Oliver Dauert is the founder of Wildya, a consultancy helping nature NGOs and nature businesses grow their impact by getting better at marketing, sales, and personal branding. A Berlin native who wanted to be an elephant seal at age five, Oliver studied business specifically to understand how to change the systems driving the biodiversity crisis. After two years of pivots — from eco-anxiety coaching to corporate consulting — Wildya has found its focus helping the people already doing the work get more attention, more customers, and more resources.

In this episode, Oliver and Tom discuss:

• The Jenga tower explanation of why biodiversity loss threatens everything we've built as a civilization
• Why Oliver chose business over marine biology — and whether he regrets it
• How he built a community of tens of thousands on LinkedIn by being a messenger rather than a marketer
• The business model behind Wildya, from free LinkedIn content to paid bootcamps and one-on-one consulting
• Why the CSRD rollback and Trump's reelection killed his corporate pivot — and why the timing was just wrong
• What "rewilding your backyard" actually looks like, and the three steps any individual or business can take today
• Why biodiversity is a long-term business investment, not a cost — and how compounding returns apply to nature just as they do to capital
• The IUCN tool that shows you exactly what's threatening species within 50 kilometers of your home
• The butterfly that nested on his Berlin balcony and what it taught him about positive feedback loops
• Why personal branding isn't self-promotion — and why the messenger matters less than the message

Resources mentioned:

• 1% for the Planet directory: www.onepercentfortheplanet.org
• IUCN Red List species threat tool: www.iucnredlist.org
• Wildya community: wildya.com