PopTech 2025: FetusGPT, De-extinction, Shade-as-a-Service, and More Crazy (but Real!) Ventures
Update: 2025-10-17
Description
Here’s a jaunty debrief from PopTech, a notoriously hard conference to describe, that always features obscenely talented entrepreneurs and changemakers.
In this episode, Kwaku Aning, Sarah Rose Siskind, and I share some of the great stories and great vibes from this year's conference, including:
- FetusGPT, Sarah’s madcap experiment to train an AI on everything her soon-to-be-born baby is hearing from inside the womb
- Why Colossal Biosciences is de-extincting the dire wolf and other “charismatic animals” (dodos and woolly mammoths are in the works) — and why de-extinction is an important goal that will help us solve lots of other problems along the way
- “Shade-as-a-Service”, a new idea from climate champion, farmer, and entrepreneur Eben Bayer, the founder of MyForest Foods (maker of MyBacon, the top-selling non-meat bacon). The idea is to launch giant parasols into the atmosphere to cool the Earth below.
- Why Tibet and Taiwan are so key to the tech industry (not to mention global stability); Tibetan PM-in-Exile Lobsang Sangay was a speaker.
- How to make progress on what matters most to you, featuring a prioritization exercise from Deep Future inventor and investor Pablos Holman
Featured Voices:
- Sarah Rose Siskind, science and comedy writer and the founder of Hello SciCom, a STEM communications agency
- Kwaku Aning, professional connector, founder/principal of RetroFuturism Consulting
- Dan Blumberg (me!), host of CRAFTED. and the founder of Modern Product Minds. HMU if you want to build something great. I love building from zero to one.
And Pretty Please...
- Share with a friend! Word of mouth is how podcasts grow!
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- Share your feedback! I’m experimenting with new episode formats and would love your feedback on this and other episodes. Email me: dan@modernproductminds.com or DM me on LinkedIn
- Sponsor the show? I’m actively speaking to potential sponsors for 2026 episodes. Let's talk!
- Get psyched!… There are some big updates to the show in 2026!
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![The Deep Tech Innovations That Could Save the World | Pablos Holman (Inventor & Investor) [Rebroadcast]](https://img.transistor.fm/OH65cLM3vSUG1BaOWKUUydnkXF3XsIe2_c2mcm7Wj-s/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kOTk4/NjMxNGQ3OTQ4YTky/ZjVhNzg0ZWFmZDQ4/ZDdiYy5wbmc.jpg "The Deep Tech Innovations That Could Save the World | Pablos Holman (Inventor & Investor) [Rebroadcast]")
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