How can we use the tools of the marketplace and business to solve the problems that lead to poverty? That’s where patient capital comes in. Jacqueline Novogratz, the CEO of Acumen, explains how her venture capital fund’s long term investments, which prioritize social progress along with financial returns, have positively impacted 650 million people across the globe. She and Ilham discuss the most inspiring companies Acumen has invested in; the importance of kindness and patience in business; achieving audacity AND humility when working towards one’s goals; how storytelling is key to success, and so much more.

Timestamps

• 1:42 - Inspiration for solving the problems of poverty
• 3:39 - Becoming a banker
• 6:18 - Founding Acumen and the emergence of patient capital
• 8:59 - How to build sustainable and profitable companies
• 12:47- Most inspiring companies Acumen invests in
• 16:23 - The beauty of Acumen’s manifesto
• 20:05 - The importance of storytelling
• 25:37 - Pushing back against the naysayers
• 29:46 - Embracing the beauty

Jacqueline Novogratz is an entrepreneur, an author and quite frankly a beacon of light in the world. She is the founder and CEO of Acumen, a nonprofit global venture capital fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to address global poverty by investing in companies with the purpose. She is the author of Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World and The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World.

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

How can space launches become sustainable? Orbex is making it possible! Phil Chambers, CEO of Orbex sits down with Ilham to talk about how his company is building the most advanced, low carbon, micro launch vehicles in the world. They discuss the Orbex Prime rocket which will launch later this year; their creation of the first bio-friendly fuel launch system that slashes emissions more than 90%; how to build a company culture; his advice to young entrepreneurs, and more.

Timestamps

• 1:24 - The spark for his entrepreneurial spirit
• 3:15 - Interest in space
• 4:42 - The first vertical launch space rocket from British soil
• 7:41 - Building the most advanced, low carbon micro launch vehicles in the world!
• 10:50 - How the Prime rocket will change satellite launches
• 13:01 - When will it launch?
• 13:54 - Managing risks
• 15:39 - Building the core values of your company
• 19:00 - Advice to young entrepreneurs
• 20:55 - An avid birdwatcher!

Phil Chambers is a leading entrepreneur who has played pivotal roles in some of Europe's most successful startups. He is now the CEO of Orbex, which is a UK based launch services company in the small satellite industry. Orbex has developed one of the most advanced, low carbon, high performance, micro launch vehicles in the world, and at Syensqo we are proud to partner with Orbex to provide the advanced materials for their Prime rocket.

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

You may know Eric Goens for his many hit shows in Belgium such as Conclave, but did you know his passion is Antarctica? In this episode, Eric talks about his masterpiece, a documentary called 2050 that takes us on an expedition to Princess Elizabeth Station. Ilham and Eric have a fascinating discussion about experiencing the beauty of Antarctica, seeing the effects of climate change there, and how businesses can play a big role. As Eric puts it “We are the very first generation that knows the problem and has the solution.” Watch for the film in theaters near you in March 2025!

Timestamps

• 1:31 - Where his love of filming came from
• 2:42 - The inspiration for 2050
• 7:50 - Experiencing the beauty of Antarctica
• 10:50 - Antarctica as the barometer of the planet
• 14:19 - Film as an answer to the state of the climate
• 19:46 - How businesses can be more effective in fighting climate change
• 21:50 - Antarctica and its special connection to Belgium
• 26:24 - Filming in an unforgiving landscape
• 30:15 - Following his passion
• 32:32 - How to watch the 2050 documentary

Eric Goens is a Belgian journalist, reporter, filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is the owner of Bargoens, a production company, and known for many hit television programs in Belgium such as Het huis and Het conclave to name just a few. Eric Goens is about to release a masterpiece called 2050, a documentary that follows renowned scientists as they explore and conduct experiments from Princess Elizabeth Station. Syensqo is proud to be the only sponsor of this incredible film.

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

According to top business leader and philanthropist Dr. Mo Ibrahim, “You have to be profitable in your business, but you also have to try to do good as well.” Dr. Ibrahim implemented this belief by making all his employees business partners or shareholders within the companies he ran. As he would say, “Either we succeed together or we fail together!” Ilham sits down with Dr. Ibrahim for a fascinating discussion about what it means to be sustainable AND profitable in business, the importance of inclusive capitalism, the fight against climate change and the role Africa plays, the important work of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and so much more.

Timestamps
1:37 - Upbringing and the making of a leader
3:59 - An accidental businessman
6:08 - The important work of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation
10:47 - Africa and the fight against climate change
13:31 - Sustainability AND profitability
19:21 - The importance of inclusive capitalism
29:05 - Leadership advice
30:35 - Recharging the batteries

Dr. Mo Ibrahim is a great businessman, philanthropist, and climate justice advocate. He is the founder and chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which improves lives by advocating for good governance and exceptional leadership in Africa. He founded two major companies, Mobile Systems International, a world leading cellular consulting and software provider, and CellTel International, one of Africa's leading mobile telephone companies. As a business leader, who does so much good in the world, he is a perfect example of the power of AND.

