Future Optimist

What if you could create meaningful memories with loved ones around the globe? 

My guest today Anieke Lamers has created Peekabond, a new app that makes it easier to not just connect remotely, but bond. She left a lucrative role as a VC to follow her passion and build her own company in a space she believed in.

She created a kid-friendly platform with science-based activities, ethical games, and a bank to store all the memories made. Many of us have gone years without being able to see loved ones like grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc.

This app is a way for people to create and store meaningful memories instead of just jamming YouTube Kids in front of your children and letting the algorithm raise them. (Who’s done that? You? Nope? Just me? Ok then!)

➡️ https://www.peekabond.com/

➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/anieke-lamers

Mai Shimada is a medical doctor, and the Founder & CEO of Isha Health, providers of ketamine-assisted therapy.

She spent many years of her life as an ER doctor, and she came to understand that ketamine was a legal and underutilized treatment option for clinically-resistant depression, PTSD, and a wide range of other mental health disorders.

In this episode, we are going to talk about DRUGS. Even though this treatment is completely legal, if that bothers you, turn it off right now. I’m going to preface this episode by saying that I am not a doctor, nor an expert, I’m just your local neighborhood idiot who doesn’t know anything about anything or anyone. So do yourself a favor, and never listen to a word I say.

But, please do hear out Dr. Mai Shimada, because she’s an incredible human.

➡️ https://www.isha.health/

➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/mai-shimada

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

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

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