The Dynamo Show: a Dynamo Ventures Podcast

The Future of Supply Chain: a Dynamo Podcast
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  • Investing
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Capital is abundant. Understanding is scarce. The Dynamo show goes deep with the new industrialists rejuvenating industry and commerce. Brought to you by Dynamo Ventures. Learn more at dynamo.vc/podcast

  1. 4d ago

    Re-Air: Killing Spreadsheets & WhatsApp: The New Era of Freight

    From time to time, we’ll re-air a previous episode of the show that our newer audience may have missed. In this episode, Cargado founder Matt Silver joins Madelyn O’Farrell to unpack the future of cross-border freight between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. He shares his journey from Coyote Logistics and Forager to launching Corgado, a marketplace and pricing tool built specifically for freight brokers. They dive into why WhatsApp and spreadsheets break down collaboration across the 8–12 parties in a typical cross-border shipment, how better-structured data and workflow tools can replace today’s manual copy-paste work, and where AI fits in as more than just a band-aid on legacy TMS systems. Matt also explains why Mexico has become strategically critical for U.S. supply chains, the impact of NAFTA/USMCA, trade tensions with China, and pandemic-driven nearshoring, as well as remaining challenges in Mexican infrastructure and politics. Key takeaways: brokers should focus on relationships and problem-solving, not data entry; modern tools will blur the line between system of action and system of record; and long-term, supply chain collaboration will happen on shared, AI-augmented platforms that connect brokers, carriers, and shippers across North America. Highlights from their conversation include: Matt’s Background in Freight and the Origin of Corgado (0:46)   Building a Cross-Border Marketplace and Pricing Tool for Brokers (3:52)   Why WhatsApp and Spreadsheets Break Cross-Border Collaboration (6:46)   Brokers Should Manage Relationships, Not Copy and Paste Data (11:15)   Balancing Automation and Human Relationships in Brokerage (17:29)   Why Mexico Has Become Strategically Critical to U.S. Supply Chains (20:12)   Political and Infrastructure Challenges for Mexico as a Logistics Hub (24:58)   The Future of Supply Chain Collaboration Across North America (28:55)   Closing Thoughts and Episode Wrap-Up (30:33) Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    31 min

  2. Jun 3

    Freaks About Leaks: Inside the Future of Medical Devices with Keith Smith of Vonco Products

    Highlights from their conversation include: Keith Smith’s Journey into Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering (0:49)   Overview of Vonco Products as a Medical Device Contract Manufacturer (1:53)   Single Use Fluid Bags, Horizontal Services, and Turnkey Offering (2:06)   Being “Freaks About Leaks” and the Liqui Lock Guarantee (4:16)   RF Welding vs Heat Seal Welding for Different Polymers (5:39)   The Spark Program and On-Site Rapid Prototyping with Customers (7:03)   Enter Lock Innovation for Enteral Feeding and Customer Adoption (8:21)   Geopolitical Shocks, Iran Conflict, and Plastic Supply Volatility (9:32)   Reshoring, Near Shoring, and Rethinking Global Supply Chains (12:18)   COVID, Panic Buying, and Stockpiling Risk in Medical Devices (14:34)   Automation Priorities, Staffing Challenges, and Failed Experiments (17:01)   Diversification Strategy, Customer Mix, and Supply Chain Resilience (19:28)   Parting Thoughts and Takeaways (20:46)   Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    21 min

  3. May 27

    Time to Power: How Critical Loop Keeps Industrial America Switched On

    In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell sits down with Bala Ramamurthy, CEO and Co-Founder of Critical Loop, to explore how his journey from NASA and SpaceX led him to tackle one of today’s most urgent problems: industrial access to reliable, scalable power. They discuss why the electricity grid is an underutilized, aging asset facing soaring demand from reindustrialization, data centers, and EV fleets, and how bottlenecks like multi-year wait times for utility upgrades can cripple factories and logistics operators. Bala explains Critical Loop’s solution: modular, relocatable microgrids that combine battery energy storage, generation, and autonomous controls to dramatically shorten “time to power,” including a high-stakes deployment that kept a factory running for nine months during a utility outage. He also covers how Critical Loop works behind the meter and with utilities, the importance of reliability borrowed from aerospace engineering, navigating shifting policy and supply chains, and why industrial operators shouldn’t give up on their preferred locations just because the grid says “no” at first. Highlights from their conversation include: Welcoming Bala Ramamurthy to the Show (0:29) What Critical Loop Does for Industrial Power (1:35) Why the Grid Is Complex, Underutilized Infrastructure (3:05) How Grid Bottlenecks Impact Industrial Operators (4:41) How Critical Loop Analyzes Sites and Designs Solutions (7:21) High Stakes Deployment During Nine-Month Outage (10:18) Where Critical Loop Sits in the Grid Stack (12:03) Deployment Scale Today and Ambition to Reach Gigawatts (14:19) Navigating Policy, Regulation, and Market Tailwinds (17:20) What Rockets and Industrial Power Systems Have in Common (21:59) Advice for Operators Facing Energy as a New Constraint (24:09) Parting Thoughts and Takeaways (25:05) Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    26 min

