Best Silas Mähner Podcasts (2024)

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#186 Electric Flight, Commercializing Hardware, Sustainable Aviation, Working at NASA, & More w/ Kevin Noertker (Ampaire) 48:25

8h ago48:25

48:25

Kevin Noertker is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ampaire, a developer of Hybrid Aviation Propulsion Systems to Decarbonize Air Travel Today. Currently they are scaling up their tech. Their tech is proven to reduce fuel usage by about 50% for small aircrafts (anything with a propeller). Today, Kevin shares his story and we discuss: Aerospace Engineer to …

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#185 Green Hydrogen, Landing Customers, Electrolyzers, Building in Wisconsin, & More w/ Chad Mason (Advanced Ionics) 55:50

5d ago55:50

55:50

Chad Mason is the CEO and Founder of Advanced Ionics, a company that has designed a revolutionary electrolyzer. They did this by designing their technology from scratch. They are currently scaling up this innovative technology and plan to sell these units, known as stacks, either directly or through licensing agreements. Today, Chad shares his jour…

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#184 Plastic Replacement, Natural Fibers, Drop-In Materials, Toll Mills & More w/ Jesse Henry (Heartland Industries) 1:00:43

9d ago1:00:43

1:00:43

Jesse Henry is the CEO and Founder of Heartland Industries, a company that produces drop-in pellets made of hemp fiber. These pellets are used as an additive to plastics. They reduce the weight and cost of the products, improve strength, and lower scope 3 emissions. It's a quadruple-benefit product. Today, Jesse tells us his story - how he started …

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#183 Smart Cities, Climate FinTech, Urban Tech, VC Fundamentals, & More w/ Rahul Parekh (2150) 50:30

10d ago50:30

50:30

Rahul broke down the nitty-gritty of how 2150 built (no pun intended) a leading ClimateTech VC fund focused on decarbonizing the built environment. We talked investing, fund modeling, learning from general VC, FinTech in ClimateTech, & more. This was a VC-fundamental extraordinaire, and super informative for anyone looking to learn more about ventu…

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#182 Voluntary Carbon Markets, Investing in 100+ CDR Startups, Hard-to-Abate Sectors, & More w/ Marian Krueger (remove) 45:28

16d ago45:28

45:28

Marian Krueger comes to us with his experience investing in 120+ early stage CDR startups, and broke down what we should look for and what’s worth watching in the years ahead. He’s a leading expert in CDR having invested in Europe, which is the leading CDR ecosystem in the world. Sitting down with him as a blast, and for our US listeners, this epis…

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#38 - Thomas Walker-Werth - A Rational Approach to Living Your Best Life 1:02:00

21d ago1:02:00

1:02:00

Thomas Walker-Werth is associate editor at The Objective Standard and a fellow at both Objective Standard Institute and Foundation for Economic Education. He is currently writing his first full-length book, Reason for Living: A Rational, Fact-Based Approach to Living Your Best Life. Substack: https://reasonforliving.substack.com/ Reason for Living …

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#181 Hot Rocks, From EPA to Apple, Paths to Commercialization, The CapEx > OpEx Model, & More w/ Arvin Ganesan (Fourth Power) 55:16

28d ago55:16

55:16

Today, we speak with Arvin Ganesan, an ex-Obama-Admin EPA and ex-Apple Energy Procurement executive. His career is fascinating, from finance to Policy to Energy Tech CEO. He offers us a lot of insight into their technology, how it works, and specifically how it plays well with utility models of making money. Towards the end, he mentioned the unknow…

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#180 Tough Tech, Scaling DeepTech, MIT's Ecosystem, Political Durability of IRA, & More w/ Michael Kearney (Engine Ventures) 57:13

30d ago57:13

57:13

Michael Kearney started off this podcast defending the political durability of the IRA…and he had us convinced. If that doesn’t have you hooked, I don’t know what will! Building for deeptech founders is HARD…like folding a fitted sheet hard. And that’s why we need someone like Mike to do it. Mike himself did his undergrad and Ph.D. at MIT, so he’s …

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#179 Industrial Decarb, ROI-Oriented Sales, GHG Accounting, Marketplaces x Recommender Systems, & More w/ Saleh ElHattab (Gravity) 42:01

1M ago42:01

42:01

There are a few key things Climate Entrepreneurs should know. This guest brought up a bunch of them. It is incredible to see how successful they are in a crowded space. Today, he shared with us many of the things that helped them succeed. How to align all stakeholders in the sales process Building a product so simple the user can be up-skilled with…

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#178 Investing in Water, IRA's Missing Link, Long Sales-Cycles, Network Compounding, & More w/ Tom Ferguson (Burnt Island Ventures) 1:07:16

1M ago1:07:16

1:07:16

What do you get when you put Chris Rock, Timothée Chalamet, Greta Thunberg, & Marc Andreessen together? -- You get Tom Ferguson! The King of Water VC! (Warning! Tom is hilarious, so cancel your comedy cellar tickets because you won't need them) Today, we had the chance to speak with Tom, the founding partner of Burnt Island Ventures. They are the l…

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#177 Climate Resilience, Bridging FAANG to ClimateTech, Cloud Computing with Geospatial Data, & More w/ Allison Wolff (Vibrant Planet) 51:15

1M ago51:15

51:15

Allison Wolff | Vibrant Planet Vibrant Planet is basically bringing the tech knowledge from the early FAANG days and applying that to land tender and wildfire resistance. Their platform is a prioritization system for land management restoration by providing real-time scenario planning, monitoring, and reporting. These assessments can help with qual…

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#176 Green Premium & the Price of No Action, Partner w/ Big Oil?, EV Demand, & More w/ Shaun Abrahamson, Part II (Third Sphere) 1:00:58

2M ago1:00:58

1:00:58

Recently, the MCJ Podcast experienced huge backlash for having Big Oil players on the show. This prompted us to bring back a past guest, Shaun Abrahamson from Third Sphere. ---- 🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview. ---- Shaun last joined us on episode 136 to talk about Naviga…

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#175 Micromobility, Software Best Practices, Creative Business Models, Seasonality & More w/ Chinmay Malaviya & Charlie Depman (Ridepanda) 49:31

2M ago49:31

49:31

Somil chats with Chinmay Malaviya and Charlie Depman, CEO and CTO of Ridepanda, expanding access and usage of e-bikes, e-scooters, and micro mobility through employer sponsored subscriptions. Chinmay and Charlie bring a lot of startup and industry experience and were able to speak not only about their growth but ALSO breakdown the technical designs…

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#174 Hardware Playbook, Science in VC, DeepTech Success Stories, Environmental-Based Returns, & More w/ Jessica Burley (Planet A) 54:54

2M ago54:54

54:54

What if Investors Only Made Money if they *actually* helped save the planet? Welp... folks, we have the show for you because that's exactly what Planet A is doing. Somil and Silas speak with Jessica Burley, a Berlin-based investor at the fund. On top of learning how they are *actually* walking the talk, we found out how they use Carbon Life Cycle A…

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🚨 SPECIAL EP: #173 Breaking Down GGRF and $20B into ClimateTech w/ Franz Hochstrasser (Raise Green, S2 Strategies) 33:27

2M ago33:27

33:27

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) is a generational government program deploying $27B into clean energy projects across the US. But what is the bill really? Franz Hochstrasser is an expert in financing projects in low-income areas and has a wealth of experience working on climate for the government - both of which are KEY for GGRF. Franz sta…

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#172 AI x Production, Learning from Tesla, Transitioning to Iron, Battery Technology & More w/ Vivas Kumar (Mitra Chem) 51:38

2M ago51:38

51:38

Somil chats with Vivas Kumar, CEO of Mitra Chem, the first lithium-ion battery materials manufacturer focused on shortening the lab-to-production timeline by over 90%, addressing the largest barrier to innovation: R&D and scale-up speed. Vivas was a phenomenal orator and if you take a second to learn about Mitra Chem, it’s easy to see why. By combi…

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#37 - Alex Hernandez - The Secret Dark World Of Music Festivals (And How He Made It Out) 1:24:59

2M ago1:24:59

1:24:59

Alex Hernandez used to run music festivals. Now he builds and operates events for businesses. Today he tells his story, shares the darkness he found inside of the world of music festivals, and explains how he got out. This is an episode you don't want to missBy Micaela Richmond

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#171 Regenerative Farming, Carbon Credits, Smallholders, Global Protocols & More w/ Josh Knauer (ReSeed) 59:00

2M ago59:00

59:00

In this episode, Somil chats with Josh Knauer, CEO of ReSeed, bringing carbon credits directly from farmers to the market. They focus on the oldest form of carbon capture – vegetation. They support farmers in taking their protective and restorative farming practices, validating them, and then creating the mechanisms to sell those credits to interes…

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#170 Computer Vision x AgTech, Precision Spraying, Herbicide Usage, & More w/ Tom Gauthier (AgTechLogic) 50:07

2M ago50:07

50:07

Each year, about 1 billion pounds of chemicals are sprayed on crops in the US alone - globally, that number is around 5.6 billion. Our guest today is AgTechLogic, and they are solving this problem. They do this by helping Farmers retrofit their existing machinery with precision sprayers that use computer vision to identify weeds and spray only on t…

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#36 - Shanif Dhanani - AI Expert On Everything You Should Know About A.I. Today 55:50

3M ago55:50

55:50

Shanif Dhanani is a ChatGPT consultant with a background in software development and data science. He helps businesses understand and build systems that connect their internal and proprietary systems to ChatGPT, enabling internal employees, customers, and other stakeholders to reap the benefits of using large language models on their own data. Shan…

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#169 Urban Mining, Solar Panel Lifespan, End of Life Engineering, & More w/ Adam Saghei (WeRecycleSolar) 53:10

3M ago53:10

53:10

Are you curious about what happens to solar panels when they are no longer usable? Maybe your crazy uncle's statements from last Thanksgiving about how solar doesn't work are still echoing. Well, look no further. Today, we are speaking with Adam Saghei, Founder of WeRecycleSolar, and we are discussing the end of life for solar panels. How circular …

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#168 Advice for Project Finance, AI x Climate, CleanTech 1.0, Late Stage Investing, & More w/ Mike Jackson (Earthshot Ventures) 52:43

3M ago52:43

52:43

In this episode, I sit down with Mike Jackson, Managing Partner at Earthshot Ventures. Earthshot Ventures calls themselves carbon generalists and invest from Seed to Series B. They mainly invest in software and “stepchange” hardware with a preference to double down on existing portfolio companies. Mike’s story is great because of how intentional he…

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#167 Urban Charging, Electrifying Cities, Pilots & Partnerships, & More w/ Tiya Gordon (It's Electric) 50:59

3M ago50:59

50:59

In this episode, we actually have a bit of a flashback for you – I sit down to chat with Tiya Gordon, co-founder and COO of It’s Electric, creating curbside EV charging specifically built for cities. Before I even go into what we talk about, I’d like to shout out what Tiya has done in the few months since recording this episode in December: She was…

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#166 Hybrids & EVs, Alternative Fuels, Technology Maturity, Diverse Teams & More w/ Logan Grizzel (MUUS Climate Partners) 1:06:13

3M ago1:06:13

1:06:13

In this episode, Somil chats with Logan Grizzel, partner at MUUS Climate Partners, the climate tech venture capital arm of MUUS & Co. investing at the convergence of decarbonization and technological innovation. This episode probably broke the quotable clip record we have – Logan was a great mix of knowing how to communicate his thoughts and genuin…

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#165 Iterating Hardware, Productizing Solar Procurement, Efficiency Mindset, & More w/ Mike Hall (Anza) 52:13

3M ago52:13

52:13

What happens when successful CleanTech 1.0 founders step up to the plate again? Anza happens and it's magical. Today, Somil & Silas are interviewing Mike Hall, a Co-Founder of Anza, a company they spun out of Borrego, his and his brother's first venture. At Borrego, they developed software to streamline and improve the way they chose which solar pa…

