EPISODE · Feb 23, 2026 · 56 MIN
Oliver Dauert — Biodiversity for Business
from Fortune's Path Podcast · host Oliver Dauert, Ted Noser, Tom Noser
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 civilizationWhy Oliver chose business over marine biology — and whether he regrets itHow he built a community of tens of thousands on LinkedIn by being a messenger rather than a marketerThe business model behind Wildya, from free LinkedIn content to paid bootcamps and one-on-one consultingWhy the CSRD rollback and Trump's reelection killed his corporate pivot — and why the timing was just wrongWhat "rewilding your backyard" actually looks like, and the three steps any individual or business can take todayWhy biodiversity is a long-term business investment, not a cost — and how compounding returns apply to nature just as they do to capitalThe IUCN tool that shows you exactly what's threatening species within 50 kilometers of your homeThe butterfly that nested on his Berlin balcony and what it taught him about positive feedback loopsWhy personal branding isn't self-promotion — and why the messenger matters less than the messageResources mentioned:1% for the Planet directory: www.onepercentfortheplanet.orgIUCN Red List species threat tool: www.iucnredlist.orgWildya community: wildya.com
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What this episode covers
Oliver Dauert has loved nature since he was five years old, but he didn't take the obvious path of studying ecology or marine biology. Instead he chose business, convinced that understanding the system was the best way to change it. After working in tech and watching biodiversity fall to the bottom of every corporate priority list, he eventually decided he couldn't keep showing up for work that didn't address what he saw as the defining crisis of our time. The result is Wildya, a consultancy and online community built for the people already working on nature — the founders of small NGOs, the entrepreneurs trying to restore coral reefs or rewild bison, the passionate professionals who are great at the nature part but struggle with the business part. Oliver's pitch is simple: he helps them get more attention, convert that attention into revenue, and scale their impact. The conversation ranges widely — from the Jenga tower metaphor Oliver uses to explain ecosystem collapse, to the practical steps any business can take to start contributing to local biodiversity, to the surprisingly honest accounting of what two years of entrepreneurial pivoting actually looks like. Oliver is refreshingly candid about the timing mistakes, the identity struggles, and the loneliness of caring deeply about something most people can't even pronounce correctly. What comes through most clearly is Oliver's belief that business and nature don't have to be enemies — that the same tools used to sell products and build brands can be turned toward restoring the world. That's the bet Wildya is making, and after listening to Oliver make his case, it's a hard one to argue with.
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Oliver Dauert — Biodiversity for Business
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