Sustainability is something many companies strive for but relatively few achieve. Jamie McCroskery joins Startup Savants to discuss his software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that makes it relatively easy for businesses to measure and improve the sustainability of their products.
- Startup Savants is a business podcast that tells the stories behind up-and-coming startups.
- Jamie McCroskery joins Startup Savants to discuss launching his greentech startup Bluebird Climate.
- Bluebird Climate’s software as a service (SaaS) platform makes it relatively easy for a business to measure and improve the sustainability of its products, as well as communicate those sustainability gains to customers.
Sustainability Is Important, but Not Easy
Jamie used to be a project manager in Glossier’s technology department, where one of his jobs was to help lead efforts to build various types of community projects. “That’s where I saw the sustainability problem firsthand,” he said during his interview with Startup Savants. “Their employees are all millennials who care about sustainability. Customers really care about it. Investors care about it.”
He soon learned that companies were stuck on how to introduce sustainable products that were still profitable. “No one really knew how to introduce sustainable products in a way that wasn’t going to blow up the business and also communicate that to customers,” he said. “It seemed like an opportunity to actually help make a difference.”
Jamie said a few industries have disproportionately high climate impact, including apparel, food and beverage, and beauty products. “We saw an opportunity to help, to use software to make it easier to produce low carbon products and then market that to their customers, which is what we do at Bluebird,” he said.
Improving Sustainability Through Data
Although many companies can try to improve sustainability by doing things like increasing the energy efficiency of their offices, Jamie said during his interview that by far the biggest gains come from changing manufacturing and distribution processes. “[About] 95% of carbon emissions come from the products and their supply chains, and that stuff is really hard to get a grasp on,” he said.
Clients can upload detailed data about their products and supply chains to Bluebird Climate’s platform. Machine learning algorithms then crunch the data to show how particular changes will affect emissions and waste generation. This eliminates guesswork and makes the process much easier. The platform also helps “transparently and authentically communicate that work to your customer so that they’re brought along with the journey following decisions you made,” Jamie said.
“Sustainability and supply chain are super complicated, and we’re able to make it really easy,” Jamie said during his interview. “[We’re] making software that brands actually want to use, not something really complicated and archaic. There is a lot of data because that’s what sustainability is: it’s carbon emissions and the waste calculations. [We] wrap that into something that’s really useful for the brand so they can communicate to their customers and make better decisions.”
Startup Savants Podcast
The Startup Savants podcast is a business podcast created by The Really Useful Information Company (TRUiC). Listeners can hear the stories behind startups, as told by their founders, who are in the midst of growing their companies.
Ethan, an entrepreneur, and Annaka, a branding expert, host the Startup Savants podcast. They bring disparate skills and life experiences to their interviews, providing listeners with important business insights and a holistic perspective on the startup ecosystem.
Hear from a variety of real startup founders from around the globe and with varying backgrounds about making their startup ideas a reality. Learn from experts sharing their industry knowledge on venture capital, securing funding, and more on the Startup Savants podcast.
Final Thoughts
Jamie McCroskery joins Startup Savants to discuss launching Bluebird Climate, which offers a B2B platform for companies to easily measure and improve the sustainability of their products to boost sales and develop stronger dialogues around sustainability.
You can find the Startup Savants podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
