Everybody in the Pool

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re starting in full aspirational mode (with one of my least climate-friendly obsessions) — with iconic classic cars rebuilt as state-of-the-art EVs. Think: vintage Porsches, Land Rovers, Pagodas, even a GT40… all stripped to bare metal, fully restored, and reborn as clean-air electric machines. Yeah, I’m dying over here.

My guest is Justin Lunny, founder and CEO of Everrati, a company that electrifies beloved classic cars while also building a cutting-edge EV powertrain platform used by new low-volume automakers around the world.

It’s a story about craft and circularity — giving existing cars a new, zero-emission life — and about how aspiration drives climate adoption. Wealthy early adopters (and their garages) help prove what’s possible, push down cost curves, and build social permission for the EV future.

We get into:

• How Everrati “redefines” classic cars using full CAD modeling, advanced engineering, and hand-built restoration
• Why their EV powertrains use motors and components normally found in hypercars and Formula E
• The economics: donor cars, bespoke builds, and why the least-loved 964s are perfect candidates
• Why keeping old cars alive — electrically — is a circularity win
• The B2B side: powering new sports cars and specialty vehicles for low-volume OEMs
• Why electrifying halo cars helps drive broader consumer aspiration
• Battery modularity, future upgrades, and designing for long-term sustainability
• Justin’s personal journey from tech entrepreneur to climate-driven car nut

Links:

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re talking about one of the least-visible but largest waste problems in the world: food processing waste. Every time fruits or vegetables are peeled, chopped, juiced, or processed, mountains of perfectly good plant material get thrown out or sold for pennies. It’s expensive, it’s inefficient, and it’s a huge climate problem.

My guest is Michelle Ruiz, founder and CEO of Hyfe, a company unlocking the massive value hidden in this “waste.” Hyfe has developed a clean, water-based technology that can deconstruct food waste into high-value ingredients—like natural antioxidants that can replace carcinogenic petrochemical additives, fibers for gut health, and eventually the bio-based molecules that could power the broader bioeconomy.

Instead of paying to get rid of waste, food processors can turn it into a whole new revenue stream — while reducing emissions and building real circularity into the food system.

We get into:

• Why food processing waste is one of the biggest untapped feedstocks in the world
• How Hyfe’s process “unlocks” the compounds inside plant material without toxic solvents
• The clean-label antioxidants that can replace petrochemical additives already being banned in multiple states
• Why fibers are booming — and how food companies want cleaner, more functional sources
• How this technology could one day replace a chunk of the petrochemical industry
• The business model: why food processors, not consumers, are Hi-Fey’s real customers
• Michelle’s journey from oil refinery engineer to World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer
• The role of circularity, resilience, and adaptation in the future food system

Links:

This week on Everybody in the Pool, more power, right beneath our feet. Even as the United States has been attempting to stop or divest from renewable energy sources, there’s one kind of baseload power that doesn’t make anyone mad: geothermal.

So this week we’re talking not just geothermal, but next-generation geothermal.

My guest is Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, a company developing flexible, modular geothermal systems that can provide both baseload renewable power and incredible long-duration energy storage—all using the existing skill sets and drilling expertise of the oil and gas industry.

We get into:

• Why geothermal is finally ready for prime time—thanks to new drilling techniques, better geologic modeling, and the lessons of shale
• Sage’s “heat harvesting” approach that works in far more places than conventional geothermal
• How their Geopressured Geothermal System doubles as ultra-affordable long-duration energy storage
• Why geothermal could be the clean firm power the grid desperately needs
• The role the oil and gas workforce can play in building the energy transition
• What it will take to finance and deploy geothermal at utility scale

Links:

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re examining the seemingly humble—but absolutely critical—piece of hardware that could accelerate electrification, unlock virtual power plants, and save homeowners thousands of dollars: the electrical panel.

My guest is Arch Rao, founder and CEO of Span, a company building smart electrical panels that replace your old breaker box with real-time power management, whole-home circuit-level visibility, and the ability to electrify without a costly service upgrade.

If you’ve ever been told you need a new 200-amp panel before installing a heat pump, EV charger, induction stove, or home battery… Span thinks you don’t. And utilities are starting to agree.

We get into:

• Why most of America’s 100-amp homes don’t actually need expensive utility upgrades
• How Span’s digital panel manages loads in real time—throttling certain appliances for a few minutes a year to avoid tripping limits
• What changes when every circuit in your house is visible and controllable (down to the second)
• Span as grid infrastructure: how utilities like PG&E see smart panels as a cheaper alternative to billions in grid upgrades

Links:

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re rethinking how clothes, shoes—and even car interiors—get made without plastic. My guest is Maria Intscher-Owrang, CEO and co-founder of Simplifyber. Her innovation takes plant fibers + water, then forms finished 3D shapes in a single step—skipping spinning, weaving, cutting, and sewing. 

We get into:

• What’s broken about fossil-based textiles (cost curves, subsidies, and why polyester took over)
• How Simplifyber’s cellulose slurry + compression molding works—and why it cuts waste dramatically
• Early results: an LCA showing up to 30× lower impact for shoe uppers vs. standard construction
• Performance and durability (including why these parts can survive sun/heat/humidity in car interiors)
• Unit economics: cost parity at scale via tooling (and why higher volumes matter)
• Beachhead products: GANNI “moon shoe” uppers and a Kia EV2 concept interior, now moving toward production
• What this could mean for labor, local supply chains, and using regional feedstocks (cellulose everywhere)

Links: