Basis Points

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 slowedDepopulation as the macro driver behind automationWhy “orchestration work”, not grunt work, disappears firstThe most important metric for early-stage foundersThis 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 teamBuilding a company without YC, EF or external structureWhy energy startups are uniquely complex to buildHearing “no” repeatedly – and learning how persistence really worksThe unglamorous parts of early-stage building (cash, admin, outreach)Whether university is still worth itWhy more graduates are choosing entrepreneurship as the job market tightensThe role of self-belief, co-founders and proactive networkingThis 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/harrietsgreenFollow for more conversations on rebuilding systems, incentives and public services.

What if landlords could become their own green energy suppliers – cutting carbon, lowering tenant bills and unlocking entirely new revenue streams?In this episode, Harriet sits down with William Moore and Ethan McNeil, founders of Consus Energy, to explore a radically different approach to the energy transition: distributed batteries, wholesale energy buying and real-time energy arbitrage.Instead of building more grid infrastructure, Consus Energy works with the existing system by installing batteries across property portfolios and linking them into a single, intelligent energy network. The result is that energy is bought at off-peak wholesale prices, stored locally within buildings, resold to tenants at a lower cost, and excess power is sold back to the grid during periods of peak demand.All without tenants or landlords changing their behaviour.In this conversation, we cover:Why billions of pounds of renewable energy are currently wastedThe economics of energy arbitrage and flexibility marketsWhy battery technology only became viable nowHow distributed energy stabilises the grid instead of fighting it“Change without sacrifice” in the energy transitionWhat the future of decentralised energy actually looks likeWhat a Consus Energy battery installation looks likeWhether you’re in property, infrastructure, energy, climate tech, or investing, this episode breaks down one of the most overlooked and commercially viable shifts happening in energy today.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/harrietsgreenSubscribe for more conversations on rebuilding systems, incentives and public services.

Private security has existed for centuries, but access has always been limited to the few.What if you could book a trained security detail as easily as ordering a cab or groceries?In this episode of Basis Points, Harriet sits down with Nick Sarath, Founder & CEO of Protector, to explore how on-demand executive protection and community-funded neighbourhood patrols are reshaping how safety is delivered.Nick breaks down how Protector makes executive protection easier to access and procure, and why the industry is ripe for better UX, transparency, and trust. They also discuss Patrol, Protector’s LA rollout for community-funded neighbourhood patrols, reactionary headlines (“Uber for guns”) and whether private provision can complement public services by reducing strain on limited resources.What you’ll learnHow Protector “productises” executive protectionPatrol: crowdfunding neighbourhood security + real-time visibilityPublic safety vs perception of danger (and why it matters)Building in legacy industries with consumer distribution + storytellingFounder lessons: shipping fast, experimentation and AI as a design partnerCheck out Protector and Patrol:https://protector.so https://patrol.so https://www.linkedin.com/company/protector-security/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicksarath/ More on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreenSubscribe for more conversations on rebuilding systems, incentives and public services.

In this episode, we sit down with Sahaj Sharda, CEO and co-founder of The Antifraud Company, to explore a bold new model of investigative journalism, designed to expose large-scale government fraud, corporate misconduct and crony capitalism.Sahaj explains how up to $500 billion a year in U.S. federal spending may be lost to fraud and how his company is using whistleblower laws and litigation to fund serious investigations.This wide-ranging conversation covers:Why investigative journalism is structurally broken and how The Antifraud Company wants to fix itCrony capitalism vs. real markets and fair competitionUniversities, credentialism and the “college cartel”Media and the future of accountabilityWhy fraud enforcement can level the playing field for smaller businessesWhether this model could work outside the United StatesThis is a conversation about law, capitalism, media, the incentives that quietly shape modern society and how changing those incentives might actually make things fairer.If you’re interested in investigative journalism, public accountability, law, or the future of capitalism, this episode is for you.Check out The Antifraud Company:https://antifraudcompany.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/antifraud/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahaj-sharda-277a81125/ More on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

This week we sit down with Ben Kellie, CEO & co-founder of Applied Atomics, and formerly a lead engineer at SpaceX.Ben believes something simple and profound: energy is the single biggest unlock for humanity.If we solve clean, stable, abundant power, we can unleash progress in food, housing, manufacturing, materials science – even the technologies we haven’t invented yet.Applied Atomics is building that future through small nuclear reactors, combining proven engineering with a level of execution discipline Ben honed during his years landing rockets at SpaceX.But this conversation goes far beyond nuclear.We talk about:Why energy scarcity is the bottleneck to global progressHow small reactors can strengthen local communitieThe reality of burnout – and what SpaceX taught Ben about limits, purpose and resilienceThe myth vs. the truth of “genius CEOs,” and why companies are built by teams, not figureheadsHow to recognise when you’re doing your “greatest work” – and the courage to trust your intuitionThis is a conversation about energy, but also about meaning, ambition and the art of navigating a life you actually want to live.Check out Applied Atomics:https://www.applied-atomics.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-atomics/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/benkellie/ More on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

