Founders For Good

Daniel Jeczmien is the Co-Founder and CEO of ESGgen.

ESG is an increasingly hot topic, with investors, banks and governments putting more focus on non-financial performance within businesses. It’s no longer just about businesses making money, it’s how they make that money. How do they treat their employees? What does their supply chain look like? What are their CO2 emissions? 

ESG is a framework to hold businesses accountable for how they manage the finite resources in the world and how they treat people.  

Daniel created ESGgen as an easy-to-use and affordable platform targeted on the SME and startup markets. Making it easy for small business owners to run better businesses.  

Highlights:

09:51: What is ESG and the difference between ESG and CSR

15.36: The rising important of ESG and the regulations to know about

24.17: The ESG headache for SME’s and startups

30.54: What is ESGgen?

37.39: How has ESGgen created their own ESG rating scorecard?

40.49: The challenge of raising money in 2022

50.12: Daniel’s two key ingredients to successfully growing a business 

53.12: Building ESGgen with a clear focus on ESG 

 
Our Host:
Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected]

Our Guest:
Daniel Jeczmien, Founder and CEO of ESGgen.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-jeczmien/ / www.esggen.com  

Our Sponsor:
Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 
 Our Producer:
Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 
Our Content and Marketing:
 Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Jason Ash is the Co-Founder and CEO of YoungPlanet.

After spending most of his career getting people to consume more food and drinks products, Jason decided to use his skills to do good in the world. As a parent of three, he became very aware of the amount of waste associated with kids clothes and toys, and how many perfectly good kids’ items end up in landfill. 

So Jason set up YoungPlanet, a marketplace where parents can find, request and share kids items for free. They want to create a world where value is placed on the longevity and reuse of a product, and how we minimise our impact on the planet as consumers. 

With a 150k+ users, 5,000+ listed items and plans to expand globally, they are well on their way to building a circular economy for children’s products. 

Highlights:

01.54: What made Jason pivot from corporate career to tech for good?

05.30: Jason’s definition of the “circular economy”

10.31: How does the problem look at a retailer level?

16.38: What is the impact of kids toys and clothes being chucked in the bin? 

20.03: Validating their concept

25.38: For good and for profit, their revenue models

31.19: Crowdfunding is the natural choice for a consumer focused app

33.45: What’s in store for Young Planet this year

37.11: Co-founding with your partner

42.39: What to nail when building a business

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:
Jason Ash, Co-Founder and CEO of Young Planet.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-ash-6700922/ / https://www.youngplanet.com/ 
 
Our Sponsor:
Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:
Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 
Our Content and Marketing:
Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Tim Wood is the Co-Founder of Achelous Energy. 

After a successful career in marine engineering, Tim and his co-founder were inspired to design a better system for creating renewable energy.

They set out to harness hydrokinetic energy, i.e. the free-flowing water in rivers. Because rivers are constantly flowing it’s a very efficient way to produce energy and cost effective compared to current methods. Their platform provides clean, renewable energy with no negative impact on the environment, and they’ve initially focused on working in developing countries to power local communities.

In this episode Tim chats about the state of renewable energy, what needs to happen to transition to NetZero, successfully building their first prototype, how to create scalable clean energy and their plans for expansion.  

Highlights:

04.51: Renewable vs non-renewable energy and the impact on the planet

08.38: Where have the most advancements been made with renewable energy sources?

10.28: Rivers are our largest renewable energy source 

13.42: Tim’s predictions for the main energy trends over the next decade 

19.57: What is Achelous Energy?

26.46: How does their hydrokinetic energy compare to other energy sources? 

32.31: Building their first prototype on the other side of the world

38.36: What is their revenue model? 

44.57: The reality of being a Founder and the difference of building tech for good

Our Host:

 Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected]

Our Guest:

 Tim Wood, Co-Founder of Achelous Energy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-wood-5399682b/ / https://achelous.co.uk/

Our Sponsor:

 Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

 Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi

Our Content and Marketing:

 Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Jenny Saft is the Co-Founder and CEO of Apryl.

From her own experience with egg freezing, Jenny realised how poorly serviced people were with their fertility and family forming needs.

With a society that’s increasingly starting families at older ages, these services are crucial to people. Across Europe, public health services are limited and vary from country to country with discrimination against people within the LGBTQ community still happening. Private health services are costly, well into the £1000’s which most people cannot afford. 

Apryl have set out to change this. They work with employers to provide the full range of services that a person could possibly need, from egg freezing to IVF to surrogacy to adoption and much more. Diversity and inclusion sit at the core of their business, so everyone, no matter what their need or situation can get the support they need. 

