Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist
Technology
We've all seen the images — garbage patches twice the size of Texas accumulating in the Pacific Ocean. Yet nothing was being done, despite billions of dollars a year spent on environmental lawyers and bureaucrats. That is until a young engineer from Holland set out to do what bureaucrats couldn't — clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and stem the flow of plastic into the oceans.
Boyan Slat is the Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, the most effective organization ever built to rid the oceans of pollution. They're already cleaning up an average of 750kg of trash each hour this year, and Boyan estimates their latest technology will eliminate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within 10 years! Moreover, Boyan and his team have also identified the top polluting rivers in the world and are building interceptors to prevent pollution from reaching the seas in the first place — all for a tiny fraction of other environmental spend.
But it hasn't been easy. Boyan explains how they overcame numerous engineering challenges, as well as intense criticism and cynicism from media and activists hoping they would fail. Boyan's inspiring journey reflects the power of an innovation mindset, and the ability of a small group of highly-motivated builders to achieve what an entire class of experts and bureaucrats couldn't. I'm a supporter of Boyan's work and hope you'll consider supporting him as well.
Ep 90: Ethan Penner on Choosing Greatness & Pioneering New Markets on Wall Street
Ep 89: Coleman Hughes on "The End of Race Politics" & the Worst Ideas Done in the Name of Diversity
Ep 88: A Conversation with MLK's Attorney & Speechwriter: Dr. Clarence Jones
Ep 87: Dr. Cliff Winston — Deregulate Lawyers, Deregulate Airlines, and Let Markets Correct Themselves
Ep 86: How to Design a STEM Curriculum for the 21st Century with Dr. David Ruth
Ep 85: The Path to Regime Change in Iran with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi
Ep 84: Sri Ganesan on Freshworks' Big Win, Building Rocketlane & India's Tech Boom
Ep 83: A New Cancer Breakthrough with Ivan Dimov of Orca Bio
Ep 82: Whitney Baker's Masterclass on Macro Investing & the State of the Economy
Ep 81: How Palantir Star Tyler Scriven Is Helping Small Businesses Compete Against Amazon
Ep 80: Leonard Leo's Winning Strategy to Rebuild Institutions, Accelerate Innovation, and Save Our Country
Ep 79: Bjorn Lomborg and the 12 Best Policies to Help the World
Ep 78: Emil Michael — the Master Dealmaker Behind Uber's Global Dominance
Ep 77: Mike Solana on Exposing Government Corruption, Saving San Francisco, and Building a New Media Empire
Ep 76: Accelerate or Die! Guillaume Verdon and the e/acc Movement
Ep 75: Leadership Lessons with Intuit Founder & Silicon Valley Legend Scott Cook
Ep 74: A Turning Point in Higher Education with Pano Kanelos & Niall Ferguson
Ep 73: How Candid Health Is Fixing the $280B Healthcare Billing Fiasco, With Lessons from Palantir
Ep 72: Illegal Chinese Bio Labs & Secret Police in the U.S.; Investigating the CCP with Congressman Mike Gallagher
Ep 71: Reinventing Community College with Tade Oyerinde, Chancellor of Campus
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