Inevitable

This episode is part of our Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Ian Smith is the Director of Investments at T...

Mario Molina is the Executive Director of Protect Our Winters (aka POW). POW was founded in the late 2000s by professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones. They've grown to 130,000 supporters that consist of passionate outdoor athletes motivated to protect the places they live and love from climate change. POW's goal is to give a voice to the outdoor sports community (or the Outdoor State, as they call i...

This episode is part of our Skilled Labor Series hosted by MCJ partner, Yin Lu . This series is focused on amplifying the voices of folks from the skilled labor workforce, including electricians, farmers, ranchers, HVAC installers, and others who are on the front lines of rewiring our infrastructure. Alyssa Thomas oversees the workforce development program at SunPower , a residential solar company...

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Jonah Goldman was a longtime managing dir...

Dr. Vanessa Kerry is the co-founder and CEO of Seed Global Health , a nonprofit organization focused on health system strengthening and transformation through long-term investments and training of the health workforce. Under her leadership, Seed has helped educate more than 34,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives in seven countries, helping to improve healthcare for more than 73 million people.  Dr....

Toby Kraus and Ben Parker are co-founders of Lightship , an all-electric RV. Their first model, the L1, is a tow trailer with a sizable solar array on top, electric heat pump HVAC, an induction stove in the kitchen, an 80 kilowatt hour battery and an EV range extending or gas mileage boosting feature wherein the tow trailer provides some on-road power to the vehicle that's pulling it.  Ben is a fo...

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress. David Aronoff is Chairman and General Partner at M...

Bill Caesar is President at Generate Upcycle , a subsidiary of Generate Capital .  Generate Upcycle reduces the environmental footprint of businesses, farms, cities and consumers by diverting organic waste from landfills and producing renewable fuels, electricity, and organic fertilizers. Bill's journey from the CIA to McKinsey to waste management, culminating in his role at Generate, is fascinati...

Josh Silverman is the CEO and founder of Windfall Bio , which transforms methane into nitrogen-rich organic soil nutrients using naturally occurring methane-eating microbes. With a strong background in biotechnology, Josh has founded multiple successful ventures in the field, raising over $300 million in equity financing and generating a cumulative exit value exceeding $1.7 billion. After co-found...

This episode is part of our Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Ben Kortlang is a partner at G2 Venture Partn...

Danielle Deiseroth is the Executive Director of Data for Progress . Data for Progress produces polling, database messaging, and policy generation for progressive causes, campaigns and candidates. Danielle joined in 2020 and built the climate and environmental polling practice. She became interim executive director in December 2022 and was named executive director in June 2023. We have a robust con...

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Steve Simon is the founder of Simon Equity Partne...

Alan Leung is SVP of Threat Intelligence on the Global Security team at Macquarie Group , a global financial services firm. They're one of the world's largest infrastructure asset managers.  Alan is an active MCJ community member who a year or so ago started writing his own personal newsletter on climate and geopolitical risk at securingclimate.substack.com . The conversation in this episode is in...

Leopold Spenner is CEO and Co-founder of alcemy , which is accelerating the decarbonization of cement and concrete via software.  Concrete is one of the most abundant manmade materials on earth, and it's exceedingly hard to decarbonize. Most of its emissions footprint comes from the production of cement, the materials that provide concrete with its strength. By most estimates, cement is responsibl...

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  James Lindsay is a principal on the Build...

Antti Vihavainen is the Co-founder and CEO of Helsinki-based Puro.earth , a leading crediting platform and registry for engineered carbon removal. In 2021, NASDAQ acquired a controlling stake in Puro, helping further establish its credibility in the marketplace. Puro is actively offering engineered carbon removal credits today for a few dozen projects that primarily consist of biochar and bio-cons...

This episode is part of our Skilled Labor Series hosted by MCJ partner, Yin Lu . This series is focused on amplifying the voices of folks from the skilled labor workforce, including electricians, farmers, ranchers, HVAC installers, and others who are on the front lines of rewiring our infrastructure. Christof Franzsen is head of the Apprenticeship Program at Forge , a residential construction comp...

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores various capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Irena Spazzapan is Managing Partner at Systemiq Capi...

Giana Amador is Executive Director at Carbon Removal Alliance . Carbon Removal Alliance was announced earlier this year in February 2023 as a trade organization focused on advancing policies that support a diverse set of carbon removal technologies. Its membership consists of 20 plus companies in the carbon removal space, including technology startups like Charm Industrial , Heirloom , and Noya ,...

This episode is part of our Skilled Labor Series hosted by MCJ partner, Yin Lu . This series is focused on amplifying the voices of folks from the skilled labor workforce, including electricians, farmers, ranchers, HVAC installers, and others who are on the front lines of rewiring our infrastructure. Aubrey Streit Krug is the Director of the Perennial Cultures Lab at the Land Institute in Salina,...

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Vikram Raju is Managing Director, Head of...

Adam Minter is an opinion columnist at Bloomberg covering Asia, technology and the environment. He's written two books, Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade , and Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale .  Adam is a global expert on the circular economy, and we spend the first chunk of the conversation covering the recycling market and the role of China therein. We...

Dr. Steve Davis is the head of Climate Science at Watershed .  Watershed is a leading provider of carbon accounting software. They help large companies such as Walmart, Airbnb, Sweet Green, BlackRock, and many others measure, report, and reduce their emissions. They announced a $70 million series B financing on a $1 billion valuation co-led by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins in February 2022. And Stev...

This episode is part of our Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.  Sebastian Heitmann is a partner at Extantia C...

Dr. Scott Moore is the director of China Programs at the University of Pennsylvania , and the author of the book, China's Next Act: How Sustainability and Technology are Reshaping China's Rise and the World's Future .  China is a complicated climate topic: on the one hand, China is the largest solar energy producer in the world and has the largest EV industry in the world, each of which rose from...