Highlights:

03.10: How societal changes have changed fertility needs

04.49: The different types of fertility and family planning services people need

08.03: The current options available within UK and Europe and why they aren’t enough

15.54: From her own egg freezing experience to founding Apryl 

22.14: How does Apryl work? A user journey walk through. 

26.51: The business case for fertility benefits 

33.36: Why a Co-Founder is so important and finding the right one 

37.23: The best and worst thing about working with Jenny 

39.35: The challenges of early stage startups and hiring

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Jenny Saft, Co-Founder and CEO of Apryl.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennysaft/ /  https://apryl.co/ 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin is the Founder and former-CEO of Bloody Good Period.

Gabby is well-known for founding Bloody Good Period, a charity that has created a movement for menstrual equity, inspiring the nation to think differently about periods.

After volunteering in a refuge, Gabby noticed that period products were not one of the items being provided to refugees. She posted on Facebook for help and she was overwhelmed by the support. Gabby saw a bigger opportunity to help people that menstruate in getting access to the products, support and education they need. She set up a charity with a bold brand and a clear mission to work with the government, employers and the public to help solve this problem. 

In this episode Gabby chats candidly about periods, creating a social movement and removing the stigma of periods, building one of the most unique charities from the ground up, and her journey stepping back as CEO. 

Highlights:

01.40: Gabby’s personal journey to starting a social impact charity 

07.16: What is a period? How do periods differ from person to person?

11.07: How has society changed when it comes to periods

16.06: Menstrual equity, focusing on those who need help the most 

18.59: From a Facebook post and a flat full of period products to full blown charity

30.01: What we’d need to no longer need charities like BGP

31.48: Stepping back as CEO of Bloody Good Period 

37.54: What next for Gabby? 

39.55: The importance of nailing down your values early on

Our Host: 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin, Founder and former-CEO of Bloody Good Period.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabby-jahanshahi-edlin-11456022/  / https://www.bloodygoodperiod.com/ 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Martin Holden-White is the Founder and CEO of Grubby.

As it’s the start of 2023 and the beginning of Veganuary I couldn’t think of a better guest to kick off the year. Martin founded Grubby with the mission to make plant-based cooking more convenient and accessible without costing the earth.

Having a love for food and cooking from an early age, Martin was obsessed with the idea of creating healthy, delicious meal kits that make it super easy for people to cook and enjoy plant-based meals at home. 

Martin also cares deeply about running a responsible and sustainable business that does everything it can to put the planet first. Grubby uses local produce, 100% recyclable packaging, bike deliveries where possible and even tell their customers the carbon footprint of each meal and compare it to the meat-based versions of that meal. 

Tune into to hear more about the positive impact of plant-based meals, building a D2C subscription business, how to be a sustainable business, becoming a B Corp, and being a sole Founder. 

Highlights:

01:41: Where did Martin’s love of food and cooking begin?

05.38: The benefits of a plant-based diet

08.32: The barriers to more people going plant-based with their diets

10.24: “Meat alternatives” helpful or not? 

13.14: What is Grubby?

15.09: Why the name Grubby?

21.07: Building your tech, inhouse or outsource? 

25.14: Grubby’s approach to sustainability 

31.00: What is the business cost of sustainability? 

33.29: Product metrics: CAC vs retention 

35.01: The pro’s and con’s of crowdfunding 

40.16: Lessons learnt as a first-time sole Founder

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Martin Holden-White, Founder and CEO of Grubby.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-holden-white-12b47267/ / https://grubby.co.uk/   

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Namrata Sandhu is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vaayu. 

Nam grew up in Bombay, India and saw first hand the impact of waste and climate change, which inspired her to pursue a career in sustainability. After working for management consultancies and heading up sustainability for Zalando and Arcadia, two things became very clear:

1.      There was a huge opportunity in the retail sector to make a dent in climate change with the sector being responsible for 25% of global emissions.

2.      The biggest blocker for retailers becoming more sustainable was a lack of accurate and real-time data to make better decisions for the planet. 

So Nam founded Vaayu to solve that problem. Vaayu helps retailers calculate their carbon emissions in real-time, providing actionable insights into where they can make positive changes and helping them communicate their decarbonisation story to their customers. 

Highlights:

03.24: The changes over the last 15 years in the sustainability space 

04.59: Can businesses actually be sustainable? 

08.10: The impact of the retail sector on climate change

14.55: What is Vaayu? 

18.40: How granular can Vaayu get with the detail and helping retailers to improve?

