Business for Good Podcast

Join host Paul Shapiro as he talks with some of the leading start-up entrepreneurs and titans of industry alike using their businesses to help solve the world’s most pressing problems.

The Past, Present, and Future of Cultivated Meat with UPSIDE Foods’ Uma Valeti 05/03/2024

The Past, Present, and Future of Cultivated Meat with UPSIDE Foods’ Uma Valeti No cultivated meat company has raised more capital than UPSIDE Foods. In 2022, after having already raised about $200 million in previous rounds, the company raised another with a company valuation north of the coveted $1 billion unicorn status. No company in the space has garnered more media attention, both positive and critical, than UPSIDE Foods. No company has as much volume of cultivation capacity as UPSIDE Foods. No company is as old as UPSIDE Foods, as it was the first startup formed to take this technology out of academia and work to commercialize real meat grown slaughter-free. It’s also one of the few companies in the world to have been granted regulatory approval to actually sell cultivated meat, which it did in the US. So it was only fitting that this conversation with UPSIDE CEO Uma Valeti take place in person inside the beating heart of UPSIDE’s EPIC (Cultivated Meat Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center) cultivated meat pilot facility in Emeryville, California. I often say that I’m Uma Valeti’s first biographer, since I profile him in Clean Meat, but I certainly won’t be his last biographer, regardless of whether he succeeds or fails. And the last time I visited UPSIDE Foods, in 2017, when the company was still called Memphis Meats, and I got to enjoy their cultivated duck. At that time, they had only a handful of employees. Now, as 230 UPSIDE employees worked away in the dramatically nicer building that houses EPIC, I first got to enjoy four different cultivated chicken dishes. I tried both chicken that was FDA-approved and grown in smaller cultivators, and chicken that was yet to be FDA-approved, which was grown in 2,000-liter cultivators. Spoiler: they all tasted great, and were easily discerned from most plant-based chicken in scent, flavor, and texture. After the tasting, Uma and I sat down for this frank conversation in which we discussed UPSIDE’s past, present, and future. That includes details about the scale and capability at which they currently sit, why they for their vaunted in Illinois, what expansions they’re planning on making at EPIC in California, what Uma thinks about the obituaries some journalists are writing for the cultivated meat industry, when he thinks cultivated meat will reach 1 percent market share in the total meat market, and much more. In this conversation, you’ll hear Uma elaborate on how the technology has gone from being decried as impossible to now possible, and what remains to be seen is whether it will now go from possible to inevitable. It’s a fascinating and revelatory conversation with a man who has served in many ways as a face for the cultivated meat movement for many years, even prior to founding this company. Discussed in this episode This episode is the eighth in our multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous seven episodes include , , , , , , and . Our with New Harvest founder Jason Matheny. A 2013 Washington Post for electric vehicles. Nine states are now gas cars by 2035, and so are automakers like . Uma and Paul both endorse the work of the . You can see a clip of Paul tasting UPSIDE Foods’ duck in 2017 . Uma is profiled in , which has an updated 2024 paperback edition . Tyson Foods of its investment in Beyond Meat. Paul couldn’t recall the exact name in the live interview, but he was referring to in Russia. More about Uma Valeti Dr. Uma Valeti is the CEO and Founder of UPSIDE Foods. Uma earned a degree in Cardiology from the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India. After residencies at Wayne State and SUNY Buffalo, Uma completed three fellowships at the . He teaches Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University. In 2019, Uma was named a “Global Thinker of the Decade” by Foreign Policy magazine. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and SXSW. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/31081563

Fishing for Progress in Asia: Avant Meats 04/26/2024

Fishing for Progress in Asia: Avant Meats Asia is leading the world when it comes to semiconductors, solar panels, wind turbines, and other technologies critical for the future. In a time when several US states are the sale of cultivated meat, Asia seems to be leaning into the technology, and one of the most mature companies in the space there is . Founded in Hong Kong in 2018 and having raised about to date, Avant Meats is focused on making a dent in Asian seafood demand. In this episode, Avant founder and CEO Carrie Chan discusses why her focus is seafood, what scale she’s at and where she hopes to soon go, and how long she thinks it will be before cultivated fish might reach one percent market share in Asia. As you’ll hear in this conversation, Avant Meats is already animal component-free in its feedstock for its fish cells, and it’s cultivating inside a 250L bioreactor to generate the material for its public tastings. Now headquartered in Singapore, the company intends to grow there and eventually branch throughout Asia, a project for which it’s . Discussed in this episode This episode is the seventh in our multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous six episodes include , , , , , and . China alone consumers of seafood annually. Carrie points to how China the small fishing village of Shenzhen into a metropolis, and what relevance this has for cultivated meat scaling. More about Carrie Chan Carrie Chan is the co-founder and CEO of Avant Meats. She’s a seasoned business executive with a passion for the environment, particularly the impact of our food supply on the planet. With experiences in strategy and general management, she also managed major greenfield Capex projects from conception to revenue-generating operations. She is a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst 2022 and holds an MBA from INSEAD. Carrie co-founded Avant with Dr Mario Chin in 2018 in Hong Kong, the first cultivated fish company in Asia, and expanded to Singapore in 2021. Avant’s technology offers a system to produce nutritious, tasty fish and functional proteins directly from fish cells at economically viable costs. The group’s end-to-end technology platform also allows continuous new product development from scratch to production. Avant aims to be a global leader in producing traceable and sustainably cultivated proteins in a fully contained environment for food, skincare, and functional applications. Avant now has a presence in Singapore and Greater China. Avant has also been awarded Technology Pioneer and Global Innovator by the World Economic Forum and featured in Reuters, Financial Times, TIME, Forbes, The Telegraph, South China Morning Post, and CCTV. For more information, please visit www.avantmeats.com. At Avant, Carrie provides the vision, guides the strategy and supervises the implementation. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30975268

Fishing for High-Margins in Cultivated Seafood: BlueNalu’s Path to Scale 04/19/2024

Fishing for High-Margins in Cultivated Seafood: BlueNalu’s Path to Scale BlueNalu is one of the better-funded companies when it comes to cultivated meat. Having raised more than $100 million, including about $35 million toward the end of 2023—a notoriously difficult time to fundraise—their founder and CEO Lou Cooperhouse is optimistic about their path to success. But as you’ll hear in this episode, Lou isn’t working to compete against the commodity meats like chicken, pork, and beef. Rather, he’s pursuing a strategy to compete against products that are exponentially higher-cost, like bluefin tuna, which can often sell for more than $100 a pound. In this conversation, Lou lays out his vision for a future BlueNalu factory with multiple 100,000 liter cultivators churning out some of the priciest oceanic delicacies. And because of this high price point, Lou thinks that his economic model is among the most attractive out there. We also talk about BlueNalu’s collaborations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and US, and what he thinks the biggest barriers to success are, and more. Discussed in this episode This episode is the sixth in our multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous five episodes include , , , , and . BlueNalu’s recent fundraise. Lou recommends reading and Lou was a guest on the show more than four years ago in ! Lou is affiliated with the . More about Lou Cooperhouse Lou Cooperhouse is recognized as a leading global authority in food business innovation and technology commercialization, with extensive leadership experiences throughout his 40-year career in the food industry. He is a results-driven professional, and has led cross-functional teams in a wide array of industry settings that include: multinational corporations, foodservice and retail operations, new business startups, mid-sized and family-run companies, university entrepreneurship and innovation centers, and industry trade associations. With his deep and diverse understanding of the food industry, Lou has spoken at hundreds of conferences throughout his career, specializing in food trends, disruptive technologies, and global best practices in business innovation and incubation. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30895413

Is the Future of Cultivated Meat in Thailand? Aleph Farms is Betting on It 04/12/2024

Is the Future of Cultivated Meat in Thailand? Aleph Farms is Betting on It When you think about cultivated meat, Thailand isn’t exactly the first country that comes to mind. Sure, you may think about the US, Netherlands, Israel, and Singapore. But the Southeast Asian kingdom is where Israeli cultivated meat juggernaut Aleph Farms recently announced its first commercial factory will be. Having just received Israel’s first regulatory approval to sell cultivated meat—and the world’s first regulatory approval for cultivated beef in particular—Aleph Farms CEO Didier Toubia discusses his company’s rollout strategy with me in this conversation. As you’ll hear, Aleph wants to start by selling limited quantities in Israel within 2024, but the company intends to operate its first plant in Thailand with what Didier calls an “asset light” pilot facility capable of producing 1,000 tons a year. For those of you who aren’t mathletes, that’s about two million pounds of finished cultivated meat product—”finished” meaning finished goods that are a hybrid of animal cells and plant-based ingredients as well. Of course, two million pounds is a vast quantity compared to the volume of cultivated meat that’s been produced thus far, but it’s not even a rounding error in Asia’s meat demand, let alone global meat demand. So how long will it be before Didier thinks the cultivated meat sector will make a real dent in animal meat demand? You can hear his answer in this episode! Despite negative headlines surrounding the space lately, Didier claims he’s more optimistic than ever before about his prospects for success, and that he’s still fighting to have $1 billion in revenue within the next 10 years. You can hear him explain why he thinks that’s realistic in this conversation. Discussed in this episode This episode is the fifth in a multi-part podcast series on cultivated meat. The previous four episodes include , , , and . We discussed Aleph Farms and the impact of the 10/7 Hamas massacre in Israel in our with Kitchen CEO Jonathan Berger. Aleph Farms’ recent to move to set up shop in Thailand, partnering with . Didier attended The Better Meat Co.’s . The global meat market is worth about . Didier’s recent explaining his regret about cultivated meat timeline predictions. More about Didier Toubia Didier Toubia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms. He’s a Food Engineer and Biologist who led two medical device companies and co-invented over 40 patent families; Co-Founder and CEO of IceCure – went public in 2010, and CEO of NLT Spine – acquired by SeaSpine in 2016. He was trained at AgroSup in Dijon, France, and was awarded with a specialized masters degree from ESCP Business School. Didier holds a joint Executive MBA degree from the Kellogg and Recanati business schools, USA and Israel. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30772753

Flying Cars or Electric Cars? Isha Datar’s Thoughts on Where Cultivated Meat Tech Stands Today 04/05/2024

Flying Cars or Electric Cars? Isha Datar’s Thoughts on Where Cultivated Meat Tech Stands Today When the New York Times recently ran an declaring the infant fatality of the cultivated meat industry, Isha Datar, CEO of , was quoted as saying of the sector, “this is a bubble that is going to pop.” Given that New Harvest is intended to promote and advance the field, what did Isha mean by this? She expounded on that thought in a asserting that while she disagrees with the columnist’s conclusion that cultivated meat can never become a viable reality, she believes that the sector has been plagued by “exaggerations, lies, and broken promises.” In this episode, Isha and I talk about what she’s referring to, the difference she sees between cellular agriculture via precision fermentation (e.g., and ) and cellular agriculture aimed at producing actual animal meat (e.g., and ), whether cultivated meat is more like flying cars (a far future technology) or electric cars from 15 years ago (not yet ready, but realistically possible), what pathway forward she sees toward actually fulfilling the promise to end the factory farming of animals. Discussed in this episode Isha’s first appearance in 2020 on this show, Our recent episodes in this podcast series on cultivated meat with , , and . New Harvest’s on the recent NY Times opinion column on cultivated meat The EU’s program: Fostering European Cellular Agriculture for Sustainable Transition Solution The Isha recommends reading by Jennifer McCrea More about Isha Datar Isha has been pioneering cellular agriculture since 2009, driven by a passion to see transformative technology create a better world. In 2010, Isha published "Possibilities for an in-vitro meat production system" in Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies; thus began her quest to establish the field of cell ag. Isha became Executive Director of New Harvest in 2013. She co-founded Muufri (now Perfect Day) and Clara Foods in 2014, and soon after passed her founding equity to New Harvest in full to establish the first endowment for cell ag research. In 2015 she named the field "cellular agriculture" - officially creating a category for agriculture products produced from cell cultures rather than whole plants or animals. She is a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow and also served as a Director’s Fellow at the MIT Media Lab. Isha has a BSc. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Biotechnology from the University of Toronto. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30673608

Mark Post, A Decade After the First Cultivated Burger 03/29/2024

Mark Post, A Decade After the First Cultivated Burger In 2013, Dr. Mark Post when he debuted the world’s first-ever burger grown from animal cells. Weighing in as a quarter-pounder, the burger carried a price tag of a mere $330,000—all of which was funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. A decade later, what does Mark think about the movement and the industry he helped birth? When his burger was debuted, a grand total of zero companies existed to commercialize what would come to be called cultivated meat, no serious investment dollars had flowed into cultivated meat research, yet hopes were high that such meat would be on the market within a decade. In this episode, Mark offers why he thinks his timeline predictions in 2013 were proven too optimistic, what he thinks the biggest hurdles to success were and are, and what inventions still must be made to give cultivated meat a shot at making a dent in the number of animals used for food. Discussed in this episode Mark recommends reading the journal . Paul’s book tells Mark’s tale, and is coming out as an on April 9, 2024! More about Mark Post Dr. Mark Post, MD/PhD, has had several appointments as assistant professor at Utrecht University, Harvard University, as associate professor at Dartmouth college, and as full professor at Eindhoven University of Technology and Maastricht University. He currently holds the chair of the Physiology Department at Maastricht University. He is visiting professor at Harvard, University of Modena and faculty at Singularity University. His main research interest is the engineering of tissues for medical applications and for food. The medical applications focus on the construction of blood vessels that can be used as grafts for coronary artery bypass grafting. Tissue engineering for Food has lead to the development of cultured beef from bovine skeletal muscle stem cells in an effort to transform the traditional meat production through livestock. Dr Post co-authored 165 papers in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and received during his career over 50 million dollars in funding and awards from different sources including government, charity and industry. He presented the world’s first hamburger from cultured beef in the August 2013 and is working on improvements and scaling up the production of cultured meat. He received the World Technology Award from AAAS/Times/Forbes for invention with the biggest potential for environmental impact. Dr Post is CSO and co-founder of MosaMeat and of Qorium, two companies that aim to commercialize meat and leather applications of tissue engineering. He is CEO of Cell2Tissue, which is a developer of technologies in tissue engineering for consumer and health applications. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30567453

Are Smaller Cultivators the Answer for Cultivated Meat’s Success? Niya Gupta Thinks So 03/22/2024

Are Smaller Cultivators the Answer for Cultivated Meat’s Success? Niya Gupta Thinks So Some of the companies in the cultivated meat space are betting that massive stainless steel cultivators—think 100,000L to 250,000L—are the path to commercialization. Niya Gupta, CEO of , is thinking smaller. She argues that there may be a more realistic path using a , void of the impellers that agitate the more conventionally used reactors in the sector. Founded in 2018, the company was spun out of , the first-ever cultivated animal product company which is now focused on materials like leather rather than meat. Having raised more than $20M in its first six years, Fork and Good just held its of the animal cells they’re growing, and as you’ll hear in this conversation, it was a real success. Does Niya think that the cultivated meat industry can make up one percent of the conventional meat industry’s volume within the next decade? Listen to her insights in this episode for the answer to that question! Discussed in this episode Niya recommends reading , which she re-reads annually. Paul mentions that a quote from Man’s Search for Meaning was read by the officiant at . That quote follows: “The truth – that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” Niya also recommends reading and . Modern Meadow is profiled in , including the new (2024) paperback edition. More about Niyati Gupta Niya Gupta is the co-founder and CEO of Fork & Good, a cultivated meat company addressing the high costs of the industry with a novel and patented approach in cell culture that produces meat more efficiently than cows and pigs. Niya was also the CEO of Comcrop, a vertical farming startup in Singapore selling greens into major supermarkets. Prior to this she had spent more than 10 years in food and conventional agriculture businesses, including at McKinsey and Syngenta. She holds an MBA and MPAID from Harvard, and an Economics BA from Yale. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30467053

Josh Tetrick on the Future of the Cultivated Meat Movement 03/15/2024

Josh Tetrick on the Future of the Cultivated Meat Movement If you listened to the , you already know that there’s an updated paperback edition of my book that’s coming out April 9, 2024. I announced in that episode that, aligning with that release, this show will be devoted for a couple months exclusively to interviews with leaders in the cultivated meat space, many of whom are profiled in the book. And there’s perhaps no person in the cultivated meat sector who’s generated more headlines than Josh Tetrick, CEO of both and . Along with people like Mark Post and Uma Valeti, both of whom will also be guests in this podcast series, Josh was one of the first entrepreneurs to devote resources to trying to commercialize cultivated meat. And his company, Good Meat, indeed was the first company ever to win regulatory approval anywhere——and real meat grown without animal cells. In the new I detail the process of that Singaporean regulatory approval and the world’s first historic cultivated meat sale. And while Good Meat has gone on to raise in venture capital and garner US regulatory approval as well, the company admittedly hasn’t yet achieved the goals it set out for itself in the early days. In the recent New York Times for cultivated meat, the author Joe Fassler writes, “The book ‘Clean Meat’ describes Mr. Tetrick looking at factory drawings and saying, ‘By 2025, we’ll build the first of these facilities,’ and by 2030, ‘we’re the world’s largest meat company.’” Today, in 2024, Good Meat no longer has an aspiration of a 2025 major cultivated meat plant, and the idea of being the world’s largest meat company by 2030 seems relatively unlikely. But as you’ll hear in this interview, Josh Tetrick remains cautiously optimistic about a future for the cultivated meat industry, despite negative headlines that are, at least for the time being, dampening some investors’ enthusiasm for the space. In this episode, Josh and I have a frank discussion about the cultivated meat sector, how it may be able to scale, what the economics could look like, whether Josh thinks it’s realistic to make a dent in total animal meat demand, and more. Long-time listeners of the show will remember that Josh also was a guest on this podcast way back in 2019 on . In that conversation, we discussed how he remains resilient in the face of adversity. I recommend going back and listening to that inspirational episode for sure, and I’m glad to have Josh back on the show to offer his point of view of where things stand in the movement to divorce meat production from animal slaughter today. Discussed in this episode Josh recommends reading Thinking, . Our 2019 episode with Josh, . A 2013 Washington Post for electric cars. More about Josh Tetrick Josh Tetrick is CEO & co-founder of Eat Just, Inc., a food technology company with a mission to build a healthier, safer and more sustainable food system in our lifetimes. The company's expertise, from functionalizing plant proteins to culturing animal cells, is powered by a world-class team of scientists and chefs spanning more than a dozen research disciplines. Eat Just created one of America’s fastest-growing egg brands, which is made entirely of plants, and the world’s first-to-market meat made from animal cells instead of slaughtered livestock. Prior to founding Eat Just, Tetrick led a United Nations business initiative in Kenya and worked for both former President Clinton and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. As a Fulbright Scholar, Tetrick taught schoolchildren in Nigeria and South Africa and is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Michigan Law School. Tetrick has been named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” Inc.’s “35 Under 35” and Fortune’s “40 Under 40.” Eat Just has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies,” Entrepreneur’s “100 Brilliant Companies,” CNBC’s “Disruptor 50” and a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/30364698

