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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 company based out of Boston, Massachusetts.
In this episode, we learn how this novel program is being designed to meet the growing job demands in the residential construction industry through small cohort-based learning versus the traditional one-on-one model. They do this through a super intentional focus on mastering four skills: windows, cabinet, trim and door installations. Forge uses video technology to help apprentices get more face time with seasoned mentors while on the job. We also learn about Christof's journey leaving his job as an actuary to take a risk in becoming a carpenter and finding his way to becoming an instructor of woodworking. Enjoy the show!
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Forge Instagram / LinkedIn
Yin Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on Jun 28, 2023 (Published on Jul 27, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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 Capital, the climate-tech VC spin-off from the world's largest pure-play climate advisory firm, Systemiq. Irena built the current team and led most investments in Fund I, including companies like Charm Industrial and Brimstone. And in 2022, she led the spin-out of Systemiq Capital from Systemiq with the launch of Fund II, which continues to back early-stage companies across the UK, EU, and North America.
In this episode, Irena and Jason have a great discussion about the origin story of Systemiq Capital, their approach to climate investing, and how they evolved over time. We also cover a bevy of related topics, including what's been happening in the macro, some of the bottlenecks that are holding up progress, what we can do to accelerate progress and, of course, where Systemiq Capital and early-stage climate tech innovation generally fit in. Enjoy the show!
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Jason Jacobs Twitter / LinkedIn
Irena Spazzapan LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on July 11, 2023 (Published on July 26, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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, as well as carbon removal purchasers and investors. Giana has been working on carbon removal since 2015 when she co-founded Carbon 180, a leading NGO focused on carbon removal.
In this episode, we trace Giana’s journey from university at UC Berkeley to founding Carbon 180, her leap to start Carbon Removal Alliance, why carbon removal matters, what Carbon Removal Alliance aims to achieve, and what policy pathways she hopes to see. Lastly, for the policy wonks in the house, we conclude with a conversation on four specific pieces of budding federal legislation and one state level item that Carbon Removal Alliance is engaging on at present.
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Giana Amador Twitter / LinkedIn
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on Jun 28, 2023 (Published on Jul 20, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
Connect with MCJ:
*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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, Kansas. The Land Institute is a nonprofit and one of the global leaders in sustainable agriculture research and education. Aubrey grew up in a small town in Kansas where her parents farm wheat and raise cattle. She is a writer, teacher, and researcher who studies stories of relationships between humans and plants.
Aubrey gives us a crash course in understanding the perennial grain ecosystem, its history, the research behind how to develop new crops, and the labor needs to sustain production. We also cover the education required to introduce new crops for human consumption, equity considerations on access to crops, and why the ability to grow grains year-round is key to sustaining global food stability.
In this episode, we cover:
Resources Mentioned:
Get connected:
Aubrey Twitter /The Land Institute Twitter
Yin Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on May 4, 2023 (Published on Jul 20, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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 the 1GT Platform and Head of Climate Investing for the private credit and equity division of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
Morgan Stanley, of course, is a big player in the investing world, and seeing that they are entering climate tech and doing so at the growth equity stage is intriguing. Jason and Vikram cover a lot in this episode, including Morgan Stanley's journey to standing up this 1GT Platform and also Vikram's journey to doing the work that he does. We also discussed the energy transition generally, barriers holding it back, and changes that could unlock faster progress.
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Jason Jacobs Twitter / LinkedIn
Vikrum Raju LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on June 28, 2023 (Published on July 19, 2023)
Disclaimer from Morgan Stanley: This a general communication, which is not impartial and all information provided has been prepared solely for informational and educational purposes and does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security or to adopt any specific investment strategy. The views and opinions and/or analysis expressed are those of the author or the investment team as of the date of preparation of this material and are subject to change at any time without notice due to market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. Forecasts and/or estimates provided herein are subject to change and may not actually come to pass. Information regarding expected market returns and market outlooks is based on the research, analysis and opinions of the authors or the investment team.
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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 then go into the reuse market and talk about textiles and clothing. Lastly, we cover some of his recent reporting, which spans water and agriculture before bringing it back to climate and China. Adam is deeply knowledgeable about a lot of topics, and he has a knack for uncovering the global market forces that shape local economic situations and trends. This conversation is rapid-fire and covers a lot of ground.
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Adam Minter Twitter / LinkedIn
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on May 11, 2023 (Published on Jul 17, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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 Steve joined Watershed shortly after that in July 2022.
Steve spent the last decade as a professor in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California Irvine. At Watershed, he works to help close the gap between science and business, ensuring that the pathways that Watershed offers to its customers are scientifically viable. He's also a contributor to the Energy Systems chapter of the most recent IPCC report and the lead author of the National Climate Assessment mitigation chapter.
In this episode, Steve and Cody dive into his background, why he jumped into a startup from academia, what Watershed is and does, an overview of carbon accounting, the decisions Steve sees companies make around decarbonization priorities, and the advice he has for startups hiring their first climate scientist and vice versa.
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
Dr. Steve Davis Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on June 26, 2023 (published on July 13, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
Connect with MCJ:
*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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 Capital.
Extantia Capital is a platform to invest in breakthrough technology solutions that address the climate crisis via mitigation and adaptation. The 300 million euro platform includes Extantia Flagship, which backs scalable deep decarbonization companies; Extantia Allstars, which partners with mission aligned climate tech, venture capital fund managers; and Extantia Ignite, a sustainability hub, advancing knowledge and competence in climate innovation and ESG practices.
In this episode, we cover:
Resources mentioned:
Get connected:
Jason Jacobs Twitter / LinkedIn
Sebastian Heitmann LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on June 20, 2023 (published July 12, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
Connect with MCJ:
*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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 being nearly non-existent 15 years ago. On the other hand, China generates more than 60% of its electricity from coal and is the world's largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases.
Scott and Cody cover a lot of ground, including how the Chinese economic and political system operates, how the solar and EV industries came to be, China's climate policies, global commitments, and the country's current climate, tech and innovation priorities. Given China's role and impact in just about everything, we probably should do another 100 or more MCJ episodes on topics related to China. Hopefully this initial primer can help us all get oriented.
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Dr. Scott Moore Twitter / LinkedIn
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on June 2, 2023 (released on July 10, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
Connect with MCJ:
*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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.
Mark Martin is the regional director for advanced manufacturing for the Bay Area Community Colleges. He works with community college manufacturing programs to help build upon and develop innovative approaches to train students in meeting the needs of the local manufacturing industries. A veteran of the industrial manufacturing sector, Mark also sits on the boards of the Association of Manufacturers Bay Area and the Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence.
We've talked about labor force needs in solar, HVAC, electrical work on the show in the past, but today we touch upon another critical sector of the skilled trades: manufacturing jobs. This means machining, welding, technical maintenance jobs, programmable logic control jobs, etc. We talk about why these jobs are so critical to climate tech solution scaling and how the State of California, through a role like Mark's, is helping match the talent supply to the growing demands for these skill sets.
In this episode, we cover:
Get connected:
Mark Martin LinkedIn
Yin Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective
*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Episode recorded on May 3, 2023 (released on Jul 6, 2023)
Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].
Connect with MCJ:
*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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