The Wharton Current

The Wharton Current

Podcast by The Wharton Current

  1. Climate Investing in the Family Office World — Ben Huang, Builders Vision

    2 Jun

    Climate Investing in the Family Office World — Ben Huang, Builders Vision

    What does non-concessionary climate investing actually look like in practice? Ben Huang of Builders Vision joins the Wharton Current to break down how the platform deploys capital from philanthropy to market-rate returns— and why he underwrites climate funds the same way he'd underwrite any other. We cover manager selection, undercapitalized opportunities, the family office landscape, and career advice for students breaking into impact investing. For more on Builders Vision, check out their website and the FT article we reference in the conversation: • BV Website: https://www.buildersvision.com/ • FT article: ft.com/content/f1a7549f-24e5-4591-aeb2-c6b8eea362c9

    25 min
  2. Harnessing Industrial Policy in the Energy Transition and Global Economic Competition – Ali Zaidi, Former White House National Climate Advisor

    27 Apr

    Harnessing Industrial Policy in the Energy Transition and Global Economic Competition – Ali Zaidi, Former White House National Climate Advisor

    China just released its Five Year Plan in March 2026. How should clean energy investors, founders, and policymakers in the US respond? On April 2, we sat down with Ali Zaidi, former White House National Climate Advisor, to discuss what China’s clean energy priorities mean for the future of the sector globally and how we can adapt US industrial policy to gain an edge.

    40 min
  3. Scaling Direct Air Capture -- Shashank Samala, CEO of Heirloom

    3 Mar

    Scaling Direct Air Capture -- Shashank Samala, CEO of Heirloom

    What does it actually take to pull carbon out of the air — and turn it into a scalable business? In this episode, we sit down with Shashank Samala, CEO & Founder of Heirloom Carbon, to unpack the reality of building one of the world’s most ambitious direct air capture companies. We dive into commercializing DAC at scale, raising climate infrastructure capital, navigating policy and 45Q, and partnering with buyers like Microsoft, Stripe, and Frontier to bring first-of-a-kind projects to life.

    39 min

  4. 28 Jan

    Scaling Storage in an Era of Explosive Load Growth — Colby Hastings, Senior Director of Residential Energy, Tesla

    We sat down with Colby Hastings, Senior Director of Residential Energy at Tesla, to unpack how battery storage and distributed energy resources are reshaping the grid. Drawing on nearly a decade at Tesla, Colby walks us through the evolution of Tesla Energy—from the early days of Powerwall and grid-scale storage to today’s Megapack deployments and large-scale virtual power plants.

    30 min
  5. The Power of Data Center Flexibility — Aroon Vijaykar, SVP of Strategy and Commercial, Emerald AI

    08/10/2025

    The Power of Data Center Flexibility — Aroon Vijaykar, SVP of Strategy and Commercial, Emerald AI

    In this episode, Aroon shares insights on why data center flexibility is critical to protecting energy affordability, grid reliability and the broader economy amidst the AI boom.

    40 min

  6. 18/06/2025

    Bridging the Valley of Death — Brandon Corts, Senior Director of Product, Newlab

    We were thrilled to speak with Brandon Corts, Senior Director of Product at Newlab — a venture platform accelerating the commercialization of critical technologies. Between early-stage VC funding and late-stage infrastructure capital, hard technology companies face a “valley of death” where many fail. This challenge is not new but it is intensifying. According to Sightline Climate, in 2024, there was a 10% drop in Series B deals, and it took over two years on average for companies to advance from Series A to Series B, up from 20 months in 2023. In the latest episode of the Wharton Current, Ian Miller and Lilly Chadwick sat down with Brandon to discuss Newlab’s venture platform and the creative pathways hard tech companies can follow to successfully overcome the valley of death.

    41 min
  7. Small Scale, Big Impact: Nuclear Microreactors -- James Walker, CEO of Nano Nuclear Energy

    13/05/2025

    Small Scale, Big Impact: Nuclear Microreactors -- James Walker, CEO of Nano Nuclear Energy

    Small Scale, Big Impact: Nuclear Microreactors -- James Walker, CEO of Nano Nuclear Energy by The Wharton Current

    43 min
  8. Energy Geopolitics in Transition — Dr. Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

    28/03/2025

    Energy Geopolitics in Transition — Dr. Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

    Energy Geopolitics in Transition — Dr. Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy by The Wharton Current

    47 min
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About

Podcast by The Wharton Current

Information

  • Creator
    The Wharton Current
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    54
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The Wharton Current

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