Inevitable

an MCJ podcast
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Join Cody Simms each week as he engages with experts across disciplines to explore innovations driving the transition of energy and industry. Inevitable is an MCJ podcast. This show was formerly known as 'My Climate Journey.'

  1. Autonomous Wildfire Suppression with Seneca

    5 GG FA

    Autonomous Wildfire Suppression with Seneca

    Stu Landesberg is Co-founder and CEO of Seneca, a company developing autonomous aerial systems to detect and suppress wildfires before they grow out of control. Designed for rapid initial response, Seneca’s technology deploys robotic aircraft that launch within minutes, helping protect homes, infrastructure, and communities in fire-prone regions. In this episode of Inevitable, Landesberg shares why he left Grove—his first company focused on sustainable consumer goods—to tackle what he sees as a civilization-level challenge: early wildfire intervention. The conversation explores how climate conditions, outdated fire cycles, and insurance market failures have converged to threaten life in the American West. Landesberg walks through Seneca’s approach to changing that trajectory: distributed strike teams of large autonomous suppression copters, built in the U.S., designed to reach fires faster than any existing response method. He also unpacks the product’s potential for mop-up operations, prescribed burns, and utility asset protection. In this episode, we cover: (2:40) Wildfire as a threat to housing and the economy(10:07) The urgent need for faster fire response(15:12) Why helicopters aren’t a scalable solution(20:03) New use cases beyond initial attack(28:25) What autonomy looks like in practice(33:11) Why Seneca isn’t just another drone company(38:21) Wildfire as a climate and national security risk(46:18) Seneca’s first deployments and what’s nextLinks: Stuart Landesberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartlandesbergSeneca: https://seneca.com/ Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    54 min
  2. Using Drones to Make Rain and Snow with Rainmaker

    20 GEN

    Using Drones to Make Rain and Snow with Rainmaker

    Augustus Doricko is Founder and CEO at Rainmaker, a company using cloud seeding, drones, and radar to increase rain and snow as water scarcity and drought intensify across the West. In this episode of Inevitable, the conversation focuses on why cloud seeding—often misunderstood as science fiction or geoengineering—has existed for decades and why it has only recently become possible to prove it actually works. The discussion centers on the industry’s core constraint: attribution. For years, operators couldn’t measure whether precipitation would have occurred anyway. Doricko explains how advances in dual-polarization radar and targeted flight paths now make it possible to identify human-caused snowfall, unlocking a path to scale. Doricko also walks through Rainmaker’s vertically integrated approach, from weather-resistant drones and proprietary radar to software and validation systems, and why the company focuses on snowpack as a bankable water source. The episode also addresses public scrutiny, regulatory bans, and what it takes to build water infrastructure in a category that’s easy to misunderstand but increasingly necessary. Episode recorded on Dec 16, 2025 (Published on Jan 20, 2026) In this episode, we cover:  [1:53] Cloud seeding vs geoengineering [3:27] How cloud seeding works and its history[9:14] When and how it became commercially deployable [15:28] Advantages of using drones vs manned aircraft [18:34] The limits of today’s validation methods [24:54] Why Rainmaker focuses on snowpack first [27:34] Rainmaker’s go to market[29:34] Acquiring legacy operators to scale faster[32:40] Why Rainmaker sells services, not water[38:25] State bans, politics, and public backlash[40:39] Chemtrails and Texas flood controversies[47:15] The future of cloud seeding in the US and abroad Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    51 min
  3. AI Hits a Power Wall. Starcloud Launches Data Centers Into Orbit

    13 GEN

    AI Hits a Power Wall. Starcloud Launches Data Centers Into Orbit

    Philip Johnston is co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, a company building data centers in space to solve AI's power crisis. Starcloud has already launched the first NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit and is partnering with cloud providers like Crusoe to scale orbital computing infrastructure. As AI demand accelerates, data centers are running into a new bottleneck: access to reliable, affordable power. Grid congestion, interconnection delays, and cooling requirements are slowing the deployment of new AI data centers, even as compute demand continues to surge. Traditional data centers face 5-10 year lead times for new power projects due to permitting, interconnection queues, and grid capacity constraints. In this episode, Philip explains why Starcloud is building data centers in orbit, where continuous solar power is available and heat can be rejected directly into the vacuum of space. He walks through Starcloud’s first on-orbit GPU deployment, the realities of cooling and radiation in space, and how orbital data centers could relieve pressure on terrestrial power systems as AI infrastructure scales. Episode recorded on Dec 11, 2025 (Published on Jan 13, 2026) In this episode, we cover:  [04:59] What Starcloud's orbital data centers look like (and how they differ from terrestrial facilities)[06:37] How SpaceX Starship's reusable launch vehicles change space economics[10:45] The $500/kg breakeven point for space-based solar vs. Earth [14:15] Why space solar panels produce 8x more energy than ground-based arrays [21:19] Thermal management: Cooling NVIDIA GPUs in a vacuum using radiators [25:57] Edge computing in orbit: Real-time inference on satellite imagery [29:22] The Crusoe partnership: Selling power-as-a-service in space [31:21] Starcloud's business model: Power, cooling, and connectivity [34:18] Addressing critics: What could prevent orbital data centers from workingKey Takeaways: Starcloud launched the first NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit in November 2024 Space solar produces 8x more energy per square meter than terrestrial solar Breakeven launch cost for orbital data centers: $500/kg Current customers: DOD and commercial Earth observation satellites needing real-time inference Target: 10 gigawatts of orbital computing capacity by early 2030s Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    36 min
  4. The Missing Piece Holding Back Advanced Nuclear with Standard Nuclear

    6 GEN

    The Missing Piece Holding Back Advanced Nuclear with Standard Nuclear

    Kurt Terrani is CEO of Standard Nuclear, a company focused on a part of nuclear energy that gets far less attention than reactor designs but can become the true bottleneck: fuel. In this episode, Kurt provides a nuclear fuels 101, walking through the front end of the fuel cycle from uranium processing and enrichment to fabrication. He explains in plain terms what makes TRISO fuel different, why it appears so frequently in next-generation reactor designs, and how fuel performance shapes reactor economics, safety, and scalability. The conversation also unpacks Standard Nuclear’s origin story, which emerged from a Chapter 11 restructuring of UltraSafe Nuclear, and explores a future where reactor-agnostic fuel suppliers replace vertically integrated fuel strategies to unlock faster deployment across advanced nuclear technologies. Episode recorded on Dec 4, 2025 (Published on Jan 6, 2026) In this episode, we cover:  [1:53] An overview of Standard Nuclear[3:26] Nuclear’s history in Oak Ridge, TN[6:07] The nuclear fuel cycle [8:35] US involvement and ownership in this cycle[10:17] TRISO fuel or coated particle fuel[17:56] Why enrichment access constrains deployment [21:43] Government’s role bridging fuel supply gaps[24:03] Why reactor companies try vertical integration[26:26] Standard Nuclear’s origin story [28:51] Why fuel must become a commodity[33:42] The case for standardizing TRISO specs[39:20] Challenges of building a fuels company Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    43 min
  5. Modular, High-Quality Homes Built Faster and Cheaper with Cuby

    16/12/2025

    Modular, High-Quality Homes Built Faster and Cheaper with Cuby

    Aleks Gampel is COO and Co-founder at Cuby, a company rethinking how homes are built in the middle of a nationwide housing crisis. The cost of housing has soared while construction productivity has barely budged in decades, and today’s homes are still built through slow, wasteful, and carbon-intensive processes that aren’t designed for escalating climate risks. Instead of shipping prefab boxes across the country, Cuby asks what it would look like if housing finally had its assembly line moment—and the factory moved to where homes are needed. Their mobile microfactories are inflatable, rapidly deployable facilities that manufacture standardized home components on or near the job site using mostly unskilled labor, then assemble houses in a predictable, repeatable way. In this conversation, Aleks unpacks the roots of the housing shortage, why past modular attempts fell short, and how Cuby’s model could change what’s possible for housing affordability, waste reduction, and resilience. Episode recorded on Nov 20, 2025 (Published on Dec 16, 2025) In this episode, we cover:  [4:40] Causes for the housing crisis today  [8:17] Emissions associated with housing and how Cuby differs[12:54] An overview of  industrialized construction [16:43] Main challenges with industrialized construction[19:25] Cuby’s antithesis to centralized gigafactories in construction[27:08] How Cuby’s inflatable mobile microfactory works[30:17] Cuby’s European headquarters and China facility [31:57] Cuby’s single-family home design [33:30] The company’s business model[37:52] Why Cuby isn’t displacing jobs [38:55] The company’s funding to date [40:15] What’s next for Cuby Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    42 min
  6. The Breakthrough Fusion Has Been Waiting For with Pacific Fusion

    09/12/2025

    The Breakthrough Fusion Has Been Waiting For with Pacific Fusion

    Carrie von Muench is the COO and Co-Founder of Pacific Fusion, a company building the first pulser-driven inertial fusion system designed for net facility gain. Fusion has long promised limitless, carbon-free, dispatchable power, but only recently have breakthroughs—from ignition at the National Ignition Facility to major advances at Sandia and new high-efficiency pulse-power technology—shifted fusion from scientific aspiration to solvable engineering challenge. The Pacific Fusion founding team came together after these 2022 milestones revealed a credible, engineering-driven path to fusion energy. Backed by a landmark $900M Series A led by General Catalyst, the company is developing a highly modular system that can be mass-manufactured using accessible materials and domestically sourced supply chains. In this episode, Carrie explains why these breakthroughs matter, how the modular pulser architecture works, why New Mexico became home for the world’s largest pulse-power facility, and how fusion could reshape global energy, industry, and security. MCJ is proud to participate in Pacific Fusion’s Series A through our venture funds.  Episode recorded on Nov 19, 2025 (Published on Dec 9, 2025) In this episode, we cover:  [13:28] Pacific Fusion’s origins and founding team[17:54] The company’s unique financing structure[18:57] Why traditional venture models fail for fusion[25:42] Pacific Fusion’s progress to date[27:23] What a pulsed magnetic fusion system looks like[29:15] The path from modular components to full-scale system[33:20] Looking ahead at Pacific Fusion’s 2026 milestones[35:04] Why they’re building in Albuquerque, New Mexico[41:29] The global race with China to commercialize fusion[46:24] The fusion supply chain  Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    53 min
  7. AI-Powered Infrastructure Development with Unlimited Industries

    03/12/2025

    AI-Powered Infrastructure Development with Unlimited Industries

    Alex Modon is CEO and Co-founder of Unlimited Industries, a company transforming infrastructure development through AI-driven automation. Unlimited tackles one of the biggest bottlenecks in climate and industrial innovation: the outdated, risk-averse world of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). Traditional EPCs are often misaligned with the needs of first-of-a-kind projects. Unlimited flips the script by using AI to generate thousands of design permutations, drastically cutting feedback loops, iteration time, and overall cost. Alex shares how his background in software, combined with childhood exposure to industrial environments, inspired him to take on this hard problem—and why he believes the only way to build faster is to rebuild the entire system from the ground up. Episode recorded on July 29 (Published on Dec 3) In this episode, we cover:  ⁠[03:15] An overview of EPCs[05:05] How EPCs make money[07:06] Why FOAK projects face EPC challenges[10:02] Reducing marginal cost of engineering design with AI[12:35] Alex’s pivot from software to infrastructure[15:39] Why EPCs resist adopting AI tools[19:14] Unlimited’s capital projects platform explained[23:41] How Unlimited manages physical construction[26:36] The company's vision of fully autonomous construction in the future[28:08] Why physical abundance drives Alex Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    39 min
  8. Using AI to Supercharge Nuclear Operations with Atomic Canyon

    19/11/2025

    Using AI to Supercharge Nuclear Operations with Atomic Canyon

    Trey Lauderdale is the CEO and Founder of Atomic Canyon, a company bringing artificial intelligence into the nuclear energy sector. Atomic Canyon recently deployed the first commercial on-site generative AI system at a U.S. nuclear facility. While AI’s growth is creating massive demand for reliable, clean baseload power, Atomic Canyon explores the reverse question: does nuclear need AI just as much to solve workforce shortages and accelerate new reactor deployment? Trey’s path to nuclear is unconventional. After building and selling a healthcare communications platform, he moved to San Luis Obispo and discovered he lived 10 miles from California’s last nuclear plant. That proximity led to applying lessons from one highly regulated industry to another. In just two years, Trey has built partnerships with PG&E and Diablo Canyon, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory, the kind of institutional relationships that typically take years to establish in the nuclear industry. Perhaps that speed says something about both the urgency of the problem and the credibility of the solution. Episode recorded on Aug 12, 2025 (Published on Nov 19, 2025) In this episode, we cover:  [2:49] An overview of Atomic Canyon[04:45] Trey’s  path from healthcare to nuclear [08:50] The myths vs reality of nuclear power plants[10:41] Understanding nuclear’s administrative bottlenecks [12:14] How Trey started Atomic Canyon with no nuclear experience [17:59] Learning from Diablo leadership and facility[20:24] Deploying the first on-premise nuclear AI system[23:39] Security measures for data sets[29:23] Building NuclearBench with Idaho National Lab[32:02] Scaling from one plant to fleet-wide adoption[38:53] Where Atomic Canyon needs help [40:09] The company’s funding to date Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc. Connect with MCJ: Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

    43 min
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Descrizione

Join Cody Simms each week as he engages with experts across disciplines to explore innovations driving the transition of energy and industry. Inevitable is an MCJ podcast. This show was formerly known as 'My Climate Journey.'

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    an MCJ podcast
  • Anni di attività
    2019 - 2026
  • Puntate
    583
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti espliciti
  • Copyright
    © MCJ
  • Sito web del podcast
    Inevitable

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