It could be the makings of a buddy movie: Two 20something friends quit their jobs for a surfing sabbatical, a final echo of youthful freedom while they ponder the world of careers and responsibilities.

They don't want to end up as cogs in the wheels of soulless corporate machines. They want to make a difference. While catching waves and traveling around the world, they find the answer.

That's the true story of Jeff Goldberg and Tanner Haigwood, founders of Cali Bamboo LLC, a seller of environmentally friendly indoor and outdoor bamboo furnishings. Goldberg, of Pacific Beach, and Haigwood, a Leucadian, founded the company in 2004, soon after returning from their year-long surfari.

In August, Cali Bamboo joined the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies. Ranked 254th on the business magazine's list, the San Diego-based company says it increased revenues by 877 percent over the past three years. That makes it the fifth-fastest growing company in San Diego County.

The company donates 1 percent of its revenues ---- not its profits ---- to an environmental charity, 1 Percent for the Planet.

Cali Bamboo is a beneficiary of the movement toward "green" construction. You don't have to worry about despoiling ancient forests by using bamboo, one of the world's fastest-growing plants. A growth rate of a foot a day or more is possible for some varieties, according to the American Bamboo Society.

Starting the journey

The duo met and became friends while in college. For a few years afterward, they tried to settle down in the corporate world. Goldberg worked for biotech companies in San Diego, while Haigwood tried jobs in marketing and construction.

But neither felt comfortable with their roles. So they decided to rethink where they wanted to go. And that led to their travels.

"It was a weird transition," Haigwood said. "You can't cruise around forever, you want to get started in some direction. But both of us were very careful to not make the wrong decision."

They were of the same opinion as to what they wanted. They valued the freedom of working for themselves, which meant owning their own business. And they wanted to make sure the business was ethical.

"At the time, I wasn't real sure of what the plan was. It was just kind of wandering around, looking for ideas, and looking to see how other people were living in different spots, and trying to mold something out of that."

It wasn't just surfing and philosophy: They did a lot of work, too. While on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, they worked odd jobs in return for room and board.

The journey came to an end without a definitive answer. Goldberg returned from Kauai to San Diego in early 2004 after breaking his foot. After saving enough money to fly back, Haigwood returned several months later.

"At one point, I was living out of a car for a little bit," Haigwood said. "I was doing mostly construction work, and surfing a lot."

Bamboo plans

While Haigwood was on Kauai, Goldberg was pondering bamboo, which they had seen a great deal of while on landscaping jobs. The property owner where they lived grew a lot of crops, Goldberg said, "including about 20 different kinds of bamboo."

Not only did they harvest bamboo, but Goldberg also studied its properties, putting his biotech and bioengineering expertise to work. Bamboo, which is very fast-growing, is considered an environmentally friendly building material.

"It didn't seem like people were doing much with it in the United States," Goldberg said. "At night I would get on the Internet and read, and (the property owner) had books on bamboo as well."

His first idea was to use bamboo as flooring.

"It just seemed really simple. Bamboo already grows pretty straight; there's not a lot of processing involved," Goldberg said. Later, he found that bamboo would work in many other products.

After Haigwood returned, Goldberg contacted him, and Cali Bamboo was born.

They worked out the details of getting a good source for bamboo, arranging for manufacturing, and finding a headquarters. The San Diego community of Mira Mesa, north of Pacific Beach and south of Leucadia, proved to be a convenient midpoint.

Haigwood said Leucadia itself is an inspiration, something to look forward to as he arrives home.

"That's probably our No. 1 hot spot for bamboo fencing in the nation," Haigwood said.

Goldberg supplied the financing, which indirectly came courtesy of his biotech career and directly from the housing bubble.

Before setting off on his venture, Goldberg took out a $50,000 line of credit on a town house he owned, which was rapidly increasing in value. Enough was left after his return to fund the company's startup.

That town house, in turn, was paid for by stock he acquired from a former employer, San Diego-based Diversa Corp. The stock skyrocketed during the tech bubble, he said, giving him the means to buy a home.

"It kind of was from one bubble to the next," Goldberg said.

So is bamboo another bubble?

"I hope not," Goldberg said, chuckling. "I think it's a sustainable movement, no pun intended."

Contact Cali Bamboo at www.calibamboo.com or 888-788-2254.

Call staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at 760-739-6641. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com.