Brief thoughts on the alt-meat movement and my role in it 03/01/2024

Incubating Tomorrow’s Alt-Protein Unicorns: The Kitchen 02/15/2024

Incubating Tomorrow’s Alt-Protein Unicorns: The Kitchen If you’ve spent any time in the startup ecosystem, you start realizing pretty quickly that the US isn’t alone in producing a lot of startups, but that there are some very small countries, like Israel and Singapore, that consistently punch above their weight when it comes to new company creation. In fact, Israel is often known as the startup nation, and there’s even a on the topic with that very title. And if you’re in the startup food technology space, whether in Israel or elsewhere, there’s one name you’re sure to know: . Founded a decade ago, The Kitchen has incubated some of the best known alt-protein startups out there, from cultivated meat-maker to precision fermentation alt-dairy company , to plant-based egg creator , and more. As you’ll hear in this conversation, The Kitchen invests seven-figures in each startup that joins its incubator in addition to providing lab space, culinary equipment, governance and corporate setup advice, and more. For the past decade since its founding, The Kitchen has been run by the same CEO, Jonathan Berger, and we’ve got him on the show this episode. Under his tenure, the incubator has made 27 investments in startups that have ultimately gone on to raise about $350 million USD. In this conversation, Jonathan and I talk about everything from why Israel is so startup-friendly, to why it has so many vegetarians, to why the alt-meat industry has hit such a rough patch around the world, and how the Hamas massacre on October 7th has affected the Israeli startup community. It’s a riveting discussion with someone who’s been at the helm of the Israeli food tech space for many years. Discussed in this episode Our past episodes with VC , Sabra Hummus CEO , and Israeli AI expert . The Kitchen organizes the . Jonathan recommends reading . We also discuss More about Jonathan Berger Jonathan is one of the pioneers of the Israeli food tech community and has led , the first Israeli food tech incubator, since its inception in 2014. The Kitchen, owned by the Strauss Group and supported by the state of Israel, has been investing in early-stage Israeli food tech startups aiming to support “Better Industry, Better Food, Better World.” Since Jonathan has been leading The Kitchen activity, the portfolio grew to 26 startups who have raised capital of over $340M. Jonathan brings a unique combination of experience in tech and food businesses serving in leadership positions. He founded and is still a director in , an early stage ag tech fund. Jonathan is a board member in Aleph Farms, ImaginDairy, Amai Proteins, Zero Egg, and other food tech startups built by The Kitchen. Jonathan holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering & an EMBA from Kellogg and Tel-Aviv University. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/29940773

When Nonprofits Start Businesses: Garden for Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation 02/01/2024

When Nonprofits Start Businesses: Garden for Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation Most startups are founded by entrepreneurs hopeful that their idea will be the next big thing and pad their bank accounts in the process. Yet sometimes companies are started not by enterprising capitalists, but rather by a far less likely progenitor: nonprofit charities. That’s exactly what happened when the nonprofit decided to spin out a for-profit corporation devoted to advancing the charity’s mission to protect wildlife. The company, , is already selling native plants to homeowners seeking to make their yards a bit more nonhuman-friendly. The basic premise is this: Too much wilderness has been destroyed by humanity for us to only rely on parks and preserves to give wildlife a chance to survive. While much of the animal biomass alive today is comprised of the animals who we farm for food, if we want to give free-living animals like songbirds a chance, we need to turn over a portion of our lawns and corporate landscapes into wildlife-friendlier corridors, or what author Douglas Tallamy calls “Homegrown National Park” in his book on this topic, Nature’s Best Hope. Take the state where I lived most of my life, Maryland, as one example. Maryland alone has more lawn than two times the land allocated to its state parks, state forests, and wildlife management areas—all combined. Sadly though, lawns are essentially biological wastelands capable of supporting less than 10 percent of life that a more natural landscape can support. So why do we do it? Why do we Homo sapiens like to create these nearly lifeless lawns wherever we go? In short, we do it because it makes us feel safe. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that humans prefer unobstructed views of our surroundings because that’s what kept us safe on the African savannah where we evolved. As a result, as we’ve spread off the savannah and across the globe, we’ve transformed forested ecosystems into something akin to our ancestral home. And this isn’t something that only started only once civilization was founded. Even tribal hunter-gatherers living in forests are often proficient at deforesting their surroundings. So that’s the bad news.The good news is that homeowners can actually do quite a lot to make their yards more welcoming to pollinators and other friendly creatures. The key is to ditch part or all of your invasive, water-thirsty lawn and replace it with a beautiful array of native plants and trees that will attract butterflies, hummingbirds, songbirds, and other amazing and harmless animals to your property. But where to start? That’s where Garden for Wildlife comes in. Its entire business model is to make it easy for you to do just that without becoming an ecologist yourself. Just type in your zip code on their web site and check off which species you hope to attract, and they’ll show you a menu of attractive plants native specifically to your region that you can order straight from their site, delivered to your front door. Profiled by and , Garden for Wildlife has raised $5 million from investors (primarily its founder, the National Wildlife Federation) and is already bringing in an annual revenue of $1 million. The company is also crowdfunding , meaning for an investment as low as $250, you can own shares in this startup. And we’ve got their CEO, Shubber Ali, on the show to talk all about it. While I’ve not personally used their services, my wife Toni and I four years ago removed our front lawn in Sacramento and replaced it with a tiny little meadow of native, drought-tolerant plants. Combined with a water fountain for avian visitors, since then our front yard has become a Mecca for hummingbirds, songbirds, and other little neighbors we love watching. And it’s even become a frequent stop for our human neighbors, who we regularly catch photographing the flowering beauty and bringing their kids by to enjoy the sight. In other words, our own little Homegrown National Park has made life not only better for wildlife, but for a lot of humans, too. This is an interesting story about one charity’s decision to use the power of commerce to advance their cause. I’ll let their CEO Shubber Ali tell you all about it. Discussed in this episode Check out by Douglas Tallamy, which is entirely about this topic. Shubber recommends reading . Shubber also recommends TED talks by and Want to quickly identify birds by sound? got you. My wife and I were influenced by Nancy Lawson’s resource, . More about Shubber Ali Shubber Ali is CEO of Garden for Wildlife. He is a father, husband, avid gardener, and loves nature - and it’s those last two things that led to his current role. He has spent over thirty years helping companies solve their most complicated and difficult problems through innovation, identifying growth opportunities, enabling technologies and platforms. He was the VP and Global Lead for the Elevate team at Elastic from April 2021 to June 2022, and prior to that he was one of Accenture’s global leads for digital innovation from September 2017 to April 2021, where he worked with the National Wildlife Federation to create the Garden for Wildlife business. He has also served as VP of Strategic Innovation at Salesforce. He has co-founded multiple consumer technology companies, some successes including Centriq (acquired) and Flaik (privately held), and some great learning experiences (aka “failures”). He serves as an advisor to numerous startups. In addition, Shubber has served for 9 years on the Advisory Board to the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown (where he has also been an adjunct professor of Innovation Management in the Executive MBA program) and a guest lecturer for the Emory University Executive MBA program. Since 2014, he also has served as a member of the global advisory STAR program for Airbus. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/29708043

Can Tech Improve Farm Animals’ Lives? Robert Yaman Is Betting On It 01/15/2024

Can Tech Improve Farm Animals’ Lives? Robert Yaman Is Betting On It Many times when we talk about technology that can improve animal welfare, we’re talking about innovations that either have displaced or could displace the use of animals. Think for example about cars replacing horse-power, kerosene replacing whale oil, and animal-free meats displacing factory farming of animals. But can technology also be used to make better the lives of animals who are still being used? Long-time tech enthusiast and animal advocate is betting on that idea, and has launched a new charity, , designed to help the animal-use industries implement such new technologies. In its first few months, the organization has already raised and is now working to implement two technologies in particular which could reduce the suffering of vast numbers of chickens: in-ovo sexing of eggs in hatcheries and on-farm hatching of chickens used for meat. You may know already that the egg industry has little use for male chicks, and this type of bird grows too slowly for the male chicks to be of interest to meat producers. As a result, billions of male chicks are killed on the first day of their lives at hatcheries around the world, often by grinding, gassing, crushing, or other gruesome methods. Innovate Animal Ag, however, is proposing that hatcheries determine the sex of the egg long before hatching so these unfortunate males are never birthed into such an unwelcoming world in the first place. Led by , already many egg hatcheries in Europe have implemented the technology, and Innovate Animal Ag believes that producers in the US will soon benefit from this European innovation as well. This is a riveting conversation with an insightful thinker and do-er who’s devoted his life to using technology to advance animals’ interests. From starting his own cultivated meat company, to working at another cultivated meat company for years, to now launching his own nonprofit seeking to work with animal producers rather than just against them, Robert’s someone whose opinions I’m always interested in hearing and I think you will be too. And as you’ll hear in this episode, he’s also a great musician! Discussed in this episode Robert founded , a cultivated meat startup, and later joined where he worked to advance the cultivation of animal fat cells. Robert recommends reading and the blog. Robert’s latest column for . See the . You can listen to some of the latest music Robert’s created ! He also used to be a , but sadly he claims in this episode that he’s not that into karaoke today. Our with Isha Datar, CEO of New Harvest. More about Robert Yaman , the Founder and Executive Director of Innovate Animal Ag, spent his entire career in Silicon Valley. He started as an engineer at Google, and later moved into food tech, most recently running operations at a startup developing cell-cultivated animal fat as a food ingredient. Through this work, he’s thought and written extensively on the lifecycle of new technologies as they come to market. In addition to being a self-proclaimed nerd about science, engineering, and manufacturing, he’s passionate about finding ways to turn conflict into collaboration through aligning incentives. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/29479648

Making Alt-Meat Research More Intelligent: GreenProtein AI & Noa Weiss 01/01/2024

Making Alt-Meat Research More Intelligent: GreenProtein AI & Noa Weiss Predictions abound for industries that allegedly will be upended by artificial intelligence, or AI. Will Uber drivers and truck drivers be replaced by AI-powered self-driving vehicles? Will writers and journalists be displaced by ChatGPT and its competitors? While many of our physical tasks have now been replaced by machines, it’s possible that in the future many of our cognitive tasks will also be replaced by machines that can do a better and faster job than we can, and for a lot less money. This has relevance for many industries, but what about plant-based meat? Nearly all plant-based meat is produced through a technology called —basically a fancy way of saying a lot of pressure and a lot of heat. Extrusion technology is what transforms plant proteins like soy and pea into foods that are textured more like animal meat, and therefore can be turned into something like a or burger. But harnessing the power of extrusion can be expensive, slow, and finicky. Some refer to it as equal parts science and art, and it requires innumerable trial-and-error tests to get the texture you want. Parameters include temperature, pressure, moisture level, screw speed, feedstock ingredients, and more, meaning there are virtually infinite permutations of formulas you could test—requiring more resources than most small start-ups have. But what if AI could be used to better predict the results of extrusion tests, and could therefore help guide the experimental process, slashing the number of experiments actually needed? That’s what is betting, and it’s why the long-time vegan founded , a new nonprofit organization spun out of which is designed to assist for-profit companies in the alt-meat space with its AI and machine learning expertise. In addition to her career as a data science and machine learning engineer, Noa’s driving goal for the past decade has revolved around working to wean humanity off its addiction to animal meat. Affiliated with both the and Israel’s , the AI expert is now taking her love of all things data and AI and marrying that love with her passion to help animals. In this episode, I talk with Noa about how she thinks AI can be harnessed to make better-textured alternative meat, why she started GreenProtein AI, and where she plans to go next in her promising career. We even talk about sentience, from insects to machines! Discussed in this episode GreenProtein AI was spun out of Noa’s work has been profiled in , , and more. Noa recommends the . She works with the to use AI to protect marine mammals like whales She also adheres to the principles expressed in . For her personal health, Noa views Dr. Michael Greger’s as essential Paul also recommends Dr. Greger’s latest book, , and Jonathan Balcombe’s . More about Noa Weiss has been working with data for over a decade, both in academia and in the tech industry. Prior to consulting, she worked for companies such as Armis and PayPal, utilizing big data and machine learning for fraud prevention, risk mitigation, and everything cybersecurity. Today she works with both startups and more established companies, helping them use their data - and today’s AI & machine learning technology - to drive success.Though she works with companies from all domains, she has a special focus on the field of Alternative Proteins and FoodTech. Noa also founded and leads the Israeli community of Women in Data Science, utilizes machine learning for whale preservation with the Deep Voice foundation, and offers her expertise with AI and data under the Good Food Institute mentoring program, as well as with the Modern Agriculture Foundation. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/29275573

Building a Better Chew: Chef GW Chew is Working to Create Better Plant-Based Meat 12/15/2023

Building a Better Chew: Chef GW Chew is Working to Create Better Plant-Based Meat As a young man, GW Chew saw his family dying early of lifestyle-related diseases, and he thought maybe he could do something about it. With a last name like that—yes, “Chew” is his real last name—maybe GW was destined to become a chef—that’s exactly what he did. Because of his interest in Seventh Day Adventism, GW gradually became Chef Chew by experimenting with Seventh Day Adventist recipes, ultimately leading him down the path of opening up his own restaurant and now to being a plant-based meat manufacturer. His company—Something Better Foods—is already selling six different plant-based meats to school districts and some Whole Foods Market locations. As you’ll hear in this interview from Chef Chew, unlike most plant-based meat, he doesn’t rely on extrusion of plant protein isolates, but rather uses a layer-ization process he pioneered using whole soybeans to make his brand of alt-meat called Better Chew. As Chef Chew says, “it looks like chicken; it tastes like chicken; but it ain't chicken!” In this conversation we talk about Chef Chew’s life path, his alternative financing strategies for Something Better Foods, where he’s been and where he intends to take the company. Discussed in this episode Chef Chew went through the accelerator program. He recommends watching on Netflix. He loves the book by Simon Sinek. He started with the , which you can get for $2 on Amazon! Both Paul and Chef Chew love Our past episodes ( and ) with Plant Based On a Budget’s Toni Okamoto More about Chef GW Chew GW Chew, aka Chef Chew, is the Founder & CEO of Something Better Foods Inc. and has been a vegan food inventor/restaurateur for over 15 years. Adopted at birth into a family with the last name “Chew,” Chef Chew believes that he was born with a mission and purpose to change lives for the better, one chew at a time. Chef Chew grew up in the “country” amongst a family of very heavy meat eaters and noticed over time that a lot of different diseases, from diabetes to cancer, plagued the members of his family. He later discovered that many of those same diseases have been linked to poor diet and overconsumption of animal meat products. Inspired to begin living a healthy lifestyle, Chef Chew switched to a plant-based diet in 2001 and started experimenting with creating vegan food products in 2004. He painstakingly invented the Better Chew proteins in his mom’s kitchen and has perfected the textures and taste over the past 15 years. As part of his mission to democratize the access of healthy food, Chef Chew most recently created the Better Chew Box to deliver healthy and affordable plant-based protein solutions directly to your community! /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/29080978

Making All Births Intended and Wanted: Cadence OTC and Samantha Miller 12/01/2023

Making All Births Intended and Wanted: Cadence OTC and Samantha Miller Did you know that nearly half of all pregnancies in America are unintended? And that percentage skyrockets when we’re talking about teen pregnancies, more than three-quarters of which are unintended. While teen pregnancies and teen births are thankfully at an all-time low in the US, we’re still behind countries like the UK and Canada in this regard. A big reason teen pregnancies have fallen so dramatically in recent decades is simply that it’s much easier to have access to contraceptives. But as evidenced by nations like the UK and Canada, there’s still more work we Americans can do. After all, it’s easy for men to get condoms everywhere, but not nearly as easy for women to get birth control. Females who have babies as teenagers are more likely to stay or fall into poverty, attain lower levels of education, have more health problems, and generally have worse life outcomes for the mother and child. I should note that I happen to be married to someone who defied these odds and turned out just fine despite being the product of teen pregnancy, but still, the statistics speak volumes. And in a world with eight billion of us and counting, it goes without saying that it’d be preferable if the only new people joining us were both intended and wanted by their parents. A big barrier toward that end is that if women want to go on birth control, typically they require a prescription from a doctor, which is of course a hurdle, especially for teens. That’s a hurdle that Cadence OTC is working to overcome, and we’ve got their CEO Samantha Miller on the show to talk all about it. (Side note unrelated to this episode: Samantha’s is also a plant-based foods advocate and is affiliated with the !) Cadence has raised $35 million in venture capital over the past six years to bring to market over-the-counter (OTC) birth control pills for females, both in the form of OTC birth control pills and OTC morning after pills. As you can imagine, this is important work no matter what, but especially in light of the Supreme Court decision ending federal protections for abortion rights, greater and easier access to contraceptives is something all of us should be able to support. In fact, just this year, in 2023, the approved an OTC birth control pills for women. Impressively, Cadence with Lil Drug Store Products, which services 180,000 retail locations, including convenience stores, to start carrying Cadence’s Morning After pill starting in January 2024. Not only will this pill be OTC, but it will be half the price of the leading Morning After pill. As Samantha points out, it’s imperative that we make it as easy, cheap, and convenient for women to control their reproductive destiny, which is exactly what Cadence OTC is working to do. Discussed in this episode Our past episodes on family planning with (male contraceptives), (World Vasectomy Day), and (family planning in the developing world). says US teen birth rates are falling thanks to greater access to contraceptive care. Samantha recommends reading and listening to More about Samantha Miller Samantha serves as co-Founder and CEO of Cadence OTC, on a mission to increase over-the-counter (OTC) access to safe, effective, affordable contraceptives. She is a small pharma executive leader with more than two decades of experience in strategic partnering, product and technology acquisitions, commercial planning, supply chain, regulatory management, and corporate financing. Samantha started her career as a scientist, and quickly found her passion for building new companies. She has deep entrepreneurial experience having served as chief business officer for pharma start-ups InCarda Therapeutics and Dance Biopharm. She also led business development for mid-market ventures Theravance, Nektar, and Onyx, and values her early training at P&G Pharmaceuticals. She has negotiated and closed more than 50 licensing & partnering agreements with a total aggregate deal value of over $3 billion, and she has led more than fifteen equity financing rounds with total funds raised >$300 million. Samantha holds a BS in biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, an MSc in microbiology & immunology and an MBA from the University of Rochester. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/28853458

Power Walking for Cleaner Energy: The Pavegen Story 11/15/2023

Power Walking for Cleaner Energy: The Pavegen Story Every time you take a step, you’re creating energy. Sadly, that energy isn’t captured and used to power your daily life. But what if it could be? That’s exactly what is doing. What started as a guy tinkering in his room to make tiles that generate electricity when depressed is now a multimillion dollar startup with flooring installations in more than 30 countries. As you’ll hear in this interview with Pavegen CEO Laurence Kemball-Cook, after much trial and error, he invented a light-generating tile which he clandestinely installed in downtown London in the middle of the night to see what would happen. The video he posted online went viral, and the next thing he knew he had a half-million dollar purchase order from a major shopping mall company. That set Laurence off to the races, sometimes quite literally with installations for runners, and now he’s overseeing a team of 40 seeking to mass-produce energy-creating tiles for sidewalks, roads, dancefloors, football fields, and more all around the world. And unlike some other types of clean energy, this technology doesn’t depend on the sun shining or the wind blowing, but rather just people (or vehicles) passing over. Pavegen’s now launched a to fuel its future growth, as it works to create its vision for a more sustainable energy future, literally one step at a time. Discussed in this episode for Pavegen’s crowdfunding campaign on Pavegen’s technology on Pavegen Laurence recommends reading Laurence also recommends the with Ring founder Jamie Siminoff Laurence is enthused by waterless toilets, like (more on his ) More about Laurence Kemball-Cook Laurence Kemball-Cook is the award-winning founder and CEO of Pavegen Systems, an innovative clean technology company. Pavegen is a flooring technology that instantly converts kinetic energy from footsteps into renewable off-grid energy. This technology has been used across the world and installed in over 150 projects in more than 30 countries. Laurence has partnered with figures such as solar entrpreneur and artist Akon, football legend Pele and will.i.am to promote his clean-tech vision. He has also worked with some of the world’s largest companies including Shell, Adidas, Heathrow and Europe’s largest shopping centre, Westfield. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/28634753

Robots as a Service to Turn the Tides for Our Oceans: The Reefgen Story 11/01/2023

Robots as a Service to Turn the Tides for Our Oceans: The Reefgen Story You probably already know why coral reefs are so important—after all, they’re home to a quarter of all marine life. But do you know about seagrass? Seagrass not only provides habitat for aquatic wildlife, but it accounts for 10% of oceanic carbon storage, despite only taking up less than one percent of the seafloor. It also produces oxygen, cleans the ocean, protects against coastal erosion and more. Sadly, humanity is destroying both coral reefs and seagrass forests, with oceanic warming and acidification taking a major toll, along with pollution and fishing. Because of us, the world’s already lost half of all corals and a third of all seagrass just in the past few decades. But what if humanity could be as effective at growing reefs and seagrass as we are at destroying them? Proving that is the goal of Reefgen, a startup pioneering not SaaS (software as a service) business model, but rather RaaS (robots as a service) business model. Reefgen has invented robots that can navigate marine environments with precision and plant baby grass and corals at rates that are orders of magnitude faster than a human could. And there’s a business in this RaaS model. Not only are companies that want to pay for eco-offsets willing to pay to robotically plant new reefs and grassbeds, but so do companies that economically depend on vibrant ocean ecosystems for their livelihoods. Reefgen CEO Chris Oakes, a marine biologist turned venture capitalist turned entrepreneur talks about the company’s trajectory, its pilot trials in Hawaii, California, Indonesia, and Wales, and how it’s going to scale in order to turn the tides for our planet. Discussed in this episode Our past episodes with (coral restoration) and (forest restoration). on Reefgen’s seagrass work in Wales. ReefGen was birthed from . Reefgen’s using seagrass for rice! Chris recommends reading and . More about Chris Oakes Christopher Oakes is a marine biologist who specializes in deep-tech product commercialization and corporate development. Oakes holds a B.A. and M.A. in Biology from Occidental College. Oakes has dedicated his career to molecular tools and diagnostics, robotics, sustainable aquaculture and venture building. As CEO of Reefgen, he is setting the company’s vision around mechanizing nearshore planting operations and strategic direction to meet the scale of ecosystem restoration market needs in the face of climate change. During his time at Occidental, Chris worked with the Vantuna Research Group focusing on life history studies of nearshore marine fishes, marine environmental monitoring, time series analysis and spatial modeling. He also developed laboratory procedures and analytical techniques for morphology studies of gastropods. Former companies and roles include: COO Sustainable Ocean Alliance, VP Product and Market Development NovoNutrients, Development Manager Liquid Robotics, Regional Manager Laboratory Corporation of America, and Director of Strategic Alliances and Venture Portfolio at Deep Science Ventures. Chris is also a long-time board member and R&D chair at the non-profit Marine Applied Research and Exploration (MARE). /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/28480010

From Food Bank to Making Bank on Food Influencing: Maxime Sigouin and Fit Vegan Coaching 10/15/2023

From Food Bank to Making Bank on Food Influencing: Maxime Sigouin and Fit Vegan Coaching Maxime Sigouin was on the verge of homelessness, surviving on free meals from his local food bank. After getting laid off from work and having only about $30 in his bank account, Maxime struggled to figure out how he could afford to survive, let alone try to help his partner as she endured her own mentally and financially taxing fight with cancer. The answer, it turned out, was helping others. A vegan athlete, Maxime knew the secrets of how to lose fat and gain muscle, and he figured he could create a business to sell that coveted information to others. As you’ll hear in this interview, Maxime made more than $10,000 that first month of being a virtual food and fitness coach, and has since grown his company, , into a seven-figure company, acquiring competitors along the way. Today, Maxime has helped more than 1,000 people improve their lives through healthy plant-based eating, all while massively improving his own financial wellbeing at the same time. In this conversation, we talk about Maxime’s journey, and he even gives free advice on how I can get a six pack. Enjoy! Discussed in this episode Fit Vegan Coaching has Maxime was highly influenced by watching Maxime works with vegan bodybuilder Maxime wants to see more whole food plant-based meal delivery services like Our past episodes with influencers (Plant-Based on a Budget) and (Joyful Vegan) More about Maxime Sigouin Maxime Sigouin is a highly accomplished fitness coach, entrepreneur, and athlete. He is the founder of Fit Vegan Coaching, a company dedicated to helping individuals adopt a healthier lifestyle through plant-based nutrition and exercise. With over 10 years of experience in the fitness industry, Maxime has helped over 650 vegans successfully transition to a healthier way of living and has become a respected leader in the health and wellness community.In addition to his coaching and business ventures, Maxime is a highly accomplished athlete. He has competed in Ironman and Spartan races, as well as cycling events to raise money for cancer research.These achievements demonstrate his dedication to living a healthy and active lifestyle, and inspire others to do the same. Maxime's passion for fitness and commitment to promoting a vegan lifestyle have earned him a reputation as a leading voice in the health and wellness industry. He offers a range of services through Fit Vegan Coaching, including one-on-one coaching, online courses, and community support, to help individuals reach their fitness goals. He also owns several fitness businesses that offer comprehensive health and wellness programs, including nutrition and exercise, to help people live their best lives.With a mission to help 1 million people by 2050, Maxime is dedicated to spreading the message of plant-based nutrition and exercise as the key to leading a healthy and fulfilling lif /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/28317704

Cementing a Better Future: Leah Ellis and Sublime Systems 10/01/2023

Cementing a Better Future: Leah Ellis and Sublime Systems Did you know that nearly 10 percent of all CO2 emissions come from the creation of cement alone? That’s more than from all aviation! We rarely think about cement despite the fact that our society would literally collapse without it. Roads, bridges, buildings, and more all depend on this material that’s so ubiquitous we barely even notice it. In fact, concrete is by far the heaviest part of humanity’s footprint on the planet, and today all the materials we’ve built with it are of all living beings on the earth. In other words, the carbon intensity of cement production is a big deal. In this episode, we talk with co-founder Leah Ellis about her effort to decarbonize cement production for which she’s already raised $50 million. As you’ll hear, rather than heating up limestone to hellish temperatures to make cement—the currently dominant method—Sublime harnesses the power of electro-chemistry to convert calcium-bearing rocks into cement at room temperature, thereby slashing emissions. Already Sublime has built a $10 million pilot plant demonstrating the viability of its technology and it plans to make its commercial debut within 2023. Next step: build a full scale commercial factory that can really start making the dent in the climate crisis that Leah is seeking to make. Discussed in this episode were pretty good at making cement! Sublime Systems raised a Series A round in 2023 from Sublime Systems on Leah’s work with Sublime Systems More about Leah Ellis Leah Ellis is the CEO and co-founder of Sublime Systems, a company that aims to revolutionize cement production through its breakthrough low-carbon process. With a pilot plant in Somerville, Massachusetts capable of producing 100 tons of decarbonized cement annually, Sublime recently secured a $40 million series A funding to drive growth. Leah and her co-founder, Yet-Ming Chiang, developed the technology while she was an NSERC/Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Leah holds a PhD in chemistry from Dalhousie University, where she worked with Professor Jeff Dahn on lithium-ion battery optimization in partnership with 3M and Tesla. Leah was named among MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators under 35 and is among the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/28183760

The Most Successful Plant-Based Meat Entrepreneur Ever? Yves Potvin’s Konscious Foods 09/15/2023

The Most Successful Plant-Based Meat Entrepreneur Ever? Yves Potvin’s Konscious Foods Nearly all startups fail. Often even founders with a successful exit under their belts have stories of entrepreneurial strikeouts prior to or after their home run. But every once in while there’s a founder who seems to have the Midas touch who just keeps winning. No, I’m not talking here about Elon Musk. Rather, I’m talking about Yves Potvin. The classically trained chef pioneered the plant-based meat movement, founding in the 1980s, which was acquired for $35 million by natural foods giant Hain Celestial. One successful exit is rare, but Yves went on to then found , which brought alt-meat to even higher heights and was eventually acquired by Pinnacle Foods for $175 million. Rather than resting on his laurels and retiring into the Alt-Meat Hall of Fame (which if it existed he’d certainly be in it!), today Yves is betting that entrepreneurial lightning will strike a third time. He’s just launched a new brand called which aims to bring fish-free seafood to the masses, starting with sushi and other Japanese delights. Rather than relying on extruded plant protein isolates—the core of Gardein’s products, along with most other alt-meats—Konscious is using whole vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, and konjac as its core seafood replacers. But Konscious’ frozen sushi, poke bowls, and onigiri don’t taste like vegetable rolls. Rather, since Konscious acquired the IP of the defunct alt-seafood company Ocean Hugger Foods, the vegetables are prepared in such a way as to give the feel and taste of products like tuna, crab, and so on. Already they’re in Sprouts and Whole Foods (see their frozen sections), and you can even get sushi made at the Whole Foods sushi counter with their fish-free fish product. In this interview, Yves and I talk about his life, success, struggles along the way, and lessons he’s learned during his multi-decade career seeking to replace animals in the food system with healthier, more humane, and more sustainable options. Discussed in this episode You can see Konscious’ products . Konscious Foods recently in venture capital. Konscious Foods acquired ’ intellectual property. Yves previously founded both (acquired by ) and (acquired by , and now owned by ). Yves worked on Gardein with Tal Ronen, who later founded . Paul Quorn’s vegan chicken sold at KFC UK at price parity with conventional chicken. Yves recommends reading , , and books by . More about Yves Potvin Yves Potvin has dedicated his culinary career to creating healthy, tasty, convenient foods that can now be found in institutions across North America. In 2017, Yves bought Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver, and he is excited about training the next generation of chefs while infusing nutrition studies, sustainable practices and new technologies into the curriculum. Trained as a classical French chef, Yves successfully built two health-focused food companies. His first, Yves Veggie Cuisine, grew to become the largest refrigerated meat-alternative producer in North America. It was sold to the Hain Celestial Group in 2001. Yves then founded Garden Protein International in 2003 to create a meatless product line called Gardein, which redefined the plant protein category and became a game changer in this fast-growing segment. Gardein received many awards including Better Homes & Gardens’ Best New Product Award 2014, Canadian Grand Prix Award (four years in a row), and the National Restaurant Association’s 2014 Food and Beverage Innovation Award. Yves is now the founder and president of Konscious Foods, offering consumers with conscious and convenient plant-based seafood. Yves has been recognized for his career achievements, receiving the BC Food Processors Innovation Award in 2014, Mercy for Animals Innovative Business Award 2014, BC Export Award 2014 for Sustainability, and Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Award from Financial Post magazine. Yves served on the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems Advisory Board from 2007-2018, and on the BC Ministry of Agriculture Board of Advisors. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/28007385

Microbes to the Rescue: Lisa Nunez Safarian and Pivot Bio 09/01/2023

Microbes to the Rescue: Lisa Nunez Safarian and Pivot Bio A big part of what keeps you alive—among other things—is nitrogen. The plants you eat need it to grow, so for centuries farmers have been applying it to soil to make their acreage more productive. Prior to the 20th century, nitrogen fertilizer used to come from animal feces, blood, and bones—which is still common in organic agriculture today—but most row crops these days are fertilized with human-made nitrogen, produced by a high-energy reaction known as the Haber–Bosch process. (Or if you take Fritz Haber’s view of things rather than Carl Bosch’s, you might just call it the Haber process.) The creation of synthetic nitrogen is a big reason we can feed eight billion humans today, since it enables us to produce a lot more food from the same acre of land. But, there’s much to be desired about how we fertilize crops today. Not only is it highly energy-intensive to fix nitrogen from the air and turn it into something bioavailable to plants, but the application of all that nitrogen also creates major runoff pollution and air emissions problems from our farms. But what if, instead of doing the hard work of turning nitrogen into ammonia ourselves, we could simply coax soil microbes to do it for us? That’s what a startup founded in 2011 called is doing. They’ve gene-edited microbes to restore their natural ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen and deliver it to crops by adhering to the roots of the plants. These nitrogen-fixing microbes are applied either in the furrow at planting or directly on the seed before planting, forging a symbiotic relationship that allows the plant to thrive with less synthetic nitrogen. And we’ve got Pivot Bio’s president and chief operating officer Lisa Nunez Safarian on the show to talk all about it. Nitrogen, it turns out, is very big business, with the global fertilizer business nearly $200 billion in value. As you’ll hear, Pivot Bio has raised a whopping $600 million-plus from venture investors with a valuation nearing $2 billion—or one percent of the entire global fertilizer industry. Lisa tells us in this conversation that Pivot’s microbes were used on three million cropland acres in 2022, reducing the need for a huge amount of synthetic fertilizer, and generating about $50 million in 2022 revenue for Pivot Bio. Even if you don’t know much about agriculture, I promise this conversation is a comprehensible and riveting one that showcases the potential for biotechnology to slow climate change, clean up the environment, and produce more food with fewer resources. Discussed in this episode Lisa and Paul both endorse by Thomas Hager. Lisa recommends reading by Simon Sinek as well as and (both by Patrick M. Lencioni). Paul recommends by Rob Paarlberg, who we ! More about Lisa Nunez Safarian Lisa Nunez Safarian leads commercial, manufacturing, and product development at Pivot Bio. Dedicating her career to advancing agriculture and helping farmers achieve better outcomes, Lisa oversees the day-to-day operations to ensure we are meeting the nitrogen needs of our customers. Prior to joining Pivot Bio, Lisa held several leadership positions at Bayer and Monsanto. Most recently, she served as President, Crop Science North America for Bayer where she launched innovative technologies and go-to-market strategies that grew the business. Before this role, Lisa served as Vice President, North America for Monsanto where she was responsible for strategy, execution, and commercial transformation of the $12B U.S., Canada, and Latin America North seeds, traits, licensing and crop protection businesses. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/27876888

Swapping Leaves for Leather: Biophilica’s Mira Nameth 08/15/2023

Swapping Leaves for Leather: Biophilica’s Mira Nameth One day, while walking through the park and looking at all the leaves on the ground, Mira Nameth had a thought: what could she make with all these leaves? Little did she know that her momentary thought experiment would lead her down an entirely new path in life. The lifelong vegetarian had a keen interest in design and materials, and she wanted to do something good for the world. Already aware of how much environmental and animal welfare harm the leather industry creates, Mira began working to bring a new kind of leather into the world; leather she calls . After getting a grant from the UK government, Mira’s new company was born. Converting leaves and even agricultural byproducts into a plastic-free alt-leather, Biophilica’s material creation process uses less than 1 percent of the water needed to make cow-based leather, all while being both animal-free and petrochemical free, too. Founded in 2019, her company’s gone on to raise seven figures, hire more than a dozen people, and start selling Treekind in the high-end watch market, where you can now own a wristband that looks like leather, but was really made from leaves. It’s a fascinating and inspirational story that will “leaf” you wanting to know more! Discussed in this episode Biophilica got its start at an accelerator called Their first grant came from They also went through the , which became an investor of Biophilica’s and also invested in the company Biophillica’s first commercialized product is an alt-leather watch from Biophillica’s was granted in 2023 Mira’s father Ronald Nameth made a called Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable Mira’s been influenced by and Our past episodes on bioplastics, such as what More about Mira Nameth Mira Nameth worked as an art and creative director at digital agencies in New York and London for 15 years. In 2013, she had her daughter Nora, which changed her perspective and focus. Becoming acutely aware of the need for action against climate change, waste problems, and usage of concerning chemicals in materials, Mira started developing what was to become Treekind at the Design Master's Programme at the Royal College of Art and subsequently founded Biophilica. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/27741624

Turning the Tide for Tuna: Impact Food’s Kelly Pan 08/01/2023

Turning the Tide for Tuna: Impact Food’s Kelly Pan Tuna are like the tigers of the ocean: apex predators essential for oceanic health. And just like with tigers, humanity has been waging an unprovoked war on tuna, causing their numbers to plummet in recent decades. They may not be furry, but these finned beasts still need help, and help them is exactly what Impact Food is seeking to do. Founded in 2021 by a few recent UC-Berkely grads interested in doing something good for the world, the company has embarked on a journey to recreate whole muscle seafood without the fish. In fact, their CEO, Kelly Pan, is so interested in doing good in the world that she’s a regular listener of this very show. So when I met Kelly at the Reducetarian conference in May 2022, I knew I’d be cheering her on, and I’m very glad to have her as a guest on this episode. Impact Food has now raised about $1 million in venture backing, gotten onto menus in California, including Pokeworks—the largest poke chain in the US—and is now raising a seed round to bring their whole muscle alt-tuna to thousands of menus nationwide. Kelly tells her tale in this episode, including her past entrepreneurial endeavors and what she’s seeking to accomplish now. I think you’ll be impressed! Discussed in this episode: Impact Food was born out of the . Impact Food then moved to in San Mateo, Calif. Paul’s on how food waste alters meat demand. Kelly recommends the book . More about Kelly Pan Kelly Pan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Impact Food. She is a foodie turned entrepreneur on a mission to build a more sustainable and resilient food system. With a degree from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business, Kelly has led multiple interdisciplinary teams and launched impact-driven projects, including a skincare brand and a pro-bono consulting organization for small businesses. Through Impact Food, Kelly envisions a future of food that can reliably feed a growing global population while keeping fish in the oceans. She and her team are leveraging plants and biotechnology to create the most delicious and nutritious whole cut seafood alternatives. She is excited to bring tasty and accessible Impact Food to the masses. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/27598377

