Inevitable

Michael Spencer is the Founder and CEO of Zeno, an electric mobility company building electric motorcycles, battery-swapping infrastructure, and distributed energy systems across East Africa. Drawing on experience from nearly a decade building businesses in East Africa and four years at Tesla during its hypergrowth era, Spencer is applying lessons from EV charging infrastructure to one of the world's largest transportation markets: two- and three-wheel vehicles.

In this episode of Inevitable, Spencer explains why electrifying motorcycles in emerging markets may be one of the most efficient ways to reduce transportation costs and emissions. He discusses how Zeno combines hardware, software, and energy infrastructure to create a business that looks like an electric vehicle company on the surface but increasingly operates like a distributed utility.

The conversation explores lessons from Tesla’s Supercharger network, why Kenya became Zeno’s launch market, how battery swapping and AI-powered infrastructure management drive capital efficiency, and why building hard-tech businesses may become even more valuable in an AI-driven world. Spencer also shares his vision for turning Zeno’s charging network into a distributed renewable energy platform capable of serving both mobility and grid customers.

Note: Zeno is an MCJ portfolio company 

Episode recorded on June 8, 2026 (Published on June 23, 2026) 

In this episode, we cover: 

[00:00] The Trojan horse: what Zeno actually is

[03:00] From East Africa to Tesla: Michael's path

[04:36] Inside the supercharger rollout — and what it really taught him

[08:02] Why two-wheelers are paradoxically easier to electrify

[10:17] The Kenya opportunity: spending half your income on fuel

[16:19] 200 charge points, $8M spent — how they did it

[20:27] The AI matching algorithm behind 75% network utilization

[23:20] Building a world-class team across four continents

[28:17] Supply chain, oil prices, and the double-edged sword

[32:03] Why hardware can't be vibe-coded

[36:41] The five-year vision: from motorcycle company to distributed utility

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Marc Berte is the Co-founder and CEO of Overview Energy, a startup developing space-based solar power systems designed to turn existing solar farms into around-the-clock power generators. By placing satellites in geosynchronous orbit, collecting near-continuous sunlight, and beaming energy back to Earth as safe near-infrared light, Overview aims to dramatically increase the utilization of solar infrastructure already deployed around the world. 

In this episode of Inevitable, Marc explains how space solar works and how Overview’s approach differs from decades of prior space solar concepts. He talks about the economics of “photon fuel,” the company’s gigawatt-scale agreement with Meta, and the concept of “supply response”—delivering power exactly where and when grids need it most. 

The conversation explores the manufacturing challenges of deploying thousands of satellites, the role of defense and energy security applications, and why the long-term value of solar assets could change dramatically if space-based power delivery becomes commercially viable. 

Finally, he shares one of the more unconventional engineering stories you'll hear this year: how 75 pounds of Otter Pops helped cool Overview’s airborne power-beaming demonstration system.

Episode recorded on June 1, 2026 (Published June 16, 2026)

In this episode, we cover: 

(0:00) An overview of Overview Energy

(2:34) Why space solar belongs alongside fusion, fission, geothermal, and storage 

(4:30) How geosynchronous satellites shift power between global demand peaks 

(5:59) The concept of “supply response” 

(8:57) How Overview’s power-beaming technology works 

(12:51) Cloud cover and line-of-sight requirements

(15:32) Creating a new energy market with “megawatt photons”

(17:00) Overview’s gigawatt-scale agreement with Meta 

(22:32) The economics of adding photon fuel to existing solar assets 

(26:22) Competing with gas peakers and complementing storage 

(36:38) US manufacturing advantages and competition with China 

(39:26) Defense, energy security, and powering remote military installations 

(42:48) Financing space-based energy infrastructure 

(48:10) The Otter Pop engineering story behind the airborne demonstration system

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Edward Shenderovich is the Founder and CEO of Roebling, a software platform that helps industrial companies evaluate, design, and finance manufacturing projects before breaking ground. After initially setting out to solve bottlenecks in biomanufacturing, Shenderovich and his team uncovered a broader challenge: the economics of scaling physical infrastructure are often poorly understood until it's too late.

In this episode of Inevitable, Cody and Edward explore whether the US is making the same mistake with domestic manufacturing that climate tech once made with the “green premium.” If consumers were unwilling to pay more for cleaner products, will they pay more for American-made ones?

The conversation examines China's long-term manufacturing strategy, the gap between scientific breakthroughs and industrial scale-up, and why engineering—not invention—is often the missing link in commercial success. Edward argues that national security, data sovereignty, and AI infrastructure may become the forces that justify renewed domestic investment in manufacturing and energy systems.

They also discuss the lessons learned from the recent biomanufacturing boom and bust, why many bioindustrial companies struggled to achieve economic viability, and how AI can help bridge the gap between R&D and large-scale industrial deployment. Finally, Edward shares how Roebling is using AI-powered techno-economic analysis to help companies build factories that can actually compete on cost and performance.

