Future Optimist

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

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

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

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

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 

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 

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

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 

Kathy Hannun is the co-founder and president of Dandelion Energy, offering affordable home geothermal energy solutions. We spend so much money heating and cooling our homes, and in a time of uncertainty surrounding natural gas and oil availability, getting off of fossil fuels in our homes has never been more important.  Kathy left her job working at Alphabet’s prestigious X Lab to start her company, and they’ve raised over $130 million to date for the project. By homes switching to residential geothermal—heating and cooling their home using the earth below them—they can reduce their CO2 output by as much as 80% while cutting their energy costs in half. It’s a huge win-win. Kathy’s been named to MIT Technology Review’s 35 Under 35, she’s a TED fellow, and the recipient of the C3E Award from the US Department of energy. In short, it’s an honor to have Kathy Hannun with us today. ➡️ https://dandelionenergy.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Mike Pappas is the CEO and Co-Founder of Modulate.ai, a start-up using cutting-edge machine learning to to make voice chat safe. In case you don’t play online games, there’s an entire universe of people out there who play games like Call of Duty, League of Legends, etc, and they use in-game voice chat to communicate with each other. The problem is, like other digital avenues, these spaces can be made toxic by bullies, trolls, and hateful people. For years, this toxicity has been seen as an unsolvable problem. Mike and his co-founder have created a product called ToxMod that is a significantly more effective and cheaper way to moderate voice chats, creating a better experience for the vast majority of players who aren’t bullies or jerks.  They’ve raised over 30 million in funding and recently made TIME’s list of the 100 most influential companies. It’s a brilliant solution to a problem you might not have thought about. ➡️ https://www.modulate.ai ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast