Impact at Scale

Impact at Scale

By Hosted by Zal Dastur and Produced by Michael Waitze MediaBusinessEntrepreneurship
Download on the App Store

Impact at Scale episodes

  • EP 69 - Brice Degeytar - Founder at Bizsu - I Would Rather Aim High and Miss Than Aim Low and Hit

    The Social Innovation Podcast had a great chat with Brice Degeytar the founder of Bizsu which has set an impressive goal of reducing 1 million tons of CO2 by 2027. They intend to do this by helping businesses reduce the energy required to cool buildings and offices.

    We discussed everything related to air-con and cooling and just how big an impact this has especially in Asia. Brice has a tool that any building can easily deploy on existing systems to reduce the energy requirements to cool any property.

    Some of the topics Brice covered:

    • Bizsu's goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 1 million tonnes
    • Opening his eyes to the waste around the world
    • Building and implementing easy-to-deploy solutions
    • The change in global heating and cooling needs
    • Learning lessons from the past and from nature
    • The power of an idea to push a company

      • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

      1. We Have to Show the Positive Effects
      2. Bring the Message in a Positive Way
      3. I Will Help Companies Consume Less Energy

        4. This episode was guest-hosted again by Zal Dastur. Zal, has been an entrepreneur for the last 14 years and has turned his attention to helping solve the climate crisis in the best way he knows, helping for-planet businesses develop and grow. As an active advisor and investor, Zal has impacted dozens of companies in the climate space helping them to reach their potential to do the maximum good for the planet.

        24 min
      4. EP 68 - Matt Ward - Partner and Syndicate Investment Lead, 4Ward VC - The Biggest Heart and the Biggest Hustler on Your Cap Table

        The Social Innovation Podcast sat down with Matt Ward a Partner and Syndicate Investment Lead at 4Ward VC. 4Ward.VC is a sustainability-focused investing syndicate. 

        In this episode, we asked Matt all the questions that early-stage companies would want to ask about raising money from investors. If you have recently started a company or are thinking about doing so, this is a show you don't want to miss. Matt gives great advice for companies that are looking to raise their Seed or Series A funding.

        Some of the details that Matt discussed:

        • Team, TAM, and Time
        • The power of an amazing team
        • How to value your startup
        • How to properly assess investors
        • How to get the attention of investors
        • Syndicate investing versus more traditional venture capital investing

          • Other titles we considered for this episode:

          1. The Valuation Doesn’t Matter Just Get the Round Done
          2. Great Product, Great Traction Trumps Everything Else
          3. The Only Way We Are Successful Is by Helping Our Startups Succeed
          4. Venture Investing Is a Hits Driven Business
          5. If You Can Survive the Next 3-5 Years There Will Be Unlimited Funding
          6. We Are All on Team Planet Together
          7. Everything Else Came Second
            8. 29 min
          8. EP 67 - Dharsono Hartono - CEO of PT Rimba Makmur Utama - Good Intentions and Wanting to Help

            The Social Innovation Podcast sat down with Dharsono Hartono, the CEO of Rimba Makmur Utama. Rimba Makmur Utama manages the world's largest nature-based solution generating more than 7 million tonnes of carbon credits annually. 

            Dharsono is an EY Entrepreneur of the year, a World Economic Forum Sustainability Pioneer, a Schwab foundation social entrepreneur of the year, and in 2022 won the YPO Global impact award. Dharsono has been working on this project for more than 15 years and he talks to us about the power of nature-based solutions, the importance of working with local communities as well as the challenges of being an entrepreneur in a new space.

