zita Cobb grew up on Fogo Island, a remote fishing community off the coast of Newfoundland that operated for centuries without cash. Her childhood was shaped by a deep sense of place, the collapse of the inshore fishery, and a belief that communities survive through mutual care. When she left to study business, and later helped build JDS Uniphase into one of the most successful high-tech companies of its era, she carried those ideas with her. The rise and fall of the telecom bubble gave her a front-row view into what happens when profit and speed outrun purpose, sending her searching for a different model of development.

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I sit down with Zita to talk about that journey and the philosophy that guides her work today. We discuss why she believes business is a tool for solving real problems and how communities can reclaim agency by understanding their own assets. Zita explains how Shorefast grew into a holistic set of enterprises on Fogo Island, including the Fogo Island Inn, which reinvests all surpluses into local culture and economic development. We talk about how communities can build their own pathways to development and why Zita believes lasting change begins close to home.

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Where to find Zita Cobb:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zita-cobb

• Website: https://shorefast.org

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Where to find Eric:

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00) Intro

(02:15) How her father nudged her to leave Fogo Island

(04:46) What life was like growing up on Fogo Island

(08:37) A short history of Fogo Island

(11:15) Leaving home to recover from tuberculosis

(13:15) The experience of leaving for university

(15:04) Early challenges at university

(16:17) What education looked like on Fogo Island

(18:01) How adapting to modern life shaped Zita’s systems thinking

(20:24) Zita’s travels and early roles at Texaco and Shell

(22:30) How Zita got into tech 

(24:05) How Zita learned that technical possibility alone is not enough

(26:57) Joining JDS and taking it public 

(30:54) The rise and fall of the telecom bubble 

(34:08) Why taking JDS public felt like a mistake and what she learned about putting profit first

(38:52) Zita’s father’s legacy 

(41:45) Why Zita spent five years sailing after ending her tech career

(44:47) Zita’s work distributing radios in Rwanda 

(46:32) Why she went back to Fogo Island to spark economic development 

(49:26) The beginnings of Shorefast

(53:11) How the ownership model protects Shorefast’s mission from the pitfalls of money

(56:29) An overview of Fogo Island Inn and how its local-first mission spread 

(1:03:32) Why Shorefast chose the harder path and paid deep attention to details

(1:08:18) What community means

(1:12:09) How Shorefast Institute models a new approach to investing for development

(1:16:53) Learnings from The Third Pillar 

(1:18:05) Why Shorefast created the economic nutrition label 

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You can find episode references at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Production and marketing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pen Name⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.