Episode recorded on May 28, 2026 (Published on June 9, 2026).

In this episode, we cover: 

(0:00) An overview of Roebling 

(3:37) Why consumers rarely pay more for domestic or sustainable products 

(6:12) How the US can compete with China's manufacturing strategy 

(7:25) The gap between R&D innovation and industrial scale-up 

(9:13) Why engineering is often the bottleneck 

(11:25) AI data centers as a catalyst for industrial and energy infrastructure 

(14:30) National security, data sovereignty, and domestic manufacturing 

(17:31) Roebling's origins in biomanufacturing 

(20:03) Why AI may finally help unlock biology at scale 

(23:25) Building products that are better, not just greener 

(26:11) How Roebling helps companies plan and finance factories 

(31:08) Lessons from the biomanufacturing boom and bio-winter 

(34:33) The opportunities of nuclear energy and industrial growth 

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Haroon Inam is Co-founder and CEO of DG Matrix, a company that makes the world's most compact Power Router, aggregating distributed energy for GenAI datacenters, microgrids, fleet electrification, and associated systems. As AI workloads drive unprecedented electricity demand and legacy grid infrastructure struggles to keep pace, DG Matrix has commercialized the world’s first multi-port solid-state transformer to meet the energy needs.

In this episode, Inam explains why transformer bottlenecks, distributed generation, and 800V DC architectures are reshaping the future of power delivery for AI infrastructure. He discusses DG Matrix’s product strategy, manufacturing scale-up plans, and the role of software-defined power systems in next-generation data centers. Finally, Inam shares his take on the future of distributed microgrids and “cellular power” and how to scale power electronics manufacturing.

DG Matrix recently closed a $60 million Series A led by Engine Ventures that MCJ is proud to have participated in. 

Episode recorded on May 13, 2026 (Published on May 26, 2026)

In this episode, we cover: 

(00:00) Overview of DG Matrix 

(01:41) Introducing the Founders: Haroon Inam and Dr. Bhattacharya

(05:25) How traditional grid architecture became constrained for AI workloads

(09:57) Solid-state transformers (SST), multi-port systems and voltage classes

(12:18) Why early SST efforts struggled economically

(13:13) How DG Matrix’s multi-port architecture works

(16:48) Comparing DG Matrix hardware footprint to legacy power systems

(20:08) Transformer shortages and data center infrastructure bottlenecks

(24:27) DG Matrix’s medium-voltage and low-voltage product strategies

(27:55) Product rebranding and current commercial deployments

(30:45) Partnerships with EPC firms, battery providers, and turbine manufacturers

(34:27) Manufacturing scale-up plan and hyperscaling production

(36:36) Supply chain strategy to avoid rare earth dependencies

(38:16) Reliability engineering and software-defined power systems

(43:47) DG Matrix’s go-to-market and hybrid hardware/software business model

(46:36) The vision for distributed “cellular power”

(48:14) Utilities, microgrids, and the future of interconnected distributed infrastructure

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Peter Carlsson is Co-founder and former CEO of Northvolt, the European battery manufacturing company that raised more than $13 billion to build a homegrown battery supply chain for Europe, before filing for bankruptcy at the end of 2024. Before Northvolt, Carlsson spent more than a decade at Ericsson building global supply chains and later served as VP of Supply Chain at Tesla during the launch of the Model S.

In this live episode of Inevitable from the AENU Summit in Berlin, Carlsson reflects on the rise and fall of Northvolt, the realities of competing with China’s electro-industrial stack, and what Europe still gets right in manufacturing and innovation. Peter breaks down why batteries became strategically essential to Europe, what operational challenges slowed Northvolt’s scale-up, and how changing EV markets, policy shifts, and financing pressures compounded those problems.

Carlsson also mentions his new ventures: Aris Machina, an agentic operating system for manufacturing and Sonder Labs, a sodium-ion battery company focused on building chemistry and supply chains less dependent on China. He talks about AI-driven manufacturing, industrial automation, battery geopolitics, and where Europe can still compete in the next generation of energy and hardware systems. 

Episode recorded on April 28 2026 (Published on May 19, 2026). 

In this episode, we cover: 

(0:00) What happened at Northvolt

(2:33) Takeaways from Ericsson and Tesla on factory operations

(5:52) Why Europe needed a battery champion like Northvolt

(7:01) Northvolt’s strategy

(8:47) The fall of Northvolt

(12:23) The decision Peter wishes he had made differently

(15:46) Was Northvolt's chemistry bet a mistake?

(17:29) Sonder Labs: The promise of sodium-ion batteries

(21:42) Can Europe still compete with China in batteries?

(24:05) Aris Machina: AI agents for manufacturing operations

(27:31) How AI changes factory productivity and the labor market

(29:05) Data sovereignty, AI infrastructure and software challenge

(32:35) Industrial automation, precision manufacturing, and fusion

(34:48) Where Europe still wins

(36:01) Final thoughts on Europe’s industrial future

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 LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant