<p>America has a new steel company, which is sort of a weird thing to write in 2025.</p><p>It’s called <a target="_blank" href="https://herthametals.com/">Hertha Metals</a>, and it’s based in Houston. It’s also run by a woman named Laureen Meroueh, who is this week’s guest. As far as we can tell, Meroueh stands out as the first female to start and run a steel producer.</p><p>Meroueh grew up as something of a child prodigy in Florida and went on to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT. She then invented some of the processes that make Hertha different from traditional steel producers.</p><p>Hertha relies on natural gas and hydrogen instead of coal to make high-grade steel. Its process is potentially cleaner, simpler and cheaper than the approaches used by the traditional steelmakers that have been around for more than 150 years. The start-up is already producing one ton of steel per day and is now looking to prove that it can make much, much more and compete head-to-head against the major steel players.</p><p>In this episode, we get into how Hertha’s process works, the steel industry overall, why the U.S. needs this type of technology and how Meroueh ended up as a steel magnate.</p><p>Our show is sponsored by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brex.com/corememory">Brex</a>, the intelligent finance platform. Like thousands of ambitious, innovative companies, we run on Brex so we can spend smarter and move faster. And you can too. Learn more at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.brex.com/corememory">www.brex.com/corememory</a></p><p>The podcast is also made possible by <a target="_blank" href="https://e1.vc/">E1 Ventures</a>, which backs the most ambitious founders and start-ups.</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.corememory.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.corememory.com/subscribe</a>