Believe in Aliens

Energy Storage for Everyone to Save the Planet | Arpit Dwivedi, Cache Energy ~ Believe in Aliens Ep 4

Manan sits down with Arpit Dwivedi, founder of Cache Energy, to explore how long duration energy storage can finally make renewable energy work 24/7. We unpack why lithium batteries can't scale for grid storage, how limestone—a material buried in the earth for millions of years—becomes the key to storing renewable energy, and what it takes to build a climate tech company with no plan B. Arpit shares concrete insights on taking fossil fuels' best features without carbon emissions, moving from India to Illinois with radical conviction, and why being comfortable with discomfort became his superpower. • borrowing what fossil fuels do well: low cost, abundant, easily stored and transported • using limestone and water chemical reactions to produce heat without CO2 • solving the renewable energy gap: solar and wind need 24/7 storage to compete • why lithium batteries work for 4-6 hours but fail economically beyond that • producing heat first, then converting to electricity like coal plants • leveraging existing fossil fuel infrastructure to keep systems operationally simple • scaling duration from 8 to 24 hours while cost per unit keeps dropping • eliminating options to find true passion: what you don't like reveals what you do • no plan B mindset: the best driver of perseverance when building impossible things • getting comfortable being uncomfortable: the immigrant founder advantage The power to power the entire globe is already here on Earth and has been for millions of years. Arpit takes us from his undergraduate years in India—exploring everything in engineering through elimination—to his PhD at the University of Illinois, where he asked a first-principles question: can we find a chemical reaction that produces heat like burning fossil fuels, but without producing carbon dioxide? That question led to Cache Energy's limestone-based thermal storage system that can store energy for decades at a fraction of lithium battery costs. We dig into the technical fundamentals: why solar and wind have fallen dramatically in cost but still can't provide energy every hour of every day, how long duration storage solves the intermittency problem, and why cost per unit stored becomes the critical metric at grid scale. Arpit explains the breakthrough insight—limestone (lime) reacting with water produces heat that can be stored indefinitely and converted to electricity when needed, leveraging existing steam turbine infrastructure from fossil fuel plants. Arpit discusses moving from India to Urbana-Champaign with no support system, how being an outsider trained his brain to be comfortable with uncomfortable situations, and why that resilience becomes essential when running a company. He shares the mindset shift from seeing energy access as an India problem to recognizing it as a global issue that transcends borders, languages, and backgrounds—and why America provides the best platform to build solutions at scale.   Arpit Dwivedi: 🌐 Cache Energy: https://www.cache-energy.com/ [https://www.cache-energy.com/] 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arpit-dwivedi-0a9970148 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/arpit-dwivedi-0a9970148] Subscribe to the email list to get episodes when they drop: https://subscribepage.io/believeinalienspodcast Prefer to watch/listen on Spotify?:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718 [https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718] Email us with any feedback for the show: believeinalienspodcast@gmail.com Manan Mehta:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/]

Leading the Revolution in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy | Federico Menapace ~ Believe in Aliens Ep 3