            Some of the major topics that Dharsono covered:

            • Transitioning from banker to conservationist
            • The power of who we surround ourselves with
            • Empowering the local community
            • The importance of nature-based solutions
            • How climate solutions can be good for businesses as well
            • The principles of carbon credits
            • Changing the lives of the villagers in the projec

              • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

              1. We Are Caretakers for Mother Earth
              2. Give Me Another Year
              3. Doing Things for the Right Reason
              4. A New Way of Doing Business
              5. Changing the Behavior of People on the Ground
                6. 35 min
              6. EP 66 - Alex Budak - Faculty at UC, Berkeley and Author of Becoming A Changemaker - Influence Matters Much More Than Authority

                The Social Innovation Podcast spoke to Alex Budak, a University of California, Berkeley faculty member and the author of Becoming A Changemaker. "Becoming a Changemaker is a radically inclusive playbook for leading positive change...Budak is driven by the belief that anyone—regardless of title, personality, race, gender, age, or class—can be a changemaker"

                Some of the topics Alex and I discussed: 

                • Alex’s Ah-Ha moment
                • The importance of change at the grassroots level
                • Community and changemaking VS heropreneurship
                • Alex’s path to teaching changemaking at UC Berkeley
                • What is flow?
                • Sneak peek of findings from studies in the book

                  • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

                  1. Letting Your Curiosity Guide You
                  2. One Person Teaches, Two Learn
                  3. Failure Isn’t Fatal
                  4. A Sense of Agency Over Our Lives

                    5. This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.

                    44 min
                  5. EP 65 - Marc Allen and Grace Sai - co-Founders, Unravel Carbon - The Main Stakeholder Is the Planet

                    The Social Innovation Podcast spoke to Marc Allen and Grace Sai, the co-Founders of Unravel Carbon. Unravel Carbon is enterprise software that helps companies track and reduce their carbon emissions, focusing on Asia's supply chains.

                    Some of the topics that Marc and Grace covered:

                    • The existing 92 different carbon accounting software solutions
                    • How competing regulatory environments complicate the problem
                    • Unravel Carbon's goal to reduce 5% of global carbon emissions
                    • SaaS plus Service business model
                    • The necessity for Asia to be the leader in emissions reduction
                    • Why all countries have to go net zero

                      • Other titles we considered for this episode:

                      1. Bringing All That I Can Bring
                      2. Reduce First, Offset Last
                      3. People Don’t Want to Be Left Alone With a Carbon Report
                      4. Changing Behavior at Scale
                      5. Given a Choice, No One Wants to Care About Climate Change
                        6. 41 min
                      6. EP 64 - Erika Balzarelli - Founder of The Sustainable Smallholder - The Transformative Lever of Co-creation

                        The Social Innovation Podcast spoke to Erika Balzarelli the Founder of The Sustainable Smallholder, an innovation studio that focuses on helping smallholder farmers become sustainable, commercial suppliers. 

                        From her years in the field, Erika shares with us an understanding of the needs of farmers on the ground. Her passion for what she does shines brightly in this conversation along with her inspiration to contribute to making a change, "The woman effect" and the power behind co-creation.

                        Some of the topics Erika covered:

                        • The challenge of reaching more than 525 million farmers
                        • Her unique B2B2F approach
                        • Starting her own NGO in India
                        • The work Erika did on the ground
                        • Rice is more than just food
                        • What the priorities should be in rice

                          • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

                          1. Rice Is a Huge Opportunity for Innovation
                          2. The Transformative Lever of Co-creation
                          3. The Women Effect
                          4. Shut Up and Start Doing It
                            5. 36 min
                          5. EP 63 - Dr. Farshad Shishehchian - CEO of Blue Aqua - 75% of Our Food Should Come From the Ocean

                            The Social Innovation Podcast thoroughly enjoyed its conversation with Dr. Farshad Shishehchian, the Founder and CEO of Blue Aqua International.  Blue Aqua combines the art and science of farming to build a sustainable, new world.

