Welcome to the family, AtlasZero!

The background story, the mission, and our plans with AtlasZero and why it’s a perfect addition to the PIRATE family.

There is a new business in the PIRATE family. 😱

It’s called AtlasZero and its mission is to make it easier for companies to be more sustainable. Read all about it in this edition.

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Before I share the story and what we are up to, here are a few highlights from what has been happening in the PIRATE family lately:

• Division5 is extending its 3D offering beyond its core developer outstaffing services. We are very bullish about in-browser 3D experiences and expect substantial market growth in the next 2-3 years. Check out the 3D animation on the division5 website to see what I mean.

• VisualMakers has extended its offering beyond NoCode courses and masterclasses. The team will now also build NoCode applications and websites and will help you maintain them yourself afterward. They are not only selling fish but teaching you how to catch it as well. 

• I have published the Last Burn speech, including the full transcript. It was an emotional ending to the PIRATE Summit series. A moment I will treasure for the rest of my life.

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How it started - Joining the ship

Sometimes a simple cold email can be the start of a venture. Daniel’s mail in July 2021 was just that.

Daniel had seen one of my keynotes at a university. I spoke about how I see the world and how PIRATE operates. He immediately reached out and inquired about becoming an Entrepreneur in Residence. After two interviews, I hired him. 

Daniel is a hands-on guy. Before joining PIRATE, he tried a few startup ideas. One of his ideas, 'One Minute For Nature,' was started with a friend who now works at VisualMakers, another company in the PIRATE family. The idea was to educate about sustainability and use the advertising revenue to plant mangroves in Madagascar. 

The idea didn’t take off, but was a great breeding ground for learning marketing and storytelling. Combined with the getting things done attitude of starting a company, those skills came in handy at PIRATE.

He took over several smaller projects that were lingering due to lack of attention, such as StartupJoblist and PIRATE.style.

Also, he supported me with our communication and marketing efforts. 

Daniel was vital to bringing back PIRATE Summit in 2022. He had no event experience and didn’t know what he was getting himself into.

Lucky for me.

When the event approached, he quickly took ownership of performance marketing, communications, and general growth hacking.

He did whatever was needed and then some. 

Who can take care of the pitch competition? Daniel raised his hand. Who can organize and facilitate the founder-investor match-making? Don’t worry, Daniel will take care of it.

And he did.

Watching the Burn together at PIRATE Summit 2022. A highlight after months of working until exhaustion.

A training ground for aspiring entrepreneurs

Usually, companies try to retain talent as long as possible. At PIRATE, we celebrate if people leave us after some time and start something of their own.

We need more entrepreneurs in the world, and we are happy if we can inspire some to choose that path.

When I hired Daniel, I told him exactly that. 

“Consider this a training ground for your entrepreneurial aspirations.”

And that’s what he did. From the start, the relationship wasn’t like that of an employer and an employee. 

He took ownership naturally. With a willingness and thirst to learn as much as possible to eventually start something by himself.

The time working on the two PIRATE Summits was a great way for him to explore opportunities.

As he was responsible for the Walk-The-Plank pitch competitions, he gained a lot of insights into the world of sustainability solutions.

He was drawn to the topic naturally. With PIRATE Summit, he got to interact and meet with the founders. He got to study their solutions, got to ask questions, and became an expert in this nascent but quickly growing market.

Something with sustainability. But what?

Daniel’s passion is for sustainability. Looking into a business that addresses the climate crisis was a logical step. 

Solving Real Problems has always been something PIRATE wants to advocate.

I believe that doing well and doing good, can - and should - go hand in hand. It’s a durable way to change the world for the better.

I was immediately on board when he told me about his initial plans to start something in the sustainability space. But what?

Slowly, an idea started to form for Daniel: “What if I could combine my knowledge of the climate solution market with my passion for sustainability?”

He started exploring some ideas. First as a side activity, later in more seriousness. After the Last Burn, there was a natural transition to work on his own thing in earnest.

PIRATE would fund the business. Provide financing, network, and know-how. But he needed to find his own idea. Something he really wanted to do. An activity and a purpose that he gets out of bed for every day, even when times are tough.

He found it in AtlasZero.

Making the market of sustainability solutions more transparent

The mission of AtlasZero is simple: We make it easier for companies to be more sustainable. As a first step, we do that by making the market of sustainability solutions more transparent.

Currently, we have over 700 solutions in our database. Most with detailed data. Some even with pricing info, which turns out to be hard to get as solutions are still figuring out their pricing strategies.

For the time being, we are focusing on CSRD and DMA solutions. You don’t know what that is? I didn’t either.

CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is a reporting standard that is - from this year on - mandatory for all companies with 500 or more employees. These companies will have to report for the first time in 2025, covering the year 2024. 

Fundamentally, with CSRD, the companies report on how sustainable they are. In a sense, it is similar to financial reporting. Imagine companies making decisions based not only on financial but also on sustainability criteria.

DMA (Double Materiality Assessment) is a process for identifying and prioritizing the sustainability topics that the company should report on for the CSRD.

What began as an initial project, AtlasZero transformed into a company as soon as we gained enough confidence in its potential. Since Daniel has been a digital nomad, traveling the world for over two years and planning to continue doing so for the foreseeable future, we chose to establish the company in Estonia.

The moment we officially founded AtlasZero. Daniel was in the Azores.

Testing assumptions and ‘hardening’ the idea

My favorite part of building a startup is its starting phase - the initial metamorphosis; the process of transforming an idea into a product and then into a solution that people are genuinely willing to pay for.

It's like riding a roller coaster that's both thrilling and terrifying – and you're the one building the tracks. One day you are on top of the world, the other day the mountain to climb feels insurmountable. With AtlasZero we are still in that roller coaster phase. But we have made some progress.

Over the past six months, we explored the market, tested our initial assumptions, and iteratively adapted and tweaked them. Following numerous customer interviews and refinement of both the website and its offerings, things began to fall into place last October.

By now, AtlasZero has 

• Built the most comprehensive database of sustainability solutions 

• Launched a free CSRD guide that has been downloaded hundreds of times

• Started a niche YouTube channel with more than 20 videos and thousands of views

• More than 700 profiles of sustainability solutions freely available on our website.

• Over 1 million LinkedIn views of Daniel’s posts on LinkedIn in 2023.

• Supported various large companies in their sustainability journey.

Announcing the CSRD Solution Finder

As of this morning, we have published our first digital product: “The CSRD Solution Finder”.

We make months of research available in the most practical way that we can think of.

With this guide, you get access to our database of CSRD solutions and will be able to narrow down to those solutions that are a good fit for your company. For customers, we cut down weeks of research to a few minutes. 

And this is just the start.

Welcome to the PIRATE family, AtlasZero! I am looking forward to seeing you grow up. 

Let’s make businesses more sustainable!

🏴‍☠️

Be safe, be healthy, and be kind. 🙏🏽

Manuel