5 insights from our conversation:
1. Simple questions to a fulfilled life
Olivier is making sure to live a fulfilled aligned life based on two questions:
- Do I have impact?
- Am I learning?
Always make sure to say Yes to at least one of these, to be on the right path. Yes to both is even better. Two No’s? Then it’s time to change something.
He joined his previous startup to focus on learning. When after 4 years his answer became a ‘No, I stopped learning’, he shifted focus to more impactful questions.
‘How f*cked are we with climate change?’. After going deep and challenging all information he could find, this turned into the most impactful most meaningful topic he could dedicate himself to. Tomorrow was born.
INSIGHT
Whatever path you choose, as long as you keep asking yourself this question, one way or another, you’ll end up at a double yes. You’re both learning and having massive impact.
2. Business = Impact
They decided not to build an NGO, because people don’t really want something they are unwilling to spend money on.
INSIGHT
The main goal of a business is not to make money. Its main goal is to validate impact.
3. Coping with climate depression
Climate change is such a huge problem it is crippling. Being in some way part of the global solution helps cope with the depression aspect of it.
INSIGHT
It’s very comfortable but dangerous for us humans to keep thinking the way we do and wait for some technical invention that will help solve all our problems.
4. Connect with peers
Olivier would love to connect with sustainability tech founders with an actual working business model.
INSIGHT
There are quite some startups in sustainability tech who raise capital. But the ones that actually found a working business model with people paying money for their product or information are much more difficult to find.
5. Stimulating phase transition
In physics, molecules undergo radical structural changes when transitioning between solid, liquid or gas states. At first you’re like ’There is no way this can change’. It looks like nothing is happening. Then at a certain point, massive change is happening.
This is similar to the social network effect, with the radical growth of Facebook, seemingly out of the blue.
We have all technology we need. We’re just not organized well enough, and lack regulation like Carbon Tax to propel action.
INSIGHT
Information precedes action. Awareness and regulation create the right action for phase transition against climate change.
