How MedAsian CEO Michael Ma Turned a Dental Crisis into a Public-Private Win
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Some challenges are too large for governments, businesses or nonprofits to solve alone. China’s growing dental health crisis among senior citizens is one of them.
With an aging population and widespread oral health issues, millions of older Chinese face declining nutrition, reduced social engagement and diminished quality of life. Traditional approaches through public health campaigns and corporate philanthropy have struggled to address the scale of the problem.
MedAsian, a Hong Kong-founded healthcare advisory company, took a different approach. Rather than treating the issue as a medical problem alone, it built an ecosystem of partners capable of addressing clinical, social and public trust barriers at the same time.
Working alongside the Shanghai Elderly Foundation and global oral care solutions leader Straumann Group, MedAsian launched the Smile Ambassadors initiative, a public-private partnership designed to improve awareness of dental implantology, expand access to care and ultimately improve the lives of senior citizens.
The result is a case study in how leaders can align government priorities, commercial interests and public needs to create measurable social impact.
An overlooked epidemic
According to MedAsian, 86% of China’s senior citizens suffer from untreated oral health issues. Tooth loss is particularly prevalent among older adults.
“People between 60 to 74, 80.5% of them have lost teeth,” notes YPO member Michael Ma, CEO of MedAsian.
Among those aged 65 to 74, many have already lost six or seven teeth, while “4.5% of them are totally without teeth,” he adds.
While dental implants have become increasingly common in developed markets, adoption in China remains limited to wealthier populations. Many seniors rely on removable dentures that often reduce comfort and quality of life.
“Before 2023, implantology was not as popular as it is today in China,” says Ma. “Only a few people, especially in the rich sector, approached implantology. Mostly the elderly use the removable retainer.”
For many seniors, the consequences extend beyond oral health. Difficulty eating affects nutrition. Missing teeth reduce confidence. Social isolation often follows.
While the technology exists to solve the problem, access, awareness and trust historically have not.
Building a supportive ecosystem
MedAsian recognized that no single organization could bridge those gaps alone. Rather than launching a standalone corporate initiative, the company focused on assembling complementary partners.
The Shanghai Elderly Foundation provided access to a vast network of seniors and the credibility that comes with public-sector involvement. Straumann Group contributed clinical expertise, technology and funding. MedAsian acted as the architect, connecting stakeholders and coordinating execution.
Success required aligning multiple interests. Government and commercial organizations plus the public’s unmet medical needs create what Ma calls “a very powerful triangle to build up the better living conditions of the people.”
That triangle became the foundation of the Smile Ambassadors initiative.
Beginning in early 2024, MedAsian consulted with government officials, positioning the program as a pilot aligned with Shanghai’s broader public health objectives.
Understanding the rules of the game
One of the most significant lessons from the initiative was the importance of understanding China’s policy environment. According to Ma, entrepreneurs often underestimate the role the government plays in shaping public acceptance and market adoption.
Winning government support was not easy because of, what Ma calls, “the distance” between commerce and government. He needed to convince the government to give him a chance.
It’s a win-win. The government wins the people’s goodwill. For the commercial entity, they win the brands. … You must align your commercial vision with the political ambition.
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— Michael Ma, CEO of MedAsian
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The process required significant discussions, approvals and stakeholder alignment. “It took us almost six to eight months to get everything ready,” he says.
Yet those efforts ultimately created a framework that allowed public trust and private innovation to reinforce one another rather than operate separately.
For Ma, the lesson for business leaders is straightforward. “You must align your commercial vision with government ambition,” he says.
That does not mean abandoning commercial goals but rather identifying where business objectives and public policy priorities intersect. “As a businessperson, how can you help them achieve their ambition? This will help you achieve your commercial ambition,” Ma explains.
Bringing care directly to communities
Once the partnership framework was established, each organization moved quickly to play their part. Straumann mobilized funding and specialist clinicians. The Shanghai Elderly Foundation activated its extensive community network. Volunteers engaged directly with seniors, addressing skepticism and building confidence in the program.
The outreach effort extended across Shanghai through consultations, educational events, screenings and awareness campaigns. “We discussed how implantology could help senior people live better, improve their quality of life,” says Ma.
The initiative went beyond clinical treatment. Educational workshops helped seniors understand modern dental solutions. Community events created opportunities for engagement. Local consultations connected residents directly with professionals. And MedAsian set out to reach seniors in hard-to-reach communities. “We even organized some crews for the senior people on boats on the Huangpu River in Shanghai,” Ma recalls.
The objective was not simply to provide treatment but to create familiarity with implantology and encourage informed decision-making.
Measuring impact beyond dentistry
The Smile Ambassadors initiative produced impressive operational results. By late 2024, the program had conducted thousands of screenings and provided restorative treatments to hundreds of seniors. Community nurses received specialized training to continue oral health education at the neighborhood level.
Do things that are more fitting to the local context and the local rules of the game.
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— Michael Ma. MedAsia CEO
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Yet the most meaningful outcomes were often personal rather than statistical. Data showed substantial improvements in nutritional intake and social participation among treated seniors. Individuals who had struggled with eating, speaking or socializing regained confidence and independence.
The approach generated benefits for every participant. Government agencies advanced healthy aging objectives. Seniors gained access to education and care. Straumann strengthened awareness of implantology and its technology. MedAsian demonstrated the value of coordinated healthcare ecosystems.
As Ma puts it, “It’s a win-win. The government wins the people’s goodwill. For the commercial entity, they win the brands.”
The key was creating value for all stakeholders rather than asking any one participant to shoulder the responsibility alone.
Scaling the model nationally
Shanghai’s success provides a powerful proof of concept, but replicating the model across China presents new challenges.
“China is such a vast country,” says Ma. “From north, south, east, west, and tier one, tier two, tier three, tier five, there is a huge difference.”
Tier systems are unofficially used to classify cities in China based on GDP and population to assess their development and economic potential. MedAsian is now working with broader government stakeholders to expand awareness and access nationwide. The company is also developing training and education centers in lower-tier cities where modern dental services remain less accessible.
“Our mission for this year is to go national,” Ma says.
The ambition reflects broader demographic realities. China’s senior population continues to grow rapidly, increasing demand for healthcare solutions that support healthy aging and quality of life. For MedAsian, the goal is not merely to replicate a program but to scale an ecosystem.
The leadership lesson
The Smile Ambassadors initiative offers a powerful lesson for leaders confronting large-scale social challenges. Complex problems rarely yield to isolated interventions. They require innovative thinking, stakeholder alignment and patience to build trust across organizational boundaries.
MedAsian’s achievement was not simply restoring hundreds of smiles. It was creating a framework through which public institutions, private enterprises, healthcare professionals and community organizations could collaborate around a shared mission.
The initiative demonstrates that meaningful change often begins not with a breakthrough technology or a large donation, but with thoughtful architecture.
As Ma advises entrepreneurs looking to create impact in China, success depends on understanding local realities and adapting accordingly. “Be more creative as an entrepreneur,” he says. “Do things that are more fitting to the local context and the local rules of the game.”
In Shanghai, that philosophy transformed a dental health crisis into a model of collaborative innovation.
In the Age of AI, Leadership Won’t Happen by Accident
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
As artificial intelligence reshapes the entry-level job, we can no longer rely on the traditional apprenticeship model to develop future leaders.
Twenty-five years ago, if you dreamed of one day becoming a CEO, your early jobs consisted of work you probably didn’t particularly enjoy: building spreadsheets, poring over legal cases, combing through research, staying late to create presentations. It was repetitive and often tedious work, but it was also formative; the opportunity many future leaders needed to learn the fundamentals of business.
Today, artificial intelligence (AI) can complete much of that foundational work in a matter of minutes – a huge efficiency gain for chief executives across industries, to be sure. But it also raises an important question: If AI removes the work that once taught judgment, resilience and business instincts, where will tomorrow’s leaders learn those skills?
The question today’s leaders must grapple with isn’t simply what happens to entry-level jobs. It’s what happens to an organization’s leadership pipeline when the first rung of the career ladder is being rewritten.
Future leaders can’t afford to learn passively
YPO member Peggy Choi knows firsthand the value of the traditional apprenticeship model. Before founding tokenization company Craftt and enterprise AI deployment company Anthora.AI, she spent years at Goldman Sachs and Silver Lake, experiences she credits with building the skills that shaped her career. Today, she believes AI is forcing the next generation to develop those same qualities far more intentionally.
“It’s no longer an option to passively learn on the job,” she says. “You have got to be very proactive in developing yourself from the start.”
So how do entry-level employees build up that industry and institutional knowledge without the years of the hands-on “grunt” work of the past?
“I do worry a lot,” admits Choi. “If you haven’t done the work, it’s almost impossible to know what to look for.”
She doesn’t have a clear answer, but until organizations rethink how they develop early-career talent, she believes much of the responsibility falls on individuals. Rather than absorbing judgment through repetition, future leaders must actively seek it — learning not only how to use AI, but how to question it. That means understanding where the technology excels, where it falls short, and when human judgment should take precedence.
It’s no longer an option to be passively learning on the job. You have got to be very proactive in developing yourself from the start.
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— Peggy Choi, Founder, Craftt
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And the work itself is already beginning to evolve. Rather than spending their early careers completing every task manually, Choi believes young professionals will increasingly be expected to improve the systems doing the work.
“We need our employees to start to train the models,” she says. “A big part of our work becomes training and benchmarking and evaluating.”
In many ways, she says, learning to manage AI isn’t all that different from learning to manage people. Both require clear direction, evaluating performance and knowing when to intervene. The technology might do the work, but humans will remain responsible for improving it and, above all, applying good judgment.
Organizations must build intentionally
“There is a risk that we are creating a huge leadership gap right now,” warns YPO member Gregor Fiabane on the impact of AI on entry-level jobs.
As Managing Partner at Korn Ferry, Fiabane has spent his career helping organizations identify, develop and succession-plan future leaders. From his perspective, the challenge is making sure organizations replace what is being removed.
“Organizations must intentionally redesign their development models,” he says. “The traditional apprentice model may no longer happen, but leadership development remains deeply human.”
Fiabane believes companies can no longer assume leadership capability will naturally emerge over time. Instead, organizations must create the experiences that repetitive work once provided. That doesn’t mean recreating busywork. Rather, it’s all about giving early-career professionals the opportunities to develop judgment through mentorship, coaching, rotational experiences, stretch assignments and leadership exposure — all things AI can’t automate.
Ironically, this makes AI more of an opportunity than a challenge in his eyes: By eliminating administrative tasks, organizations can now expose young professionals to more strategic work earlier in their careers.
Organizations must intentionally redesign their development models. The traditional apprentice model may no longer happen, but leadership development remains deeply human.
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— Gregor Fiabane, Managing Partner, Korn Ferry
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“AI may really accelerate the learning,” he points out. Yet he doesn’t believe the qualities that define great CEOs are changing nearly as much as the path to becoming one.
“Critical thinking is becoming much more important,” he says, adding that vision, strategy, judgment and the ability to rally people around a common purpose are leadership fundamentals that will remain consistent.
Choi believes that if organizations and future leaders embrace the challenge, AI has the potential to return leadership to its most human work. By automating more of the operational execution, leaders may ultimately have more time to focus on judgment, relationships, culture and developing people. “We’ll have a lot more time to really be in touch with the core,” she says. “We’ll think a lot more about humans, what we enjoy doing and how we create those experiences.”
How YPO’s Global Business Summit Helped Fuel Growth for NOVICA and Handmade.com
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
For NOVICA CEO Roberto Milk, YPO’s Global Business Summit (GBS) wasn’t just another conference. He arrived with a compelling investment proposition, and he left with more than 50 qualified leads, closed a USD500,000 tranche of Novica’s active USD6 million investment round and began term sheet discussions for a new strategic partnership — giving the company momentum to expand its impact.
The seeds of NOVICA were planted by Roberto Milk’s grandmother, a Peruvian artist whose work revealed both the beauty of handmade craft and the barriers preventing craftspeople from receiving fair value for it, inspiring a 25-year mission to help artisans connect with consumers on fairer terms.
These artisans, crafting everything from handwoven textiles to ceramics, often saw their work sold at enormous markups while they received little in return. As Milk explains, “An artist that sells an item for USD10, might see it retail for USD150.” Artists were “rarely empowered,” he says. Middlemen kept them “hidden in the corners,” leaving them with little negotiating power and little recognition for their work. For Milk, the conclusion was simple: “Talented artists around the world are not getting a fair shake.”
Milk founded NOVICA with a mission to rewrite the rules of global commerce, helping talented artisans receive fair value for their work.
Making that ambition a reality takes more than a great idea. It requires the right relationships at the right time. Milk found many of those through YPO’s GBS, where conversations that began over a few days quickly developed into investment opportunities, strategic partnerships and lasting business relationships.
The accelerator
Milk has been a YPO member for more than a decade and credits the organization with playing an important role throughout NOVICA’s journey. And if YPO builds relationships, Milk says, GBS accelerates them.
Attending GBS in Los Angeles, he found an event unlike any other business conference he had experienced. “It’s an accelerator in some ways of your YPO relationships,” he says. Rather than simply introducing members to one another, the summit created an environment where trusted relationships quickly turned into meaningful business conversations. “The amount of follow-up was light years beyond any conference that I’ve ever been to.”
