Geomob

What's more important: idea or execution? This week's guest is the head of Geovation: Carly Morris. Geovation was recently awarded the prestigious Go:Tech award for Incubator or Accelerator Programme of the year. Steven wonders if there really is a benefit for startups in the geospatial industry receiving help from accelerator programs such as the one Geovation provides. As Carly explains, the data speaks for itself, 76% of the startups that have worked with Geovation are still active five years after leaving the program. That's quite impressive considering 90% of startups overall fail within the first five years. Steven and Carly agree, simply having a brilliant idea does not guarantee success, it’s all about having the right solution and the right execution, that's where startup mentor programs such as the one Geovation offers come in. Join them for an enlightening discussion on how to take a geospatial start up to the next level.

Show notes and map on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This week's guest is Jack Dangermond, co-founder and president of Esri, the most successful and influential geospatial business ever created. In this extra long episode Steven and Jack have a wide-ranging discussion on spatial being special, "the geographic approach" to problem solving, the unique role geospatial technologies and services have to play in addressing the climate crisis, the evolution of technology and the implications for a long-running business like Esri, and much, much more. It's a unique chance for us to hear the perspective of a geospatial visionary and successful founder who remains as deeply passionate about geo as when he started more than 50 years ago.

Show notes and map on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

One of our regular episodes in which Ed and Steven chat about their projects. Steven shares his impressions from the first ever Geomob Tel Aviv. Ed reflects on the challenges around the recent launch of OpenCage Geosearch. "Professor Feldman" uses the opportunity to share the lessons he recently imparted at his seminar about building a successful geospatial business delivered to the Edindurg Earth Observation (EEO) group (video hopefully available soon). In other geospatial news we discuss OSMF hiring its first full time employee - regular London geomobster and past speaker Grant Slater. Congrats!

Show notes are on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This week's guest is Will Martin, long-time start-up investor, and co-founder of Portfolio Ventures. Will has invested in many different early-stage start-ups across the entire tech landscape, including some businesses with a geo focus. While not specifically focused just on geo, we thought Will's conversaton with Steven would be an interesting and relevant reference to help demystify the early stage investment process.  

Show notes and map on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Steven speaks with historical geographer Dr. Anne Kelly Knowles, professor at the University of Maine, and co-founder of the Holocaust Geographies collaborative, a multi-institutional, collaborative research group that uses mapping and geography to examine spaces and places of the Holocaust. They discuss one specific map (linked on our website), and the challenge and power of using geography to provide a spatial lens into traumatic human experience. The map in question, documenting the experiences and memories of two of the victims, serves as a representation of the unique power and attributes, but also limitations, that mapping / GIS / spatial rendering bring to representing the horrific circumstances of the Holocaust specifically and conflict regions generally.

Show notes and map on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Two-time Geomob London speaker Manuel Timita joins Ed to discuss illustreets, the geospatial start-up he is co-founder of. Manuel shares the ups and downs of his entreprenurial journey and the challenge of turning impressive geo tech into a thriving business. As so often it is a case study in the power of perseverance.

Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This week Steven has the pleasure of speaking long-time open source geo contributor Howard Butler about foundational open source geo technologies GDAL and PDAL. The discussion turns, as so often here on the Geomob podcast, to the topic of open source sustainability. Howard comments on various strategies and business models including "barn raising", and the distinction between free software and free support.

Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This week Ed shows his ignorance about all things Earth Observation (EO) in a discussion with EO expert Julia Wagemann. Julia explains why the EO ecosystem has grown so much in recent years, and what the implications of the increased accesibility to and quality of earth observation data might mean. This is an exciting and fast-moving space that will have major implications for the geospatial industry; a space that every geomobster will no doubt want to learn about.

Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Over the last few months the world has been swept with frenzy for the word game Wordle. The popularity and simplicity of the game has prompted many variants, including several with a geographic twist. In this episode Steven chats with the makers of two such games. First he speaks with the makers of Countryle, in which players have to guess a country based on various geographic attributes. Then he welcomes back Giuseppe Sollazzo (who was first on the podcast all the way back in Episode 18) to tells us about his games Wardle (guessing a UK Local Authority) and Wardle-Parli (guessing UK parlementary boundaries).

Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.