Unlocking the $4 Trillion Earth Observation Opportunity with Dan Hammer, Ep #109

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Apr 15, 2025

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I’ll admit that until recently I knew and thought very little about the potential of Earth observation. It turns out, there’s a huge opportunity here. A report by the World Economic Forum recently estimated there’s almost $4 trillion of potential economic benefit from making better use of the increasingly affordable opportunity to collect and analyze data about our planet. And, the benefit is not just unlocking enormous economic value. Earth observation can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than two gigatons annually through tracking forests, managing wetlands, improving agriculture, and much, much more.

To learn about this opportunity, I was pleased to sit down with Dan Hammer. Dan is a truly unique entrepreneur who’s not only able to maintain a systems view of the opportunities around Earth observation but who’s also building a portfolio of organizations to push this ecosystem forward. Between the non-profit Clay, the design and development agency Ode, and Earth observation startup LGND, Dan has his hands full in the quest to use Earth observation to make nature data as ubiquitous and useful as Google Maps.

Lots to learn and think about in this episode. Enjoy!

On today’s episode, we cover:

[03:46] Dan's background & commitment to environmental work
[08:04] An explanation of Earth observation
[09:15] Scale of Earth observation satellites
[09:58] Economic potential of Earth observation
[12:23] Specific use cases for Earth observation
[14:02] Outcomes and impact of Earth observation
[17:11] Potential applications of Earth observation
[19:17] Introduction to Clay
[22:28] Cost reduction in Earth observation technology
[25:31] Discussion of AI energy demands
[26:55] Introduction to LGND
[31:20] Go-to-market strategy for LGND
[32:41] Discussion of ODE design agency
[35:11] Vision for Earth observation in 5-10 years
[36:50] What else is needed to advance Earth observation technology

Unlocking the $4 Trillion Earth Observation Opportunity with Dan Hammer, Ep #109

On today’s episode, we cover:

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