Merit Valdsalu is the Co-founder and CEO of Single.Earth, a revolutionary blockchain-based ecosystem of earth’s carbon sequestration and biodiversity monitoring, tokenization, and trade. Before starting this highly ambitious project, Merit led localization efforts at the Estonian unicorn Pipedrive.In this fascinating conversation, we talk about the need to digitize the earth’s nature and create a transparent, reliable, and efficient marketplace for trading carbon credits. We also discuss the business potential of the ClimateTech industry, economic and other motivations for nature preservation as well as overall fundraising and entrepreneurship lessons from Merit’s career at Pipedrive and Single.Earth.The topics covered in this episode with Timestamps[01:20] - INTRODUCTION AND THE ORIGINS OF SINGLE.EARTHLandowners only make money when natural resources are depletedPursuing a passion for the environmentPlanning and implementing a global paradigm-shifting projectA digital twin of the earth’s nature in open sourceSimplifying and opening the global voluntary carbon tradeVoluntary vs mandatory carbon markets[17:10] - ON BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMIC MODELS FOR NATURE PRESERVATIONTrust and verification provided by blockchainUsing investors to replace the insufficient demand for voluntary carbon creditsState of the project and token saleAffordable cost of decreasing the carbon footprint[27:20] - ON CLIMATE TECH INDUSTRY AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUESThe opportunities for starting a cleantech companyGeneral public attitudes towards nature and environmentCan Western societies even make a differenceBalancing emissions and nature sequestrationWho owns the land and owner engagementNo business models for preserving only for regenerating nature[45:55] - FUNDRAISING FOR A CLIMATE TECH PROJECTThe abundance of investors looking at sustainability projectsNot only impact investors, but also general big VCs hot for this marketWhat investors look for in impact businessesHaving a big name VC on your ticket[56:50] - OVERALL ENTREPRENEURSHIP LESSONSPutting people firstCreating a culture of enjoying workAccess to talentMental healthChoosing the right investorsTo reach out to Merit use:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merit-valdsalu/ Find out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/ Support for this episode comes from Nexpay > https://paynexpay.com/===See the video content exclusively on Linkedin > https://www.linkedin.com/company/pursuit-of-scrappiness/ Questions/suggestions? Join our Telegram group > https://t.me/pursuitofscrappiness The full interview with Merit is available NOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts Find out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/ Support the show

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