If you haven't already please sign up to be first to hear about the launch at www.nolongerknown.com

In this episode of the Startup Diaries podcast, Rob and Matt discuss their journey in building a planet-positive fashion brand, No Longer Known.

They provide updates on their progress, including smashing their initial sales target and refining their elevator pitch. The conversation shifts to the challenges of building an audience from scratch, navigating marketing strategies, and the role of hype in fashion. They explore the importance of engaging with Gen Z and creating compelling content, while also analysing a case study of a similar brand, 'Sult'.

The episode concludes with a quiz on hype culture and fashion brands, emphasizing the need for authenticity and meaningful engagement in their marketing efforts.

In this episode, Rob and Matt are joined by brand consultant Ash to discuss the critical role of branding in startups, particularly in the context of their planet-positive business. They explore the importance of collaborating with designers, the significance of brand archetypes, and the balance between humor and seriousness in branding.

The conversation also delves into the symbolism of the dodo in their branding strategy, emphasising the need for a unique approach that challenges traditional norms in the industry.

The hosts delve into the collaborative journey of designing a brand identity, focusing on the evolution of the logo and the creative process behind it. They discuss the importance of visual elements, the playful yet serious tone of the brand, and the significance of collaboration in achieving a cohesive design.

The conversation also touches on the fun aspects of branding, including a quiz segment that adds a light-hearted touch to the discussion.

For more of Ash's work head to www.studioaaaaaaalvk.com

Please also head to www.nolongerknown.com and sign up to our mailing list and VIP list if you haven't already!

In this episode of the Startup Diaries, Rob and Matt discuss their journey in building a sustainable fashion brand called No Longer Known. They reflect on their previous episode's focus on validating their business idea through a 48-hour challenge to secure paying customers.

The conversation covers the importance of feedback, the challenges of pricing and sales, and the need for a strong narrative to connect with their audience. They also explore the next steps in their journey, including connecting with artists, improving their online presence, and planning a launch event.

👉 Hi I'm Rob! I believe the best way we can tackle environmental problems is through positive action and by building impactful businesses.

Startup Diaries is a podcast where I am trying to build my own planet-positive company and documenting the journey as we go

In Episode 2 of The Startup Diaries, we continue documenting our journey to build No Longer Known - a sustainable fashion brand with a mission to raise awareness about endangered species.

This week, we tackle the crucial challenge of idea validation, setting ourselves an ambitious 48-hour challenge to secure three paying customers before creating any designs.

We discuss pricing strategy, sustainable manufacturing challenges, and debate how to create a premium product that balances environmental impact with quality.

Join them as they navigate the early stages of building a planet-positive business, sharing honest insights and lessons learned along the way.

To be one of the amazing 3 to help validate our idea head towww.nolongerknown.com and follow the instructions to make a deposit

In this episode, I sit down with Benedict Macdonald, award winning author turned ecopreneur, to explore his fascinating journey from wildlife television producer to founder of nature restoration company Restore. Benedict shares how his childhood fascination with butterflies led him to a career in conservation, eventually leaving a successful career in wildlife television to tackle the challenge of transforming land use in the UK through innovative business models.

We dive deep into Britain's complex history with nature, discussing how centuries of wildlife removal have shaped our landscapes, and explore the emerging opportunities for restoration through new financing approaches. Benedict offers fascinating insights into his current projects, including an ambitious plan to restore Atlantic rainforest in the Hebrides, while also sharing practical advice for urban rewilding and garden biodiversity.

Our conversation covers everything from the role of wild boar in ecosystem restoration to the potential for nature recovery in cities like Berlin. Whether you're interested in conservation, sustainable business, or simply want to understand how nature and economics can work together, this episode hopefully offers valuable insights into how we can build businesses that help nature thrive. We wrap up with book recommendations and Benedict's optimistic vision for the future of British wildlife.

Welcome to the very first full episode of the Startup Diaries series, where I am finally going to attempt to build my own planet-positive business. Hopefully putting into action what I have learned from nearly 100 hours of interviews with other founders here on Innovate Eco.

In this episode, I first introduce our new co-host (who will also be my co-founder). We then go on to explain the business we have chosen to try and create, where the idea came from and then start to get into some of the challenges we foresee, which will be topics for future episodes.

I hope you enjoy this mini-series and do get in touch with any thoughts or comments [email protected]

Happy New Year everyone! Just a quick update to say things are changing a bit in 2025 and I'm trying some new things.

As well as doing traditional founder interviews, we are also starting a side series called 'Innovate Eco - The Startup Diaries'. In this new series, we are going to attempt to build a business of our own in the open and document it in podcast format.

Hopefully, you'll enjoy this and find it useful. The aim, as always with this channel, is to help existing ecopreneurs and inspire more people to start a business, so I thought it was time to walk the walk.

Please also subscribe on YouTube for more content as we move into video too.

Find us at:

Elena Doms, is the visionary co-founder of Earth Plus, a startup with an audacious goal: to create the largest soil and CO2 cleanup in history, working hand-in-hand with nature. 

Elena's journey is a fascinating one which we dive into in detail in this episode. Born and raised in the Arctic, she spent 18 years witnessing the effects of climate change firsthand

From there Elena's impressive career has spanned from being a Director at Mastercard, where she merged digital and sustainable transformations, to becoming a LinkedIn influencer and top voice

Now, with Earth Plus, she's working with her team to develop innovative solutions that not only clean soils from chemical pollution but also capture CO2 using plants. Not only that, but these plants are then transformed into local, circular construction materials, contributing to the decarbonisation of our cities.

Find out more about Earth Plus at https://www.earthplus.eu/

Useful Links:

Pollution Map of Europe

PFAS Map

PFAS Map 2

A guide to safer products

An app to help find safe foods

Book Choices:

Connect - Simon Lancaster

Connecting the dots - Christian Busch

Please connect and message me on LinkedIn

In this episode, I chat to Mikael Hietala the sustainability officer at Croatian startup Earthbound Sneakers. Earthbound (Croatia's first B-Corp) is tackling the many issues caused by fast fashion by creating truly stylish and comfortable shoes.

In this episode, we talk about the issues with fast fashion as well as a wide range of topics from growing a business in a de-growth world, why big brands find it hard to adapt, why its important to still create things people find cool and stylish (not just sustainable), carbon tunnel vision, the power of being an intrapreneur and innovating within a company and much more!

Mikael's book recommendation:

Capital in the Anthropocene - Kohei Saito

To learn more about Earthbound head to their website here.

In this weeks episode I speak to Cameron Dowd, co-founder and CTO of Inverto, a startup who are connecting businesses with local communities to plan, plant and monitor coastal ecosystems at scale.

We talk about all sorts in this episode from Cameron's background in robotics, his work flying drone medical suppliy deliveries in Tanzania, why we shouldn't get 'carbon tunnel vision', the amazing uses of mangroves and why they are so important and his ecopreneur journey so far.

To find out more about Inverto head to www.inverto.earth