Future Optimist

Krishna Manda is the Co-founder and CEO of Etho Inc., a start-up building augmented reality hardware and software for motorcycle helmets, including a voice assistant, navigation, and riding information displayed right on the inside of the helmet 

Soon you’ll be able to keep your eyes on the road as you ride and have access to more information than ever before.

With 68% of daily commuters admitting to using their phones to navigate to places, these distractions can be fatal on motorcycles where every reaction counts. 

Learn how a life-changing accident set this aerospace engineer on the path to creating a revolutionary product. 

➡️ https://etho.io

➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Sahand Dilmaghani is the Founder & CEO at Terra Kaffe, a coffee tech company that’s raised over 14 million in funding so far. 

Sahand has a remarkable story that led him down the path of entrepreneurship, and his company is making more eco-friendly coffee and espresso machines that look and taste incredible. 

Sahand made Forbes Next 1000 in the consumer tech category, which is good for him but bad for me, as I had to settle for 1,001, failing to make the cut YET AGAIN. Come on Forbes! In seriousness, Terra Kaffe estimate that they’ve prevented over a million pods from becoming garbage, and in the words of the immortal Martha Stewart, that’s a good thing.

➡️ https://www.terrakaffe.com

➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Paul Gross is the Co-CEO & Co-founder of Remora, a start-up that captures carbon emissions directly from semi-trucks as they drive.

This tech, called a “mobile carbon capture system”, is the first of its kind to be commercialized anywhere in the world. 

Remora’s system can be retrofitted onto existing diesel trucks, capturing and storing their carbon. And this is a big deal, because there are over 2 million semis in the US alone.

They’ve raised millions in funding, and they’re already working with major brands to help reduce total carbon emissions globally. Paul himself was listed to Forbes 30 Under 30, and he has an inspiring story for us all. 

Dinesh Tadepalli is the Chief Spoon Seller & Co-Founder of Incredible Eats, a start-up that’s attempting to replace single-use plastic cutlery with edible alternatives. 

How does that work? You might be asking. Well, they need both sweet and savory options (think ice cream vs. hot soup), and their products perform better than paper alternatives. 

Edible cutlery is something that’s never before been implemented at scale, and the company was featured on Shark Tank where they received multiple offers. 

The company is carbon-negative, and proof that the best way to avoid dealing with waste is to prevent it from ever reaching the landfill to begin with.

➡️ https://incredibleeats.com/

➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

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