Shape the System

**About The Guest(s):** Amanda is the Head of High Growth Ventures at KPMG, where she leads a team dedicated to working with startups. With a focus on deep tech and climate tech companies, Amanda helps founders navigate the challenges of scaling their businesses and provides them with the necessary support and services.​**Summary:**Amanda discusses the importance of compliance and governance for s...

The gap between the $300 Bn funding available for research in private and public organisations and where those funds are needed has a massive macro impact on society. Profound Impact, which started initially in helping impact led researchers communicate their value, has now applied machine learning models to the entire universe of grant and funding process to better connect funding available with...

Potentially the most contentious interview that we’ve down to date we explore the role propane and natural gas plays in the transition to clean, renewable energy. As the CEO of the Propane Education & Research Council  Tucker Perkins has decades of experience across the energy sector and helps to put natural gas into context across the energy needs of our modern world. As we transition to renewabl...

In our latest specialist interview we talk to Ashlee Sang who has spent decades working with impact led founders, companies and non-profits about brand messaging and communications in the context of impact led ventures. Ashlee takes us through a framework of thinking on how to connect values, actions and messaging so customers or other stakeholders not only understand what you stand for but also w...

In episode 54 we talk to Yellowdig founder Shaunak Roy about education. Our current educational norms are based on constructs dating back to the industrial revolution and more recently post WW2 but the world we live in today, especially the world today's students inhabit, is vastly different.  How do class rooms, teaches and our educational organisations need to adapt?  What are the patterns stude...

Seabin burst on to the scene back in 2016 with a innovative bin designed to clean up oceans and waterways, installed in marinas with a video that went globally viral. 5 years on and whilst they have sold bins in over 50 countries globally and cleaned up hundreds of tons of plastics from billions of litres of filtered water the business wasn't itself sustainable, in fact it was in trouble. In this...

In episode 55 we talk to Jan Skjoldhammer, the founder of NoviOcean. Wave power is one of the least progressed forms of renewable energy but there is an infinite amount of wind creating waves and those waves end up useful right along the coast where over 40% of populations live. In a water locked country like Australia that number rises to 80% The challenge with traditional wave generated power is...

Ever wondered about the environmental impact of the shirt (or dress!) on your back? The textile industry is a huge source of environmental impact across chemical, energy, heat and water usage, even before the shirt/dress is made. Cotton, as the dominant natural fibre is one of the biggest offenders which is where Graham Stewart of Fibre52 comes in.   They have pioneered a new approach to this enti...

In 3+ years we have never spoken about cryptocurrencies, but in episode 52 we change all that. We spoke to Winding Tree founder Maksim Izmaylov about travel bookings and decentralised stores of value and record (ie crypto). What might initially feel like an odd use case turns out to have the potential to shift mainstream adoption of decentralised commerce and financial transactions, ironically by...

In our first foray into a fashion related impact led company we talk to Marshall Conley from Slo Jeans about how they are turning the traditional fast, disposable fashion model (business and marketing) on its head.   They have somehow pioneered a model that intersects bespoke, hype and sustainability (you'll have to listen to hear how they did it) Slo Jeans are at https://slojeans.co/ Mountain of...

In our first formal interview under a new format, focused on conversations with impact led specialists, we speak with Jessica Marati Radparvar from reconsidered. She and her team at reconsidered operate at the intersection of strategy and change management, especially as it applies to mid to larger established organisations who are trying to shift to be more impact led.   Reconsidered is at https:...

How do you enable and empower the next generation of impact led founders? You have to meet them where they are to help them solve the problems they understand and/or experience first hand by running a global network of impact focused accelerator programs. The individuals best placed to solve the challenges in their local community are typically furthest from the resources and support we tend to th...

We completely unpack the retail energy market with a focus on the multi-tenant property market (retail spaces, aged healthcare etc), a cohort who traditionally have had virtually no way to pull levers to either improve their energy mix or energy prices. We uncover how the high market volatility has decimated some of the options previously available and how the energy grids and business models simp...