We sit down with Federico Menapace, former Deputy Director and COO of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), to explore how psychedelic-assisted therapies are rewriting the mental health playbook. We unpack why traditional approaches often fail millions, how Fede went from building physical bridges in Italy to pioneering mental wellness pathways.  Fede shares honest insights on his own healing journey through anxiety, why being an outsider became his superpower, and how treating root causes—not just symptoms—can compress years of therapy into single sessions. • why psychedelics were mischaracterized by the Controlled Substances Act • how MDMA decreases amygdala activity to help process trauma without triggering • treating root causes of illness versus managing symptoms indefinitely • conducting phase three clinical trials for PTSD treatment with MDMA • the multidisciplinary approach: combining science, policy reform, and communication • why indigenous wisdom and modern neuroscience are finally converging • navigating FDA approval while pursuing state-level and religious access routes • using functional MRI to understand how psychedelics work in the brain • the immigrant advantage: seeing solutions that industry insiders miss • transforming personal healing into a mission to help millions Everything we've been told about trauma recovery is fundamentally incomplete. Fede takes us from his childhood in the Italian Alps through his engineering degree building actual bridges, to earning his MBA at Stanford and diving into tech, before his own profound anxiety journey redirected his entire mission. He explains how psychedelic therapy allowed him to do years of therapeutic work in single sessions by accessing parts of his inner world that remained closed even during traditional psychotherapy. We dig into the science: how MDMA paired with therapy allows people to access deep trauma in a less triggered state, why functional MRI studies at Johns Hopkins, NYU, and Imperial College London are unlocking mechanisms of action, and how ancient indigenous practices are being validated by modern neuroscience. Fede breaks down the multidisciplinary nature of MAPS—not just clinical trials, but also drug policy reform, communication strategies, and building partnerships across government, academia, and nonprofits to unlock research that was stifled for decades. The immigrant journey runs throughout. Fede discusses how his non-medical background and Italian roots allowed him to see mental health solutions that industry insiders often miss, why being an outsider became a superpower rather than a limitation, and the responsibility that comes with privilege and access. Fede addresses the urgency of the mental health crisis: too many people are locked in states of suffering with no way out, traditional approaches manage symptoms without addressing root causes, and inequality in access to effective treatment persists. He explains why psychedelics represent a fundamentally different intervention—one that allows people to process internally and evolve out of locked states, rather than simply medicating symptoms indefinitely. --- Federico Menapace:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/fedemenapace/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fedemenapace/] Subscribe to the email list to get episodes when they drop: https://subscribepage.io/believeinalienspodcast Prefer to watch/listen on Spotify?:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718 [https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718] Email us with any feedback for the show: believeinalienspodcast@gmail.com Manan Mehta:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/]

The Dutch "Alien" Reinventing Food with Ruby | Tony Martens, Plantible Foods ~Believe in Aliens Ep 2

Manan Mehta sits down with Tony Martens, CEO and co-founder of Plantible Foods, to explore how two Dutch immigrants are disrupting the trillion-dollar food industry by extracting RubisCO—nature's most abundant protein—from duckweed. We unpack why complete plant proteins matter, how Tony and his co-founder moved into Breaking Bad-style trailers during the pandemic, and what it takes to challenge commodity pricing while building a sustainable alternative to animal agriculture. Tony shares concrete insights on finding beachhead markets, thriving alone as an immigrant founder, and why climate tech needs to obsess over customers, not just science. • extracting RubisCO: the most abundant and complete protein on Earth • why the strongest animals (elephants, gorillas) eat leafy greens as their primary protein • building full amino acid profiles from plants, not animal middlemen • moving from Netherlands to San Diego with no support system • living in trailers at the Texas farm facility during early R&D • solving for taste and functionality, not just sustainability metrics • targeting premium markets first, then iterating toward commodity pricing • navigating FDA approval processes for novel food ingredients • learning to thrive alone as a superpower for immigrant entrepreneurs • why climate tech founders must prioritize customer value over their own technology The food industry has hidden what we're really eating for too long. Tony takes us from cushy corporate jobs in the Netherlands to a deserted greenhouse full of duckweed, to building a commercial facility in Texas that produces protein cheaper than eggs. We dig into the hard realities of being an alien: leaving long-term relationships behind, operating without family or friends nearby, and developing the ability to survive completely alone while building a company on the other side of the planet. Tony explains why RubisCO—the enzyme that catalyzes photosynthesis in every leafy green—represents a fundamentally different approach to protein. It's nutritionally complete, hypoallergenic, and already the primary protein source for the planet's strongest animals. He breaks down why feeding cattle chicken litter doesn't require labeling, but feeding the same ingredients to a processing machine would—exposing the absurdity of our current food labeling system. The immigrant journey runs throughout. Tony discusses the intellectual curiosity that came from leaving the Dutch bubble, recognizing after two years that America does some things remarkably well (and vice versa). He shares the personal cost: the difficulty of building deep friendships when the mission demands prioritization, the sacrifices required to get Plantible off the ground, and the superpower of knowing you can throw yourself into the unknown and come out successful. --- ABOUT BELIEVE IN ALIENS: Believe In Aliens celebrates the extraordinary journeys of people who leave everything behind to build toward a bigger purpose. Each episode explores the insights of individuals who challenge the status quo—immigrants, founders, and visionaries whose outsider perspectives drive innovation forward. --- Tony Martens: 🌐 Plantible Foods: https://www.plantiblefoods.com/ [https://www.plantiblefoods.com/] 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonydmartens [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonydmartens/] Subscribe to the email list to get episodes when they drop: https://subscribepage.io/believeinalienspodcast Prefer to watch/listen on Spotify?:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718 [https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718] Email us with any feedback for the show: believeinalienspodcast@gmail.com Manan Mehta:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/]

Building the Hand Everyone Said Was Impossible | Tom Zhang, DAXO Robotics ~ Believe in Aliens Ep 1

We sit down with Tom Zhang, founder and CEO of DAXO Robotics, to explore how embracing complexity—not avoiding it—unlocks breakthrough robotics capabilities in the real world. We unpack why conventional wisdom about simplification is failing, how DAXO's 108-actuator robotic hand challenges industry assumptions, and what it takes for immigrant entrepreneurs to build deep tech companies that tackle critical labor shortages. Tom shares concrete insights on market discovery, pivoting fast, and building systems you don't fully understand. • distinguishing complexity from complicatedness in robotics design • building 108 actuators with infinite degrees of freedom vs traditional simplified approaches • embracing emergent behavior through duplicated units rather than specialized components • solving US labor shortages in agriculture and manufacturing • conducting rigorous market discovery through hundreds of cold calls and facility visits • pivoting from agricultural seasonality to faster-iterating markets • immigrant entrepreneur advantages: outsider perspective as competitive edge • intensity as the price of excellence when building without high signal • learning when NOT to start a company and building conviction through rejection • bridging academic rigor with commercial realities and iteration speed Tom takes us from his childhood on an apple orchard in rural China to earning his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, where he asked himself one transformative question: "How do I build a robot that I can't understand?" That question—inspired by how we trust Uber drivers without understanding how their brains work—led to DAXO's radical approach. While the industry races toward simplification, using as few motors as possible, Tom went the opposite direction: 108 actuators that create emergent, adaptive behavior through complexity. We dig into the hard lessons from DAXO's three-month market discovery campaign, visiting farms and factories across the country to understand where robotics could actually solve real problems. Tom explains why the labor shortage is more severe than people realize and why iteration speed matters more than total addressable market. He shares the influence of complexity theory, social science, and books like "The Landscape of History" and "Thinking Fast and Slow" on his contrarian philosophy. The immigrant entrepreneur journey runs throughout. Tom discusses how starting without elite credentials or high-signal networks forced him to rely on pure intensity—talking to hundreds of people, driving to orchards, and persisting through constant rejection. Rather than viewing his outsider status as a disadvantage, he shows how it enabled the kind of contrarian thinking that questions fundamental industry assumptions.  We explore the philosophy behind building complex systems: how ant colonies, bird flocks, and human societies demonstrate that duplicating simple units creates powerful emergent behavior; why most machines are over-complicated rather than truly complex; and how social science's shift toward ecological views validates this approach for robotics. RESOURCES MENTIONED: "The Landscape of History" by John Lewis Gaddis "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman Tom Zhang: 🌐 DAXO Robotics: https://daxo-robotics.com/ [https://daxo-robotics.com/] 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiahaozhang/ Subscribe to the email list to get episodes when they drop: https://subscribepage.io/believeinalienspodcast Prefer to watch/listen on Spotify?:  https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718 [https://open.spotify.com/show/3bl2BohzyhJQZKc6aPIzHd?si=2fb00bf94a514718] Email us with any feedback for the show: believeinalienspodcast@gmail.com Manan Mehta:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mananm/]