Learning by Proxy with Vivek Srinivasan

I sat down to speak with Saras Agarwal who is the managing partner at Earth Fund which is building a Real Estate focused sustainability fund. We spoke about the industry and the challenges and opportunities that he sees in the sector and the kinds of ventures that they are seeking to invest in.

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I spoke with Shreya Nath of WELL Labs to understand what took her from being an Architect to leading the Urban Water Program at WELL Labs and what she does there.

This conversation ranges from the structure of our cities to how water is accessed and provided to each of the residents to how we dispose of this water and finally what role policy could play in changing behaviour.

In the process, I learnt that Bangalore has the largest number of decentralised sewage treatment plants in the world. What we do with our sewage and our rainwater and what we should probably aspire to do.

If you have wondered at all about the recent water challenges in Bangalore, you will be glad you heard this.

If you are interested in knowing how Bangalore is fed its water here is an amazing video published by WELL Labs.

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I spoke with Melissa Tan who is a Malaysian Actress, Model, Host, Entrepreneur and Climate Activist.

She has been working towards reducing the amount of fashion that is unnecessarily consumed. Her initiatives in Kuala Lumpur have seen thousands participate.

It was an interesting conversation about how she got into activism and how she sees change coming.

Listen in.

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Normally, my podcasts are about 20 minutes long. This one is about 50 minutes long thanks to Shyam Menon.

This is easily the most I have enjoyed recording a podcast. Shyam Menon is the co-founder of Infuse Ventures and the Bharat Innovation Fund. In this podcast, he shares his journey from the US to India; from technology to VC; and from defence to sustainability.

A super candid conversation on how India’s first sustainability-focused fund got set up and what were the key learnings from that journey.

Deeply insightful and full of nuance, just listen to it.

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I had the opportunity to speak with Aidan Charron from Earth Day about plastics and their environmental effects. Plastics are everywhere around us and have a detrimental effect on our health and bodies.

I dive into what plastics are and how they affect us in this podcast.

The first Earth Day was organised on 22 April 1970. This year their theme is Planet Vs Plastics. They have published a report on the subject at this link.

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I had the opportunity to speak with Rohan Choukkar, Vice President of Investment at Bharat Innovation Fund.

During the conversation, we spoke about his involvement in the same, the evolution of climate investments in India, the state of the innovation eco-system in the country and the areas that would be interesting to watch out for in the coming years.

It was an incredibly insightful conversation with much to learn from.

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Shriti Pandey came back from New York University and watched the stubble burning envelop Delhi with smoke. She decided to do what she could about it and Strwcture was born. The company turns straw into compressed boards that can be used for building.

In this conversation, I spoke to her about how she got started and where she sees the business going in the future.

You can also read the entire article here

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I spoke with Rashmi Vittal, Chief Customer Officer for Eevie; a startup working on making it easier for corporations to engage their employees to make them think about climate change and action.

What are some of the corporates doing? What kind of change is it resulting in? We delve into some of these questions with Rashmi on this podcast.

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Blume Ventures is an extremely active and respected venture fund. In this podcast speak with Mudit Narain about his choice to study climate change and technology and policy's role in shaping the world.

We also spoke about what thoughts guide how Blume Ventures looks at Climate Tech and how this problem of climate change can ultimately be solved.

I enjoyed my conversations with Mudit. Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

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You can also follow the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, and Podbean

I have been publishing this podcast off and on for the last 3 years. I had taken a year-long hiatus in the middle.

Things are going to be changing. Just a short update.