Giving old wood new life with Ben Christensen from Cambium

Found

If you’re not in construction or in the middle of a renovation, you might not think much about wood waste but in 2018 alone landfills in the US received 12.2 million tons of wood. Most of this is useful material that could be reused, but the lack of infrastructure means the wasted wood can't always reach the developers, woodworkers, and creators who need it. This week on Found, we're talking to a founder who has a SaaS solution for this broken supply chain. Ben Christensen is the founder and CEO of Cambium, a company that is reimagining the wood supply chain and reallocating previously wasted wood to be used in new building projects.

In this conversation they cover:

• Learning to navigate the logistics of sourcing, selling, and shipping wood to customers
• Building a team culture based on the individual and avoiding a one size fits all approach
• Onboarding customers who may be adverse to technological solutions
• How AI can help create a more efficient lumber supply chain

(0:00) Introduction

(1:42) What Cambium is all about

(5:01) Climate change and wood recycling

(11:36) Developing the software

(15:54) Sourcing sustainable wood

(18:41) Going from grad school to founder

(20:01) Fundraising journey

(23:59) AI and supply chains

(25:49) Building the team

(30:15) Learning from logistics mistakes

(32:30) Staying grounded while building climate solutions

(36:40) Host conversation

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