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#164 Net-Zero Cement, Surviving the Startup Valley-of-Death, Timing a Pivot, & More w/ Ryan Gilliam (Fortera) 51:48

3M ago51:48

51:48

In this episode, Silas and Somil chat with Ryan Gilliam, CEO of Fortera, a company focused on paving the way to zero CO2 cement backed by leading investors including Khosla Ventures and Temasek. What makes Fortera so exciting is that they’ve successfully raised all the way to their Series B, making them one of not many later stage companies in clim…

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#163 Rockefeller’s $1B for Climate, Nature-Based Solutions, Philanthropic Capital, & More w/ Thomas Belazis (Rockefeller Foundation) 52:41

3M ago52:41

52:41

Today, we are speaking with a representative of the legendary Rockefeller Foundation. For those unaware, this foundation is one of the oldest well-organized institutions of its type and has been responsible for a massive number of efforts over the past 100 years. Our guest is Thomas Belazis, Director of Innovative Finance. He runs their Climate & I…

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#162 Impact Metrics Liability, Navigating Reporting, Profit-First, & More w/ Zécca Lehn (Responsibly Ventures) 57:23

4M ago57:23

57:23

**Check out the new takeaways section at the end of the episode!!** In this episode, Somil and Silas chat with Zecca Lehn, GP of Responsibly Ventures, backing U.S. PreSeed startups in both Social and Sustainable Tech. He uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guidepost for his investments. We breakdown the specifics of his investing …

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#161 Bylon, Recyclable Fibers, Ag Waste to Threads, Innovating Past Mistakes, & More w/ Oliver Shafaat (Sci-Lume Labs) 41:43

4M ago41:43

41:43

Fast fashion is destroying the world. Imagine if we could make threads that are fully recyclable ... over and over... Well, that's what Oliver Shafaat is trying to do with Sci-Lume Labs. They use agricultural feedstock, and are using low-heat methods so they aim to be able to achieve cost parity. What they are working on is difficult, but would be …

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#160 Climate Philanthropy, Reducing Carbon Removal Cost, Anti-GHG, & More w/ Adam Fraser (Terraset) 52:47

4M ago52:47

52:47

In this episode, Somil chats with Adam Fraser, CEO at Terraset, the “anti-GHG” 501c3. Philanthropy in climate is a hot topic – leading up to this episode we were getting questions left and right about the future of this space. And it’s because there’s seemingly so much money that could be in the space but isn’t yet. That is the problem Adam and Ter…

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#159 Slashing Trucking Emissions by 90% TODAY, Biodiesel, Scaling up Manufacturing, & more w/ Lori Dunn (Optimus Technologies) 49:49

4M ago49:49

49:49

If you LOVE technology that allows for decarbonization TODAY, then Somil & Silas' conversation today with Lori Dunn from Optimus Technologies will interest you. Discover how Optimus is revolutionizing the transport sector by producing bolt-on systems that allow truck drivers to utilize 100% biodiesel and reduce their overall emissions by up to 90%.…

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#158 Product-Led ClimateTech, Exiting to Big Tech TWICE, Being a Climate Papa, & More w/ Ben Eidelson (Stepchange, Climate Papa) 51:51

4M ago51:51

51:51

In this episode, I chat with Ben Eidelson, Co-founder & GP of Stepchange, an early-stage venture fund that invests in product-led companies that will make a “step change”, pun intended, I’m guessing?, impact on climate. When editing the episode, Alex, our executive producer, told us he could already tell one of our best episodes yet. I very much ag…

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#157 Onshoring Battery Production, Getting to Bankability, Waterless Cathode Materials, & More w/ Virginia Klausmeier (Sylvatex) 52:37

4M ago52:37

52:37

Today we speak with Virginia Klausmeier, President & CEO of Sylvatex, a company aiming to commercialize technology that was originally developed by her father. The technology is a waterless method to produce Cathode Active Materials (the chemicals that go into the production of various types of batteries). We cover a lot of things. The primary topi…

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#156 Digitizing Supply Chains, Finding the Right Investors & an Oversubscribed Round, Important Materials in Climate, & More w/ Leise Sandeman (Pathways) 1:02:59

