Everybody in the Pool Turns One Year Old!

Get your binge on: May's podcast episodes feature organic eating and farming, decentralized hydroelectric power, cleaner chemicals, and renting e-bikes from work.

Happy birthday to Everybody in the Pool! May 31 was our first anniversary, and it’s only fitting that it should happen in my own birthday month.

Speaking of which, and by way of some explanation for the long pause between newsletter posts, here’s what happened in May over at Molly Wood Media. The first week of the month, I was the headline speaker at AngelFest 2024, put on by Groove Investment Group, in Minneapolis. (I also got to be interviewed by former NFL linebacker and current Vikings analyst Ben Leber and because I am a consummate professional in all things, I told him he had “big The Rock energy.” Luckily, we still had a nice chat.)

I hope all my future events have a big sign that says HEADLINER for me. That was awesome.

Then I was home for a few days before heading to New York for a week of meetings and catch-ups and future project planning, and riding around on the subway and being jealous of the city’s public transportation.

Then I was home for a few days before heading to Dallas for the ARPA-E Innovation Summit to host a mainstage conversation with Jonathan Scott of the Property Brothers about the importance of creating commercial markets for the amazing inventions ARPA-E and its partners are funding (seriously, I had two separate back-to-back conversations involving lasers, both completely real solutions). I also celebrated my birthday there with cake and a biggole guy in a Transformers-esque robot suit.

A surprisingly fun birthday adventure at ARPA-E Innovation Summit in Dallas!

And then, friends, I went to the beach for a minute with my child and dogs. I think you would, too.

We made it.

But honestly, that is no excuse at all, because May also featured an absolute selection of podcast bangers, if I do say so myself. Here’s what you may have missed:

• Episode 47: Daily Harvest’s CEO, Ricky Silver, on climate-friendly eating, the company’s recent expansion into big-box retail locations (including Target), and how it’s working behind to scenes to enable more farmers to switch to organic and regenerative agriculture practices

• Episode 48: Emily Morris, CEO of Emrgy, on the topic of the OG power source, water. Hydroelectric power has been around for centuries, of course, but building new hydroelectric infrastructure is tricky—permitting, water use concerns, the sheer size and cost of new plants. So Emrgy is focusing on modular hydroelectric systems that can be installed anywhere water is already flowing, like wastewater plants, irrigation systems, or even food and beverage production.

• Episode 49: The hidden and super terrible carbon-intensive and toxic world of chemicals development! Jeff Erhardt is CEO of Mattiq, a company looking to become the Genentech of chemicals production, creating a new platform for chemicals development—particularly in critical industries like fertilizers and adhesives—that’s much more sustainable and safe.

• Episode 50: I almost missed National Bike Month but saved it just in time with this fun conversation with Chinmay Malaviya about his startup, RidePanda. The company works with big employers (Amazon is the anchor customer) to offer subsidized month-to-month rental of e-bikes, regular bikes, scooters, and any other form of non-car transportation. It’s like a commuter benefit, but way greener.

• Episode 51: And finally, our anniversary episode, which just posted today! I give a little update on some standouts from the year, and we revisit one of my favorite companies, Kadeya, and its super interesting founder, Manuela Zoninstein. The company just won a Reusies Innovation Award in the food and beverage category for its clever water-bottling-plant-in-a-vending-machine that dispenses reusable water bottles that are then returned, sanitized, and refilled. It’s designed for factory floors, military bases, and other locations where essential workers need consistent hydration without all the damn plastic.

Thanks for listening, I’m happy to be back in my house and also writing this newsletter, and honestly, just looking back at the past month of inspiring, fascinating, and mind-opening conversations with such truly brilliant people has me excited and re-energized all over again. Humans are troublesome, troubling, and troubled in lots of ways, but we are also pretty remarkable when we set our big brains to fixing hard problems. Together, we can get this done.

See you next week! (For real, though.)