The World's First Carbon Backed Collectible - Ecosapiens

Team Subkit -

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in arts but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Garret Kane, CCO of Ecosapiens, located in Brooklyn, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are a climate company. Our first product is a carbon-backed digital collectible that offsets the buyer's entire year of carbon output. Our core customers at launch come mostly from our community of Web3 enthusiasts and people who work in ReFi.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Garret Kane Dafferner. I'm a sculptor, animator, and writer from Brooklyn, NY. I got my start as an Art Director in advertising and worked my way up to Creative Director. I taught myself how to sculpt, animate, and write fiction in my free time. Eventually, I was able to transition into freelance, with an increased focus on my art practice, until I fully converted over. My practice has always centered around the environment and donating to environmental causes. I was in the middle of starting my own studio, GKD Studios - a concept, fabrication, design, branding, and art studio when I was contacted by Nihar Neelakanti, a VC from Menlo. He had the idea to attach high-quality carbon credits to NFTs. I liked it because it was art that could make a direct and real impact on the carbon economy if done correctly and honestly. We began exchanging ideas, and soon Ecosapiens was born, a fusion of over a decade of my art and writing with his expertise in climate tech and venture. I'm motivated simply by a desire to create beautiful work that inspires people, helps the environment, and inspires people to help the environment.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We are about to launch our beta. So if this goes well, it should be pretty impactful, using art and story to sequester an amount of carbon equal to a forest the size of San Francisco.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Our company is complex; we have to fight against a lot of opinions that are, for some reason, superly hardwired into people. The idea that blockchain and carbon credits are both bad for the environment is false. And beyond that, a lot of people don't understand what they are at all. So it's educating, informing, and trying to create a new market all at once.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Hire extremely carefully. It's the hardest part to learn and the most important.
  2. Be ready to commit a decade of your life. It might not necessarily take that long, but that's where your head has to be.
  3. One of our investor's Boost slogans is "be the cockroach," it means sometimes you just have to keep surviving to eventually succeed.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website(personal): http://garretkane.com/
Website(business): https://www.ecosapiens.xyz/
Instagram(personal): https://www.instagram.com/garret_kane/
Instagram(business): https://www.instagram.com/ecosapiens.xyz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ecosapiensxyz
LinkedIn(personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/garret-dafferner-9baa59a0/
LinkedIn(business): https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecosapiens/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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