4M ago1:02:59

1:02:59

(Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you) In this episode, Somil and Silas chat with Leise Sanderson, founder and CEO of Pathways. Pathways is an AI platform that simplifies environmental impact analysis for the materials and manufacturing supply chain. I’m a built environment junkie, so this was…really fun. Materials are…

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#155 Supporting Underrepresented Founders, Hardware MVP & Scaling, Partnering w/ Corporates, & More w/ Ryan Jeffery (Gener8tor) 1:10:27

4M ago1:10:27

1:10:27

Silas speaks with Ryan Jeffery, Sr. Managing Director of the Sustainability Accelerators at Gener8tor, a collection of Accelerators that serve the rest of the country outside of SF, NYC, and Boston, where the majority of VC dollars go. (Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you) Ryan started as a founder. Later, he became a…

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#154 Automated Site Selection & Environmental Due Diligence for Developers, Permitting Challenges, the Cost of Solar, & More w/ Robin Laine (Transect) 51:21

5M ago51:21

51:21

In this episode, Silas and Somil chat with Robin Lane, CEO and founder of Transect, a product that aids and expedites site selection for infrastructure projects. For Silas and I, this was an exciting mix of infrastructure meeting technology. Robin has been doing this for a while, so she had a lot to tell us about her experiences with developers, ro…

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#153 The Most Valuable Data in ClimateTech, Confusing AI with Efficiency, the Power of Tea, & More w/ Peter Sun (Climactic) 1:08:44

5M ago1:08:44

1:08:44

In this ep, we chat with Peter Sun, founding team at Climactic, an early stage fund investing in ClimateTech, specifically focused on efficiency in software which has a lot to do with, you guessed it, AI. We dive into the nuances of how AI is impacting climate tech, where the opportunities for software are in decarbonization, and Peter’s journey jo…

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#152 Policy x IRA, Carbon Capture, Commercializing DeepTech, Hardware Headwinds & More w/ Adam Goff (8 Rivers) 46:05

5M ago46:05

46:05

Today, we are joined by Adam Goff, the SVP of Strategy at 8 Rivers, a technology portfolio developer. Think of it like a venture studio but specifically for technology (often chemistry) instead of companies. (Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you) He talks us through how that looks and how they commercialize the product…

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#151 Winning Grants w/ AI, The Palo Alto Effect, Expanding Your TAM, & More w/ Helena Merk (Streamline Climate) 47:04

5M ago47:04

47:04

There are a plethora of national and local grants available to help companies solving the climate problem, but landing one is a herculean effort. Writing them takes months and can result in absolutely nothing. Half of the battle is picking the right grant to apply for. Well, Helena Merk and her team at Streamline Climate are solving that. (Take the…

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#150 AI Fund Operations, Canada x Climate VC, "Growth-as-a-Service", & More w/ Nick Findler & Chad Rickaby (ClimateDoor) 52:42

5M ago52:42

52:42

Climate Tech founders needs lots of different financing options and styles of support – ClimateDoor is an example of a niche’d styles of venture support that I hope we see more of in ClimateTech VC. ClimateDoor is a style of venture builder called “Growth-as-a-Service”, functioning similarly to a late stage accelerator. We dive into the nuances of …

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#149 PFAS, Sustainable Semiconductors, Water Consumption, & More w/ Tobias Egle (M Ventures) 1:10:00

5M ago1:10:00

1:10:00

Our guest today is Tobias Egle, an investor at M Ventures, the Corporate Venture arm of Merck. Tobias joins us today to speak about deep tech investing, specifically around materials innovation and the decarbonization of electronics manufacturing. A topic that has been in the news a lot recently is PFAS, and given his work, he was able to speak abo…

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#148 SAF, Green Hydrogen, Light Reactors | Decarbonizing the Chemical Industry World w/ Trevor Best (Syzygy) 47:38

5M ago47:38

47:38

The chemical industry is ~$4.7t globally. The reason is that nearly everything we use is produced using secondary products that are created from catalyzing raw materials in some way. This is currently done using combustion (heat) powered reactors, and our guest today is commercializing a new way to do that. A way that is 30x more efficient than cut…

