Macro Micro Michael Marco & Startups at the Edge (M4Edge)

This is the final M4Edge episode of 2021 an we are finishing this year with a bang, Our guest is Alex Rodrigues, founder and CEO of Embark Trucks; he is a Forbes 30 under 30, and more importantly, at the tender age of 26 he has just brought Embark public through a SPAC deal valuing the company at over 5 billion dollars.

Embark is right up the M4Edge alley, where we look at technologies that change the way the economy works: Embark develops software for self-driving trucks. Alex Rodrigues has a long-standing interest in automation: his passion for robots started when he was 11, so even though he’s only 26, he is already kind of a veteran in robotics. In our interview he revealed a number of interesting insights on the present and the future of automation, and some of them are quite surprising. How is this for a nugget: here we have the founder of a self-driving trucks company predicting a bright future for truck drivers!

We had a great conversation on where and why self-driving trucks could create – or at least preserve – jobs; but also on where they will be deployed first, and what they could imply for the future of logistics and distribution, quite an important topic given the recent dramatic supply chain disruptions.

Alex also explained why the development of self-driving trucks might be very different from that of self-driving passenger cars; we talk about road safety and cyber-security, and about Embark’s business model: they don’t actually produce trucks, they are a SaaS company.

And we close with Alex’s reflections on the future of robotics and automation. This episode has everything we – and you – like best: an enthusiastic and deeply knowledgeable guest, cutting edge technology, business model innovation and important implications for the way we live and work. 

Thanks for listening, Thanks for Being Curious, and as always, please share the episode and if you have a few minutes, leave us a review. We’ll be back in 2022 with a brand new series we’re planning, so…enjoy the holidays and STAY curious!

After a long absence, we’ve returned with a very fun episode and right in line with the M4Edge theme. The startup we focus on today is really micro, in the weeds, you might say, with some very macro aims, and it’s about as edgy as can be.

You probably know that we’ve done several episodes on ESG or impact investing, and we’ve also done quite a few food-tech and ag-tech episodes. This episode is part of that series, but with some cool twists .We interview Dror Tamir, the CEO of Hargol Food Tech. Dror wants us all to be eating grasshoppers. Yes, I know, it sounds gross. Dror knows that too. But not everyone feels that way! It turns out that in many parts of the world, they are a delicacy. But Dror  doesn’t expect those of us who grew up with Western diets to crunch on wings and legs, instead Hargol grinds up the grasshoppers into a powder, which you can blend with other foods, or even put in gummies.

What’s the big deal about grasshoppers? They are tiny little nutrition machines, so part of Dror’s vision is protein for the world. There’s a climate angle too, since reducing beef and poultry consumption will reduce emissions; there’s a water angle, since growing this form of protein uses FAR less water than other animal production; there’s an animal cruelty angle, since Hargol takes pains to kill the grasshoppers in a humane way. The stats on how healthy grasshoppers are for people and for the planet are frankly mindblowing. Beyond that, Hargol has internal ESG goals unrelated to their product, for example around hiring people with disabilities. Dror sees his mission as being an element of the Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam - repairing the world.

Oh yeah, this is the Jewiest episode we’ve done, too. Marco compares Jewish grandmothers to Italian grandmothers, I talk about kosher laws, Dror explains a Hebrew pun and Marco even vocalizes an excellent chet. But all you goyim and our faithful M4Edge devotees shouldn’t worry; it’s an ecumenical episode - there’s plenty in here about Hargol’s approach to their market, their production process, their place within the booming food-tech scene and more. We know you’ll enjoy the episode.

And since you’ll enjoy it, please share it with others, rate us on Apple Podcasts, post it on social media - you know what to do - spread the word.  And as always, thanks for being curious!

It’s not often that a small startup has ties to Google and Bill Gates. Our guest today, Michael Sachse, the CEO of Dandelion Energy inhabits that rarefied atmosphere.

Dandelion Energy was originally part of Google X, Alphabet’s so-called moonshot factory. And very recently, Dandelion received substantial series B funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which is the VC arm of a Bill Gates – led organization whose mission is to help get the world to net zero carbon emissions.

So what’s so special about Dandelion that it attracted this sort of attention? They are tackling one of the hardest clean energy problems we will face as we decarbonize, namely how to heat our homes without fossil fuels. Dandelion harnesses geothermal energy – which is itself not a new trick – but the way they do it and deliver it is indeed new. There’s tech and business model innovation involved, and since this is M4Edge, we’ll of course explore some policy issues, some labor issues and more. And you’ll learn what kind of outright ban Marco thinks would be in the public interest.

Enjoy the episode, and thanks for being curious!

We seem drawn to Agtech and impact investing. And good-tasting fruit.
We kicked off our 2021 season with a discussion on impact investing or socially responsible investing, including with a startup (EcoRobotix) that produces solar-power farming equipment for AI-based precision application of herbicide. We've done a few episodes in the Agtech space, including with a startup (Strella Biotech)  that uses sensors to determine optimal fruit ripening in storage, reduce food waste and make our avocados not crummy. In this episode we continue these trends, and learn from TrueAlgae CEO Nathaniel Jackson about how their product can improve crop yields while simultaneously improving the sweetness and nutrient density of fruit, all while saving farmers' money and helping reduce the GHG impact of agriculture. This company is a true "double bottom line" company, or more like triple bottom line. Nathaniel himself was an impact investor at the Inter-American Development Bank, and has strong personal stake in seeing the impact investment sector succeed.

Please share the episode with your friends and ... thanks for being curious!

We kick off this season with a deeper look at the meaning of our phrase “changing how the economy functions,” specifically examining what you may have heard of as “social entrepreneurship,” which is the idea that entrepreneurial ventures should measure themselves not just by revenue but also by metrics that capture their broader impact on the social and natural environment.

Impact investing takes many forms. It can be venture firms seeking out so called “double bottom line“ or even “triple bottom line” returns, meaning financial & social returns or financial & social & environmental. In fact, there is a venture firm called DBL Partners - double bottom line - one of whose portfolio companies we’ve had on the show- Zola Electric. DBL invested in another company you may have heard of - Tesla - which is probably the most high profile, but not the only proof point that impact investing is not charitable giving. 

Impact investing can also refer to the idea of investors screening for or against certain types of activities. The institutional approach is the idea of ESG investing. ESG stands for environmental, social, governance. ESG investors are typically mutual funds or financial companies with specific funds that invest in companies that are promoting those aims or perhaps which are improving their own internal practices. 

How big is ESG? According to Morningstar, there are about 275 ESG open-end mutual funds and ETFs available in the U.S.. And according to Deloitte, 75% of investors applied ESG principles to at least a quarter of their portfolios in 2019. Another sign of how far this idea has come is that the incoming director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese, most recently led BlackRock’s ESG investing, in other words, one of the most prominent economist positions in the country is about to be inhabited by an ESG guy.

Some of the more well known impact VCs include DBL, and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, whom we’ve also featured on M4Edge. There are many other examples, all with ambitious aims, including the HEED fund, The Impact Engine, SustainVC,  Village Capital, Better Ventures  and many more.

We’ve decided to delve into a few of these areas, with the help of three guests. First, we’re joined by Sonal Shah, the Executive Director of the Beeck Center at Georgetown. Sonal is so steeped in the world of impact that we asked her to cohost this episode. Sonal interviews Lisa Green Hall, the Impact Chair at Apollo Global Management, but has held many roles in this space, as is really one of the pioneers of the field.

But we’re technophiles here at M4Edge, so we also interview Steve Tanner, the founder and CTO of EcoRobotix, a Swiss ag-tech company whose mission is to “develop, produce and sell innovative farming machines that require low energy and that reduce the negative ecological impact of modern agriculture, while keeping costs competitive.” 

We are joined again by our friend and former colleague Ricky Buch. We’ve had Ricky on the show several times as small segments we called Ricky’s Reports from the Edge or sometimes full episodes we called Ricky’s Startup Reality. Ricky started a clean tech company - now the term of art is climate tech – called Loctricity. It was a great idea started by a smart guy with skills, knowledge, industry connections, in the right place and in the right time. But Loctricity is now on pause, and in this episode you’ll hear why, and how Ricky is still pursuing business opportunity in the distributed renewable energy space. The idea behind Ricky’s Reports and Ricky’s Startup Reality was to give listeners and inside view of what it’s like to start a company from scratch; in this episode, Ricky shares some thoughts about that process which I think are among the most insightful and sort of soul bearing that he’s shared so far.

It’s been about a year since we last checked-in with Ricky, and what a year it’s been. We hope M4Edge listeners and your loved ones have stayed healthy, safe and sane, during 2020. Thanks for your loyalty, and we wish you – and everyone else – a MUCH better and happier 2021.

Enjoy the holidays, enjoy the episode and, as always, thanks for being curious!

Geoff Oxnam, American Microgrid Solutions
Positive Capital Partners

In this episode, the third in our series on startup strategy, Marco and I interview Guy Levy-Yurista , the chief strategy officer of Sisense. Sisense is an unusual business analytics or business intelligence (BI) startup, and Guy is an unusual, well, guy. Before becoming a CSO, Guy’s career included being a CTO, VP of Product, a PhD in physics, a sommelier, and more. So he brings a wealth of expertise and perspective to his job and to this conversation. We talk about what strategy means and what it means for a startup; we talk about how startups take risks; we talk about the methods for strategy; and how the job of a strategist gets done. But we also talk about AI and the singularity, what it means to think for a living , we of course talk about SciFi- but also the role SciFi plays in exercising our minds.  Guy says that for him being a good strategist is all about curiosity. For M4Edge listeners, that should be a familiar refrain. Enjoy the episode and Thanks for Being Curious.

