#177 Climate Resilience, Bridging FAANG to ClimateTech, Cloud Computing with Geospatial Data, & More w/ Allison Wolff (Vibrant Planet)

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition.Today, we are talking to Allison Wolff from Vibrant Planet.I say wildfire prevention; you say FAANG technology…🤔 It sounds a bit silly, but that’s what Allison Wolff is doing at Vibrant Plant. When it comes to preventing wildfires, there is a LOT of land to manage. Through Vibrant Planet’s tech they are able to help prioritize which areas to focus restoration and monitoring on. This tech is what helps different groups apply for conservation finance (money from Uncle Sam to protect the wilderness).The story behind Vibrant Planet is super fascinating because Allison has worked with so many big names. Are you sitting down? * Google, Meta, Netflix, eBay, Project Drawdown… and a few others When you’ve got this experience, you naturally have (a) an enormous book of contacts + (b) a unique perspective on tech. This is a huge reason why they are crushing it at Vibrant Planet. As you can imagine with someone like Allison as a guest, we could talk about many things — here is what we discussed.* What she learned from her time at Netflix algorithm * What’s broken with wildfire prevention* Convincing Silicon Valley to become greener * The decision behind becoming Public Benefit Corp.* Working with an open-data nonprofit And more… 📺 Watch on YouTube | 🍎 Apple Podcasts | 🎧 Spotify | 🗣️ Join the Slack Channel🚨Attention! 🚨 We interrupt your regular programming for an important message.ClimateTech founders are taking on a huge challenge. Building a climate startup is highly complex but also SO NECESSARY if we are going to save the climate. Founders not only you need to understand how to build a startup, but you also need to understand how to deal with hardware, have a strong handle on climate policy, know how to fundraise from diverse investors types, etc. etc. etc…It’s a lot.That’s why we make CleanTechies. The #1 Podcast for ClimateTech Entrepreneurs.In addition to our jobs, we devote ~20 hours a week to producing this podcast for you. This way, you can learn from others who have walked the path you’re on now, learn from their mistakes, and gain insights on navigating this complex world.If this mission resonates with you, we ask for your financial support of this project. It takes a lot of effort, and it’s not free. Your willingness to contribute on a monthly or yearly basis helps us keep this going.If you’re already a subscriber and want to contribute financially, click “Upgrade to Paid” at the top right of your screen.If not, follow the steps once you click “Subscribe” below to help us out. Thanks for helping us help all the climate entrepreneurs like you. 🙏 🌎The Guest: Allison Wolff* Allison Wolff is the CEO of Vibrant Planet.* Allison worked in Silicon Valley for 20 years on corporate strategy, product strategy, customer experience design, and marketing. * After overseeing the development of the Netflix brand and digital experience as their Director of Marketing, she advised corporate and nonprofit leadership teams on vision, strategy, and social and environmental innovation. Some of her clients included Drawdown, Google, eBay, Facebook, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Omidyar Network, Patagonia, Nike, HP, Conservation International, and GlobalGiving. (What a resume!) * With a passion for the role forests and soil can play in carbon drawdown, she fully focused on developing technology solutions that restore damaged ecosystems and, ultimately, build community and wildland resilience.The Company: Vibrant PlanetOne Liner: The common operating picture for achieving wildfire and climate resilienceThe Vibrant Planet cloud-based platform unlocks real-time, collaborative scenario planning at any scale. Built to support agile, informed, and urgent responses to current and future wildfire and climate threats. State-of-the-art wildfire hazard and risk modeling combines with Vibrant Planet’s decision support for strategically mitigating wildfire risk while enhancing ecological function to create enduring resilience.The VP Data Commons makes Vibrant Planet’s novel data products publicly available for scientific pursuits and develops informative data experiences that generate public demand for resilience building.Do you have suggestions on future guests or topics? Leave a comment!Unable to support financially but still want to help? Share this post w/ 3 ClimateTech entrepreneurs (or aspiring entrepreneurs). Sharing is super helpful to us, and it costs you nothing.📝 Show Notes:Topics* 02:52 "Common operating picture" for land management.* 04:17 Parallel between Netflix's recommendation system and land management* 06:51 Cloud-based technologies in ClimateTech* 12:25 Challenges in modern forest management* 24:46 Geospatial data* 36:17 Energy consumption concerns of AI/cloud technologies* 44:19  Future challenges* 48:35 TakeawaysLinks* Vibrant Planet | Allison Wolff* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.Asks 👋👉 Listeners Survey* We would love to hear how we can improve the show and what you like most.👉 Fundraising for Founders* If founders are looking for funding in the ClimateTech space, reach out & schedule a chat here!👉 Early-Stage Founders Hiring* Silas just started his own recruitment consultancy tailor-made for early-stage ClimateTech startups. He does this by offering heavily discounted headhunting services for companies at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A companies. If you need a hand finding the best talent on the market, and you don’t want to sell your kidney to pay for it, let’s chat. (booking here)👉 Meet Top Founders* Interested in getting in front of hundreds of ClimateTech VCs and Founders each month, reach out to [email protected] to learn more about becoming a sponsor.If you couldn’t already tell, we care a lot about ClimateTech founders 😂🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see y’all next episode! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe