What Nature Can Teach Us About Leadership, Investing, and Life WITH Natalya Wallin
A Conversation on Following What Lights You Up, Somatic Intelligence in Investing, and Building a Nature-Inspired Venture Fund
Show Summary
In this episode, host Ben sits down with Natalya Wallin — executive ultra-runner, systems thinker, and founder of Vitality Venture Fund — for a conversation that traces one of the most unconventional through-lines you'll find in venture investing. From a molecular genetics PhD lab to deploying $75 million against forced labor in global supply chains to building a fund rooted in biomimicry, Natalya's story is a masterclass in following the spark.
Together, Ben and Natalya explore what it means to be a "generalist systems thinker," how somatic intelligence guides high-stakes decision making, and why nature's 3.8 billion year R&D lab holds the investment thesis of our era. They dig into Vitality's focus on regenerative agriculture, the built environment, and biomanufacturing — and why the best venture investments increasingly look a lot like the way ecosystems work. The Grand Canyon makes an early appearance, and it earns its place.
Show Notes & Links
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalyawallin/
https://www.pivotol.com/at-depth-podcast
Investment Concepts & Strategies Referenced
Biomimicry as Investment Thesis A lens for identifying solutions by asking: can we solve problems by applying life's principles — life-friendly chemistry, resilience, and energy efficiency? Products built this way tend to be highly valuable in the market because they solve real industrial needs while also being good for the environment and human health. Natalya describes this as tapping into nature's 3.8 billion years of R&D — "not philanthropy, but real-world solutions needed in the market."
Nature-Inspired Venture Investing (The Vitality Thesis) Vitality Venture Fund backs early-stage startups in regenerative agriculture, built environment, and biomanufacturing whose technologies draw from nature's intelligence. The fundamental question that launched it: "What would it look like to build a world of vitality?" — a vibrant earth free of forever chemicals and pesticides, where solutions are resilient, circular, and energy-efficient by design.
Ecosystem-Based Capital Strategy Recognizing that deep tech, nature-inspired solutions require a blend of capital types to cross the valley of death — non-dilutive R&D grants alongside patient equity capital, corporate partnerships, and catalytic philanthropy. Wallin emphasizes building an entire ecosystem of support rather than just writing checks.
Somatic Due Diligence Using bodily signals as a countercheck on intellectual bias in investment decisions. When excitement becomes "brain fever" — elevated heart rate, heat in the skin — that's a cue to slow down and stress-test the diligence. Over-excitement blinds investors to red flags. Conversely, a fuzzy feeling in the sternum signals cognitive fog and a need to pause before proceeding.
In-Person Founder Diligence The conviction that physical presence is irreplaceable in early-stage venture investing. Meeting founders in their towns, workshops, and fields reveals conviction, context, and character that remote calls cannot surface — and Wallin argues this advantage is growing as the world becomes more digital.
Cultural / Conceptual References
The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life by Boyd Varty A deeply resonant framework for navigating life's uncertainty. The central metaphor: if you think you can see your entire path laid out before you, it probably isn't your path. Like a tracker in the South African wild, the right approach is to pay attention to what lights you up, find the next partial print, and move in that direction.
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry Ben references this novel's narrator, who reflects at the end of his life: while he seemed to be on many tangents and winding roads, looking back it formed one almost perfectly continuous path. A metaphor Natalya immediately recognizes in her own journey from genetics lab to global policy to nature-inspired investing.
Odysseus Tied to the Mast (Homer's Odyssey) Natalya describes her operational model at Vitality by invoking Odysseus, who had himself tied to the mast so he could hear the sirens without being pulled off course. She told her operations lead the same thing: keep me on task and systems-sharp so I can explore the edges of what is possible without the fund slipping.
The Biophilia Hypothesis (E.O. Wilson) The scientific idea that humans have an innate need to connect with other living systems. Used as the philosophical foundation of Vitality's thesis — that nature-inspired solutions will be commercially significant precisely because they align with how human beings are biologically wired to thrive.
Type Two Fun Natalya's framing for running into and out of the Grand Canyon — not pleasant in the moment, but deeply rewarding in retrospect. She uses hard physical challenges as deliberate "mindset training," intentionally placing herself in discomfort as preparation for the ambiguity and difficulty of building a fund from scratch. "I look forward to the moment of turning around and being unhappy."
