LFCA Co-Founder Boris Wasmuth on bringing ideas to life

1. Who are you and what are you doing?

In the late 90s, when the Digital Revolution arrived, I realized that everything would change. I left my job as a product manager and moved to Berlin to co-found my own company. Since then, I have founded and invested in several digital startups and I am still a co-founder & managing director of GameDuell, a leading games company. In 2019, we initiated the community Leaders for Climate Action together with a group of leading digital entrepreneurs.

1. What drives you personally and how did you get there over time?

My passion is bringing ideas to life. This is why I became an entrepreneur in the digital sector: there are endless opportunities and you can create a global impact.

I am also driven by the belief that the world is a better place if we collaborate. When people who share a similar vision come together, they can move mountains.

1. Elevator pitch for LFCA

Climate scientists have been ringing the alarm bells for decades: our planet will be on fire if we don't act quickly. But the business sector largely ignored these facts, hoping politicians or some future technology would magically solve the problem.

The big shift to a sustainable economy will only happen if the mainstream market embraces it. Digital companies are perfect role models to reach climate neutrality quickly and serve as a beachhead to cross the chasm to the mainstream market (see Geoffrey Moore's book). The objective of Leaders for Climate Action (LFCA) is to prove that point.

We follow a community approach by gathering the most influential digital entrepreneurs and CEOs. Today, we have more than 1,200 members from all over the world, representing more than 150,000 employees. All participating companies commit to climate neutrality via our Green Pledge. We support our members in carbon management, organize community events, provide whitepapers, and enable networking within the LFCA community. We are run like a startup and have the expertise to scale globally.

1. Where do you see LFCA by 2030?

By 2030, LFCA has become a truly global community. The digital industry will be a showcase for how an entire sector moved to climate neutrality in less than 10 years. Based on our current trajectory, we will have saved a combined > 500 million tons of CO2e in reductions and offsettings from our member base.

We will have inspired and helped other industries to achieve the same. Business leaders will recognize that business success and sustainability go hand in hand. We will have created a critical mass of influence to be a serious sparring partner for political leaders, representing the voice of future-facing businesses.

1. Best personal sustainability hack

Taking the train is one of the best sustainability hacks because it combines the advantages of deep, uninterrupted work (my #1 productivity booster) with low emissions.

1. Personal methods for coping with challenges and stress

Coping with challenges: Over the years I have learned to quickly shift into solution mode when facing challenges. I quietly say to myself "WTF" and then immediately ask: "What are the options that we have now? How can we break down the problem into solvable pieces? What does the 80/20 rule look like here?" Once you start focusing your thoughts on finding a solution, you are often halfway there.

Stress reduction: Sports of all kinds and proper breathing.

1. Best advice you ever got and from whom

Two important learnings:

• A few years ago, I met Wladimir Klitschko at a dinner. We talked about mastering the inner game. He told me: "If you control your mind, you control everything!" Staying positive in tough times is a skill that is rarely taught and dramatically underrated. I am very interested in positive psychology and mental fitness.
• Another life-changing learning: facts often don't change our minds once we have taken a position. To convince someone (e.g. that we need climate action), it is more effective to connect and simply share meals with those who disagree with us. Read more here.

1. Best book you ever read and why

I value books that teach principles I can apply in life. "Reinventing Organizations" is such a book: it shows how fundamentally the business landscape has changed over time, then dives into specific action points and shows how you can drive change in your own organization. You can find it on a pay-what-you-like model here.

1. Favorite sustainable brand

For years I wondered why big fashion brands were dormant when it came to creating cool and sustainable clothes. Instead, they spent millions on marketing and billboards and forgot the value proposition of being a good citizen. Finally, new brands are seizing this opportunity. One example: Outerknown, Kelly Slater's surf clothing brand. All clothes are made from ecologically grown plants or plastic collected from beaches.

1. What makes you optimistic about the future of our planet & society?
2. Most people now understand that climate change is a life-threatening planetary crisis. This was different a few years ago.
3. Most people care about our planet and want to help once they find an easy and pragmatic way. LFCA offers business leaders the opportunity to walk this path together in a community of like-minded people.
4. Most changes are not linear but exponential. Today we are still too slow to tackle climate change effectively. We need exponential change by combining actions that stack up and bring us to a tipping point. Imagine if (a) voters put ecological policies first, (b) customers bought only sustainable products, (c) talents quit jobs at climate-unfriendly companies, and (d) a carbon tax made sustainable products more competitive. Together, these factors would create massive synergies. This flywheel of change has already started to move. Some companies just haven't realized it yet and risk being late to the party. Disruption comes slowly at first, then very fast and powerful.

About: Leaders for Climate Action

We are the entrepreneurial community lfca.earth that drives climate action in the tech industry. We turn business leaders into climate leaders, help transform their organizations, and inspire them to influence policymakers and society. Since 2019, our community of > 1,300 founders and their companies (representing > 160,000 employees) have reduced and compensated > 875,000 t of CO2 and voluntarily pledged > $13 million for high-quality carbon-offsetting projects in developing countries.

About: GameDuell – Bringing people together to have a good time with games

A passion for creating high-quality games and a focus on superior customer experience have made GameDuell one of the largest cross-platform games communities in the world. Since 2003, more than 130 million players have played with us.

GameDuell offers a broad portfolio of over 40 casual online skill games on www.gameduell.com, mostly developed in-house, such as Fluffy, Bubble Speed, Jungle Jewels, and classics like Hearts, Solitaire, and Spider. We are expanding strongly across platforms and also offer many of our community card and board games on social networks and mobile devices. Further information: https://inside.gameduell.com.

• Founded: December 2003 in Berlin, Germany
• Management: Kai Bolik & Boris Wasmuth
• Community: Over 130 million registered players across various platforms
• Games: Over 40 games available in 7 languages