The story doesn’t end when a name disappears.

We pick up where part one left off and follow the money, the lawsuits, and the legacy that refused to stay buried. This time, we’re unpacking the $63 billion acquisition that was meant to draw a line under a scandal, and why it didn’t quite work out that way.

We talk through how Bayer absorbed Monsanto in 2018, retiring the Monsanto name and rebranding the operation as Bayer Crop Science. On paper, it looked like a fresh start. In reality, the controversies came with it.

We dig into the ongoing fallout around patented seeds and glyphosate based herbicides, including Roundup, and why links to cancer claims have kept Bayer tied up in courtrooms and headlines worldwide. We explore how hard it is to change public trust once it’s been broken, and whether a rebrand can ever undo the impact of decades of corporate behaviour.

This conversation zooms out to the bigger picture. What does this mean for global agriculture? Who carries responsibility when practices affect food systems, health, and livelihoods on a massive scale? And can companies this big truly pivot towards something more sustainable, or is the system itself the problem?

Part two is about consequences, accountability, and the uncomfortable reality that some legacies don’t disappear just because the logo changes. And yes, it opens the door to what might come next, including whether sustainable agriculture is a genuine possibility or just another glossy promise.

About Simon and Danielle:

Simon and Danielle are both business owners, based in the East Midlands, who met through mutual business contacts and who share a love of all things business.

Simon runs Skylight Media – Award-winning experts in Website Design, E-commerce & Marketing running since 2003.

Danielle runs Goldspun Support – a multi-faceted support service for fractional directors and small business owners across the globe, running since 2009.

Since they first met Simon and Danielle have spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about the subjects that interest them – usually over a drink in the pub – and they decided that now was the time to bring these conversations to a wider audience and invite them to join the chat.

Both Simon and Danielle are successful business owners in their own rights with big plans for the future but will never lose their love of talking all things business… and the pub.

We’re opening up a two-part conversation around one of the most controversial business stories of the modern era. This first part focuses on how innovation, when paired with unchecked power, can quietly reshape entire industries and lives.

We dig into how genetically engineered crops were introduced in the 1990s and why farmers were forced into buying new seeds year after year. We talk about patent enforcement, lawsuits, and a business model that created dependency rather than choice. Rising costs, mounting debt, and devastating human consequences became part of the landscape, changing how the world viewed corporate responsibility in agriculture.

We explore how public perception shifted, from celebrating scientific progress to questioning the ethics behind it. This isn’t just about seeds or chemicals. It’s about power, profit, and who carries the weight when the system is designed to protect the top.

This is part one of two. The groundwork. The context. The story before the consequences fully unfold.

About Simon and Danielle:

Simon and Danielle are both business owners, based in the East Midlands, who met through mutual business contacts and who share a love of all things business.

Simon runs Skylight Media – Award-winning experts in Website Design, E-commerce & Marketing running since 2003.

Danielle runs Goldspun Support – a multi-faceted support service for fractional directors and small business owners across the globe, running since 2009.

Since they first met Simon and Danielle have spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about the subjects that interest them – usually over a drink in the pub – and they decided that now was the time to bring these conversations to a wider audience and invite them to join the chat.

Both Simon and Danielle are successful business owners in their own rights with big plans for the future but will never lose their love of talking all things business… and the pub.

Juicero had Wi-Fi. Venture capital. Sleek design. And absolutely no reason to exist.

We unpack how Juicero raised around $120 million to build a $399 juicer that only worked with proprietary juice pouches and stopped functioning if your internet went down. A machine so over-engineered it managed to forget the most important part: usefulness.

Then came the moment that ended it all. A 2017 investigation by Bloomberg revealed you could squeeze the juice packs by hand and get the same result. No Wi-Fi. No machine. No nonsense.

We talk about why this wasn’t just a product failure, but a validation failure. How clever tech, investor excitement, and buzz can overpower basic common sense. And why expensive innovation without real-world practicality is a fast track to embarrassment.

Along the way, we nod to other infamous flops like the Amazon Fire Phone, Segway, and Crystal Pepsi, all brilliant ideas on paper that forgot to ask one simple question: does anyone actually need this?

A cautionary tale about hype, hardware, and what happens when innovation solves a problem that doesn’t exist.

About Simon and Danielle:

Simon and Danielle are both business owners, based in the East Midlands, who met through mutual business contacts and who share a love of all things business.

Simon runs Skylight Media – Award-winning experts in Website Design, E-commerce & Marketing running since 2003.

Danielle runs Goldspun Support – a multi-faceted support service for fractional directors and small business owners across the globe, running since 2009.

Since they first met Simon and Danielle have spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about the subjects that interest them – usually over a drink in the pub – and they decided that now was the time to bring these conversations to a wider audience and invite them to join the chat.

Both Simon and Danielle are successful business owners in their own rights with big plans for the future but will never lose their love of talking all things business… and the pub.