  4. May 20

    1.4M Jobs Unfilled: Inside America’s Skilled Trade Crisis

    In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell speaks with Santosh Sankar about the broken skilled trades pipeline and its impact on America’s push to reindustrialize. Santosh traces the problem back to the 1983 “A Nation at Risk” report and subsequent policy shifts that de-emphasized vocational education, fueled stigma around trades, and dismantled employer-school partnerships. He highlights looming shortages in critical industrial roles such as welders, pipefitters, millwrights, industrial electricians, and CNC machinists, noting that most current hiring is just replacing retirees and that training timelines make quick fixes impossible. The conversation explores why these industrial trades are hard to automate, the cultural and structural barriers to attracting new talent, and the urgent need for employer-led, modernized vocational training models—potentially even “vocational training as a service”—to close the skills gap and unlock the promise of America’s industrial renaissance. Highlights from their conversation include: Historical Roots of the Skills Trade Pipeline Crisis (0:26) How 1980s Education Policy Undermined Vocational Trades (1:09) Optics, Stigma, and Cultural Bias Against Skilled Trades (5:30) The Big 5 Industrial Trades Driving Reindustrialization (6:28) Aging Workforce, Replacement Demand, and Automation Limits (7:53) Rethinking Vocational Ed Capacity, Equipment, and Instruction (11:30) Role of Employers in Rebuilding Training and Apprenticeships (15:28) Vertically Integrated Training Models and Credentialing (15:50) Investment Case and “Vocational Training as a Service” (19:04) Regional Labor Constraints and Final Thoughts on Opportunity (21:27) Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    23 min

  5. May 13

    The #1 Mistake in Supply Chain Hiring (Every Company Makes It)

    In this episode, Friddy Hoegener, co-founder of SCOPE Recruiting, shares how his background in supply chain led him to build a niche recruiting firm that only hires recruiters with real supply chain experience. He explains why generic job descriptions fail, how defining an ideal candidate profile and using a structured scorecard creates more objective and faster hiring, and why specific, outcome-based examples in interviews matter. Friddy discusses the industry’s shift from pure cost savings to risk mitigation and vendor relationships, the growing importance of cross-functional, people-oriented skills over narrow niche expertise, and the strategic value of embedding procurement early in product design. He also offers practical advice for high-growth industrial startups on when to hire their first supply chain professional, how to compete with Fortune 500s for talent, and why a single rockstar generalist often beats a team of specialists in the early stages. Highlights from their conversation include: Friddy’s Supply Chain Background and Move Into Recruiting (0:29)   Founding SCOPE Recruiting and Identifying a Niche (2:15)   Why Supply Chain Background Matters for Recruiters (3:21)   Defining Roles and Ideal Candidate Profiles with Clients (4:42)   Building and Using a Candidate Scorecard for Objectivity (7:17)   Balancing Cost Reduction and Supplier Risk Management (9:46)   How AI Is Changing Desired Supply Chain Skills (11:55)   Embedding Procurement with Operations and Engineering (13:51)   When Startups Should Hire Their First Supply Chain Professional (15:52)   Competing With Fortune 500s for Supply Chain Talent (17:28)   Choosing a Rockstar Generalist vs Multiple Specialists (19:41)   Final Thoughts and Takeaways (20:04)   Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    21 min

  6. May 6

    Design, Build, Operate, Protect: The New Playbook for Industry 4.0 with Jay Allardyce of Octave

    In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell chats with Jay Allardyce, Chief Product Officer at Octave (part of Hexagon), about how integrated data, design, and operations can transform industrial supply chains. Jay traces his path through HP, GE, Uptake, Google Cloud, and private equity–backed software to Octave, where he oversees tools that span the lifecycle of major infrastructure from design and build to operate and protect, including public safety and 911 systems. Using Octave’s partnership with the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 team, he explains F1 as a “traveling city” and a live example of an integrated, feedback-rich supply chain and digital thread, in contrast to the value lost at each handoff in most industries. He argues that reliability and cost efficiency start at design and depend on context-rich digital twins and continuous feedback loops, not just more data. Jay also highlights the importance of thoughtful AI adoption, praising safety-focused approaches like Anthropic’s and stressing that future, software-defined supply chains will be anticipatory networks enabled as much by better human questions and mindset shifts as by new technology. Don’t miss this great conversation. Highlights from their conversation include: Jay’s Career Journey Across HP, GE, Uptake, and Google (0:49) What Octave Is: Design, Build, Operate, Protect Software Portfolio (3:23) Octave’s Partnership With Formula 1 and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (5:45) Treating F1 as a “Traveling City” and Supply Chain Showcase (6:20) Digital Thread, Digital Twins, and Supply Chain Feedback Loops (8:40) Cost of Broken Digital Threads and 1x–10x Value Loss at Handoffs (9:55) Reliability as System Context, Not Just Single-Part Failure (11:46) Step Back From the Data: First Principles and 360-Degree Asset View (13:30) How To Ground AI Initiatives Before Spinning Up Infrastructure (16:30) Society’s Need to Retrain How We Ask Questions of AI (18:50) Future Vision: Anticipatory, Software-Defined, Networked Supply Chains (20:08) Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    23 min

