Chris Forbes, Dom Desmond, Keiran Whitaker

This episode is a live event from Fast Forward 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals SDG15: Life on Land, with a special focus on combatting desertification, tackling deforestation and halting biodiversity loss.

Chris Forbes, Co-Founder of The Cheeky Panda - The Cheeky Panda is an innovative company offering the tissue market a sustainable and health conscious alternative. Making tissues and wipes from virgin bamboo, The Cheeky Panda tissues are pure and rich in natural goodness. Free from harsh chemicals found in regular tissues and saving thousands of precious trees and animal habitats around the world.

Dom Desmond, Founder of Critically Endangered Socks - Critically Endangered Socks is a social enterprise that protects some of the world's most critically endangered animals through the sale of their bamboo and cotton socks. For every pair of socks sold, they give 20% of the total sale price to charity - and by choosing which sock you buy, you're also choosing which charity they help. Their mission is to eventually help every critically endangered animal on the brink of survival by selling the most beautifully crafted, ethical products they can create.

Keiran Whitaker, CEO and Founder of ENTOCYCLE - Entocycle is an insect farming company. They farm insects as a sustainable source of protein to feed animals, replacing traditional sources of protein such as soy and fishmeal which are causing significant environmental problems including biodiversity loss and overfishing. They exist to defend and restore the natural world.

Highlights:

• Demand for more sustainable products are increasing
• Why build a startup tackling environmental sustainability?
• Why become an entrepreneur making a difference to the environment
• Key steps in moving from idea to product
• Inspiring change in food production, fashion and consumer products
• Why purpose driven startups are attracting top talents
• Importance of having a strong network

Useful links:

The Cheeky Panda
Critically Endangered Socks
ENTOCYCLE
Fast Forward 2030 events

Time Stamp:

[01:24] Introduction to Chris, Dom and Keiran

[03:41] Solving ecological problem and is there a demand for sustainable product?

[07:08] What other environmental business opportunity are there?

[09:47] What was the first unexpected learning and biggest mistake as an entrepreneur?

[14:07] How does the world look like if your company succeeds?

[16:12] Would value-driven products become a market leader?

[20:59] Return business models and purpose centred businesses

[25:15] First steps of getting from idea to taking action

[27:56] How to get into Y Combinator

[32:14] SDG and changes in regulation

Listen to this episode now:

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/bg/podcast/42-special-fast-forward-2030-biodiversity-sdg15-life/id1290523873?i=1000443650589

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7Ddf2Qy15gSkc8ilUgZE9U

Google Podcast: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzQ5Mjk5ODAucnNz&episode=dGFnOmF1ZGlvYm9vbS5jb20sMjAxOS0wNy0wNDovcG9zdHMvNzMwODA3OQ

\n\n\n \n