Village Global's Solarpunk
Village Global's Solarpunk is a podcast about technology, space, and defense. We discuss how western society will use technology to adapt to the changing global landscape. We’re inspired by the theme of solarpunk — the mindset of what the planet will look like when humanity succeeds in solving major contemporary challenges through technology.
Episodes
November 10, 2022 • 38 mins
Mo Islam (@itsmoislam), co-founder of Payload Space, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways:
- There is no doubt that we are in the early stages of the space economy, Mo says.
- The cost to go to Mars will be paid many times over by the young engineers who will be inspired by the mission.
- There are three main buckets in the space economy: space for earth (companies creating products for humans on earth via the...
- There is no doubt that we are in the early stages of the space economy, Mo says.
- The cost to go to Mars will be paid many times over by the young engineers who will be inspired by the mission.
- There are three main buckets in the space economy: space for earth (companies creating products for humans on earth via the...
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November 3, 2022 • 38 mins
Ari Schuler, CEO of goTenna, and Andrea Garrity, Chief Growth Officer of goTenna, join Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon join us on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- goTenna was founded after Hurricane Sandy when a brother and sister didn’t know if the other was safe because the cell network weren’t working. It has since grown into the company that it is today, selling to government as well as consumers.
- Ari and Andrea suggest tha...
- goTenna was founded after Hurricane Sandy when a brother and sister didn’t know if the other was safe because the cell network weren’t working. It has since grown into the company that it is today, selling to government as well as consumers.
- Ari and Andrea suggest tha...
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October 24, 2022 • 32 mins
Ian Cinnamon (@iancinnamon), co-founder and CEO of Apex Space, and Max Benassi (@mxbenassi), co-founder and CTO, join Lucas Bagno on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- The cost per kilogram to get things into space has gone down dramatically over the last several years.
- Satellites have two parts: a payload and a bus. The bus is the actual structure of the satellite and despite all the hundreds of billions of dollars invested ...
- The cost per kilogram to get things into space has gone down dramatically over the last several years.
- Satellites have two parts: a payload and a bus. The bus is the actual structure of the satellite and despite all the hundreds of billions of dollars invested ...
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October 20, 2022 • 50 mins
Ben Van Roo (@DavidNorthStar), co-founder and CEO of Yurts AI, joins Lucas Bagno on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- The Small Business Innovation Research program was originally developed as a grant program to allow small companies do innovative research. The gene for cystic fibrosis was discovered from the program.
- If you’re a small company and you get an SBIR contract, you should not count on getting a government contract...
- The Small Business Innovation Research program was originally developed as a grant program to allow small companies do innovative research. The gene for cystic fibrosis was discovered from the program.
- If you’re a small company and you get an SBIR contract, you should not count on getting a government contract...
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October 6, 2022 • 52 mins
Christian Brose (@cdbrose), Chief Strategy Officer at Anduril and author of The Kill Chain joins Lucas Bagno on this episode. Takeaways:
- The US military and its procurement system has been built for equipment that is big, heavy, and hard to replace — things like ships and aircraft carriers and tanks.
- Commercial technologies can contribute to a military with equipment that is more agile, lower cost, and easier to replace.
- People...
- The US military and its procurement system has been built for equipment that is big, heavy, and hard to replace — things like ships and aircraft carriers and tanks.
- Commercial technologies can contribute to a military with equipment that is more agile, lower cost, and easier to replace.
- People...
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September 29, 2022 • 51 mins
Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT), New York Times columnist and author of The Decadent Society, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways:
- Since the moon landing, we have entered a period of stagnation. Confidence and optimism have declined and culture has entered a repetitive spiral where patterns from the 60s/70s have been repeating themselves.
- Government has become less effective and more gridlocked over time.
- Th...
- Since the moon landing, we have entered a period of stagnation. Confidence and optimism have declined and culture has entered a repetitive spiral where patterns from the 60s/70s have been repeating themselves.
- Government has become less effective and more gridlocked over time.
- Th...
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September 22, 2022 • 40 mins
Raj Shah, Managing Partner at Shield Capital, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways:
- Raj and Shield don’t care whether a founding team has experience selling to government, because the firm can help with that. They evaluate the team, the market and the tech when they’re looking at an investment.
- Ash Carter was the first sitting Secretary of Defense to come to Silicon Valley in decades when he visited to ju...
- Raj and Shield don’t care whether a founding team has experience selling to government, because the firm can help with that. They evaluate the team, the market and the tech when they’re looking at an investment.
- Ash Carter was the first sitting Secretary of Defense to come to Silicon Valley in decades when he visited to ju...
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September 15, 2022 • 51 mins
Mike Brown, former director of the Defense Innovation Unit, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways:
- It can easily take 10-20 years for tech to make its way into the Department of Defense. The Defense Innovation Unit helped speed that process up dramatically.
- Some of the most important technologies being used in the war in Ukraine are commercial technologies. Mike thinks that the Department of Defense should...
- It can easily take 10-20 years for tech to make its way into the Department of Defense. The Defense Innovation Unit helped speed that process up dramatically.
- Some of the most important technologies being used in the war in Ukraine are commercial technologies. Mike thinks that the Department of Defense should...
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September 1, 2022 • 38 mins
Alex Moore (@AustinGiraffe), investor at 8VC and board member at Palantir, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- Alex was one of the original team members at Palantir. He says that helping build the company helps him pattern match today to find the best founders.
- Defense investing is not like normal VC investing. The usual model of investing $2M, then $10M, then $30M to give a company momentu...
- Alex was one of the original team members at Palantir. He says that helping build the company helps him pattern match today to find the best founders.
- Defense investing is not like normal VC investing. The usual model of investing $2M, then $10M, then $30M to give a company momentu...
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August 11, 2022 • 38 mins
Nathan Picarsic, co-founder of Horizon Advisory, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- There are 17 rare earth metals that are of immense strategic importance. They are used in a vast array of everyday products like consumer electronics, medical devices, electric vehicles, and more.
- China has a strong influence in this space. They have many mines but are even more dominant downstream — they ...
- There are 17 rare earth metals that are of immense strategic importance. They are used in a vast array of everyday products like consumer electronics, medical devices, electric vehicles, and more.
- China has a strong influence in this space. They have many mines but are even more dominant downstream — they ...
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August 4, 2022 • 52 mins
Steve Blank (@sgblank), creator of Hacking For Defense and author of 4 Steps To The Epiphany, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- The secret history of Silicon Valley is that it emerged from the government’s desire to develop advanced technology and weapons in universities during World War II.
- Stanford became a powerhouse in microwaves and electronics post-WWII. People were encouraged to le...
- The secret history of Silicon Valley is that it emerged from the government’s desire to develop advanced technology and weapons in universities during World War II.
- Stanford became a powerhouse in microwaves and electronics post-WWII. People were encouraged to le...
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July 12, 2022 • 51 mins
AJ Piplica (@AJ_Piplica), founder and CEO of Hermeus, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways:
- Every time there has been an acceleration in the speed of transportation in history, high GDP growth has followed.
- A switch to hypersonic transportation would unlock $4T in growth.
- In the future the key differentiator in air travel will be speed, rather than comfort.
- It’s currently extremely expensive to do fligh...
- Every time there has been an acceleration in the speed of transportation in history, high GDP growth has followed.
- A switch to hypersonic transportation would unlock $4T in growth.
- In the future the key differentiator in air travel will be speed, rather than comfort.
- It’s currently extremely expensive to do fligh...
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July 5, 2022 • 43 mins
Peter Newell (@PeterANewell), CEO of BMNT, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- Peter was “handed the Ferrari of skunkworks” when he came to be in charge of the Rapid Equipping Force. It was a program that handled over a billion dollars to deploy new technologies.
- He became more of an entrepreneur after his time at the REF and that led to starting BMNT.
- Often times procurement in the US mil...
- Peter was “handed the Ferrari of skunkworks” when he came to be in charge of the Rapid Equipping Force. It was a program that handled over a billion dollars to deploy new technologies.
- He became more of an entrepreneur after his time at the REF and that led to starting BMNT.
- Often times procurement in the US mil...