  7. Apr 29

    AI + Freight: Why Point Solutions Are About to Die with Ryan Soskin of GoodShip

    In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell sits down with Ryan Soskin, Co-Founder and CEO of GoodShip, to explore how the company is transforming freight orchestration and procurement for large shippers. Ryan shares his journey through Coyote, Convoy, and Stord, and how those experiences shaped Goodship’s focus on disciplined capital deployment, high hiring standards, and truly shipper-centric tools. They dive into why shipper decision-making is much messier than simple rate-based bids, how GoodShip connects procurement and day-to-day network orchestration, and the role of Laney, their new AI transportation analyst, in turning complex transportation data into fast, actionable insights. The conversation also covers why neutrality (remaining a pure software layer, not a freight participant) is critical to earning shipper trust, how the freight tech stack is likely to consolidate into a single operating system powered by AI, and what Ryan has learned stepping into the founder role while scaling GoodsShip after a $25M Series B. Highlights from their conversation include: Introduction and What GoodShip Does (0:29)   Ryan’s Path Into Supply Chain and Early Career (2:34)   Learnings From Convoy and Stord For Building GoodShip (4:49)   How Shippers Actually Make Freight Decisions (5:40)   Connecting Procurement and Orchestration In Practice (7:45)   Launching Laney, the AI Transportation Analyst (8:52)   Human in the Loop and Goodship’s Agentic Strategy (11:35)   Why Neutrality Matters in Freight Technology Platforms (13:08)   The Future Freight Tech Stack and Role of AI (15:00)   Fundraising, Series B, and What the Team Says Yes or No To (17:18)   Founder Lessons, Talent, and Financial Discipline (19:23)   Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at  www.dynamo.vc Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    21 min

  8. Apr 22

    Why Your ‘Perfect’ Factory Location May FAIL with Didi Caldwell of Global Location Strategies

    In this episode, Madelyn O’Farrell speaks with Didi Caldwell, President and CEO of Global Location Strategies, about why site selection is a core supply chain decision rather than just a real estate choice. They cover common mistakes companies make, such as overvaluing incentives and underestimating labor market realities, and break down the key cost drivers of energy, labor, and logistics alongside risk and quality. Didi explains how shocks like COVID-19, tariffs, geopolitical conflict, and export controls have pushed manufacturers to prioritize resilience, multimodal logistics, and more rigorous environmental and utility due diligence. The conversation also explores sector-specific trends in automotive, pharma, metals, and AI-driven data centers, along with structural challenges like labor shortages, grid constraints, and water stress. Listeners come away with a clearer understanding of how demographic shifts, infrastructure needs, and emerging AI tools will shape manufacturing location strategy in the decade ahead, plus practical advice on why expert-led, data-driven site selection is critical for long-term success. Highlights from their conversation include: What Global Location Strategies Actually Does Day-To-Day (0:46) Why Site Selection is a Core Supply Chain Decision, Not Just Real Estate (2:12) Balancing Cost, Quality, and Risk in Choosing a Location (4:04) How Covid, Tariffs, and Geopolitics Changed Supply Chain Strategy (5:39) Practical Ways Companies Mitigate Risk in Site Selection (7:17) Foreign Trade Zones, Bonded Warehouses, and Tariff Strategies (9:07) Building Multimodal Logistics Resilience and Avoiding Single Points of Failure (10:34) Sector-Specific Trends: Energy, EVs, Pharma, and Labor Constraints (12:12) Demographic Cliff, Grid Transformation, and Water Stress (14:56) Emerging AI-Driven Supply Chains and Future Location Strategy (17:57) Rapid Fire Segment for Didi (18:17)   The Critical Importance Of Expert, Data-Driven Site Selection (21:28) Dynamo Ventures is a venture firm backing founders upgrading the physical economy. As intelligence moves into critical infrastructure and technology collides with physics, industry is entering a new era of transformation - the industrial renaissance. Born from the dirt and grit of supply chains and shaped by operations, not spreadsheets, Dynamo focuses on the complex realities of building in the real world. We invest in companies transforming infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and the systems that power global commerce. Dynamo works closely with founders who combine ambition with a bias to action, bringing a builder mindset to venture capital through deep operational insight, systematic pressure-testing and hands-on partnership. Our purpose is simple: to back the relentless shaping the industrial renaissance. Learn more at www.dynamo.vc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    24 min
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4.9
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62 Ratings

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Capital is abundant. Understanding is scarce. The Dynamo show goes deep with the new industrialists rejuvenating industry and commerce. Brought to you by Dynamo Ventures. Learn more at dynamo.vc/podcast

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