The S2G Podcast

When a ship needs to reroute around the Strait of Hormuz, when forecasters try to predict short and long-term weather, or when scientists model the impacts of a changing climate, it all comes down to ocean data. Yet the ocean remains one of the most undermeasured environments on Earth. In this episode, Chuck Templeton sits down with Tim Janssen, co-founder and CEO of Sofar Ocean, to explore why real-time ocean intelligence is one of the most consequential unsolved problems of our time, and how companies like Sofar are finally moving the needle at scale. Tim breaks down how Sofar's network of sensor-loaded buoys is helping to close the ocean data gap, why AI is making that data exponentially more valuable, and how shipping giants are already using Sofar's Wayfinder platform to optimize routes, cut emissions, and respond in real time to disruptions happening right now.

Chapters: 

5:10 — The Compounding Cost of Not Measuring

7:40 — What to Measure and Why: Waves, Wind, and Beyond

10:10 — Turning Ocean Data Into Products People Actually Use

11:30 — Wayfinder: Google Maps for the High Seas

15:30 — Geopolitical Disruption: Hormuz, Suez, and Real-Time Rerouting

19:40 — Spotter Scout: The Ocean's New Autonomous Eye

26:10 — Why AI Makes Ocean Data More Valuable, Not Just Cheaper

32:20 — The Holy Grail: Ocean Intelligence at Atmospheric Scale

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

American farming is under real pressure. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent synthetic fertilizer prices spiking, and 70% of US farmers say they can't afford the inputs they need for this planting season. But this isn't just a recent shock. Farm margins have been shrinking for years, and the US has lost almost 150,000 farms in the last five years alone. The commodity model that defined American agriculture for decades simply wasn't built for the volatility we're living through now.

In this episode, Justin Bruch, CEO of Clear Frontier, and Iowa farmer Bryce Irlbeck join Sanjeev Krishnan to make the case that this moment of disruption is also an opportunity for farmers willing to rethink how they operate and for investors paying attention. They explain why the shift toward organic and regenerative farming isn't just an environmental story but also a financial one, and why soil health is a surprisingly important factor in the long-term value of farmland as an asset. If you've never thought seriously about farmland as part of a diversified portfolio, this conversation will change that.

Chapters

07:20 The Super Cycles That Shaped American Ag 

10:20 How Policy Locked Farmers Into Corn & Soybeans 

11:30 Is the Commodity Model Breaking Down? 

15:30 A Vision for the Next 30 Years 

24:10 Farmland as a Diversifier Asset Class 

28:30 Soil Health as the New Value Driver 

31:10 Capital in Rural America 

36:00 What Does "Regenerative" Actually Mean? 

40:20 Anti-Fragility & the Strait of Hormuz

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

This episode will change the way you see American manufacturing and showcase why it's both more vulnerable and more adaptable than you may think. Saman Farid, CEO and founder of Formic, sits down with Chuck Templeton to pull back the curtain on a pressure point hiding in plain sight: hundreds of thousands of U.S. factories are running behind schedule or turning down orders, not because they lack machines or materials, but because they simply can't find people to run them. Saman introduces Formic's "robotics as a service" model, a subscription-based approach that lets manufacturers deploy robots to factories without the massive upfront capital investment, and explains why this is the unlock that the industry needs. He breaks down where AI in robotics actually stands today, why the Tesla vs. Waymo training data debate maps directly onto the future of physical AI, and why the next decade of American manufacturing isn't about replacing workers. It's about making factories more efficient and profitable, making manufacturing jobs safer and more sustainable, and rebuilding the industrial pyramid from the ground up.

Chapters

4:50 — The Two Big Misconceptions About Robotics

7:40 — Why American Factories Are Stuck in the Past

10:10 — The Labor Crisis Quietly Killing Manufacturing

13:00 — Why Factories Are Turning Down Business

16:30 — Full-Service Robotics: The Subscription Model Explained

21:10 — The Three Waves of Robot Technology

32:10 — The Waymo vs. Tesla Playbook for Robot Training Data

35:10 — Financing a Robot Fleet: Building a Smarter Capital Stack

41:40 — Will Robots Take Jobs? What the Data Actually Shows

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

Gas prices at the pump are just the beginning of what the war with Iran means for global energy. In this episode, Sanjeev Krishnan sits down with S2G's energy co-leads Frank O'Sullivan and Bala Nagarajan to unpack what the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz actually mean for the global energy system, not just this week, but over the next decade. From gas shortages hitting stoves in India and setting coal prices at all-time highs, to what this means for industries from electric vehicles to data centers, Frank and Bala trace the long arc of where this crisis leads. They dig into whether this moment could finally shock Europe, Asia, and even the US into building the energy systems they've been putting off for decades, and why this disruption might be the most powerful accelerant for renewable energy in a generation. 

Key Takeaways

1. The US is no longer insulated from global gas prices. Frank explains that because the US is now the world's largest LNG exporter, domestic gas prices are increasingly coupled to international markets, with real consequences for industrial competitiveness, power costs, and the relative economics of solar and nuclear.
2. This crisis is hitting East Asia hardest and fastest. Bala points to a 30x spike in demand for induction stoves on Amazon India as an indicator that consumers in Southeast Asia are moving toward alternatives from the bottom up.
3. Europe's energy crisis is a de-industrialization crisis. Bala notes that much of Europe's demand drop after the Russia-Ukraine war wasn't efficiency or transition, it was factories and refineries shutting down. Real recovery requires cheap electricity first, and Europe doesn't have it.
4. Data centers will absorb higher gas prices, but not forever. Frank argues that at current prices, hyperscalers will take power anyway they can get it. But as data centers look more like infrastructure than tech products, the cost of input energy may increasingly matter.
5. Crisis is a powerful forcing function for building new energy infrastructure. Bala highlights that Germany went from permitting 4 gigawatts of onshore wind per year before the Russia-Ukraine war to 16 gigawatts after, proof that energy security pressure can act as a real accelerant. 

Resources: 

The Price of War: A Perspective on Why the Iran Conflict Demands a True Energy Emergency Response. 

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

For large corporations, sustainability sits at the intersection of long-term strategic necessity and short-term financial pressure, and most companies are still trying to figure out how to make it work. In this episode, Kevin Rabinovitch, Global VP of Sustainability at Mars, joins Sanjeev to make the business case for why Mars has been betting on sustainability for decades. He breaks down how the company thinks about risk, supply chain resilience, and long-term value creation and walks through Mars' internal Compass framework, how real supply disruptions and unexpected ancillary benefits have validated the strategy, and why sustainability goals are most useful when treated like R&D investments rather than compliance obligations. He also gets honest about the challenges, such as the persistent gap between what consumers say they care about and how they actually shop, the difficulty of selling a problem and a solution in the same breath, and how to get an organization to apply existing skills toward new sustainability goals. With regulatory tailwinds shifting and food and agriculture facing compounding supply chain pressures, this conversation offers an honest look at what it takes to embed sustainability in the core of a business that intends to be around for generations.

Chapters:

04:00 - What Mars Does

05:34 - Business Case for Sustainability

07:31 - Mars Compass Framework

11:24 - Supply Chain Climate Risks

13:08 - Future Proofing Value Chains

17:30 - Sustainability’s Competitive Advantage 

19:39 - The Consumer Contradiction

23:21 - Innovation Pace and Potential

26:04 - Frictions

31:40 - Advice for Companies Selling to Mars 

35:09 - Past and Future Reflections

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

We are at an inflection point in manufacturing where artificial intelligence, robotics, and data are converging to fundamentally change what's possible in the physical world. In this episode, Barak Bar-Cohen, founder and CEO of Sojo Industries, joins Chuck Templeton to explore what that transformation actually looks like on the ground, using one of the most deceptively complex problems in consumer goods: the variety pack. What starts as a story about putting different flavors into one box quickly opens up into a much bigger conversation about why traditional manufacturing is so difficult to innovate in, and how mobility, automation, and AI can finally change that. Together, they dig into what it really means to layer AI throughout a physical business, capturing everything from machine error codes to engineering conversations, and let the whole operation learn from itself and rapidly improve. It's a conversation that will change the way you think about the snack aisle and the future of physical AI.

Chapters: 

2:29 — The Variety Pack Problem

9:20 — The Door to Floor Model

11:38 — Business Model Breakdown

15:20 — Sojo Shield and Traceability

19:01 — Layering AI Into the Organization

28:10 — The AI Culture Shift

34:17 — Sojo and Sustainability

26:47 — Sojo’s Futurę Vision

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

In this episode, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon joins Sanjeev Krishnan for a conversation about resilience and opportunity in a world defined by volatility. Gayle brings a rare breadth of experience as a builder, early-stage advisor, PE portfolio strategist, foreign policy veteran, former political reporter, investor, and three-time New York Times best-selling author on geopolitical topics, with a front-row seat to multiple moments of global transition. Together, they dig into Gayle’s idea of a “triangle of opportunity” at the intersection of energy, artificial intelligence, and geopolitics, and why those forces are increasingly shaping how societies and economies evolve. They also talk about how to separate signal from noise in today’s policy landscape and what business leaders can learn from entrepreneurs operating in the most fragile and constrained environments. It’s a grounded, clear-eyed conversation about how to think, communicate, and build when the rules are constantly changing. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Economics and politics can’t be separated anymore. Gayle explains how political forces quietly shape markets, capital flows, and business outcomes, whether leaders want to admit it or not. She argues this is a moment of rising political corners and borders.
2. Fairness has become a defining theme of this era. From labor to capital markets, Sanjeev and Gayle discuss why perceptions of who benefits and who doesn’t are influencing trust, policy, and long-term stability. 
3. Homogeneous thinking is a real business risk in periods of rapid change. Gayle argues that value is increasingly created by people who can move across disciplines and see congruities that others may miss.
4. AI, energy, and geopolitics are tightly linked. Sanjeev and Gayle explore how each of these forces shapes the others, and decisions in one area increasingly ripple and resonate across the rest in sometimes unpredictable ways.
5. Clear, genuine storytelling is no longer optional. According to Gayle, in a crowded, noisy investment landscape, leaders and companies that can communicate simply and authentically are more likely to earn trust and endure.