We talk to Subpod founder Saadi Allan about how households hold the key to dealing with a huge amount of our food waste and how community is key to their mission to make composting a part of everyday life. How dealing with food waste in a decentralised way creates a massive lever avoiding not only food waste itself but also the energy and resources required to achieve centrally. Saadi talks at len...

Understand how Giant Leap intersects impact and the high risk funding that is early stage venture investing. Will Richardson. managing partner of Giant Leap, talks us through  how the changes in the world in the last 5 - 10 years has created a perfect storm for not only impact led ventures but impact lead venture investing. With a mission of backing mission-driven founders solving the world's most...

In episode 44 Rob Rastovich joins to talk about how his venture (Thinglogix) is using an array of sensors and the data they produce to understand from river to plate the nature of the food supply which addresses the huge levels of interdependency within the food supply. How sensors and data across the food supply can transform the way we consume food and avoid wasting it. We learn how the interdep...

In Episode 45 we speak with Marc Champagne of the INvested Podcast, Behind the Human and author of Personal Socrates. A new format of mini-interview we are testing where we find interesting people who are adjacent to our core founder / venture interview format Marc is also working with KPMG High Growth Ventures on a mini-series at the intersection of founder performance (and stress) and the invest...

At the intersection of finance and sustainability, you will find Bloom Investing. The Bloom Impact Fund helps to drive the adoption of investment in the clean energy sector. Today we chat with Blooms co-founder Camille Socquet-Clerc about empowering people to understand the impact of investing sustainably. If you want to learn more about our energy systems, the shift we need to meet climate change...

In episode 42 we talk to Peter Brennan, one of the four founders of Heaps Normal, a non-alcoholic beer company with a mission to change drinking culture that is now the leading non-alcoholic beer and brand in the space Whilst there is some discussion around the product (find out just how they managed to brew an alcohol free beer that tastes great!) the super interesting system shaping that is happ...

In episode 41 we talk to Rui Peng about plastic and its role in rethinking the materials used in all forms of commercial enterprise from retail fit-outs to moving to furniture. The potential to replace traditional building materials like laminate MDF, particle board with recycled plastics created through new plastic recycling and fabrication techniques that they have spent the last 2 years creatin...

Prateek Joshi of Plutoshift:  How AI can impact the water and energy use in global manufacturing. In episode 40 we talk to Prateek Joshi about all things data, especially the relationship of data relating to energy, resources, water and chemicals for major manufacturing organisations and their ESG footprint. We uncover the macro trends simultaneously occurring across the cost of inputs and resourc...

In episode 39 we talk to the CEO of Eden Green   Eden Green Technology is a vertical farming technology company. They build, manage, and license a greenhouse technology platform that increases local access to nutritious produce, and provides a non-interrupted food supply, all through its turnkey urban agricultural model.   Critically they are aligning to the existing supply chain dynamics which ar...

In episode 38 we head to the suburbs of Newcastle, around 2 hours north of Sydney, Australia, to meet with David Sivyer and learn about how Feedback Organic is taking urban farming to a whole new level by integrating more fully into the restaurants and venues they supply by not only supplying their produce but also taking back the post consumption food waste.   It was a rainy old day under a tin r...

In episode 37 we chat with Lottie the founder of Banish about how a simple purchase of a metal straw to try and reduce her plastic use lead to her realising that the entire way we look at sustainability and the part that we play needed to change. With little to no regulation or rules around what labels companies can make-up and current regulations on how you can package certain products leading to...

In episode 36 we talk to Andrew Wolk of Finding Common Purpose about how after 20 years consulting to and building non-profits he is now focused on how to create alignment between various stakeholders (business, non-profits, politicians, policy makers, school districts and the community itself) to drive better outcomes for the community they all work in and serve. We talk about how their dashboard...