Christian Owens dropped out of school at 16, built Paddle into a unicorn, walked away and is now starting again from zero.In this episode, Harriet sits down with Christian, founder and CEO of Clove, founder and former CEO of Paddle – and also her other half – for one of the most open conversations we’ve had on Basis Points yet. Christian talks about discovering entrepreneurship at 12, teaching himself to code on YouTube, making a £100k bet as a teenager to convince his parents to let him leave school and spending 11 years building Paddle into a $1.4bn business.He explains why he stepped down as CEO, and why he’s now building a new financial institution at Clove.The conversation pulls no punches – education, ambition, risk, money, UK culture, AI and what it means to start again.In this episode:Why Christian dropped out of school at 16Building Paddle from nothing to unicornKnowing when to leave your own companyWhat Clove is actually building and the future of financial adviceThe UK’s problem with ambitionHow education fails high-agency kidsWhy freedom – not money – is the real goalA direct, unfiltered look into how a repeat founder thinks.Check out Clove:https://www.clove.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/clovefi https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianowens/ More on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen

Healthcare is entering a new era – one where AI doesn’t replace clinicians, but makes them faster, safer and more effective. Julian Titz, co-founder and CEO of Asterix Health, is building this future. A future of medicine through evolution not revolution, starting with patient education, and iterating towards AI-supported and eventually AI-driven clinical decisions, this is the revolution through evolution.We talk:Why healthcare resists “revolution” and how to innovate inside the systemThe roadmap from ChatGPT-style guidance → to clinician support → to safe, AI-powered clinical decision-makingHow wearable data could flow straight to GPs and power preventative careWhy algorithmic, AI-driven insights could transform patient outcomesWhy London remains the best place in Europe for ambitious foundersCheck out Asterix Health:https://www.asterix.health/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/asterixhealth/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliantitz/ More on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapital https://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen/

Restaurants are struggling with rising costs and vanishing margins. Josef Chen, co-founder and CEO of Kaikaku, believes automation can save the industry – by freeing humans up to deliver real hospitality again.Kaikaku’s “restaurant in a box” uses robotics, vision systems and nutritional data to make fresh, personalised food at scale. Josef shows Harriet how Kaikaku’s robotic kitchens, proprietary OS and AI system “Alesia” make it possible to serve fresh food at speed – and why the UK is the perfect place to build hardware for a new food economy.We talk:Why restaurant chains can’t afford real food — and how Kaikaku can fix it“No future-proofing”: building tech fast in real environmentsHow robots and humans collaborate in the kitchenWhat AI-driven nutrition could mean for public healthWhy the UK is a hardware powerhouse againCheck out Kaikaku:https://kaikaku.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/company/kaikaku-ai/https://www.linkedin.com/in/josef-chen/More on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapitalhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen/

Isembard’s machine shops bring together hardware and software to reshore, meet critical demand and reindustrialise economies – while also redefining blue-collar work. Isembard’s Shaun Rowcliffe and Andrew Kramer give Harriet a tour of their Exeter site, and talk about decentralising manufacturing, moving at pace and transforming define as a sector.We talk:How Isembard is democratising manufacturingThe perks and challenges of running your own factoryWhere apprenticeships can democratise educationHow an agile model can transform the manufacturing processWhat needs to happen outside of government to transform the defence sectorCheck out Isembard:https://www.isembard.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/isembard/franchise@isembard.comMore on Basis:https://www.buildbasis.com/https://www.youtube.com/@BasisCapitalhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/basiscapitalltd/https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietsgreen/

Science Machine is building an AI data scientist for biotech – one that can reason like a scientist and collapse development timelines. CTO and co-founder Ben Tenmann joins Harriet to talk about democratising drug discovery, the broken economics of R&D, why universities are obsolete and what it means to build when growth has stalled.

Artificial Societies simulates your world. The 2025 YC team is helping companies like Anthropic and 11x predict what their customers will do before they do it. CEO James sits down with Harriet to chat democracy, journalling, Mars, 996 and free will.