Turning Trash into Treasure: How ChopValue's Felix Böck is Scaling Sustainability and Innovation

Price. Convenience. Taste. Can your brand deliver? Annalea Krebs, founder of Social Nature, joins the show to unpack the brutal balancing act every sustainable CPG founder faces. In a world where consumers demand it all — low prices, easy access, great taste, and environmental impact — building a brand that scales isn't just hard, it’s war. With insights from over 3 million product reviews and a decade leading shopper-driven marketing, Annalea shares data-backed strategies for thriving in a high-cost, low-margin, impact-driven industry. A must-listen for founders breaking the old retail rules to build something better.  

For Earth Month, we're spotlighting a browser turning everyday internet use into climate action. Marco sits down with Neil Henderson and Mahum Azeem from Shift to explore how they're reimagining the web browser as a tool for reducing digital emissions. From email and streaming to Slack and beyond, Shift is tackling the hidden climate cost of our online lives—without compromising performance. A must-listen for product builders, climate tech founders, and anyone curious about weaving sustainability into software at scale.  

The Capitalist Hippie (Formerly Someone Like You) Photon is building electric propulsion systems for commercial boats—and unlocking a $16B market in the process. In this episode, founders Marcelino Alvarez and Alana Kambury share how a focused go-to-market strategy, real-world use cases, and deep hardware-software integration are driving adoption in one of the most overlooked sectors in electrification. If you’re building climate tech, rethinking product-market fit, or exploring niche markets with massive upside—this conversation delivers insight, clarity, and momentum.  

Lithium demand is skyrocketing, but traditional extraction methods are water-intensive, expensive, and slow. That’s where Lithios comes in. In this episode, founder Mo Alkhadra reveals how his breakthrough technology is making lithium extraction faster, cleaner, and more cost-effective—unlocking new resources to power the EV revolution. Tune in to learn how innovation is reshaping the global supply chain and why investors are betting big on lithium’s next frontier.   Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast

What happens when a Google engineer walks away from a high-paying career to fight the climate crisis? He discovers a massive, overlooked problem: there aren’t nearly enough people working on climate solutions—yet millions want to be. In this episode, Eugene Kirpichov, co-founder and executive director of Work on Climate, shares how he’s helping thousands transition into impactful climate careers and why this workforce shift is critical to solving the climate crisis. Whether you’re looking to pivot your career, launch a climate-focused business, or invest in the green economy, this conversation is packed with insights on the biggest opportunities and how you can get involved today. Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast

In this episode, we explore the cutting-edge science helping farmers fight back against extreme weather. Marco sits down with Sue Abrams and Jerome Konecsni of ABAzyne Bioscience, the brilliant minds behind a revolutionary plant-based solution that helps vineyards and orchards withstand cold temperatures and drought. With climate change putting our global food supply at risk, this conversation dives into the science, the market potential, and what it takes for a sustainability-driven startup to succeed in an industry dominated by agricultural giants.   Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast

Stripe, Shopify, and Google are some of the world’s most innovative companies that are working with Carbon Run. Why? Because temporary solutions to climate change, like tree-planting credits, aren’t enough anymore. Carbon Run has stepped up with a revolutionary approach that delivers permanent carbon removal, restores ecosystems and improves biodiversity through enhanced rock weathering and river restoration. Join us as we speak with Luke Connell, Carbon Run’s CEO and Co-Founder, and Colton Dirksen, their Chief Business Officer. Hear how they’ve gained the trust of global brands, overcome massive challenges, and scaled a model that blends ecological restoration with financial sustainability. Whether you want to be a sustainability-driven builder, an investor, or a climate-innovation enthusiast, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss. Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast

In this eye-opening episode of Someone Like You, Mitchell, founder of The Better Butchers, opens up about his extraordinary entrepreneurial journey. Learn how he helped scale The Very Good Butchers to a near-billion-dollar valuation, only to face the harsh realities of rapid growth, public markets, and eventual insolvency. Now focused on The Better Butchers, Mitchell reveals his lessons learned, innovative strategies for tackling the future of food, and his vision for sustainable business growth. This episode is packed with insights on resilience, innovation, and the evolving plant-based protein market—perfect for dreamers and doers alike. Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast

This week, we’re re-airing one of our favourite episodes featuring Felix Böck, Founder & CEO of ChopValue, a certified B Corp based in Vancouver, Canada, that creates high-performance circular economy designs made entirely from recycled bamboo chopsticks. Hailing from South Germany, Felix came to Canada to complete a PhD at the University of British Columbia in Innovation on Composite Materials with bamboo as the main natural fibre resource. Since its founding, ChopValue has recycled and transformed over fifty million chopsticks, diverting them from landfills, and now operates microfactories globally with partners like Vancouver Airport and Cadillac Fairview. Excitingly, since this episode first aired, ChopValue announced a $15 million investment to launch its Microfactory Venture Platform, aiming to scale its unique microfactory model and further its impact worldwide. This milestone represents a significant step in the company's mission to combine sustainability with innovation, proving that waste can truly be turned into value. Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast

In this episode of Someone Like You, host Marco Pimentel sits down with Kristy O’Leary, the bold founder of Decade, a consultancy that’s turning traditional business models on their head. From growing up in a social enterprise to challenging the idea that profit and purpose can’t coexist, Kristy shares her bold vision for the future of business. Kristy doesn’t shy away from controversy. She calls out companies that fail to measure or communicate their impact and questions whether businesses that create more harm than good even deserve to exist. With a proven track record of helping over 100 companies achieve B Corp certification, she argues that innovation and imagination are key to solving the world’s toughest challenges and thriving in uncertain times. This conversation tackles the myths of greenwashing, the untapped power of impact audits, and the shocking reality that fewer than 10,000 of the world’s 336 million companies follow rigorous frameworks for doing good. Our guest shares why businesses that align profit with regeneration will own the future—and why those that cling to outdated models risk being left behind. Tune in for a provocative discussion about resilience, bold leadership, and redefining success in today’s economy. It’s a must-listen for anyone who believes businesses can—and should—leave the world better than they found it. Follow us on Instagram: @someonelikeyoupodcast