‘Like Uber, but for cremations’: I created a $2m funeral startup – and became a monster

The company I founded in my 20s exploited vulnerable people for profit. I was a merchant of death, and a charlatan

A few years ago I sat on the phone, as a first-time CEO of a funeral startup in my 20s, trying to convince a woman to buy a $1,799 necklace filled with her mother's ashes.

Well, Katherine. It's really beautiful." I paused for dramatic effect. We take a charm that you like, let's say a dove, or a cross - or maybe something that meant something to Marcella. And then we fill it with some of her ashes. Whenever you wear it, it's like Marcella is with you ... right next to your heart."