For the founder, sustainability was of the utmost importance. “I came across this old electronics factory through my finance career. This emblem of old economy was falling apart because the development of new technology products has made most of the smaller factories unable to catch up, and rendered them obsolete.” The waste surrounding the tech company is significant, similar to that of the fashion industry; Planet Beyond was designed to counteract that in every way possible. Gu took the old factory and turned it into something new, not only bringing it back from the dead, but also supplying jobs that would otherwise be done with machines. Jewelry, unlike headphones, is best done by hand.