                            Some of the topics that Dr. Farshad covered:

                            • Born in Iran/Azerbaijan
                            • Obtaining a Ph.D. in shrimp farming
                            • Fishing versus farming and the importance of replacing what is caught
                            • If we want to tackle food security, we need to eat Tilapia
                            • Why salmon and shrimp dominate the finance of fishing
                            • Ecosystems below 10,000 meters

                              • Other titles we considered for this episode:

                              1. I Always Introduce Myself as a Farmer
                              2. Your Lobster and My Lobster Are Different
                              3. We Know More About Our Solar System Compared to the Ocean
                              4. Human Being Is a Very Confused Species
                              5. I Had a Lot of Chicken at Home
                              6. There Are a Lot of Unknowns
                                7. 49 min
                              7. EP 62 - Tiffany Tong - co-Founder and CEO at Aloi - Seeing How Data Positively Impacts People Is a Dream Come True

                                The Social Innovation Podcast was recently introduced to Tiffany Tong and after a quick chat, we knew we had to have her on the show. Tiffany is a co-Founder and the CEO of Aloi, a tokenized, digital-loan platform that powers affordable finance for micro-entrepreneurs.

                                Some of the topics that Tiffany covered:

                                • Studying Development and Agriculture at University
                                • How small-holder farmers manage a large part of natural resources globally
                                • Aloi's mission and reason for being
                                • Farmer success stories and what it actually feels like to the farmers that benefit
                                • Proving the platform with Standard Chartered and getting other banks onboard
                                • How tokenization minimizes fraud and enables trust

                                  • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

                                  1. Data Is My Forte
                                  2. I Just Kept Learning and Learning and Didn’t Want to Leave 
                                  3. Tokenization Is the Future
                                  4. We’re Making Impact, and That Is So Important to Me
                                  5. It’s Growing the Trust

                                    6. This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

                                    36 min
                                  6. EP 61 - Carolin Barr K. - Founder of susGain - Local Is the Starting Point

                                    The Social Innovation Podcast spoke to Carolin Barr K., the Founder of susGain.  susGain is a social enterprise on a mission to connect better the different eco and socially-conscious stakeholders in Singapore to accelerate the change towards a more sustainable nation. susGain's rewards app nudges and incentivizes consumers in Singapore to adopt more sustainable lifestyle habits.

                                    Some of the topics we covered with Carolin:

                                    • How her work in behavioral science helps her understand how to drive behavioral change
                                    • The importance of cultural norms and social influence
                                    • Culture is an important part of her identity
                                    • What influences habit formation
                                    • How to convince people that the small actions we do make a difference
                                    • susGain helps local charities benefit from your sustainable habits

                                      • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

                                      1. Relearning the Way We Do Things
                                        1. The Intention-Action Gap
                                        2. I Didn’t See That Change Happening

                                          3. This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

                                          34 min
                                        3. EP 60 - Evelyn Tay - foodpanda - It’s Not a Trend, It’s a Paradigm Shift

                                          The Social Innovation Podcast was fortunate to have Evelyn Tay, VP, Communications and Public Affairs, Sustainability - APAC, at foodpanda on the show.  What made this even better was recording in the foodpanda offices in Singapore.

                                          Some of the topics Evelyn discussed:

                                          • Her father’s immigrant story from China to Singapore
                                          • Multilingualism as a competitive advantage
                                          • Saving 900 million pieces of plastic cutlery as a result of one decision
                                          • The importance of building a community around what you do
                                          • The need to have continuous dialogue with the drivers and riders
                                          • Internal feedback sessions as an integral part of foodpanda
                                          • Why and how electric vehicles matter

                                            • Some other titles we considered for this episode:

                                            1. You Couldn’t Do the Job Without Empathy
                                            2. We’re Not Just Status Quo
                                            3. Post COVID, Everything Changed
                                            4. I’m So Proud That Our Leaders Do It

                                              5. This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.

                                              44 min

                                            About Impact at Scale

                                            From the publisher's feed

                                            Creating Impact and Profit Through Social Innovation - Conversations with the global leaders in Impact Investing and Social Innovation