Inspired with Alexa von Tobel
00:38:52 · Alexa von Tobel, Taylor Francis
[00:38:52] S2: That's awesome. [00:38:53] S0: And we think it could be really big, and so we are investing a ton in making that promise real for the customers we work with. But if we get it right, it means that a procurement team or product design team, at the moment they're making a decision, at the moment they're designing a product, can know the trade offs, can make the right decisions, and can see that feedback loop immediately, and it's literally something that would not have been possible twelve months ago. But the evolution of AI models paired with a lot of domain expertise and data that we've spent six years developing enables something that we didn't think we could have dreamed of, and now our sights are a lot higher on what's possible. [00:39:38] S2: That brings me to a a compliment Cliff gave... My husband, Cliff, gave you, which was... He was saying, you're not just supplying off the shelf AI. What you guys really are building is tools powered by proprietary mission data across global supply chains, which means that your dataset compared to just generic AI models significantly better. Talk a little bit about that advantage.
00:39:38 · Alexa von Tobel, Taylor Francis
[00:39:38] S2: That brings me to a a compliment Cliff gave... My husband, Cliff, gave you, which was... He was saying, you're not just supplying off the shelf AI. What you guys really are building is tools powered by proprietary mission data across global supply chains, which means that your dataset compared to just generic AI models significantly better. Talk a little bit about that advantage. [00:40:03] S0: Yeah. I mean, I think I'm a big believer in general that domain specificity matters a lot on AI applications for big companies. Yep. And so, I think you see that across a lot of different domains. The way we see that is this product is a great example, which is we have trained a whole bunch of agents that are really good at knowing what production processes go into a different given product, and what are the emissions of each of those processes? And there's a ton of science depth. There's a ton of peer reviewed work. There's a lot of data from Watershed's customer base is responsible for 5% of the world's carbon emissions. And so that informs the insights that we're able to bring to bear on the decisions that companies make. [00:40:53] S2: Knowing we have a few minutes left, I'm gonna ask a bunch of questions quickly to just get quick answers. When you zoom all the way out, what's the clearest signal that you're watching that tells you that you are on track towards that huge audacious goal that you started with?
00:40:53 · Alexa von Tobel, Taylor Francis
[00:40:53] S2: Knowing we have a few minutes left, I'm gonna ask a bunch of questions quickly to just get quick answers. When you zoom all the way out, what's the clearest signal that you're watching that tells you that you are on track towards that huge audacious goal that you started with? [00:41:09] S0: Well, I'll be honest. I feel we've got a lot more to do. And I feel like the sense I have when I think about that goal is a goal of inflection, acceleration. We've got the potential energy. We've got this huge privilege of getting to work with companies responsible for 5% of the world's carbon emissions. That's potential energy. We've got to turn that kinetic and real reductions, real action. So the thing I'm looking at is how many solar panels are in the ground that wouldn't be there without us? How many battery deployments are there that wouldn't be without our customers? How many preserved forests because companies are sourcing crops without deforestation are there as a result of the companies that we work with taking smart action? [00:41:57] S2: You working in climate means you're working thinking decades out. And to your point, you said, like, some of the best things that you've seen from some of your investors are this just long term thinking, very intentional thinking. Do you have any hack or anything that you've kind of trained yourself, Taylor, to just stay grounded in that thinking when you're faced with, like, potentially just hard decisions? [00:42:21] S0: I mean, I I think it's the keep the main thing the main thing thing, you know, and
00:42:21 · Taylor Francis, Alexa von Tobel
[00:42:21] S0: I mean, I I think it's the keep the main thing the main thing thing, you know, and [00:42:27] S2: Keep your eye on the prize. [00:42:29] S0: Keep your eyes on the prize. And for us, that is mission, customer, team. And so mission is how does this add up to 500 megatons? Customer is you cannot evade, there's nothing more valuable than a happy customer, and everything needs to build towards that. And then team has gotta be a really special place for great people to do great work to pull that off. [00:42:54] S2: I love that. Taylor, I'm gonna transition to just questions. You tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. What is the habit you've adopted in this role that has helped you stay on the treadmill? [00:43:08] S0: I don't know that it's about this role, but my favorite habit is get a five year journal where you've got four lines per day, and every page shows the same day over the last five years. And at the end of every day, you write four lines. It doesn't need to be groundbreaking. What did you do? How did you feel? What did you think? And two big moments of payoff. One is at that moment, you feel a bitter reflection on, okay, I got something done today. And then you get to see where were you a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, four years ago, five years ago on that day, and it just makes you feel like you're making progress. They're $40 on Amazon. I need the journal. I'm on my second one. They're fantastic. [00:43:50] S2: By the way, you have to send me this link. I'm I'm... I cannot wait. [00:43:53] S0: We'll put it in the show notes.
00:43:53 · Taylor Francis, Alexa von Tobel
[00:43:53] S0: We'll put it in the show notes. [00:43:54] S2: I know. We literally... I'm... I... It'll be linked to it. Yeah. What are the book that you've read that changed your life? Just any book that you strongly recommend. Doesn't have to be a business book. [00:44:03] S0: Just Kids, Patti Smith. [00:44:05] S2: Love it. A mantra that just kinda runs in your head. Any mantra, but something meaningful to you. [00:44:13] S0: My mom's mom would say over and over again, why not? Why not? Why not? What's the worst that could happen? And she was blind when she was old, and so we actually... Everyone in my family has a key chain that says, Why not? In braille on it. And I feel like that's the appropriate response to a lot of questions. [00:44:38] S2: I just got chills. That's incredible. Last two questions. If you think of the biggest pinch me moment that you've had to date since building Watershed, What was it? What was the day you went home from work and just kind of felt like, wow, we... Wow. What happened? [00:44:55] S0: First, all company off-site. It was Bodega Bay. There were maybe 40 people at the company, and just it's an insane privilege for so many smart people to trust their time and their brilliance into this thing we're doing. [00:45:13] S2: I I I... That is a pinch me moment. And I wanna end on, what is one thing that everyone listening can do, one new habit, to help our environment and our climate? What's one thing that's simple that we should all be doing?
00:45:13 · Alexa von Tobel, Taylor Francis
[00:45:13] S2: I I I... That is a pinch me moment. And I wanna end on, what is one thing that everyone listening can do, one new habit, to help our environment and our climate? What's one thing that's simple that we should all be doing? [00:45:25] S0: Most important thing is to make sure that you're getting your electricity from renewable sources. There's a lot of ways to do that. It doesn't require putting a solar panel on your roof. Most utilities have green power programs. They work. That's the biggest lever on decarbonizing the economy. [00:45:41] S2: Everybody, if you're listening, opt in. Opt in to your clean clean climate, clean energy. Taylor, it has been a pleasure getting to know you. I'm clearly rooting for you, heart, soul, and mind, and we just wish you the biggest luck, and thank you so much for letting us just listen. Everybody out there, if your company is not already using Watershed, if they should be, I write in, to the appropriate people. Make sure Watershed is on their radar, and just tailor at Godspeed. Truly. [00:46:10] S0: Thank you so much. This was a joy. [00:46:13] S2: Thank you all so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, subscribe. We'll be back again with another episode of Inspired with Alexa von Tobel. Thank you.