 Thank you to MyIpadRocks for their review on Apple Podcast. They wrote that M4Edge has an “exceptional list of guests and are on the cutting edge of thought leadership on how the use of data and manufacturing technology is evolving.” Thanks MyIPadRocks! Please write us a review, and we promise to read our favorite on the show and give you a quick shoutout for your troubles. These reviews do help, so please add yours.

Our miniseries on startups strategy continues today with Ron Carucci. Ron is a renowned strategy consultant with three decades of experience in large and small companies, and currently he is the owner and managing partner of his own strategy consulting outfit, Navalent. Ron is also a Harvard Business Review contributor, and a TED speaker.

Through the lens of his extensive experience, Ron shares his views on the different strategic challenges that companies face, starting from some very basic questions: 

When and how does a company realize that its strategy no longer works and needs to be revamped? What are the classic blind spots, the cognitive biases if you will that can prevent a company from realizing that the strategy is no longer on track? 

We discuss with Ron the best techniques to identify and tackle the key challenges, and the tricks needed to bring everyone on board. We discuss the most typical transformational challenges that companies face, and how they can different across industries and between start-ups and larger companies. We also discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic and the current focus on social issues can further complicate corporate strategy, and how companies can adapt and respond.

Companies today face unprecedented uncertainty across multiple, inter-related dimensions: the pandemic, economic disruption, geopolitical turmoil, and accelerating innovation. Developing a well-designed and flexible strategy has never been more important, and it’s never been harder. Ron has seen it all; listen to his advice.

Enjoy the episode and thanks for being curious!

Today we kick off a new, special miniseries on strategy. We’ll unpack the different aspects of business strategy that a startup needs to develop, discuss how strategy evolves through time as a start-up goes to market and starts to grow, and talk about how strategy for a startup differs from strategy for a large corporation.

We wanted to go well beyond our own strategy experience and expertise, and bring you a wide range of different viewpoints and fields of expertise. So we have assembled an incredibly diverse set of guests for this series.They include Sue Siegel, former Chief Innovation Officer at GE as well as the CEO of GE Ventures; Ron Carucci, a top strategy consultant, Harvard Business Review contributor, and TED speaker; and Guy Levy-Yurista, Chief Strategy Officer for tech startup Sisense. And, today's guest, who is just waaay too cool for us, Elma Beganovich.

A crucial aspect of a start-up strategy lies in identifying your target customer base, understanding it and knowing how to reach it. So we were delighted when Elma accepted our invitation. Elma is the Co-founder and COO of Amra & Elma, a digital marketing agency she co-founded with her sister. Elma and Amra are two influencers with an impressive stack of academic credentials (a JD and LLM, in Elma’s case), and have worked with several top large companies as well as start-ups. We discuss influencer marketing, how to successfully develop brand recognition and how to build an effective PR strategy. We also delve into the challenges and changes brought about by the pandemic, and how companies can best adapt.

The broad range of perspectives we bring you in these four conversations will show you what YOU need to develop a successful strategy – and to identify the companies most likely to succeed in this new environment. We’ve learned a lot in these four episodes, and hope you’ll enjoy them too! 

Thanks for being curious!

Our guest today is Sandeep Ahuja, co-founder and CEO of Cove Tool. Sandeep has been named to the Forbes’ prestigious “Thirty Under Thirty” list; the recognition has given her a great boost in exposure and credibility, but it can prove to be a mixed blessing in the construction industry, as you will hear. Sandeep founded Cove Tool to help fight climate change, and here are the two numbers she wants you to focus on: worldwide, buildings account for about 40% of energy consumption and carbon emissions, and yet about 50% of buildings are designed without even thinking of energy efficiency. Why? Mainly because addressing energy efficiency in construction is devilishly difficult. So Sandeep developed a web-based platform that helps optimize energy efficiency in a holistic way, taking into account all the elements that contribute to a building’s energy consumption; and it helps identify the most cost-effective way to reach specific energy-efficiency targets. What’s more, Cove Tool is accessible to pretty much anybody, not just big firms but small contractors, individual homeowners. We also discuss the role of generative design, the impact of regulations, the dismal state of productivity growth in the construction industry, and whether the rapid global adoption of software tools like Cove will cause buildings to look increasingly alike around the world. Sandeep has an infectious enthusiasm for transforming one of the oldest industries in the world, making for a very high-energy podcast. Enjoy the episode, share it with your friends and colleagues, mention it in your countless Zoom meetings…and give us a review on iTunes! Thanks for being curious.