What if the biggest barrier to life-changing medicine wasn’t science, but the cost of making it?

Harriet speaks with Ali Afshar, the co-founder and CEO of Mytos, a biotech company automating the manufacturing of human tissue to make regenerative medicine affordable and accessible at scale.

Ali believes that within 50 years, every tissue in the body will be replaceable, and that the way there is through engineering, rather than traditional drug discovery.

They get into:

• Why tissue replacement works where drugs fail, and what a 90% fail rate says about the pharmaceutical industry

• The conditions Mytos is targeting first, from Parkinson’s and diabetes to macular degeneration

• Why the UK was the right place to launch, and the role sovereign nations play in funding biotech infrastructure

• Tech as a deflationary force, and Ali’s first principles belief that better healthcare should cost less

• And why keeping hardware, software and biology in one vertically integrated team is non-negotiable.

Subscribe for more conversations with founders, builders, and operators shaping the future of technology, capital, and global systems.

Check out Mytos:

https://www.mytos.bio/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mytosbio/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-afshar-0246002b/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

What happens when the systems we rely on – states, money, infrastructure – start to fall out of sync with the world around them?

Harriet speaks with Stefano Bernardi and Francesco Moiraghi of Unruly Capital, a venture capital firm focused on backing ideas that feel early, unconventional, and often uncomfortable.

Their work centres on a simple thesis: many of the institutions built over the past 70 years are no longer sufficient for what comes next, and new builders and systems are emerging to fill that gap.

They get into:

• Portable sovereignty and the ability to move wealth across borders

• The migration of power from states to technology systems

• The urgency of the AI compute and energy race and what it means for Europe

• A new generation of founders building from conviction

• Bitcoin and programmable money

Subscribe for more interviews with founders, builders, and operators shaping the future of technology, capital, and global systems.

Check out Unruly Capital:

https://unrulycap.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/unruly-capital/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanobernardi/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-moiraghi/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

Harriet sits down with Harvey Hodd, who is working on a 20-year plan to build and scale synthetic fuels – changing how humans generate energy forever.

Rivan is developing a new way to produce synthetic natural gas using sunlight, water, and captured CO2 – with the aim of decarbonising industries that cannot easily be electrified.

Harvey explains how Rivan’s fully vertically integrated model, in-house manufacturing, and low-cost solar strategy could transform the economics of synthetic fuels, direct air capture, and industrial decarbonisation.

They discuss:

• Why cheap solar changes everything for industrial energy

• The benefits of vertical integration in climate tech and hard tech

• Building advanced manufacturing in London and scaling UK industry

• Hiring, apprenticeships, curiosity, and how Rivan evaluates talent

• Capitalism, innovation, energy abundance, and the future of climate solutions

• Rivan’s £25M Series A and plans to build the largest synthetic natural gas plant in Europe

#Rivan #HarveyHodd #ClimateTech #CleanEnergy #UKStartups #FounderInterview

Check out Rivan:

https://rivan.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/rivanindustries/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harveyhodd/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

Subscribe for more conversations on rebuilding institutions, incentives and public services.

What will it take to bring orbital launch back to the UK?

In this interview, Harriet sits down with Eddie Brown, co-founder and CEO of Astron Systems, to discuss the future of the British space industry, fully reusable rockets, small satellite launch, defense applications, climate monitoring, and why the UK could become a major player in orbital launch again.

Astron Systems is building the first 100% reusable small launch vehicle in its class, designed to deliver small payloads to orbit – and back again – more affordably, flexibly, and sustainably than current launch systems.

Eddie explains how reusable rockets work, why full reusability matters, how Astron emerged from Imperial College London, and what it takes to turn advanced rocket engineering into a commercially viable space company. This is a deep dive into one of the most ambitious aerospace companies being built in Britain today.

Topics covered:

• Astron Systems and its reusable rocket vision

• UK launch capability and SaxaVord Spaceport

• Defense, responsive launch, and space as critical infrastructure

• Climate monitoring, Earth observation, and sustainability in space

• Why the UK still can build big things

If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe for more interviews with founders, builders, and operators shaping the future of technology, industry, and innovation.

Check out Astron Systems:

https://astronsystems.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/astron-systems/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddie-brown-943417194/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

#Space #UKSpace #AstronSystems #ReusableRockets #RocketEngineering #SpaceStartup #SmallSat #DefenseTech #Aerospace #SpaceIndustry

Europe’s old tech media is collapsing, just when European tech is booming. Someone needs to tell the story.

Harriet sits down with Ronan Chambers, co-founder of the European Technology Network (etn.), a twice-weekly live broadcast that covers the founders, investors and companies driving growth in Europe.The goal is to be the voice of European technology and its future founders.

They talk about why legacy media models are breaking, how new creator-led media is reshaping the industry, and why founders and companies increasingly need to become storytellers themselves.

Ronan shares insights from building etn., the rise of live tech shows and why Europe needs to shout about its tech winners more loudly.

They get into:

• Why legacy media is struggling in the age of AI and real-time news

• The rise of founder-led media and live tech broadcasts

• Why etn. built a live show instead of another podcast

• The growth hacks behind modern tech media

• Why Europe has a “marketing problem” in tech

• The future of journalism, PR and content in the AI era

If you think European tech deserves better media, this is the conversation.

Watch etn.:

https://www.etnshow.co/

https://x.com/etnshow

https://x.com/ronanchamberss

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

How do you give every location on Earth an address?

In this conversation, Chris Sheldrick – co-founder and CEO of what3words – explains the idea that turned a frustrating moment at a music festival into a global addressing system used by emergency services, delivery companies, governments, and millions of people worldwide.

What3words divides the entire planet into 3m x 3m squares (57 trillion in total) and assigns each one a unique combination of three words. Instead of complicated GPS coordinates, you can simply say something like table.chair.spoon and pinpoint an exact location anywhere on Earth.

In this interview, Chris explains:

• The “lightbulb moment” that started what3words

• Why the world needed a new global addressing standard

• How the company went from idea → adoption across industries

• The challenge of getting people to trust and integrate a new standard

• How governments, postal systems, and emergency services use it

• What AI changes about location technology

• Why the goal is to make the what3words app obsolete

• The weirdest ways people use what3words — including tattoos

They also discuss the bigger idea behind it all: what other “hidden standards” in the world could be redesigned if we started from scratch.

Check out what3words:

https://what3words.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/what3words/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissheldrick1/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

Subscribe for more conversations on rebuilding systems, incentives and public services.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:45 what3words explained
• 02:08 Where the system has been most revolutionary
• 03:59 Why many global standards never get questioned
• 05:54 Creativity, founders, and new ideas
• 09:07 Monetisation and business model
• 13:31 Selling to governments
• 17:27 What AI changes for what3words
• 21:40 Mapping space, oceans, and extreme locations
• 25:02 The future of location data
• 27:19 What it’s like running what3words for 13 years
• 29:13 The strangest uses of what3words
  

Is AI really coming for jobs or is it rebuilding the industries that underpin our economy?

In this episode of Basis Points, Harriet speaks with Ben Peters, Co-founder & CEO of Cogna, the business recalibrating productivity by building custom software for critical industries – from energy and water, to manufacturing, logistics and construction.

They discuss:

• Why AI adoption can’t realistically be slowed

• Depopulation as the macro driver behind automation

• Why “orchestration work”, not grunt work, disappears first

• The most important metric for early-stage founders

This conversation explores productivity, incentives, regulation, automation, venture building, and the future of work.

If you’re interested in AI, startups, venture capital, infrastructure, public policy, or economic growth – this episode is for you.

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations with founders building where the state is failing.

Check out Cogna:

https://www.cogna.co/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearecogna/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-peters-544870a/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Startups #Infrastructure #VentureCapital #FutureOfWork #Automation #Entrepreneurship #UKTech

Building a company straight out of university comes with very real trade-offs.

In this episode of Basis Points, Harriet sits down with William Moore and Ethan McNeil, co-founders of Consus Energy, to talk candidly about what it’s actually like to start a company early – without accelerators, without a safety net and while learning everything in real time.

We cover:

• How they met at UCL and split roles as a two-person founding team

• Building a company without YC, EF or external structure

• Why energy startups are uniquely complex to build

• Hearing “no” repeatedly – and learning how persistence really works

• The unglamorous parts of early-stage building (cash, admin, outreach)

• Whether university is still worth it

• Why more graduates are choosing entrepreneurship as the job market tightens

• The role of self-belief, co-founders and proactive networking

This episode is especially relevant if you’re early in your career, considering founding, or already building and wondering if what you’re experiencing is normal.

Check out Consus Energy:

https://www.consusenergy.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-moore-232394250/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-mcneil-9069b11b0/

More on Basis:

https://www.buildbasis.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital

https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

Follow for more conversations on rebuilding systems, incentives and public services.