At GBS, Milk introduced peers both to NOVICA and its new fast-growing subsidiary, Handmade.com. “Someone who invests in NOVICA gets both,” he explains. For investors, the proposition combined the stability of an established business with the potential of an AI-driven growth company, offering what Milk describes as “the long trajectory of NOVICA” alongside “the fast-growth startup of Handmade.com.”
Talented artists around the world are not getting a fair shake.
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— Roberto Milk, CEO of NOVICA and Handmade.com
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Milk took his investment proposition to GBS’s Deal Tank, where entrepreneurs present their businesses to an audience of experienced founders and investors for feedback, introductions and potential investment. Deal Tank opened the door, Milk says. But one of his biggest surprises came elsewhere.
“Something that I didn’t expect is how powerful and enjoyable the Needs & Leads sessions were,” he says. Rather than simply exchanging business cards, Milk found members actively looking for ways to help one another.
Beyond new introductions, GBS also changed the nature of existing relationships. Milk found himself discussing opportunities with members he had known for years but had never spoken to about business. The structured format gave them permission to put real needs on the table. As he explains, “People who know us, they’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were raising money!'”
Results soon followed. Milk left GBS with more than 50 qualified leads, while also helping fellow members’ businesses by personally making around 40 to 50 introductions. GBS also helped NOVICA complete a USD500,000 tranche of its active USD6 million investment round, as well as sparking term sheet discussions for a new USD5 million strategic partnership.
The mission evolves
To fulfill its mission, NOVICA partners directly with artisans through a worldwide network of Artisan Empowerment Hubs, where products are photographed and cataloged before being introduced to international markets. Acting as what Milk describes as a “concierge service for artists to get online,” the hubs also provide no-interest microcredit, allowing artisans to borrow against their products — something he says has proved to be “a game changer for many artists.” NOVICA has connected thousands of craftspeople with customers around the world, returning more than USD140 million directly to artisans and their communities.
Recognizing the model didn’t work well for artists living far from its hubs, Milk created Handmade.com. The new platform removes many of the traditional barriers to reaching customers, allowing artists to onboard using AI, photographing products from their own workshops while the technology removes backgrounds and generates product descriptions in any language.
Handmade isn’t a departure from NOVICA’s mission — it’s the next step in making it universally accessible, Milk explains. The ambition remains the same, just on a larger scale.
The lasting impact
With Handmade.com extending NOVICA’s reach beyond the limits of its Artisan Empowerment Hubs, Milk’s ambition remains unchanged: to ensure that talented artisans everywhere have the opportunity to build sustainable businesses and reach customers anywhere. GBS has helped accelerate that journey, providing the relationships and momentum to take the mission further.
Beyond creating economic opportunities for artisans, NOVICA’s model generates a wider impact, Milk explains, from preserving traditional craftsmanship and empowering women to improving educational outcomes within local communities. He believes this broader purpose is part of the company’s appeal. “I think that resonates with a lot of people,” he adds. “They like to be able to invest in companies that can grow and also that can have a positive impact.”
NOVICA’s work was also recognized when Milk was honored with a regional 2020 YPO Global Impact Award. “We have a fast-growth company that’s investable, but also that’s deeply impacting people’s lives,” Milk says.
We’re all busy. You know what? It’s worth it.
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— Roberto Milk, CEO of NOVICA and Handmade.com
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Yet, while the recognition was meaningful, it is the relationships formed through YPO that Milk believes have had the greatest long-term impact. “These amazing relationships have led to so many important decisions and important steps for us as a company and me personally,” he says.
His advice to fellow YPO members is to make the time for GBS. For Milk, the greatest challenge wasn’t deciding whether GBS was worthwhile — it was making the time to attend in the first place. “I’m a roll-up-your-sleeves entrepreneur who is always busy,” he says. Looking back, however, making that time was one of the best decisions he could have made.
“GBS for us has been the most incredible experience ever from a conference standpoint… by far the most meaningful YPO in-person experience that I’ve ever been to,” Milk says. “We’re all busy. You know what? It’s worth it.”
YPO members can join the GBS 2026 in Istanbul by registering here.
Making Their Mark: YPO Members Among This Year’s EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Finalists
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Great entrepreneurs don’t just build successful businesses — they change the way people live. Meet the six entrepreneurs from the YPO community who represented their respective countries on the global stage at EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2026 doing exactly that. From improving healthcare outcomes and expanding access to education, to transforming pet nutrition, urban mobility and global technology, these innovators are tackling real-world challenges with bold ideas, unquenchable ambition and lasting impact.
Raising the Standard for Pet Nutrition: Isaac Langleben & Jacqueline Prehogan | Canada
When Isaac Langleben and Jacqueline Prehogan first adopted their rescue dogs, they were surprised by the lack of ingredient transparency in pet food across the industry. That realization led them to found Open Farm in 2014 with a mission to combine premium pet nutrition with responsible sourcing and ingredient traceability. Today, the Certified B Corporation reaches pet owners and their furry companions through more than 8,500 retail locations worldwide. Learn more about theEY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Canada winners’ journey here.
A Legacy of Learning: Ari de Sá Neto | Brazil
Founder and CEO of Arco Educação, Ari de Sá Neto has spent his career expanding access to high-quality education across Brazil. Building on a family legacy that began when his grandfather founded a school in 1944, which his father later transformed into a national benchmark, de Sá Neto created Arco Educação to bring evidence-based learning tools to schools nationwide. Today, their integrated solutions reach more than 4 million students, and 141,000 teachers across 12,000 schools. Recognized as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Brazil for 2026, de Sá Neto is now leading Arco’s next chapter with a USD220 million investment to develop Latin America’s first operating system for schools.
Broader Access to Better Healthcare: Chin Wei Jia | Singapore
Group CEO of Health Management International (HMI), Chin Wei Jia has spent over two decades helping HMI expand access to quality, patient-centered care across Southeast Asia. Since joining the organization in 2002, she has overseen its evolution into an integrated healthcare network spanning Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, combining hospitals, specialist centers, primary care, diagnostics and telehealth. Today, HMI supports more than 3 million patient visits annually. Singapore’s finalist at EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2026, Wei Jia continues to champion digital innovation, regional partnerships and connected care that helps patients receive the right care at the right time.
From One Village Computer to Millions of Global Users: Dušan Šenkypl | Czech Republic
Dušan Šenkypl’s entrepreneurial journey began as a teenager in socialist Czechoslovakia, when a quest to buy his village’s first computer inspired him to start a small business. He went on to build Czechia’s first internet banking platform before moving to the United States to launch another IT company that developed products for more than 200 million users. Today, as co-founder and partner of Pale Fire Capital and CEO of Groupon, he helps build and scale global technology businesses. Under his leadership, Groupon returned to profitability, while Pale Fire has supported the growth of companies including Rouvy, itrinity and Mubi. Read more about the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2026 for Czech Republic.
Rethinking Urban Mobility: Charles Richard Oentomo | Indonesia
Charles Richard Oentomo founded Centrepark in 2009 after recognizing the potential to transform one of Indonesia’s most routine everyday services. Under his leadership, the company has evolved from a traditional parking operator into a technology-driven business that helps property owners manage their assets more effectively while making parking simpler and more convenient for millions of people. Today, Centrepark operates in more than 700 locations across 60 cities and employs over 5,000 people. Read more about Indonesia’s EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2026 finalists.
YPO is proud to collaborate with EY, its Strategic Learning Advisor, to help global leaders drive innovation, accelerate growth and create long-term value. Learn from the successes of thousands of the world’s fastest-growing entrepreneurs and realize your ambition faster.
From Deal Tank to Nasdaq
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
How GBS helped accelerate Deep Fission’s remarkable journey
At the 2024 YPO Global Business Summit (GBS), Liz Muller stood before her fellow YPO members with an early-stage company that had only recently emerged from stealth mode. During Deal Tank, a live pitch competition at GBS, she offered a rare opportunity to invest. Less than two years later, Deep Fission (FISN) is publicly traded on the Nasdaq.
The journey illustrates how the conversations that begin at GBS can lead to extraordinary business opportunities.
Deep Fission was Liz Muller’s second company. It was founded to tackle one of the defining challenges of the artificial intelligence (AI) era: how to meet rising energy demand while delivering reliable, low-carbon power. The company is developing a new approach to nuclear energy by leveraging pressurized water reactor technology and drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry. It aims to make nuclear power faster, more affordable and easier to deploy.
Nuclear fission, Muller explains, is “very, very simple.”
Turning potential into progress
The real complexity — the time and cost — comes from everything built around the reactor: the containment buildings, pressurization systems and other safety infrastructure required above ground.
“We’re not inventing new reactor physics,” she says. “We’re just having it deployed in a different environment.” By placing small modular reactors deep underground, the surrounding rock and water perform many of those functions naturally. “Deep Fission is the only one doing it in a borehole a mile underground,” Muller adds. “So, our vision for this is pretty unique.”
The goal is to develop a design that can ultimately be built “much, much faster and much, much cheaper than we’ve ever been able to do before,” Muller explains.
Following GBS, Deep Fission’s momentum continued to build. The company quickly raised further funding, gaining significant market traction.
“And then we just kept growing,” she says. “We took the decision to go public less than a year after GBS. The whole process took about a year, and just this past month we finally got listed on the Nasdaq and are now trading as a public company.”
Muller has little doubt that GBS accelerated Deep Fission’s journey to market.
If you go in with an open mind and are just open to learning from people who you trust and believe in and have this sort of peerdom with, I think it really can impact your business and impact your world.
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— Liz Muller, Chief Executive Officer at Deep Fission
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The capital mattered. So did the validation. But what made GBS unique was the opportunity to put an early-stage business in front of hundreds of experienced entrepreneurs from vastly different industries.
“It was a great chance to validate what we’re building,” she says, “to see if this is something that would resonate with a broader market than the VCs we’d been narrowly targeting up to that point.”
The caliber of the YPO audience mattered, too. “They had great questions,” Muller recalls. “Every one of them was making me think about things differently.”
YPO members approached the business as fellow entrepreneurs, offering perspectives that would continue to shape Deep Fission long after the summit had ended.
But the investment opportunity was only part of Muller’s GBS experience. During the summit she joined panels on AI and leadership, conversations that would prove just as influential to Deep Fission’s future as the capital it raised.
One recurring theme was one of the defining questions of the AI revolution: How will we generate enough power to support it? For Muller, the answer was obvious. “Well, if you need power, you need nuclear power, and here’s where Deep Fission can help,” she says.
The conversations around AI also shaped Muller’s thinking. As a young company, Deep Fission was still deciding how it wanted to grow. “We wanted to be an AI-native company from the beginning,” she says. Rather than bolting AI onto existing processes, the goal was to build it into the business from Day 1.
The discussions at GBS reinforced that ambition, helping define how the company would use AI as it scaled. That decision to grow as an AI-native company, Muller adds, has been helpful in terms of how they use their resources efficiently.
One connection in particular would prove especially valuable. “It also led to my meeting Stuart Lacey,” Muller says. “We ended up bringing him in as a fractional AI officer.” For Muller, the appointment illustrated how GBS had influenced Deep Fission, “not just on the investment side, but also in the ‘how we grow’ side.”
Why the right room matters
Asked what advice she would give a fellow YPO member considering attending GBS, Muller doesn’t hesitate. The greatest opportunities, she says, aren’t always the ones you expect. While the opportunity to invest in Deep Fission may have first drawn members to Deal Tank, the conversations that followed ultimately proved just as valuable.
“The connections that we get through YPO are really just incredibly valuable,” Muller says. “YPOers think like CEOs.”
From investment and validation to AI strategy and leadership, GBS shaped Deep Fission in ways Muller could never have predicted before she arrived.
“And that’s why if you go in with an open mind and are just open to learning from people who you trust and believe in and have this sort of peerdom with, I think it really can impact your business and impact your world.”
YPO members can join the GBS 2026 in Istanbul by registering here.
The World Cup Effect
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
For Brett Johnson, the FIFA World Cup is more than a tournament. It’s a window into football — or soccer, for our readers in the United States — and its unique power to unite communities, shape economies and define the future of the most popular sport on Earth.
We are deep into extra time. World Cup debutant Cape Verde, the smallest country ever to reach the knockout stages, has held the current world champions at bay for 90 minutes, forcing this remarkable match into extra time.
Argentina has taken the lead again in the 93rd minute.
But Cape Verde is not defeated yet. Heroic defending and a superhuman goalkeeper have kept the dream alive. Then, with 102 minutes on the clock, Sidny Lopes Cabral receives the ball out wide. He passes it inside, receives it back, skips over a challenge from the Argentine defender – he could go down, but stays on his feet – checks his stride, sets himself, then releases a sublime long-range effort from outside the box.
The ball seems to hang in the humid Miami air for a magical few moments as an entire stadium of 64,000 fans holds its breath. It traces a long arc over the defenders’ heads, beyond the goalkeeper and into the top corner.
After 103 minutes, it’s 2-2.
Argentina will go on to clinch a 3-2 victory. But this is a goal that will live forever.
More than 4,000 miles away, it is after one o’clock in the morning in Cardiff, Wales. A group of English friends on a bachelor weekend are crowded around a television at the end of a bar. Cabral’s shot finds the top corner, the net ripples with Cape Verde’s second goal, and the entire place erupts.
What is it about the World Cup that makes a bunch of English guys on a night out in Wales care so deeply about a game happening in Florida, between two countries half a world away, to which they have no immediate ties?
According to YPO member Brett Johnson — owner of USL Championship club Rhode Island FC and English Premier League side Ipswich Town FC — that question goes to the very heart of what makes the FIFA World Cup unlike any other sporting event on Earth.
“Beyond compare”
There are, after all, plenty of global stage sporting events. The Olympics. Super Bowl. Wimbledon. Each attracts vast audiences that transcend borders. Yet Johnson believes the FIFA World Cup stands apart from them all.
“It’s beyond compare,” he says. “I think it’s the greatest [sporting event] in the word by some margin. And the fact that it really is the World’s Cup ….”
Even if most Americans still call it soccer, football, he argues, is the only truly global sport. “With the greatest of respect to cricket, every single country plays this sport,” Johnson says “Every single country has an opportunity to field a team and qualify for these finals.”
It’s exactly what the world needs. Seeing the sea of humanity — the Dutch fans, the Scottish fans, the Cape Verdean fans — it’s example after example of what makes this sporting event the best in the world and truly unique.
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— Brett Johnson, owner of USL Championship club Rhode Island FC and English Premier League side Ipswich Town FC
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And the 2026 tournament’s expansion to 48 teams has only strengthened that sense of possibility. The additional 16 teams created an extra knock-out round, with the eight best third-placed teams also advancing from the group stage.
Critics feared a larger tournament would dilute the quality, but some of its most compelling matches have come from teams many expected to struggle.
“It’s clearly proven to be the right move,” Johnson says. “Some of the best games in the tournament were the ones everyone was worried about.”
Cape Verde’s extraordinary run is the clearest example. “I don’t know if there’s been a sporting event that’s had a more positive impact on a country than what this World Cup has meant to Cape Verde.”
Before this summer, many people wouldn’t have realized Cape Verde was even its own country. Now, Johnson argues, millions have been introduced to the island nation through its football.
A transformative tournament
If the World Cup can change the fortunes of the nations taking part, Johnson believes it can be just as transformative for those that host it. For more than a month, North America became the world’s meeting place as millions of supporters from every corner of the globe flocked to stadiums, city streets and fan zones in their national colors, turning host cities into a month-long festival of football, culture and shared celebration.
“The tournament’s just been so incredible,” Johnson says. “It’s exactly what the world needs. Seeing the sea of humanity — the Dutch fans, the Scottish fans, the Cape Verdean fans — it’s example after example of what makes this sporting event the best in the world and truly unique.”
After the celebrations end, Johnson believes the tournament’s greatest legacy will be the new generation of supporters it creates in the United States. Millions of Americans have now experienced football at its biggest and best for the first time, and he believes many will become lifelong followers of the game.
“In the United States, it will clearly hit a whole other level,” he says. “The amount of people who will now be converts to the beautiful game will go to another level.”
For Johnson, that transformation extends far beyond the final whistle. As Americans discover football’s biggest stars and breakout players, many will begin following the clubs those players represent, while a new generation of children will be inspired to choose it over other sports. With the FIFA Women’s World Cup arriving in North America next year, he believes that momentum will only continue to build.
“America is the last frontier,” Johnson says. “There’s still so many Americans who don’t have it as anywhere close to their top sport, and that’ll start to change.”
Changing the game
Beyond inspiring new supporters, the World Cup also offers a glimpse of where the sport itself is heading. Many of the innovations that define the modern game — including goal-line technology, referees’ vanishing spray and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) — first came to global prominence on football’s biggest stage before becoming familiar features of domestic competitions around the world. Johnson believes this summer’s tournament may ultimately be remembered for a different kind of innovation.
This year’s tournament offered fresh evidence of that evolution. But this time, the shift appears to be less about technology than presentation, structure and the growing influence of the American sports model.
I do treat it like a business. I’m looking for a return on investment, but the catalytic element of social and economic impact is staggering. The turn of fortune of Ipswich since we’ve owned it, bringing it back to the Premier League, is staggering.
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— Brett Johnson, owner of USL Championship club Rhode Island FC and English Premier League side Ipswich Town FC
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The final itself reflected that influence, with an extended halftime break featuring a star-studded musical performance more reminiscent of the Super Bowl than a traditional football match. Before kickoff, actor Tom Cruise addressed the fans. All of this ‘extra’ underlines FIFA’s growing willingness to embrace entertainment alongside elite competition.
While those moments may ultimately prove to be little more than window dressing, the tournament’s most significant innovation came in the form of the newly introduced hydration breaks. Presented primarily as a player welfare measure to combat the North American summer heat, they also created additional commercial inventory for broadcasters while giving coaches an unprecedented opportunity to influence matches during play. In effect, they nudged football a little closer to the quarter-by-quarter rhythm that has long defined American sports.
Johnson acknowledges the commercial logic behind those changes but admits they come with trade-offs. “I take an attitude where anything that slows the game down, I’m against,” he says, arguing that football’s uninterrupted flow is one of its defining strengths.
Yet, as both a club owner and investor, he also recognizes the commercial realities driving the sport’s evolution. “It is a business at the end of the day,” he says. “English fans will hate it … but now that broadcasters are seeing the additional advertising revenue, that might be where it’s too difficult to put the toothpaste back in the tube.”
Beyond the final whistle
The World Cup may be football’s greatest stage, but its legacy is ultimately carried forward by the local clubs and communities that sustain the game between tournaments. For Johnson, a successful football club becomes far more than a sporting institution. It can act as a catalyst for jobs, investment, housing and wider regeneration, while bringing new energy to the communities it serves.
He has seen that firsthand in both England and the United States. Since his ownership group acquired Suffolk’s Ipswich Town, the club has returned to the Premier League after more than two decades away.
“I do treat it like a business. I’m looking for a return on investment, but the catalytic element of social and economic impact is staggering,” he says. “The turn of fortune of Ipswich since we’ve owned it, bringing it back to the Premier League, is staggering.”
He also points to Rhode Island FC’s new USD140 million stadium, which has become a year-round destination for sport, concerts and live entertainment, creating jobs and attracting wider investment to the area.
“It’s become the sports and entertainment capital for southern New England,” he says. “That’s not even touching on the amount of jobs that we’ve created, the housing that we’re starting to build. The economic flywheel of social and economic impact is staggering when done right and with humility as well.”
For Johnson, success is measured not only by what happens on the pitch, but by the lasting difference a club can make to the people and places around it.