22.35: Helping businesses avoid the greenwashing trap 

25.10: Raising their Seed round and Nam’s advice for other Founders

30.00: The important of having a technical Co-Founder

34.20: Building a company that aligns with their tech for good focus 

40.54: Nam’s advice on hiring your early stage team 

 
Our Host:
 
Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Namrata Sandhu, Co-Founder and CEO of Vaayu.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/namrata-sandhu/ / https://www.vaayu.tech/ 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Vese Aghoghovbia is the Founder of Philly & Friends.

When Vese had her daughter in 2017, she quickly realised that there was a lack of diversity in children’s books with less than 1% featuring a black or minority ethnic main character. This inspired her to self-publish her own book entitled “Who Do I See in the Mirror?” which features her daughter as the main character and has a clear message of self-love through the power of representation.

Since then, her business Philly & Friends has grown into an iconic children’s lifestyle business with purpose, representation and diversity at its core.

In this episode Vese speaks about the lack of representation in children’s toys and books, the impact this has on children from an early age, building a purpose-led business and her experiences as an entrepreneur. 

Highlights:

01.45: Inspired by her parents to become an entrepreneur 

07.57: Why representation from an early age is so important

15.40: What can we do as parents? Check our bias and check our toybox. 

21.42: The journey from idea to published book and Vese’s learns

27.05: Expanding from children’s book to 35 products

35.56: Vese’s other mission driven business – D-Vees

39.34: The key ingredients to be a successful entrepreneur

44.28: How Vese’s sense of fulfilment has changed throughout her career

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Vese Aghoghovbia, Founder of Philly & Friends. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/veseaghoghovbia/ / https://phillyandfriends.com/ 
 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 
Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Bex Hay is the CTO and Co-Founder of Organise. 

At the age of six, Bex was a self-proclaimed troublemaker, successfully campaigning at school to be allowed to play football with the boys. This highlighted the importance of being heard, taking action and influencing positive social change. 

After working in the campaigning space, Bex noticed that the major barriers for people improving their working conditions was that they didn’t know where to go, they couldn’t afford legal support and they were afraid of the actions their employers might take if they found out. 

So Bex teamed up with her co-founder Nat Whalley to build Organise. Organise provides a safe trusted space where people can anonymously discuss topics with colleagues and peers, get access to expert advice, and use tools purpose-built for running effective campaigns. Organise have supported over 3000 worker-led actions to help create better working conditions at companies like the Co-op, Amazon and Waterstones. 

Highlights:

01.45: Bex’s early start as a troublemaker and path into campaigning 

06.44: If an employee has an issue, how can they take action in the workplace?

10.01: The most common workplace issues and the most vulnerable workers

15.27: Employers are often unaware of the working conditions their employees have to suffer 

22.40: What is Organise and how did they grow their community to 1+ million?

31.33: Bex’s top product metric: “the confidence to get heard at work”

40.14: The importance of a Co-Founder and how to find the right one

44.53: Which company value is most important to Bex

 
Our Host:
 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:

Bex Hay, Co-Founder and CTO of Organise.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bex-hay-760053197/ / https://www.organise.network/ 
 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:
 

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Morgan Fitzsimons is the Co-Founder and CXO of Perci Health. 

One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer, that’s a scary thought. The good news is that with advances in diagnosis and treatment, more people are surviving from, and living longer with cancer. 

But this puts a different strain on the healthcare system where the NHS and charitable sector are not equipped to deal with the growing number of people that need specialist post-treatment support which means most are left alone to try and get their life back on track.  

Enter Perci Health. Perci have the largest network of cancer experts in the UK. Perci assign each person with their own specialist cancer nurse to build a personalised care plan and ensure they get the support they need to improve their quality of life. 

 Highlights:

01.38: Morgan’s journey from digital marketing to healthtech startup co-founder

04.19: 1 in 2 people are diagnosed with cancer plus the current state of cancer  

06.31: Diagnosis and treatment have improved greatly, but post treatment people feel like they’re dropped

10.03: Perci Health overview and their pivot to B2B

14.19: The Perci way, a personal cancer nurse and care plan 

18.04: The perfect co-founding partnership – oncologist and digital marketer 

25.11: What is Product Market Fit and what indicators do Perci look at? 

28.37: Raising their Seed round mostly from oncologists and surgeons

36.07: Passion is key to being an effective Founder 

45.41: Core values and diversity of thought are key to building the right culture 

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:

Morgan Fitzsimons, Co-Founder and CXO of Perci Health.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-fitzsimons-31284613/ / www.percihealth.com/ 
 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:
 

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected]