Future Optimist

Kevin Martin is the CTO and Co-Founder of unspun, a company making bespoke “3D printed” jeans. Using scanning and robotics technology, unspun creates personalized jeans just for you, and way way way faster than the traditionally wasteful pipeline of today’s fashion. Unspun has raised over 10 million in funding so far, and Kevin himself has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30. The company was listed on TIME’s best inventions and Fast Company’s World-Changing Ideas. Unspun is a truly brilliant approach to bringing robotics and tech to one of the most harmful, wasteful, archaic industries on the planet: clothing. ➡️ https://www.unspun.io/ ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Mark Herrema is the CEO and founder of Newlight Technologies, a company with an out of this world solution to climate change. By using nature as a guide, they’re able to pull carbon and greenhouse gasses straight from the air and create a physical, plastic-like material they call AirCarbon, which can be used to make everything from cutlery to straws to clothing and just about anything else plastic can make. There’s one huge difference… AirCarbon is biodegradable (even faster than paper), and is truly one of the most realistic, impressive solutions I’ve ever encountered to drawing down carbon. And it’s not just me who’s taking notice… They’ve raised over 100 million in funding, and they have partners like Nike, Dell, Amazon Web Services and more. ➡️ https://www.newlight.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/

Ellen Windemuth is the Founder and CEO of WaterBear Network, a free environmental content streaming platform that Fast Company called “Netflix for the Planet”.  Ellen is well known for producing My Octopus Teacher, a documentary that one this year’s BAFTA and Oscar for best documentary feature.  WaterBear has impressive partners, with over 100 charities and NGOs taking part, including WWF, Greenpeace, and more, they’re shining a spotlight on the most critical issues facing the planet today.  Beyond that, Ellen’s personal journey is remarkable, as she embraced entrepreneurship as a way of building a life and career of meaning.  ➡️ https://join.waterbear.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/ellen-windemuth 

Jacob Flood is the founder and CEO of Eno, makers of Enophone headphones—headphones that can monitor your brain data just by wearing them. These headphones help you become more focused and productive, giving you a deeper understanding of how your mind actually works during the day.  If you’ve been working from home, you know how important productivity is, especially when there’s no one to keep you on track but yourself.  Jacob has spent over 10 years in the mental productivity space, and he’s the author of the book Study Smart. Today Eno has received millions in funding and has shipped their headphones to over 80 countries.  ➡️ https://enophone.com/ ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/jacob-flood

Eduardo Del Signore is a 2020 Grammy-nominated and Award-winning Musician and the founder of the A Call 2Peace Foundation. He leverages technology, science, and music to spur climate action. Through The ClimateMusic Project, Eduardo uses data visuals from climate scientists for his musical interpretation of the fight against climate change.  He just got back from a performance at the World Economic Forum, and we discuss the clarity of vision he had that brought him to this highly unusual and rewarding path.  Connecting the dots between seemingly unrelated things is my favorite part of this show, and I know you are going to be deeply inspired by Eduardo Del Signore.  ➡️ https://www.signoremusic.com/bio/bio ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/eduardo-del-signore

Taylor McCarten is the Co-Founder & CEO of BinBreeze, a Dragon’s Den success story start-up.  The idea is this: BinBreeze is the world's first all-natural and non-toxic indoor composting powder that is on a mission to reduce the impact of food waste. Their innovative and sustainable product reduces wood waste that’s currently burned for lack of a better alternative while improving customer composting abilities at home.  It’s a win-win that’s now in over 500 retailers in Canada. Today we talk about what it takes to get funding for your eco business and much more.  ➡️ Watch this episode on YouTube ➡️ Episode Highlights: beattheoftenpath.com ➡️ https://binbreeze.com

Jacob Pechenik is the co-founder of Lettuce Grow, a company he co-founded with Zooey Deschanel.  The idea is profound: they’ve created a device that lets people grow a significant quantity of produce either inside their home or outside, with a self-contained hydroponics system that’s basically foolproof.  This system represents one of the easiest ways to dramatically improve the quality of home produce while greatly reducing the carbon footprint of getting leafy greens and veggies.  As we love on this show, it really is a win-win.  Just as interesting is Jacob’s own, highly unusual career path, which saw him go from trading to MIT to producing dozens of Hollywood films to founding this company.  It’s a deeply inspiring tale that I know you’ll enjoy.  Here’e Jacob Pechenik, of Lettuce Grow.

Raffael Jovine is the founder & chief scientist of Brilliant Planet, a company unlocking the power of algae as an affordable method of permanently and quantifiably sequestering carbon at the gigaton scale.  Brilliant Planet has raised tens of millions in funding from major partners like Toyota Ventures, and when you hear his innovative solution, you’ll understand why.  But beyond that, Raffael’s personal story is so incredible—learn how he made massive changes in his personal life and career that led to his biggest breakthroughs later in life. Now he’s a published author and leader extraordinaire. 

Tom Green is joining us today, and he’s the CEO of Project Vesta. Project Vesta is harnessing the natural power of the oceans to remove excess CO₂ from the atmosphere. The Earth has long sequestered carbon through the oceans, and Tom has found a way, based on decades of prior scientific research, to accelerate this process using a common mineral. Tom Green has a BA from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard, and his personal career journey is remarkable. Today Project Vesta has received millions in funding and is one of the most exciting and novel solutions to climate change I’ve heard of yet.

Erick Went is the CTO of Genesis Systems, and he’s together Dr. Venkat Kode, a research scientist on the team.  I’m not going to lie, Genesis Systems is one of the most exciting product ideas I’ve ever become aware of yet. Genesis Systems manufacture the world's first and only sustainable air-to-water systems that can carbon (CO2) capture. That’s right, they are generating fresh-water from air using integrated technologies never before conceived.  They’ve received several grants from the US Air Force and Army, and they are partnered with Google, Siemens, and more. They’ve raised tens of millions to date, and this is something I personally can’t wait to buy. ➡️ http://genesissystems.global