Superorganism Venture Capital co-founder Tom Quigley’s answer to stress relief to take a deep breath and dive 150 feet below the sea’s surface surrounded by vibrant marine life and towering underwater rock formations resembling the wall from Game of Thrones. This is where he finds his meditative state.
“It’s like walking through a garden created by Dr. Suess,” Tom says of freediving. “It’s like a moving meditation and closer than anything you can do to flying - soaring over a landscape of towers and tunnels."
Once you have that picture of Tom in your mind he continues to describe life and nature in poetic terms, challenging us to think bigger and envision the world as a regenerative scenario, with, for instance, a radical abundance of nature and humans living together among giant Redwood trees in the city.
Tom was born to be wild. Until he was eight years old, he ran barefoot on a farm and through the woods, and then later found his feet on the trails of San Francisco and the ski lifts of Banff, “first chair to last chair.”
Tom is exactly the kind of person Diana Denke and Jessica Smith, the hosts of Executives in the Wild, were looking for when they started this podcast series to showcase how their guests have integrated nature into their everyday lives and purpose. They take a journey into Tom’s world, from finance to nature and outdoor adventures. He encourages us to use our imaginations, to picture what we would like to see in a nature-positive world, and then go further than the boundaries we set by experience.
A career path in conservation was never on his horizon as a college graduate. That happened when he woke up one morning in a cabin in Virginia to a steamy river in the forest.
“I always knew that I wanted to have an impact in some way, and then it just clicked for me, and I said, ‘Well, if that's the case, why don't you work to protect what you love?’ And that was when I decided to be a conservationist to work to protect nature and biodiversity in natural spaces, my life has been steered by that same directive ever since.”
Hear more about Tom’s conservation practices that are also shaped by Superorganism, a venture capital firm dedicated to biodiversity that seeks to work with “founders bold enough to imagine an abundant future for humans and nature alike.” How does Tom make a personal impact on nature and what how does he give back to nature? Tune in to hear the story.
About Tom
A conservation technologist and startup operator, Tom has spent over a decade working on and advising teams at the overlap of tech and nature. As co-founder of Superorganism Ventures LLC, he and co-founder Kevin Webb have built an active early-stage portfolio and community of nature tech advisors, founders, and investors. Superorganism focuses on three key areas:
Disrupting industries that drive biodiversity loss
Exploring the intersection of biodiversity and climate tech
Developing enabling technologies that unlock new ways to protect nature. Superorganism has pledged 10% of its profits to ongoing conservation efforts, and 100 percent of its assets under management are impact investments.
About Jessica
Jessica Smith has 20+ years experience working in nature conservation between public and private sectors, and is a leader in nature finance, currently leading the Nature programme at the UNEP Finance Initiative since 2020. She’s a runner, skier and safari adventurer.
About Diana
Diana Denke is the Co-Founder & CEO of Fair Carbon, a nonprofit helping to restore and protect coastal and marine ecosystems. She has 15+ years experience across the corporate sector, impact finance and management consulting. She is also a certified ski instructor, diver, yoga and mindfulness teacher.
