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Future Optimist

Latest episodes

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Mar 7, 2023 • 49min

Ep. 148 - Brian Cook: Growing Local Produce with 90% Less Water

Brian Cook is the President of Local Bounti, a company that brings fresh local produce to the world using 90% less water and land than traditional agriculture. In a world that’s poised to hit 10 billion people not too long from now, we need all the help we can get finding innovative ways to feed our population food that isn’t just gruel, mush, mushy-gruel, or god-forbid, soylent green. Brian has dedicated his life to food production, and today we talk about not only what Local Bounti is doing and why it’s important, but also how we all need to educate ourselves better about where our food actually comes from. It’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart. ➡️ https://localbounti.com/ ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/4brianccook/ ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/brian-cook  
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Mar 3, 2023 • 54min

Ep. 147 - David Dellal: Solving the Yearly $9.5 Billion Worth of Ice Damage to Rooftops

David Dellal is the Co-Founder & CEO of Floe Inc, a cleantech startup developing a smart solution to prevent the extensive, costly water damage caused by ice buildup on buildings' roofs in the winter. You know what I love? I love learning about amazing solutions to problems that I never knew existed, such as the fact that $9.5 billion in damage occurs due to ice on rooftops each year in the US alone.  Not only that, de-icing as an entire industry is archaic, harmful, and wasteful, meaning that it’s a huge sector ripe for eco-disruption. David recently made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and his idea was conceived in MIT and perfected at Yale, so I’m looking forward to a great conversation with an extremely smart dude. ➡️ https://floesafe.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/david-dellal
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Feb 28, 2023 • 1h 5min

Ep. 146 - Brett Thompson: Africa's First Cell-Based Meat Company

Brett Thompson is the CEO of Mzansi Meat Co, Africa’s first cell-based meat start-up. Using cellular agriculture technology, the company hopes to produce cruelty-free cell-cultured protein products. It’s something that I personally see as the future of meat consumption on our planet, and a necessary step towards a more sustainable future. Today we talk about taking an unpopular stand for something you believe in, building a company in uncharted waters, and how cultured meat represents a massive chance to make access to high-quality protein possible for millions or even billions of people. ➡️ https://www.mzansimeat.co  ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/brett-thompson
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Feb 24, 2023 • 55min

Ep. 145 - Angela Wilson: Enabling Travel for People with Short-term and Long-term Disabilities

Angela Wilson is the creator of Exploryst, a start-up that seeks to create a more accessible world. Their motto is “explore EVERYWHERE, whatever your disability”, and they seek to add valuable accessibility information to travel, experiences, and business in Colorado and around the country. Angela’s son has intellectual and progressive physical disabilities, and this led her to understanding that many experiences simple aren’t catered to—or available for—people like her son. Today we explore how she built a business around a problem that she uniquely understood, getting the attention of local news, Forbes 1000, and thousands of people in need of what she provides. ➡️ https://www.exploryst.io ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast
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Feb 17, 2023 • 57min

Ep. 144 - Michiel Vos: Why All Pallets Should be Made from Coconuts

Michiel Vos is the Founder & CTO of CocoPallet, a Dutch start-up that makes circular, affordable transportation pallets from coconut husks only. They’re helping to save an estimated 200 million trees from being chopped down needlessly, and their solution is not only more affordable but is itself biodegradable and re-sellable as a potting soil enhancer. It’s an ingenious solution that uses the waste from the coconut industry—material that would otherwise just be dumped or burned, and it’s exactly the kind of solution we need going forward.  They’ve won the Heineken Award as well as the Accenture Innovation Award for their work, and it’s the start of an exciting new circular frontier for a massive industry. ➡️ https://www.cocopallet.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/michiel-vos
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Feb 14, 2023 • 50min

Ep. 143 - Beau Wangtrakuldee: Creating Inclusive, Sustainable PPE

Beau Wangtrakuldee, Ph.D., is a scientist, entrepreneur, and founder of AmorSui, a modern protective apparel company redesigning personal protective equipment (PPE) to empower women with greater function and protection in lab and medical settings. She’s tackling two massive problems: one that traditional PPE hasn’t taken into account diversity and the needs of women and marginalized groups, and two, that an enormous amount of waste is generated by an industry that has traditionally used single-use and ineffective options. Beau has been named to Forbes Next 1000, Forbes 2021 Female Founder to Watch, and Top 10 Women Leading Healthcare Startups.  ➡️ https://www.amorsui.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast
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Feb 10, 2023 • 52min

Ep. 142 - Darius Mora: Creator of A.I. That Detects Burnout

Darius Mora is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vitality Therapeutics, a start-up using artificial intelligence to solve mental health problems. You might not know this, but machine learning can be used to detect patterns in our speech that can help us diagnose mental health issues like depression and burnout faster. In a world where therapists are scarce and expensive, applying AI to the massive mental health problems facing our society today is an incredibly exciting frontier. We discuss the implications of emerging tech on some of our most pressing problems. ➡️ https://vitalitytherapeutics.co ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 
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Feb 7, 2023 • 50min

Ep. 141 - Andrew Amann: Scaling a Multi-Million Dollar App Development Agency

Andrew Amann is the CEO of NineTwoThree Venture Studio, an award-winning software design and engineering studio. His company helps launch start-ups and products, developing apps, IoT devices, and software. They’ve built several clients to over a billion-dollar valuation, and they’ve been featured in the Inc. 5000 two years in a row. I’m a digital agency owner myself, and for me, Andrew represents someone a few steps further in the process. In this episode, we’re going to talk shop about how you can go from a freelancer to a business owner, and how you can scale a business while still taking care of your family and having free time for yourself. This man has some great insights into practically building a multi-million dollar business building other businesses, so if you’ve ever had the entrepreneurial itch, this one is for you.  ➡️ https://www.ninetwothree.co ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 
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Feb 3, 2023 • 48min

Ep. 140 - Olugbenga Olubanjo: Bringing Electricity to Countries with No Access to Power

Olugbenga Olubanjo is the founder & CEO of Reeddi, a Nigerian start-up that seeks to bring power to the 70+ million Nigerians who don't have reliable access. Over 600 million people in Africa lack access to reliable power, but how do we solve the problem? Olugbenga created the Reeddi capsule, a rechargeable power bank that people can rent for just 50 cents per day. Olu has already impacted thousands of people with his work, and his product was featured in The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 by TIME. This is a remarkable tale of taking matters into your own hands. ➡️ https://www.reeddi.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/olugbenga-olubanjo
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Jan 31, 2023 • 54min

Ep. 139 - Saoud Khalifah: Using AI to Detect Fake Online Reviews

Saoud Khalifah is CEO, CTO & Founder of Fakespot, a tool that seeks to eliminate fraud and fake reviews in ecommerce. Have you ever tried to buy a supplement online with thousands of 5-star reviews only to find out that it’s actually sawdust capsules? That’s exactly what happened to Saoud, and this experience led him to understand that online reviews cannot and should not be trusted. Between bots, paid fake reviews, and influencers, it’s harder than ever to trust what you read online. Often there are money dynamics at play that influence every facet of online discourse. Well Fakespot is a free extension and phone app that uses AI to analyze millions of reviews and detect fraudulent reviews, meaning it helps you make purchases more confidently online.  Fakespot seeks to bring trust to the internet, and he’s raised over 5 million dollars for his company, which is already being used by nearly 6 million users today around the globe. ➡️ https://www.fakespot.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

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