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#147 Scaling "Equity-Light" Climate Tech: Marketplace Solutions, Equity-Light vs. Software, and Electrification of Transportation w/ Russell Sprole (Virta Ventures) 1:14:41

5M ago1:14:41

1:14:41

In this episode, we chat with Russell Sprole, founder and managing partner of Virta Ventures. Virta Ventures invests at the early stages focusing on “equity-light” companies. We dive into the nuances of marketplace models, the potential of AI in climate tech, his journey with Full Harvest, and more. This is a great episode for software enthusiasts …

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#146 AI-Powered Savings: Optimizing EV Charging Costs on the Grid w/ Ken Munson (Rhythmos) 52:20

6M ago52:20

52:20

Today, Ken Munson, CEO of Rhythmos, shares his story of becoming an entrepreneur, including the wins and losses. He also discusses what Rhythmos is doing in grid-edge technology. He explains what GridEdge Tech is, the importance of experienced entrepreneurs staying in the arena, and the intricacies of selling to utilities. Munson also delves into t…

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#145 Climate x Industrial Automation, Climate Storytelling, Changing Cap Table Construction, & More w/ Jay Kapoor (VSC Ventures) 1:26:31

6M ago1:26:31

1:26:31

On this episode, we interview Jay Kapoor, General Partner at VSC Ventures. VSC Ventures is a Seed-stage VC fund focusing on climate adaptation and industrial automation. Their central thesis is that although starting a company is becoming easier, its becoming harder and harder to get noticed. Their solution? Storytelling. Confused? Listen to this e…

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#144 Gen AI in Water Design, Energy Efficient Infrastructure, Digitizing Design & More w/ Adam Tank (Transcend) 36:35

6M ago36:35

36:35

In this enlightening episode, Silas and Somil are speaking all about Water and Wastewater Infrastructure with Adam Tank, the CCO and Co-Founder of Transcend Infrastructure. Adam shares his journey into the water industry and the creation of Transcend, a software platform that automates the design process for water infrastructure projects. He discus…

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#143 The Future of Carbon Markets: Transparency, Local Impact, & Retail Investors | Sudhu Arumugam, CYNK 31:33

6M ago31:33

31:33

In this enlightening episode, Silas and Somil delve into an engaging conversation with a visionary in the realm of carbon markets, Sudhu Arumugam, the CEO and Co-Founder of CYNK. CYNK is an early-stage company based out of Nairobi and Singapore, and they are building a block-chained tied marketplace specifically for the African voluntary carbon mar…

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#142 Lessons, Thoughts and Advice From Running a Climate Tech Podcast w/ Ryan Grant Little (Another Climate Tech Podcast) 58:28

6M ago58:28

58:28

🌎 Today Somil & Silas had the opportunity to do something slightly different today since we did an episode with Ryan Grant Little, the Creator and Host of Another Climate Tech Podcast. He has conversations that are more topical with his guests who are, in many cases, people he already knows. Ryan has a really fascinating background as a Founder, In…

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#141 Winning Pilots, First Customers, Arena Electrification, & More w/ Chris Richardson (Uptake Alliance, ADL Ventures) 1:23:33

6M ago1:23:33

1:23:33

🌎 On this episode, Somil interviews Chris Richardson, Executive Director of Uptake Alliance and Partner at ADL Ventures where he leads their energy and transportation practices. Uptake Alliance is the newest rockstar member of the NYS entrepreneurial ecosystem that connects organizations with startups solving specific problems they face to tackle “…

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#140 Big Oil Bogeyman, Watching Your Satellites Launch, Biz Model First, & More w/ Dan Katz (Orbital Sidekick) 40:31

7M ago40:31

40:31

🌎 Today, Silas had the opportunity to interview Dan Katz, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Orbital Sidekick, where they are building, and launching Hyperspectral Satellites to help catch methane leaks in pipelines, and, hopefully, one day, identify geographies that have critical minerals underneath the surface. He started in the aerospace industry, build…

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