Is the Future of Plastic Fungi? MadeRight Is Working on It 07/15/2023

Is the Future of Plastic Fungi? MadeRight Is Working on It Nearly none of the plastic we use—even what gets thrown in the recycling bin—actually gets recycled. One reason for that is that plastic manufacturers often include additives in their plastics which enhance the performance of the material, but reduce the recyclability of those plastics. But what if there were a natural additive that could mimic the performance improvements of conventional plastic additives while improving recyclability? That’s what is betting on. The Israeli startup, founded in 2022, is growing mycelium—the root-like structure of fungi—to produce extracts that can be pelletized and sold to plastic manufacturers, improving both performance and sustainability. Already, the company’s raised $1.5 million USD from some big names in consumer packaged goods, hired half a dozen team members, and is making small amounts of its mycelial extracts as a proof of concept. CEO Rotem Cahanovitc got the idea for such a company while living in Ethiopia and seeing families simply burning all their plastic waste to get rid of it. Why not make better plastics that could just be recycled or even composted, he wondered. And it would be even better if you could grow the mycelium on industrial byproducts, which MadeRight is doing. The company’s now focused on scaling up to bring its slice of the plastic pollution solution to the market. Discussed in this conversation Our with compostable plastic-maker TIPA. on MadeRight’s process. MadeRight was part of the in Israel. New research (see and ) questions whether mycelium actually forms a “wood wide web.” However, Rotem published which sheds more light on the issue. Rotem recommends and . More about Rotem Cahanovitc is a mycology enthusiast innovating the use of fungi, the great recyclers of the planet, to support the transition to a flourishing, sustainable circular economy. He founded MadeRight envisioning creative ways to use fungi as a platform to produce the industrial materials of the future, starting with packaging made right. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/27451758

From Villain to Hero: Rubi Labs’s Quest to Make CO2 Work for the Climate 07/01/2023

From Villain to Hero: Rubi Labs’s Quest to Make CO2 Work for the Climate What started with a small grant from the National Science Foundation to two twin science-y sisters barely out of college is now a startup employing dozens of people that’s so far raised to revolutionize how we make clothing. Here’s how it works: You already know that plants take in CO2 and convert it into biomass, which we humans often like to turn into clothing. But what if we could bypass the plants, and just capture C02 being emitted from a factory and convert it with enzymes into fabrics that we could then wear? Not only would this magical process take emissions out of the atmosphere, but they’d also prevent the need to pollute in order to make the clothing we currently buy. That’s exactly what is doing, displacing the need to grow cotton by harnessing the power of biotech fermentation to capture CO2 from factories and convert it into textiles. As you’ll hear in this conversation, Rubi CEO Neeka Mashouf started the company with her twin sister Leila, and they’ve already partnered with major brands . Discussed in this episode Neeka recommends and . Neeka enjoys listening to the podcast. Paul recommends the documentary More about Rubi Co-Founders Neeka and Leila Mashouf were raised by the old-growth redwood forests and coasts of Northern California. Their family before them found refuge here after fleeing Iran in 1979, and told stories of how the walnut groves and sparkling shores reminded them of home. Neeka and Leila fell in love with trees and nature, the science of how they work, and the materials of which they are made -- both starting scientific research careers at age 15 and growing up to be scientists. At the same time, the twin sisters grew up immersed in the artistic world of fashion through their family’s brand, Bebe Stores. They spent summers learning from merchants, designers, production experts, and manufacturers, magnetized by the beauty of fashion then later devastated by the environmental impact. Their unique upbringing inspired them to use science and invention to take action across the manufacturing industry to fight the destruction of our clean air, water, climate, arable land, and biodiverse ecosystems. They started Rubi in 2021 after inventing and prototyping the technology in a public biohacking lab, leveraging their deep scientific expertise in materials engineering and bioengineering. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/27264369

The Most Controversial Plan to Cool the Planet: Make Sunsets 06/15/2023

The Most Controversial Plan to Cool the Planet: Make Sunsets If you listen to this show, you probably already think that we need to slash human emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. In many ways, our species has been engaged in a massive, uncontrolled geoengineering project that’s heating up the planet to the point where wildlife extinction, massive floods and fires, and other tragedies are now simply routine. So far, humanity’s geoengineering has largely been limited to heating the earth up. But what about purposeful geoengineering to actually cool the planet down? In other words, while we’re waiting to get our act together on emissions, why not reflect some of the sunshine beaming onto our pale blue dot back into space, so we can shade ourselves and keep cooler in the meantime? The idea’s been discussed in sci-fi literature for decades, and is even being researched by the federal government right now. (See , , and , for example.) But one serial entrepreneur decided to take the earth’s climate into his own hands and start his own geoengineering company, . The idea is simple: When volcanoes erupt, they spew sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, reflecting a small amount of sunlight back into space, thereby tangibly cooling the planet temporarily. So, figured Make Sunsets CEO , why not just put the sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere himself? So Luke bought a balloon on Amazon, filled it with helium to make it rise along with a couple grams of sulfur dioxide as payload, and he let it go. Fast forward a year later, and his launch has been condemned by many around the globe as irresponsibly hubristic, yet also praised by many who see such geoengineering as the best of a list of bad options. If he could do the same thing as the initial launch but orders of magnitude greater, he could meaningfully cool the planet down to prevent some of the worst effects of climate change, at least for a year or two, unless he was continually doing it. As Luke says, “Every day that we don’t inject sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere as responsibly as the state of the science will let us and as much as we can economically, species are needlessly going extinct and people are dying.” So far Make Sunsets is still a tiny startup: two employees with about a million dollars of venture capital raised, though from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. They’re already selling cooling credits—think carbon credits, but instead of removing CO2 from the atmosphere they’re just cooling the planet down without actually altering CO2 levels. He’s clear that sulfur dioxide injections into the stratosphere are a means of simply buying ourselves time to get our emissions under control, not a replacement for emissions reduction. So, see what you think. Is Make Sunsets a planetary savior or an well-intentioned but potentially apocalyptic idea? I really enjoyed talking with Luke and I think you’ll enjoy listening. Discussed in this episode The controversy caused by Make Sunsets has been covered on , , , , , and more. Luke was inspired to start Make Sunsets after reading by Neal Stephenson. Paul learned of Make Sunsets via the . Luke’s initial launch caused the to act against him. Luke recommends by Andreas Malm, by Rick Rubin, and by Julia Cameron. Paul mentions , a story about a global winter unexpectedly befalling earth after a project similar to Make Sunsets. Our past episodes with philosopher and carbon capturer . Interestingly, Peter Singer the idea of at least researching geoengineering. Luke maintains of companies he’d like to build, and in particular he just can’t get out of his head. More about Luke Iseman Luke Iseman is cofounder of Make Sunsets, a startup that launches reflective clouds to fight global warming. They have deployed over 3000 ton-years worth of cooling for paying customers, and their mission is to Cool Earth by 1C before 2030. Previously, Luke was founder of several hardware startups and Director of Hardware at Y Combinator. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/27143370

A Packaging Revolution: TIPA is All in on Compostables 06/01/2023

A Packaging Revolution: TIPA is All in on Compostables Every piece of plastic you’ve ever used still exists somewhere on the planet, from the ziplock bag of leftovers to the bag of chips to the packaging holding in all the grapes you picked up at the store. We used to ship all of our plastic waste to China, but in 2017 they stopped taking it, so the vast majority of our plastic, including what we put in the recycling bin, at the very best just ends up in a landfill, and at the worst ends up in the ocean. Enter , an Israeli startup promising to revolutionize plastic packaging by making it fully compostable. That means you could take the bag your grapes come in and just put it in your backyard compost. That’s a big deal, because a lot of packaging labeled “compostable” is actually only compostable under industrial composting conditions which are much higher heat than what you’d typically get in a home composting system or if the product ends up in nature. TIPA’s already raised $130 million USD in venture capital funding, employs more than 60 people in Israel, the US, and Europe, has developed numerous plastic replacement products that are now sold on several continents, recently acquired another startup in the space, and is working feverishly scale further so they can turn off the faucet of plastic pollution humanity is dumping into our environment every year. TIPA is Hebrew for “droplet,” and in this conversation with TIPA’s founder and CEO, Daphna Nissenbaum, we chat about her journey from a software engineer to a plastic revolutionary, what the difference between biodegradable and compostable is, what her alt-plastic is actually made of, and more. Most entrepreneurs dream of having the success Daphna’s had so far in terms of fundraising and product launches, so it was fun to hear her story. Discussed in this episode TIPA raised a financing round. on Daphna’s fight to make all plastic compostable. TIPA in $8M USD deal. You can see a range of TIPA’s compostable packaging . Many products sold in the US come in TIPA alt-plastic, . As an example, you can see what a TIPA bag looks like by checking out . As you can see it really looks just like a normal grape bag! could help degrade current plastics. More about Daphna Nissenbaum Before launching TIPA®, Daphna was CEO of the Caesarea Center for Capital Markets and Risk Management at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya. Previously, she held various management positions at SPL World Group Ltd, a provider of revenue and operations management software, prior to which she held the position of project manager at Whelty Lager Ltd., located in Boston MA, USA. Daphna holds an MBA specializing in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from IDC Herzliya (graduated with honors) and a BA in Economics and Software Engineering from Bar Ilan University. She graduated the elite Israel Defense Forces software engineering program (Mamram) and served in the Israeli Navy software unit as an officer (ranked Captain). Today, Daphna is leading the TIPA® team in the movement to revolutionize packaging systems and rid the world of plastic pollution. TIPA® fully compostable flexible packaging replaces conventional plastic, turning waste into resource, a crisis into an opportunity. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/26981127

Hummus as a Force for Good: Joey Bergstein and the Sabra Story 05/15/2023

Hummus as a Force for Good: Joey Bergstein and the Sabra Story Did you know about between declining smoking rates and increasing hummus consumption? It’s true—a decade ago, as American smoking rates were falling, hummus consumption began ascending, leading numerous tobacco growers to convert their fields to chickpea production instead. Hummus is also a favorite of those seeking to eat plant-based while still getting a satiating snack or meal. In fact, in the Middle East, the birthplace of hummus, it’s not eaten as a dip like it is here in America, but rather hummus itself is the bulk of the meal, enjoyed literally by the bowlful as I’ve personally witnessed—and enjoyed—while in Israel. Some people even think that hummus may be among the key ways to unite the Middle East, where various cultures have been enjoying hummus for thousands of years. But one place where hummus hasn’t been enjoyed for millenia: North America. But one Israeli company set out to change that, Sabra, which has caused an explosion of interest in hummus since it entered the market, especially since the company sold half of its shares to Pepsi. Since then, Sabra has rapidly accelerated hummus’ popularity here in America. Today, Sabra sells hundreds of millions of dollars of tubs of hummus and is by far the largest player in the sector. In this interview, we chat with Sabra CEO Joey Bergstein about all things hummus, including why he thinks hummus is such a force for good in the world—including why chickpeas are the OG of regenerative crops—and how Sabra can do even better. Discussed in this episode The from tobacco growing to chickpea growing. , a cool startup breeding a higher protein chickpea. Joey recommends listening to . Long before Joey was CEO, in 2014 Sabra for a standard of identity for hummus, something about which Joey says in this interview the company is no longer concerned. TODAY Show , with Sabra ranking #1. Some past episodes of ours on plastic include , , , , , and . The , via NPR. More about Joey Bergstein Joey Bergstein joined Sabra in August 2021 as President and Chief Executive Officer. He and the Sabra team are on a quest to unit and delight the world around planet positive food. Prior to joining Sabra, Bergstein led Seventh Generation as Chief Executive Officer since 2017 following successive leadership roles since he joined in 2011. Together with his team, he transformed the business through sustainability-driven product innovation, advocacy-led marketing, and deep partnership with retailers. This combination more than tripled revenue during his tenure, all while building a purpose-driven culture and pursuing the company’s quest to transform the world into a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable place for the next seven generations. A graduate of University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business, Bergstein began his career at Procter & Gamble where he held marketing leadership roles over ten years across North America and in Europe. He then took on leadership roles in the beverages industry, serving as VP beverages industry, serving as VP Global Business Development and then VP Marketing at Molson and then as Senior Vice President of Global Rum at Diageo where, Joey led a global team that doubled the rum business to over $1 billion, transforming Captain Morgan into the fastest growing premium spirit brand in the world.  Joey has been recognized by CERES for his leadership addressing Climate Change receiving the 2020 CERES BICEP CEO Award and by his fellow Ivey Alumni receiving the 2020 Ivey Alumni Achievement Award. Joey and his wife, Andrea, founder of Scribblitt.com, now live in New York City. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/26817825

The OG of Mycelium Fermentation: The Quorn Story 05/01/2023

The OG of Mycelium Fermentation: The Quorn Story There are several dozen startups, including , laboring to scale mycelium fermentation to a point where it can start making a dent in demand for animal meat. One company though, has been doing this for decades: . While most alt-meat is made from pea, soy, or wheat, Quorn dominates the portion of the market made from mycelium, controlling more than 99% of the mycoprotein-based alt-meat sector. Partnered with , Quorn is the number one alt-meat brand in the EU, even though it’s still a smaller part of the US market. That may be changing soon, though. In this conversation, we hear from Quorn’s CEO Marco Bertacca about where the company’s been and where it’s going, including its plans in the US. He reveals which fungi protein startup Quorn recently invested in, whether Quorn intends to build its own fermentation assets in the US, when the company intends to remove all egg whites from its products, and why he thinks Quorn seems better suited as a chicken alternative than beef. Interestingly, he also claims that Quorn is already competing on cost with some chicken products today. I was impressed by Marco’s humility in this interview, including when he’s talking about where he thinks Quorn has come up short in some of its expansion plans. Interestingly, he and I also chat about why he felt it was important for him, when starting as CEO four years ago, to work for weeks undercover as a factory worker in a Quorn plant before getting behind a computer. The job, Marco claims, has been very gratifying for him, noting that he’s married to someone who never eats meat, and he’s become someone who eats meat only once per month. Marco even notes that his children are more proud of him today than ever before because of his work to create a more sustainable food system. I think you’ll appreciate that sentiment even more after listening to this conversation with the man at the helm of the fungi fermentation revolution—enjoy! Discussed in this episode Paul’s about fungi fermentation. Paul’s favorite Quorn products are the and . The . Quorn was in 2015 for $831 million by Monde Nissin. Monde Nissin’s 2021 billion-dollar for Quorn. Quorn’s 2021 that it would invest $335 million in the US market. Marco’s first weeks on the CEO job were spent as a . The , of which Quorn is a founding member Our recent with Prime Roots CEO Kimberlie Le. More about Marco Bertacca Marco Bertacca joined Quorn Foods as CEO in January 2020, bringing over 25 years of global food and drink experience to the company. Prior to moving to the UK to undertake the role, Marco was based in the Philippines where he was the Managing Director of Alaska Milk Corporation, a Friesland Campina Company, for over three years. He first moved to South East Asia in 2013, taking the role of Business Development Director in Singapore for Friesland Campina. He went on to hold a number of MD roles across Singapore and Thailand. Before joining Friesland Campina Marco was President of Europe at CSM Bakery Products, and began his career working for Unilever for 10 years, leading the company’s supply chain operations. Marco joined Quorn Foods with the ultimate goal of encouraging more sustainable diets, for the health of both people and planet. Under his leadership, the business announced it will be the first major food brand to roll out carbon labelling on its products, and has committed to achieving Net Positive status by 2030, by which time he has set the ambition to serve 8 billion servings of Quorn a year, the equivalent of one serving for every person on the planet. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/26639892

From Cultivated Meat to National Security: The Journey of Jason Matheny 04/15/2023

From Cultivated Meat to National Security: The Journey of Jason Matheny Twenty years ago, Jason Matheny was a public health student who in his spare time was crusading to create a meat industry that would be less reliant on animals. In 2004, after he founded to popularize cultured meat, his fame grew. The New York Times profiled him in its annual “Ideas of the Year” feature in 2005. That same year Discover magazine named cultured meat one of the most notable tech stories. For the next several years, Jason was the face of the movement to grow real meat without animals, traveling the world to persuade governments and food companies alike that they should be investing in a future where people would eat meat, but not animals. By 2009, now armed with his BA, MBA, MPH, and PhD, Jason began turning his attention toward preventing the more immediate and potentially catastrophic risks humanity faces. After leaving New Harvest, he eventually rose to become the director of (IARPA), a federal agency that develops advanced technologies for national intelligence. Running the federal intelligence agency would eventually lead Jason to helm a , followed by a high-profile national security role in the Biden White House, to now being the CEO of the . He was even named one of Foreign Policy's “Top 50 Global Thinkers.” As you’ll hear in this interview, Jason shifted from his work on cultivated meat toward national security as he became convinced that technology can vastly improve both human and animal welfare, and that the only real threat to technological advancement is an apocalyptic catastrophe like a synthetic virus or asteroid. He still cares about the welfare of those of us living today—human and nonhuman alike—but Jason’s primary preoccupation has become reducing civilization-threatening risks so that our species can keep progressing into the deep future. I think you’ll find this conversation with this leading thinker as riveting as I did. Jason even talks about what technologies he hopes listeners will pursue to mitigate existential risks, so be sure to listen closely! Discussed in this episode Jason recommends reading by Toby Ord. Jason passed the New Harvest torch onto Isha Datar, who was our guest on . Our with Rep. Ro Khanna regarding relating to national security implications of losing the alt-meat race. Paul’s thoughts in on government funding for alt-meat. More about Jason Matheny Jason Matheny is president and chief executive officer of the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. Prior to becoming RAND's president and CEO in July 2022, he led White House policy on technology and national security at the National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Previously, he was founding director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University and director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), where he was responsible for developing advanced technologies for the U.S. intelligence community. Before IARPA, he worked for Oxford University, the World Bank, the Applied Physics Laboratory, the Center for Biosecurity, and Princeton University. Matheny has served on many nonpartisan boards and committees, including the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, to which he was appointed by Congress in 2018. He is a recipient of the Intelligence Community's Award for Individual Achievement in Science and Technology, the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He was also named one of Foreign Policy's “Top 50 Global Thinkers.” Matheny holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University, an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University, an M.B.A. from Duke University, and a B.A. in art history from the University of Chicago. /episode/index/show/businessforgoodpodcast/id/26515017

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