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June 29, 2022 • 46 mins
Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg), co-founder and general partner at Village Global and co-founder and co-CEO of On Deck join Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Takeaways:
- Startups are the most effective organizations for solving our biggest problems.
- Startups disproportionately contribute to economic growth.
- Governments and startups need to work together, not against each other.
- China has the GDP per capi...
- Startups are the most effective organizations for solving our biggest problems.
- Startups disproportionately contribute to economic growth.
- Governments and startups need to work together, not against each other.
- China has the GDP per capi...
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June 21, 2022 • 47 mins
James “Hondo” Geurts, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode. Takeaways:
- What kept Hondo up at night was that there was a good idea out there that wasn’t passed on to him and thus wasn’t used on the battlefield.
- A society can’t be secure without prosperity and can’t have prosperity without security.
- The challenge for startups working wi...
- What kept Hondo up at night was that there was a good idea out there that wasn’t passed on to him and thus wasn’t used on the battlefield.
- A society can’t be secure without prosperity and can’t have prosperity without security.
- The challenge for startups working wi...
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June 14, 2022 • 80 mins
- The narrative that China can do no wrong and why Noah says it is out of date at this point.
- The long-term headwinds that China is facing, including demographic changes, resource limitations, and real estate challenges.
- Why America should raise tariffs on anything made in China where it would be strategically important for those goods to be made somewhere else.
- The state of real estate in China, including the fact that China’s ...
- The long-term headwinds that China is facing, including demographic changes, resource limitations, and real estate challenges.
- Why America should raise tariffs on anything made in China where it would be strategically important for those goods to be made somewhere else.
- The state of real estate in China, including the fact that China’s ...
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June 7, 2022 • 48 mins
Jacob Helberg (@jacobhelberg), foreign policy expert and author of The Wires of War, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss:
- Why he says peace through trade was the biggest foreign policy miscalculation in US history.
- How US companies have approached operating in China and why Jacob would advise them to proactively work to decouple themselves from the Chinese market.
- Why Jacob would prefer that American laws change to res...
- Why he says peace through trade was the biggest foreign policy miscalculation in US history.
- How US companies have approached operating in China and why Jacob would advise them to proactively work to decouple themselves from the Chinese market.
- Why Jacob would prefer that American laws change to res...
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June 2, 2022 • 44 mins
Geoff Lewis (@GeoffLewisOrg), founder at Bedrock, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss:
- His thoughts on the markets and the advice he has for founders operating in a market like this one.
- What is driving financial nihilism and how it has changed society.
- Why he’s only investing in founders where their company is their life’s work.
- Bedrock’s investments in hardware and companies making things in the physical world.
- The...
- His thoughts on the markets and the advice he has for founders operating in a market like this one.
- What is driving financial nihilism and how it has changed society.
- Why he’s only investing in founders where their company is their life’s work.
- Bedrock’s investments in hardware and companies making things in the physical world.
- The...
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May 26, 2022 • 53 mins
Bilal Zuberi (@bznotes), partner at Lux Capital, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon to discuss:
- Bilal’s investing thesis of finding companies building solutions to interesting problems that impact a lot of people.
- Why he’s investing in space and defense companies.
- What keeps him up at night and how his investments are working on those areas.
- Why he’s optimistic about unifying America.
- How to solve the problem of different peop...
- Bilal’s investing thesis of finding companies building solutions to interesting problems that impact a lot of people.
- Why he’s investing in space and defense companies.
- What keeps him up at night and how his investments are working on those areas.
- Why he’s optimistic about unifying America.
- How to solve the problem of different peop...
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May 12, 2022 • 48 mins
Laura Crabtree (@llcrabbie), founder and CEO of Epsilon3, joins Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode to discuss:
- What she accomplished during her time at SpaceX and her journey to starting Epsilon3.
- Whether the biggest contribution of SpaceX to the industry will be all the amazing people leaving to start their own space companies.
- How to get into the space industry if you don’t already have a background in it.
- Why a co...
- What she accomplished during her time at SpaceX and her journey to starting Epsilon3.
- Whether the biggest contribution of SpaceX to the industry will be all the amazing people leaving to start their own space companies.
- How to get into the space industry if you don’t already have a background in it.
- Why a co...
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