The Dynamo Show: a Dynamo Ventures Podcast

In this episode, host Madelyn O’Farrell sits down with Rakesh Kumar, University of Illinois professor and semiconductor expert, to explore the technology and economics behind the global chip industry. Kumar explains how the rise of AI is driving demand for chips while high factory costs, long construction timelines, and uncertainty about future demand make it difficult for supply to keep pace. They discuss the risks those dynamics could create for AI companies and the broader economy, what gives Nvidia its competitive advantage beyond CUDA, and whether the CHIPS Act and U.S. export controls are achieving their goals. The conversation also examines how flexible designs, general-purpose chips, and chiplets could make supply chains more resilient, and looks ahead to possible advances in optical communication and three-dimensional chip architecture.
Highlights from their conversation include:
Rakesh Kumar’s Path Into Semiconductors (0:46)
Why Chips Matter to the Public and Policymakers (2:02)
Rising Chip Costs and the Economic Risks of the AI Boom (6:51)
Nvidia’s Competitive Moat Beyond CUDA (13:19)
The CHIPS Act: Spending, Research, and Results (15:09)
U.S. Export Controls and China’s Chip Industry (19:19)
Why Semiconductor Supply Chains Are Fragile (22:32)
Building Resilience With General-Purpose Chips and Chiplets (25:58)
The Future of Computing: GPUs, Photons, and 3D Chips (27:58)
Final Thoughts and Takeaways (32:00)
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.

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In this episode, Madelyn O'Farrell talks with Tom Delahunty, VP of Operations for Asset Lifecycle Management at Iron Mountain, about what happens to IT hardware after its first life. Tom makes the case that decommissioned equipment is a secondary supply chain rather than a waste problem, pointing to 88% year-over-year growth in Q2 as AI and data center buildouts push assets out of service. The conversation covers how a hyperscale decommission works, from data sanitization and secure chain of custody through remarketing that cascades from full systems down to components, and how GPU-dense infrastructure and liquid cooling raise the bar on testing capability. The takeaway for listeners: plan for end of use early, expect used GPUs to become a normal part of procurement, and watch for more R&D investment in reuse and critical mineral recovery as the industry matures toward something closer to the used car market.
Highlights from their conversation include:
Introduction to Tom Delahunty and Iron Mountain (0:29)
What Iron Mountain Is and Who It Serves (1:43)
Record Revenue Growth and Scaling Operations (4:23)
Data Sanitization, Mobile Shred Units and Chain of Custody (7:00)
How Reuse Rates Vary Across Decommissioning Projects (8:58)
Why GPUs Should Follow the Same Longevity Curve as CPUs (11:20)
Generating Demand Before Assets Arrive (14:40)
Bottlenecks and Wishes for the Secondary Market (17:21)
Design for End of Use Improving Among OEMs (18:50)
Whether the ITAD Industry Can Handle Coming Volume (20:59)
The Case for R&D Investment in ITAD (23:56)
Planning Future Compute Needs Around Used Supply (28:40)
Final Thoughts and Episode Wrap-Up (30:55)
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.

In this episode, Halton Group executive Shuresh Maran joins Madelyn O’Farrell to explore how Halton designs mission-critical HVAC and ventilation systems for the most demanding environments, including cruise ships, naval vessels, nuclear facilities, offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, and modern data centers. Shuresh explains how Halton’s core strengths—high-integrity engineering, rigorous testing, and long-life reliability—carry across sectors, and why their equipment must function flawlessly in rare but life-or-equipment-saving moments. He outlines the company’s growth strategy to double revenue by 2030, driven by rebounding cruise demand, long-cycle nuclear buildouts (including small modular reactors), and booming offshore wind. The conversation also covers the shift to unmanned offshore platforms, the importance of cybersecurity and supply chain resilience in defense and energy, the rising expectations of data center owners around longevity and climate adaptation, and Halton’s cautious approach to IoT and remote monitoring in security-sensitive environments. A key takeaway is that as energy and digital infrastructure scales, getting the physical built environment “right” from day one—by partnering with experienced suppliers—dramatically reduces operational risk and cost over a project’s lifecycle.
Highlights from their conversation include:
Shuresh’s Background and Global Career Journey (0:51)
What Halton Group Does and Its Four Divisions (1:47)
Why Ventilation Is Mission Critical in Extreme Environments (3:00)
Operating Differently Inside Halton for Demanding Sectors (4:47)
Growth Strategy and Doubling Revenue by 2030 (6:06)
Offshore Wind vs Oil and Gas: What Transfers and What’s New (7:18)
Naval and Defense Demand, Long Project Cycles, and Cybersecurity (9:14)
Data Centers, Reliability, and Climate Adaptation Pressures (11:41)
Supply Chain, Standardization, and Reducing Bottlenecks (14:06)
IoT, Remote Monitoring, and Cybersecurity Constraints (16:09)
Future of Mission Critical Built Environments and Final Takeaways (18:44)
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.

In this episode, Rachel Permut draws on decades of experience in distributed energy and virtual power plants to explain how demand-side flexibility is becoming a critical grid resource. She breaks down what DERs and VPPs are, why customer enrollment and revenue mechanics matter more than the “shiny” technology, and how fragmented U.S. markets create both complexity and opportunity, with DR payments now reaching up to $100/kW in some regions. Rachel dives into the evolving role of data centers, including flexible AI and batch workloads, water-based cooling trade-offs, and emerging models where data centers pay others on their circuit to reduce load. She outlines the full demand response lifecycle from contract and enrollment through dispatch, baseline measurement, and payment, highlighting where programs typically fail and how better communication, software, and market design can unlock more value. Ultimately, she argues that DERs and VPPs are not a silver bullet but are fast, cost-effective tools that must play a much larger role alongside new generation to address growing grid stress.
Highlights from their conversation include:
Meet Rachel Permut And Her Energy Industry Background (0:29)
Why Rachel Focused On Demand-Side Energy And Flexible Load (1:28)
What DERs Are And How Virtual Power Plants Work (3:23)
How Much Flexible Load Is Worth Across Different US Markets (7:08)
Role Of Aggregators And Market Selection For Industrial Operators (9:37)
Data Centers As Flexible Load And Deferrable Compute Workloads (11:06)
Where Demand Response Programs Fail and Opportunities For Startups (16:44)
Measurement, Verification, and Baselines For Load Curtailment (20:25)
Why DERs and VPPs Should Be A Bigger Part Of Grid Solutions (22:40)
Policy, Market Design, and Local Capacity Value (24:16)
ERCOT, PJM, and How Markets Are Evolving For Flexibility (26:35)
How Industrial Operators Should Approach Aggregators (27:52)
Closing Thoughts Episode Wrap-Up (28:38)
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.


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Highlights from their conversation include:

Lukas’ Background in Product Design and Manufacturing Gaps (0:44)

How Tesla’s Model 3 “Production Hell” Sparked Industrial Next (4:16)

Lessons from Waymo on Sensing, Compute, and Safety (7:05)

What Contextual Understanding Means in a Factory (9:44)

Breakthrough Automating Cable Insertion with Physical AI (11:43)

Why Owning the Full Manufacturing AI Stack Matters (14:22)

Reshoring, Fragile Supply Chains, and Role of Automation (16:19)

Vision for AI-Powered Factories and Mass Production Without Scale (20:46)

Cultural Shift Needed for Manufacturing in the U.S. and Europe (23:31)

Closing Thoughts on Skilled Trades and Hands-On Engineering (28:28)

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.