And perhaps that is the real legacy of the FIFA World Cup. Somewhere, in a crowded sports bar in Cardiff, a living room in Los Angeles or a café in Cape Verde, someone will have watched football for the very first time this summer. Some will become lifelong supporters. Some will fall in love with a club. A few may even build careers or businesses around the game.
Others, like Brett Johnson, will come to see football as more than a sport: a viable asset class capable of generating financial returns while transforming communities. The final whistle may have brought the tournament to an end, but its impact is only just beginning.
Brett Johnson joined us for the 2025 YPO Global Business Summit in LA. YPO members: if you’d like to connect with leaders like Brett and gain practical insights, meaningful connections and new opportunities for growth, register for the 2026 YPO Global Business Summit here.
Ideas, Community and Curiosity: The YPO Experience at TED
Monday, July 6, 2026
For YPO members Aaron Rallo and Leo Olebe, attending TED was already compelling.
The annual conference, set for San Diego in March 2027, is synonymous with big ideas and bringing together innovators, scientists, artists and entrepreneurs from around the world who will challenge your way of thinking.
The addition of YPO adds an additional layer of connectivity. Now in its third year, YPO’s partnership with TED provides members with a unique pathway into one of the world’s most sought-after gatherings — along with an experience designed specifically for YPO leaders.
“I’ve been to TED several times in the past, and the YPO add-on made it the best yet,” says Rallo, CEO of Rallo Holdings.
Olebe, an executive in the technology sector, attended his first YPO TED experience in 2026 and is signed up for 2027.
“I’ve been to some very special conferences and events around the world,” Olebe says. “This is the most community-driven, kind, open and exciting conference I’ve ever been to.”
Cultivating community and connection
TED is renowned for the ideas and conversations it sparks on and off the stage. But YPO’s partnership is an opportunity to experience those ideas alongside a trusted group of peers.
“Having your YPO community with you inside the TED community is supercharged,” says Rallo. “You all come together, then go out and explore TED, and then come back together again with new ideas, new people and new connections.”
Before the conference even begins, YPO attendees are grouped into YPO forums — small, confidential peer groups built on trust and candor — creating immediate connections and trusted relationships that continue throughout the week.
“Using our shared connection and trust through YPO to get into some really deep conversations very quickly, that was magical,” says Rallo. “Your brain is already thinking about things it doesn’t normally get to think about, and then you get to process it with other YPO members.”
Of course, people who are not in the YPO community attend as well. Olebe says he found the curated group of attendees to be an unusually diverse mix of people, all united by curiosity and a desire to improve the world.
“It was a gathering of people from all over the world with different ideas and backgrounds, but with a baseline understanding that humans are good,” Olebe says. “Everybody — from the person making coffee to some of the most accomplished people in the room — was there to learn.”
That openness creates unexpected conversations.
“I spoke with every TED main-stage speaker I wanted to speak with,” he says. “You’re standing in line talking to someone working on education in Kenya, then someone building fighting robots, then someone arguing cases before the Supreme Court.”
Moments that make a difference
Olebe didn’t just have time for conversations; during an Only-in-YPO needs and leads session, he shared a personal goal of serving on a public company board. A connection made during the event helped make that goal a reality — fast.
“Within four weeks, I was voted onto a publicly traded company as an independent director,” he says. “That’s the epitome of YPO.”
The whole experience, Rallo says, led to tremendous personal growth.
“I almost think of TED as a retreat,” he says. “I go there to work on myself, expand my horizons, network and challenge my thinking.”
And challenge it does.
“TED isn’t afraid of controversy,” Rallo says. “They’ll bring in speakers with opposing viewpoints and create productive tension. It forces you to think.”
Olebe agrees.
“You leave with ideas, sure, but more importantly, you leave with people and conversations that stay with you,” he says. “I came away a better businessperson, a better father, a better community member and a better leader because of the people I met in my [YPO] forum.”
While you wait for TED 2027…
YPO members aren’t just attendees. They’ve also helped shape some of TED’s most compelling conversations. Here are a few TED Talks from YPO members worth adding to your watchlist.
Isaac Lidsky: What Reality Are You Creating for Yourself? After losing his eyesight, Isaac Lidsky discovered that our perceptions often shape reality more than the facts themselves. His powerful talk challenges audiences to question the stories they tell themselves and reclaim ownership of their perspective.
Rajeev Kapoor: 5 Ways Leaders Can Navigate Change In a world where disruption is constant, Kapoor offers practical leadership strategies for adapting, staying resilient and helping teams thrive amid uncertainty.
Jon Torrens: ADHD and Entrepreneurship Drawing on research that includes YPO entrepreneurs, Torrens explores the unique relationship between ADHD and entrepreneurial success, offering fresh insights into how differently wired minds can become powerful leadership assets.
Rachel Graham: Living a More Joyful Life Graham explores the science and practice of joy, sharing lessons leaders can apply to build more meaningful lives and stronger relationships.
Stuart Lacey: Who Owns Your Personal Data? As technology evolves, questions around privacy become increasingly urgent. Lacey’s talk examines the value of personal data and what individuals should understand about how their information is collected and used.
Reserve Your Spot for TED 2027 YPO@TED returns 28 February – 4 March 2027 with another opportunity to experience world-changing ideas alongside a community of fellow leaders.
In a Complex World, Impact Is a Leadership Imperative: YPO Global Impact Summit’s Biggest Lesson
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
“An alligator ate the power generator.”
Carissa Reiniger was standing onstage at the 2026 YPO Global Impact Summit (GIS) addressing more than 120 chief executives when she was handed a note about a particularly ravenous reptile.
Before the five-day event, the co-chair had identified 17 potential risks of hosting a global gathering on the world’s only fully floating resort on the Amazon River. By the end of their stay, 15 had indeed happened, with the unanticipated alligator’s power trip giving them a bonus 16th.
“The event itself was one of the most complex things that I have ever done,” she recounts, pointing out that the irony of this year’s theme of “Leading Through Complexity” was lost on no one in attendance.
Reiniger, her fellow committee members and attendees found themselves navigating uncertainty at every turn, from logistical challenges and environmental realities to the broader global shifts unfolding beyond the tropical rainforest.
It was a real-life case study in how today’s leaders operate in a world where environmental, economic, political and social realities are increasingly interconnected. Business outcomes and societal outcomes can no longer be compartmentalized, Reiniger argues; impact is no longer a side project or initiative — it is a leadership imperative.
And the leaders who successfully navigate this increasing complexity? They should adopt a different approach and a new set of skills.
Curiosity: Ask questions; shift your perspective
A highlight of GIS 2026 was an evening social at the Amazon Theatre Opera House in Manuas, Brazil, which was, of course, slightly delayed due to a torrential downpour, a closed river crossing and a theater-wide power outage.
When the attendees did arrive, they expected to sit and enjoy a traditional showcase of local musicians. Instead, they were directed onto the stage. There they stood among the musicians and were given prompts to interpret throughout the performance. The exercise was designed around one of the summit’s three big themes: curiosity.
“As leaders who have so much opportunity, knowledge and exposure, we’re still programmed to think a certain way,” says Reiniger. “So, this idea that, even in familiar settings, we still have agency to be curious, to see things differently, to take a different perspective, to sit in a different seat. It was really powerful.”
After decades of leadership being defined by vision, certainty and having all the answers, Reiniger believes leadership today must evolve. The traditional model is less effective in today’s complex world where no one person can fully understand every variable at play.
She points to rising burnout, employee attrition, disengagement and quiet quitting as evidence that many organizations are still operating with leadership assumptions that no longer fit today’s realities. People still want vision and direction, she says, but they also want to be heard, considered and included in the process.
“I think something we’ve not been taught to do for a long time is to ask a lot of questions, to listen and consider a completely different perspective; to not have the answer,” says Reiniger. “Instead of going to a meeting to drive an outcome, go to a meeting to ask all the right questions.”
But curiosity alone isn’t enough.
Courage: Leadership starts where comfort ends
Much of the conversation around impact, sustainability and social responsibility typically happens from the comfort of conference centers and boardrooms. GIS offered something different: the opportunity to live inside the complexity of some of these issues rather than discuss it from a distance.
“I don’t know how much we can learn about our leadership if we’re not uncomfortable,” says Reiniger.
Lessons in courage extended beyond the event’s logistical inconveniences and keynote speakers. Reiniger says she was struck by how many attendees arrived feeling discouraged and questioning whether their efforts to create positive change still mattered in today’s climate.
There is an economic and business case for figuring out how to lead organizations that create some level of collective return. When our employees and our customers and our suppliers and our neighborhoods are well, our businesses thrive.
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— Carissa Reiniger
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“‘Maybe it’s not worth it, or maybe the moment has passed,’ were some of the frustrations I heard early on,” says Reiniger. “But by the end, it was more of a ‘no, no, no — we are meant to lead through this moment.”
For Reiniger, courage isn’t about having certainty in the face of complexity. It’s about refusing to disengage because of it. So much of what “impact” focuses on is no longer theoretical, she argues; it’s affecting real world businesses and humans.
“If not now, when? And if not us, who? Who else is going figure this out?” she asks. “My personal belief is that this is not the time for business leaders to back down, it is the time to double down and lead with conviction and moral courage.”
The experience, she says, left her with an increased sense of responsibility and determination.
Commitment: The way you lead is the impact
If curiosity can help today’s leaders understand complexity, and courage allows them to engage with it, commitment determines what they decide to do next.
“We made the mistake of separating out these “impact” issues … like climate over there and DEI over there,” she says. “But these are actually leadership issues now, and you cannot be a leader in 2026 without the capacity to handle complexity.”
That shift in thinking could be the biggest takeaway of the event. For years, many businesses and organizations have treated impact as something separate from the core business: a sub-group, a charitable effort, a ticked box.
Reiniger argues that approach no longer works.
“If impact is an initiative or a conference once a year, we’ve missed the point,” she says.
In fact, if it were up to her, we’d stop thinking about it as “impact” altogether. These aren’t impact issues — they’re leadership issues.
I don’t know how much we can learn about our leadership if we’re not uncomfortable.
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— Carissa Reiniger
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And to the leader who still sees “impact” as a nice-to-have? Reiniger would say this is more than altruism or simply “the right thing to do.” It’s the smarter way to do business.
“There is an economic and business case for figuring out how to lead organizations that create some level of collective return,” she says adding that when employees, customers, suppliers, neighborhoods and communities are well, businesses can thrive.
“I don’t even think you have to sacrifice anything to be a leader who thinks like this. I think you ultimately are going to gain,” she says. “It’s not charity, it’s not philanthropy, it’s not giving back. It just makes sense to make sure your stakeholders are OK.”
Want to be a Successful Leader? Get Comfortable with Contradictions
Thursday, May 21, 2026
The leaders of today — and tomorrow — don’t have the luxury of clear answers. But that can’t stop them from moving forward.
In the latest episode of the Mistakes over Failure podcast, Christine Crawford and 2025-2026 YPO Global Chairman Debby Carreau speak with YPO member Dr. Elikem Tamaklo, Chairman of the Board at Nyaho Healthcare Limited, on how leaders can better navigate multiple truths.
Successful leaders must:
Move fast AND think long term. Speed matters, but so does perspective. “The leader of the future has to understand that they’re not just making decisions that impact them for now,” says Tamaklo. “They’re also impacting decisions for the future.” And not just for them, but their employees, communities, and businesses.
Seek out valuable data AND trust your gut. Data, advisers and frameworks all matter. But leadership can’t be outsourced. At some point, says Tamaklo, the person in charge must make the call. And when that time comes you need to understand when insight is helpful and when your instincts are stronger.
Build systems AND protect your people. As organizations grow, systems become essential for scale. As a leader, it’s your job to ensure these systems enhance your company culture, rather than override it. Tamalko sees this as the biggest challenge for growing companies launched by infectious, passionate founders: You can’t become less human-centered as you grow.
Listen to other perspectives AND own the final decision. Listening well is not the same as handing over responsibility, Tamalko stresses. Leadership means honoring others’ wisdom while still owning the outcome.
Accept uncertainty AND act anyway. Every action or moment of inaction equals growth for leaders. Tamaklo says some of his biggest lessons came from the moments when he hesitated.“The only way to learn whether you are on the right track and how you change is through experience,” he says. The goal isn’t perfect foresight; it’s the courage to move, learn and adjust.
Leadership may require making the final call alone, but growth rarely happens alone. YPO gives leaders a place to challenge each other’s thinking, share lessons from experience and help one another navigate the difficult decisions that define leadership. Learn more about YPO membership >>>
About the Mistakes Over Failure Podcast
In Mistakes over Failure, Dr. Christine Crawford and Debby Carreau – joined by fellow YPO members as guests – highlight the missteps, breakthroughs and deep commitment to learning that CEOs experience while building and leading their businesses.
Discover who is shaping today’s business landscape, the lessons they’ve learned and shared along the way, and how they are creating lasting impact as leaders.
Explore more episodes of Mistakes Over Failure.
Derrick Emsley and His Push for Proof
Thursday, April 2, 2026
With tentree, he sells the promise of impact. With veritree, he’s ensuring those efforts take root.
The business of impact hinges on idealism. When you round up your total at the grocery store to contribute the spare change to a good cause, you want to believe you’ve done your part to make the world a better place.
But an unfortunate reality of the impact economy is that follow-through can often fall short.
“I’m a believer that there is way more waste in this space than anybody realizes — often not ill-intentioned, but also not delivering the outcomes we all want,” says Derrick Emsley.
As Co-founder and CEO of two companies with missions centered on sustainability, Emsley knows this struggle firsthand. But his unique position also enables him to address the gap between intention and execution on a global scale.
Planting the seeds
Emsley had the eye for impact at an early age. As teens, he and his brother Kalen Emsley started a tree farm in Saskatchewan, planting 150,000 trees to sell carbon offsets to companies. Their contracts totaled more than USD1 million.
After college, they wanted to do more. In 2012, they launched tentree, tying the brand’s identity to direct environmental action. For every item you purchased, they would plant, you guessed it, 10 trees. To date, the company has funded more than 100 million trees across the world.
“We didn’t know anything about apparel, we just knew trees, and we knew that we wanted to connect people with the ability to fund more reforestation,” Emsley says. “We just needed a new vehicle to allow us to do it.”
Tentree’s products (men and women’s apparel, accessories and gear) have been rooted in accessible sustainability from the beginning. The brand uses organic and recycled materials and produces all their offerings in audited factories that meet strict labor standards. With an “Earth-first” mindset, the global lifestyle brand cuts emissions, reduces waste and designs for circularity wherever possible. The goal isn’t perfection but progress at scale. And thanks to their storytelling-focused marketing, their consumers get it.
We always think of ourselves as blue-collar environmentalists. We’re less about preaching, and we’re more about doing.
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— Derrick Emsley, Co-founder and CEO, tentree and veritree
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“One of the coolest experiences I’ve had was someone coming up to me when they saw I was wearing tentree,” Emsley recalls. They told him, “‘I love that brand; did you know they plant trees?’ and they could tell me on the spot where theirs had been planted.”
That moment was a powerful reminder of tentree’s influence: the brand was marketable because it was measurable. But as the company matured, so did Emsley’s understanding of impact, and how much was still left to unearth.
Seeing the bigger picture
Emsley credits a childhood immersed in natural resources and farming for the ethos he brings as the leader of tentree. “We always think of ourselves as blue-collar environmentalists. We’re less about preaching, and we’re more about doing.”
As tentree scaled, this mindset led to an uncomfortable realization that they were only focusing on part of the story. “Planting trees is great because it’s a number and an emotional connection that everybody can anchor to,” says Emsley. But it’s an oversimplification, he adds, because what happened after they plant the tree?
“We started with a very myopic view of the problem tentree had,” Emsley says. “We needed to know, if we fund a tree, did it get planted? Did anybody else claim that tree?”
The deeper they dug, the more complex their problems became and the more questions surfaced: Did the trees survive? How could they monitor them over the long term? How did they know it was the right tree, the right place at the right time? “Our aperture of the problem just continued to expand.”
That expansion led to something larger than tentree itself: veritree.
A standalone platform, veritree combines field data, geospatial tracking and on-the-ground verification to create transparent records from planting through long-term outcomes. It’s the digital accountability infrastructure behind restoration projects like those tentree supports.
The goal, Emlsey says, was to bring auditability, transparency, verifiability and frankly, just integrity to their own work with tentree and eventually, to the impact space at large.
Addressing a shared problem
As veritree developed, it was clear tentree wasn’t alone.
Whether driven by compliance — organizations required to restore land or offset environmental impact as part of their operations — or what Emsley deems charismatic reasons — companies choosing to invest in nature because they believe they should — the challenge was the same: How did anyone know what was working?
“Companies who were already funding reforestation started reaching out,” he says. “They’d say, ‘We have this exact same problem, can we work with you?’”
That pull from the market shifted veritree’s trajectory. No longer just a backend system for one brand, it became a platform designed to support a wide range of partners from financial institutions to travel companies looking to integrate nature into their business models, including Manulife, a global insurance company with extensive forestry and restoration initiatives.
After working with veritree on select projects and seeing the suite of reporting and verification they could provide, Manulife asked to expand its use of the platform across a number of their other global projects.
“It was really cool to see different use cases of where companies see value,” says Emsley. “By no means did we approach [veritree] with this view of, ‘oh, the world needs this!’ But I think as we got into the problem, we realized that there was something much bigger here.”
In 2024 alone, veritree’s partners supported the planting of more than 22 million trees across five countries, provided over 19,556 hours of work and restoring over 3,600 hectares. They’ve launched projects in a diverse range of landscapes including mangroves, agroforestry, kelp, wildfire restoration and more.
Balancing two businesses, one mission
Though Emsley is the CEO of both tentree and veritree, they are truly two separate entities, with totally separate operating teams.
Tentree, now a scaled apparel brand, functions in a familiar market, where the focus is on refinement and efficiency. Veritree, by contrast, is still defining its category and is moving fast, testing ideas and building infrastructure in real time.
Emsley admits the “context switching” can be tough, but he also says that the tension between the two can be an advantage.
“Tentree provides me with operational excellence, that foundational piece,” he says. What we’re building at veritree pushes me to be more growth mentality. Like, where could we take this? What stones are left unturned?”
Of course, another major differentiator between the two is that veritree exists to hold tentree accountable. And the lessons from that dynamic have allowed Emsley to better collaborate with veritree’s clients.
“Tentree has given us so much insight into the value that companies can get from tree planting, that it’s given us a really incredible lens with the conversations we have with companies we work on the veritree side,” he says.
The next phase
For tentree, the path forward will continue to be about scale with integrity. Emsley’s goal is to plant 50-100 million trees every year while stepping into the same conversation as brands like Patagonia. Because despite its size, he says tentree is already punching above its weight, ranking among the top global performers in sustainable materials and practices.
Meanwhile, he’s positioning veritree to become the great connector across the impact economy. Emsley wants to engage with 100,000 businesses.
Tentree provides me with operational excellence, that foundational piece. What we’re building at veritree pushes me to be more growth mentality. Like, where could we take this? What stones are left unturned?”
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— Derrick Emsley, Co-founder and CEO, tentree and veritree
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“Every year, there’s over a trillion dollars of philanthropy that gets delivered, and all of these marketplaces operate around the trust that the impact is happening, and the verification behind it,” Emsley says. “Reforestation is just the start of what we’re building. Our vision is to create the infrastructure for trust so that collectively, we can bring much more funding into the space, and collectively, more impact.”
He’s also manifesting a future where nature is embedded into everyday transactions, similar to the small percentages already built into credit cards and platforms like Uber or DoorDash. This way, instead of being an optional add-on, impact becomes a seamless, expected cost of doing business: One that is automated, normalized and of course, verified.
