#191 Wood Supply Chains, Creating a Brand, Fragmented Industries, Securing Consistent Offtake & More w/ Ben Christensen (Cambium)

In our third installment of sustainable building materials, we’re taking another look at lumber.

We’ve already called reclaimed lumber “the superpower building material you’ve never heard of”.

As a refresher, lumber, processed wood from trees, is a versatile and widely used building material known for its strength, durability, and workability.

So why isn’t there more of it in our buildings? Well, as great as lumber is, usable lumber from our buildings only comes from a few places — in the USA, it comes mainly from the Northwest and Southeast. For this reason, lumber is an expensive building material.

But all hope is not lost. Last week, we covered Urban Machine, a company turning waste wood reusable by removing objects from it.

This week, we’re covering Cambium - a hot 🔥 startup pioneering regenerative, local supply chains for wood by converting waste wood into reusable assets for the lumber industry. Not only do they have their own white-labeled wood called Carbon Smart Wood, but they have an innovative SaaS platform that can function as the source of truth for the entire supply chain.

Convinced that you should know more about this? Well, you’re in luck. Tune in to todays episode to learn more…🎧💡
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Topics:
**02:10 Introduction
**06:24 Challenges in the Lumber Supply Chain
**14:04 Deciding on the Founder Venture-Fact Operating Model
**16:26 Guaranteeing Offtake and Ensuring Supply
**19:03 The Value of Waste Wood
**29:03 Competing with Incumbents
**34:09 Scaling the Local Approach
**45:32 Advice for Founders
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Links:
**Ben Christensen | Cambium
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