You can purchase Gayle’s first book, “The Dressmaker of Khair Khana,” referenced in this episode here: https://www.amazon.com/Dressmaker-Khair-Khana-Remarkable-Everything/dp/0061732478 

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

In this bonus episode, we’re bringing together seven CEOs across the S2G portfolio to explore what it actually looks like to make food as health a reality within the U.S. healthcare system. In a previous episode, we focused on the obstacles and investor opportunity, so this week we’re steering the conversation to the solutions already being built and tested in the market.

Across clinical nutrition, oncology, care coordination, meal delivery, and life-science AI, leaders from Mend, Big Bold Health, Pyx Health, Mealogic, NourishedRx, Sōlaria Biō, and Brightseed describe how they’re reframing healthcare through food-based solutions. The discussion spans new scientific frameworks for understanding food as a complex, multi-target intervention, the importance of rigorous clinical evidence and FDA pathways, the realities of reimbursement and payer incentives, and the challenge of patient adherence. Woven together, these CEOs create a blueprint for a healthcare system where food-based solutions are preventative, scalable, and central rather than peripheral.

Links:

The Food as Health Opportunity white paper

Big Bold Health

Brightseed

Mealogic

Mend

NourishedRx

Pyx Health

Sōlaria Biō

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

Electric vehicles have become a bit of a cultural lightning rod, but behind the headlines, there’s a lot to be excited about. In this episode, Sanjeev sits down with Mitra CEO Galina Russell, S2G Principal Marisa Sweeney, and Clean Tech Strategy Advisors’ Managing Partner Anna Demeo to talk about the state of the EV market and where the opportunities lie today. Mitra, a recent investment from S2G’s Special Opportunities team, helps small and midsize commercial fleets go electric by bundling vehicles and charging into a single, simple offering, delivering savings almost immediately with no upfront cost. The conversation explores how EVs could make the power grid more flexible rather than more strained, why electrification is closely tied to the future of autonomous vehicles, how China’s rapid scaling of EVs and charging infrastructure is reshaping global markets, and why financing remains one of the biggest bottlenecks to broader adoption. It’s a clear, practical look at where the EV story is headed and what it will take to get there.  

Chapters: 

03:24 - The State of Transportation

05:33 - Cultural Aspects of EV Adoption

09:00 - EV Industry Investment Landscape

11:53 - China's Role in the EV Market

14:42 - EVs and the Future of the Grid

18:49 - Physical AI and Autonomous Vehicles

21:37 - Mitra's Approach to Fleet Electrification

27:22 - Fit for Purpose Capital in EVs

33:17 - Bringing in More Capital

40:22 - Future Predictions for EV Adoption

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.

If diet is a major driver of chronic disease, and chronic disease is driving healthcare costs, why are our food and healthcare systems still so separate? And what would change if they weren’t? In this episode, S2G’s Sanjeev Krishnan and Dan Ripma use our new Food as Health white paper as a jumping-off point to unpack what “food as health” really means and why a system that keeps getting more expensive without making people healthier is reaching its limits. They explore the tension between medical ethics and financial reality, the disconnect between hunger and nutrition, and why food has to be part of any serious conversation about cost and prevention. Then we zoom out to what this means for investors and how healthcare economics reshape the opportunity in food. Ultimately, this is a conversation about how food could move from being part of the problem to becoming one of the most powerful tools we have to change the economics and the outcomes of our healthcare system.

Chapters: 

3:06: Nutrition's Identity Crisis

5:58: The Hippocratic oath vs. The Bond Market

8:03: Food as Health as Strategic Infrastructure 

10:48: Economic Implications of Healthcare Costs

12:41: Challenges in Policy and Nutrition

16:24: S2G’s Food as Health Strategy

18:58: Clinical and Economic Evidence

29:04: Investor Perspective on Food as Health

This content is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, business, tax or investment advice, or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investor or potential investor in any investment vehicle sponsored by S2G. Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss. Specific companies mentioned in this podcast are for educational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement of any kind. S2G holds positions in the companies referenced, but this podcast is for information purposes only and is not intended to promote any such company. All views of the guests on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of S2G. Any past performance discussed is not indicative of future results. The views expressed herein are opinions based on certain assumptions and subject to change.

For more important information, please see s2ginvestments.com/disclosures.