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 progress
• How small reactors can strengthen local communitie
• The reality of burnout – and what SpaceX taught Ben about limits, purpose and resilience
• The myth vs. the truth of “genius CEOs,” and why companies are built by teams, not figureheads
• How to recognise when you’re doing your “greatest work” – and the courage to trust your intuition

This 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 16

• Building Paddle from nothing to unicorn

• Knowing when to leave your own company

• What Clove is actually building and the future of financial advice

• The UK’s problem with ambition

• How education fails high-agency kids

• Why freedom – not money – is the real goal

A 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 system

• The roadmap from ChatGPT-style guidance → to clinician support → to safe, AI-powered clinical decision-making

• How wearable data could flow straight to GPs and power preventative care

• Why algorithmic, AI-driven insights could transform patient outcomes

• Why London remains the best place in Europe for ambitious founders

Check 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/