Verified Impact at Scale
Derrick Emsley on building Veritree, restoring trust in sustainability, and creating the infrastructure for global reforestation.
In the first episode of the new Pender Ventures Founder Series, Cheri Corbett, Pender Ventures Partner, talks with Derrick Emsley, co-founder and CEO of Tentree and Veritree. They discuss his founder journey and the creation of a technology platform bringing verification, transparency, and trust to global reforestation.
Key Takeaways:
02:10 – The founding of Tentree and building a consumer brand centered on planting trees.
04:00 – Launching Veritree and the mission to verify, monitor, and report global reforestation efforts.
07:40 – Why verification and accountability became critical as reforestation efforts scaled.
10:00 – Greenwashing concerns and the growing demand for transparency in sustainability and ESG.
11:30 – What Veritree does today and the core problem it was built to solve.
13:00 – Expanding the problem set: from tracking trees to managing long-term restoration outcomes.
14:50 – Veritree as an “ERP for reforestation” and infrastructure for verified impact.
15:45 – Veritree’s vision: building trust and integrity back into impact.
16:00 – Lessons from building Tentree and how storytelling translates from B2C to B2B.
18:00 – Founder learnings: decision speed, iteration, and treating decisions as two-way doors.
20:00 – Building software infrastructure versus consumer products: key leadership shifts.
23:00 – Three-year planning, growth milestones, and category-defining strategy.
26:30 – Expanding the total addressable market beyond reforestation.
29:00 – How Veritree’s culture differs from Tentree, being at a different stage of maturity.
32:12 – Fundraising philosophy: prioritizing the right partners over capital alone.
34:54 – Life outside work: getting outdoors in Vancouver and a book recommendation from Derrick.
Episode host and guests:
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