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

We appreciate the fabulous response to AND is the future and wanted to re-share one of our favorite episodes from Season One, especially for our new listeners. This episode features Paul Polman, one of the foremost sustainable businesses leaders.

Is the world better off because your business is in it? Paul Polman speaks with Ilham about what it takes to build a Net Positive company; how leaders can unlock a company’s soul; why empathetic leadership is the key to success; the power of partnerships; the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, and so much more.

Paul Polman is the former CEO of Unilever and one of the foremost leaders in the effort to create sustainable and profitable businesses. While at Unilever he increased his shareholders' returns by 300% while ensuring the company ranked #1 in the world for sustainability for eleven years running. He now runs an organization called Imagine, which advocates for businesses becoming a true force for good. Paul is also the author of Net Positive How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take.

This episode was released as part of Season One in October 2022.

Timestamps
1:22 - Background and passion for sustainable business
5:10 - How to be a Net Positive company
8:42 - Purpose: unlocking a company’s soul
13:36 - Power of partnerships
19:07 - Empathetic leadership
25:30 - Leaving a better world for the next generation
27:32 - What can business learn from the arts?

Nadir Godrej syas that to make a difference in the world, you “have to make a good case for the mind AND heart” – and poetry is a great way to do this! As both a sustainable business leader AND a poet, he believes in the power of words to move people. Ilham and Nadir have a great discussion about his interest in poetry, what it takes to create a sustainable business, empathy and kindness in leadership, and much more.

Nadir Godrej is the chairman of Godrej Industries, one of India's biggest and most well known businesses, and the Chairman of Godrej Agrovet. He is a chemical engineer, a sustainable business leader and a published poet. Mr. Godrej is deeply committed to the GOOD and GREEN strategies and achievement of set targets for the Godrej Group. He is also a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) which the host, Ilham Kadri, chairs.

Timestamps
1:19 - Childhood and great influences in his life
5:51 - 127 years of Godrej Industries
11:42 - Good and green sustainable initiative
14:25 - Green chemistry
17:49 - How poetry heightens the emotion
18:59 - Job training program at Godrej Industries
20:40 - Advice for leaders to become more sustainable
22:46 - Empathy and kindness in business
25:31 - Favorite poets

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

According to Nobel Prize laureate Jean-Marie Lehn, chemistry isn’t just part of the solution to humanity's biggest challenges: it is the solution! That’s because chemistry can create solutions that do not yet exist. Ilham and Professor Lehn have a fascinating conversation about chemistry and creativity, failure and serendipity in science, and how companies play a crucial role in bringing scientific solutions into the world.

Professor Jean-Marie Lehn is a French chemist known for his groundbreaking synthesis of cryptands, which led to an entirely new field of supramolecular chemistry. In 1987 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen for the “development and use of molecules with structure‐specific interactions of high selectivity”. He is a Professor at the University of Strasbourg Institute of Advanced Study and the Chair of Chemistry of Complex Systems. He is also the Director, Chemistry Laboratory of Molecular Interactions, at the Collège de France.

Timestamps
2:03 - Inspiration from school science teacher
5:40 - Supramolecular chemistry
7:29 - Chemistry: part of the solution
12:03 - A creative science
14:17 - Science, failure and serendipity
17:38 - Companies play an important role
23:40 - Diversity, equity and inclusion in science
26:38 - Love of classical music - and the connection to science
29:11 - Winning the Nobel Prize
30:40 - Chemistry and architecture

Syensqo is proud to partner with the Jean-Marie Lehn Foundation. Through this strategic collaboration, we are working together to achieve breakthroughs in the design of sustainable and ecological materials, and the synthesis of renewable and polyfunctional building blocks.

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

Imagine. Be the change. Inspire - these are the words that Anousheh Ansari had made into a badge for her spacesuit as she became the first Iranian woman to fly into space! They are also the principles that led her to become a successful, sustainable CEO. Anousheh and Ilham have a fascinating conversation about the importance of having big dreams and reaching for the stars, why we need more women in STEM, and what it takes to become a sustainable entrepreneur and leader, and much more.

Timstamps
1:29 - Childhood, love of stars and inspiration for going to space
6:06 - The importance of education - leading to engineering degree
9:45 - First Iranian Muslim woman to fly to space!
14:46 - Why we need to democratize space travel
20:13 - CEO of XPRIZE
23:52 - Advice for entrepreneurs
27:14 - The importance of having more women in STEM
30:51 - Imagine, be the change, inspire

Anousheh Ansari is an engineer, a highly successful entrepreneur, and the first Iranian and Muslim woman and the first private explorer to travel to space. She is the CEO of the XPRIZE, which aims to accelerate technological breakthroughs that will benefit humanity through the power of large scale public competitions.

Ansari and her family sponsored XPRIZE’s first venture in 1994: the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE that ignited a new era for commercial spaceflight. She began serving on its Board of Directors and became CEO of XPRIZE in 2018, leading and scaling the foundation to its highest impact period in its history. To date, XPRIZE has launched 30 prizes offering over $500 million in prize purses, hosting over 35,000 innovators from around the world to participate in its competitions.

She is a global presence in future-positive tech markets and a resonant voice for women within STEM, business, and the entrepreneurial industries.

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast