Entrepreneurs for Impact: Recent Episodes
Dr. Chris Wedding
Interviews with CEOs and investors tackling climate change — Startups. Finance. Better habits. Deep work. Recommended books. Hosted by Dr. Chris Wedding: Former private equity investor, 3x entrepreneur, occasional monk, Duke University professor, and Mastermind leader for climate CEO peer groups. www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
The Climate Finance Fund is a philanthropic platform that helps to mobilize capital for climate solutions. Supported by the Hewlett Foundation and hosted by the European Climate Foundation, they’re focused on China, the European Union, and the United States.–
Previously, Marilyn led energy and cleantech investments at Village Capital, managed nuclear and renewable energy projects at AREVA (now Orano), and served as a Senior Research Fellow at Project Drawdown, where she led a team to analyze, model, and forecast energy solutions to climate change. Marilyn also worked at the intersection of science and policy at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and in economic development at the United Nations in Madagascar. She is a multilingual speaker and author of Sustainability at Work: Careers that Make a Difference.
–In this podcast, we talked about the $450T of global capital relative to the $4T needed each year to mitigate the worst economic and public health effects of climate change, her blended finance work with BlackRock, why each dollar can accomplish more climate mitigation inthe Global South, what a hummingbird in Jamaica might have foretold about her work at the Global Climate Finance Forum, and how to find a job in this field in her book, Sustainability at Work.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS
Marilyn Waite - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilynwaite
Climate Finance Fund - https://climatefinance.fund
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🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Marilyn and Climate Finance Fund a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
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📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
–
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
–
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
–
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Remora, founded in 2020 in Michigan, retrofits diesel locomotives and semi-trucks with onboard systems that capture, liquify, and purify up to 90% of CO₂ emissions – while also cutting soot, particulates, and NOₓ – then stores it for offloading and sale, sharing revenue with operators.
Backed by $117 M in venture funding and piloting with major players like Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, Ryder, Werner, and DHL, the company overcame early design issues (like waterlogging and backpressure) and is now scaling for broader deployment.
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Paul is the co-founder and CEO at Remora. In 2021, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Data Science from Yale University, where his research received the Porter Prize, the highest class-wide thesis prize.
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In this podcast, we talked about how they got investors excited to invest $117M, why unit economics are so important, the joy of doing hard things, why expertise is overrated, the reason why reading biographies is so helpful, how he got the idea for this company as a senior at Yale University, why you should watch the movies Tommy Boy and Braveheart, and how the cost of capital influenced his choice of business model.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS
Paul Gross - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulagross
Remora - https://remoracarbon.com/
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🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Paul and Remora a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
–
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
–
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
–
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
–
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Rusheen Capital Management is a Santa Monica, CA-based private equity firm that invests in growth-stage companies in the carbon capture and utilization, low-carbon energy, and water sustainability sectors.
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Prior to co-founding Rusheen, Jim started, invested in and run numerous companies. These include: US Renewables Group (Founder & Managing Partner), Stamps.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP – Founder), Spoke Software, Inc. (Founder & CEO), Archive, Inc. (Founder & CEO – sold to Cyclone Commerce), NanoH2O, Inc. (Founder & Board Member – sold to LG Chemical), SolarReserve (Founder & Board Member), Fulcrum Bioenergy, Inc. (Founder & Board Member), Common Assets (Founder & Board Member – sold to NASDAQ:SCTY), SET Technology (Board Member) and OH Energy, Inc. (Founder & Board Member).
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In this podcast, we talked about why investors should remain optimistic about investing in climate, how reliability trumps novelty in the energy sector every time, the need for geoengineering as today’s Tylenol, how tithing and the Giving Pledge can catalyze funding from 650,000 ultra high net worth families to address climate’s toughest challenges, why we need new financial structures to match the 10-20 year nature of hard tech climate solutions, and why he likes to walk in the dark in Southern California canyons to hear whispers of insights about business and life.–
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS
Jim McDermott - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesacmcdermott
Rusheen Capital Management - https://www.rusheen.com
–
🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Jim and Rusheen a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
–
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
–
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
–
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
–
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Endolith is a Denver-based biotech startup revolutionizing mining by leveraging microbes to sustainably extract copper and lithium from low-grade ores.
Founded in 2023, the company employs custom-engineered microbial communities, adaptive biohatcheries, and real-time cloud-based monitoring to enhance mineral recovery while minimizing environmental impact.
Endolith's innovations have demonstrated significant improvements in copper extraction, attracting partnerships with industry leaders like BHP and Rio Tinto.
Their approach not only boosts efficiency but also reduces reliance on harmful chemicals, aligning mining practices with clean energy goals.
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Dr. Liz Dennett is a technologist and entrepreneur with nearly two decades of experience in biotech and energy industries.
Previously, she was the CTO of Cemvita, developing nature-inspired biosolutions for a carbon-neutral future.
Liz has held senior roles at Wood Mackenzie, AWS, Biota Technology, Hess Corporation, and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. She is also an advisory board member for the UW-Madison Dept. of Geoscience.
Liz holds a MS and PhD in geoscience and astrobiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
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We talked about reasons for her purple hair, copper demand expected to double by 2050, specially evolved microbial communities combined with cloud computing to enhance copper recovery, relying on internal validation over external approval, and bad mining puns.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS
Liz Dennett - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizpd
Endolith - https://www.endolithmining.com/
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🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Liz and Endolith a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Lydian Labs is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup founded in 2021, dedicated to decarbonizing the aviation industry by producing sustainable fuels from carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity.
Their proprietary technology employs fully electrified, modular reactors to convert CO₂ into carbon-neutral fuels, achieving up to 95% lower lifecycle emissions compared to traditional jet fuel.
The company has successfully demonstrated a pilot system capable of producing 10,000 gallons of fuel per year, marking a significant step toward commercial-scale production planned for 2027. Lydian's approach offers flexibility by operating during periods of low-cost renewable electricity, enhancing economic viability and grid compatibility.
Backed by prominent climate-focused investors such as Congruent Ventures and Galvanize Climate Solutions, Lydian is a leader in the sustainable aviation fuel sector.
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Joe Rodden has spent his career building software to help the world’s most sophisticated companies make complex strategic decisions in dynamic market conditions.
Most recently, at Form Energy, Joe supported the commercialization of a novel iron-air battery for grid-scale energy storage.
He previously worked at Affirm, which he helped prepare for IPO as an early lead on the strategy and finance team, and BlackRock, where he advised some of the firm’s largest private and public clients on complex capital markets transactions.
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Here are 6 highlights from the podcast:
- Why Aviation Needs SAF – Aviation could hit 20% of global emissions by 2050; SAF is under 1% of today’s jet fuel.
- Lydian’s Electrofuels – Made from CO₂, water, and clean power; compatible with today’s infrastructure.
- Smart Sourcing – Ethanol CO₂ is cost-effective now; DAC offers long-term options; plants adapt to renewable energy.
- Scaling Up – Modular design enables 10x growth without redesign.
- Cost & Climate Edge – Electrofuels rival bio-SAF on price, cut emissions by up to 99%, and reduce contrails.
- Life Philosophy – Joe lives by ikigai and credits his organized partner for balance.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS
Joe Rodden - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-rodden-8bb09a62/
Lydian Labs - https://www.lydianlabs.com
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🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Joe and Lydian Lads a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Cyclic Materials is a Canadian cleantech company, founded in 2021, specializing in the recycling of rare earth elements (REEs) from end-of-life products such as electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and electronic waste.
Their proprietary technologies, MagCycle℠ and REEPure℠, enable the efficient recovery and purification of critical materials, contributing to a circular economy and reducing reliance on traditional mining.
In 2024, the company launched its first commercial demonstration facility in Kingston, Ontario, and announced plans to invest over $20 million in a U.S. facility in Mesa, Arizona.
Cyclic Materials has secured significant funding, including a $53 million Series B round with investors like BMW i Ventures and Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, to support its global expansion and the development of sustainable supply chains for critical materials.
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Ahmad Ghahreman is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in cleantech, and one of the top hydrometallurgists in the world.
He has co-invented more than 20 patents and commercialized over five technologies, focusing on transforming the rare earth elements market with sustainable, ethical solutions.
In addition to his work at Cyclic, Ahmad is an early co-inventor of Jetti Resources’ copper extraction technology (valued at $2.5B), and the co-designer of Li-Cycle’s lithium-ion battery recycling technology (NYSE: LICY valued at over $1B).
Formerly a professor at Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada, he built the largest and most-funded metals extraction team in North America with over 20 graduate students.
With a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering, he is a leading hydrometallurgist researcher with over 3,000 citations.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS
Ahmad Ghahreman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmad-ghahreman-41506b10/?originalSubdomain=ca
Cyclic Materials - https://www.cyclicmaterials.earth/
--
🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Ahmad and Cyclic Materials a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Chuck Templeton is an ex-operator, including founding OpenTable and serving as lead investor and operating Chairman in companies such as Grubhub and Venmo (Braintree Payment Systems).
He is focused on helping the S2G team, entrepreneurs, and executives take their ideas, validate them, institutionalize processes, and ultimately scale their business innovations to address today’s urgent environmental and societal problems.
S2G is a multi-stage investment firm with $2.5B under management and 100+ portfolio companies. They focus on venture and growth-stage businesses across food and agriculture, oceans, and energy.
With a commitment to creating long-term, measurable outcomes, S2G structures flexible capital solutions that can range from venture funding through growth equity to debt and infrastructure financing.
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Here are 6 topics we covered in the podcast:
1. S2G’s Investment Philosophy
Chuck Templeton debunks the myth that impact means weak returns—S2G invests where sustainability and strong financials align. Their focus spans food, ag, energy, and oceans, which together drive 90% of global emissions.
2. Why Food & Ag Is Undervalued
Food systems cause one-third of emissions but get just ~4% of climate capital. Chuck sees massive upside in climate-friendly, great-tasting, and healthier food products.
3. How S2G Operates Differently
They invest $20M–$50M per deal, with dedicated teams per sector and an in-house acceleration platform that supports hiring, growth, and commercialization. Their capital stack includes both equity and flexible credit options.
4. What Founders Miss
Too many founders obsess over tech and forget commercialization. S2G backs companies with $10M+ revenue, clear product-market fit, and capital discipline.
5. Flashfood & Sunday: Climate by Stealth
Flashfood cuts grocery waste while saving consumers money; Sunday makes lawn care safer and easier for families. In both cases, climate benefits are real—but come after convenience, cost, and safety.
6. Chuck’s Personal Fuel
Inspired by fatherhood and minimalism, Chuck shifted to climate after OpenTable and Venmo. Running, stoicism, and a love for leadership learning keep him grounded—plus, he’s big on “raising your hand” to lead.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Chuck Templeton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ctemp
S2G - https://www.s2ginvestments.com
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🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Chuck and S2B a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Jigar Shah served as Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from March 2021 to January 2025, where he oversaw a $400B budget.
Prior, Shah was co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Generate has raised over $10 billion, investing in 50+ technology and development partnerships with more than 2,000 assets globally.
Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing (i.e., PPAs).
After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson to help entrepreneurs address climate change.
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Here are six topics we covered in the podcast:
1. Post-LPO Reset
After managing $107B in deals at DOE’s Loan Programs Office, Jigar Shah hit pause and rebranded as a “podcaster.” He’s taking time to reflect before diving into the next chapter.
2. Climate VC Is Broken
Shah says the 100x-return VC model doesn’t fit climate tech’s reality. He pushes for an “East Coast” model: aim for 18% IRR, win 7 of 10 bets, and skip the moonshots.
3. Evergreen Capital > 2-and-20
At Generate Capital, Shah turned down big checks to build an evergreen structure that aligns with long-term climate infrastructure. It’s less lucrative for managers, but way better for founders.
4. FOAK Risk, Explained
He breaks project finance into five risks: tech, feedstock, offtake, construction, and ops. LPO, unlike most investors, can stomach execution risk, like 12 methane pyrolysis reactors, not just one.
5. Think Like a Developer
Clean tech needs dev capital like real estate: risky early bets, then stable returns once built. It's not “risk-free”—just “risk-you-can-understand.”
6. Deep Tech’s Fatal Flaw
Too many founders chase giant, low-margin markets. Shah says to start with high-margin niches (like InventWood selling to data centers) and then scale.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Jigar - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jigarshahdc
His Open Circuit podcast - https://www.latitudemedia.com/podcasts/open-circuit/
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🙏 SHOUT-OUTS:
Please give Jigar a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
I’m sure his 745,000 LinkedIn followers would welcome that.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Climactic is an early-stage venture fund investing in the energy, AI, automation, and robotics sectors to address climate change and its effects.
It is backed by folks like Chris Sacca, Reid Hoffman, Mio Partners, and StepStone.
Prior to Climactic, Josh co-founded Freestyle Capital, where he sourced or invested in the unicorns: Airtable, Patreon, Betterup, and Intercom.
He was a pioneer in the early days of the Internet where he co-founded Spinner, the first Internet music startup, acquired by AOL for $320M, and Crackle, a viral video startup, acquired by Sony for $65M.
Josh’s commitment to the environment is long-standing; he started a nonprofit app in 2014 to connect influencers (NBA, Guns N Roses, Mark Ruffalo, Al Gore, Evan Williams) to the most important climate actions from the leading nonprofits.
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Here are six topics we covered in the podcast:
Origins with Rock Stars and Presidents
- Josh Felser co-founded ClimateX, connecting users to 100+ environmental nonprofits with partners like Al Gore, Guns N’ Roses, and the NBA.
Why He Left Traditional VC - After success at Freestyle Capital, COVID and a five-month role in California’s government led Josh to shift from consumer tech to climate venture, realizing business’s role in systemic change.
Climactic’s Evolution
Josh and Raj Kapoor launched Climactic as a B2B climate tech fund, later narrowing their focus to AI and automation for enterprise sustainability and profitability.
Two Portfolio Bets
Climactic invested in Grit (robotics for faster, cheaper solar installs) and Copper (battery-integrated induction stoves for apartment electrification).
Climate Messaging in the MAGA Era
Josh advocates re-framing climate language—e.g., using “conservation” over “environmentalism”—to resonate with conservative audiences without losing authenticity.
Personal Wellness
Josh finds balance through humor, avoiding the 5 AM club, emotional resilience, and grounding reminders like a Buddha statue at his Stinson Beach home.
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Climactic - https://www.climactic.vc
Josh Felser - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshfelser
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🙏 SHOUT OUTS:
Please give Josh and Climactic a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Earth AI is discovering untapped critical metal deposits at half the cost in a fraction of the time.
They combine machine learning and new modular drilling technology to move from detecting a prospect to drilling in just three to six months.
They recently announced $20M in Series B funding in an oversubscribed round led by Tamarack Global and Cantos Ventures. Participating investors include Overmatch, Alpaca, Sparkwave Capital, Y Combinator, and Scrum Ventures.
Roman is a YC alum, ex-PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, and geologist with 10 years of industry and research experience in Europe, the Middle and Far East, and Australia.
Here are 6 topics we covered in the podcast:
1. The Problem
The world faces a projected $10T demand for critical metals by 2050, yet new mineral discoveries have declined by 70% over the last decade. Current exploration methods are expensive, slow, and increasingly inefficient.
2. AI-Powered Discovery
Roman’s team developed a machine learning model trained on 50 years of exploration data. The AI identifies geological proxies—subtle clues that indicate where valuable minerals may lie beneath the surface.
3. Vertical Integration
After realizing the industry wasn’t ready to adopt their tech, Earth AI built its own exploration and drilling systems. This vertical integration slashed costs and sped up testing, allowing them to confirm mineral targets rapidly.
4. Breakthrough Results
Their AI led to the first-ever discovery of magnetic nickel on Australia's East Coast. They’ve since found lithium, silver, and lead deposits, securing land cheaply and unlocking high-value prospects.
5. Founder Wisdom
Roman emphasizes sustainable work habits and a strong internal compass. He credits storytelling as crucial to convincing investors and the broader industry of Earth AI’s potential.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Roman Teslyuk - https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-teslyuk-a344881a
Earth AI - https://earth-ai.com/
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🙏 SHOUT OUTS:
Please give Roman and Earth AI a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
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✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
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🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Presto Charging is like Stripe for EV charging, providing a marketplace for EV fleet owners and EV charging networks via an app and API.
They recently raised a $15 million seed round led by Union Square Ventures and included investments from Congruent Ventures, Jetstream, and Powerhouse Ventures.
Ashwin is also a “papa to two feisty girls, weekend road bike cruiser, and photographer in hibernation.”
Before Presto, he led the Vehicles and Electrification program at Uber.
Here are 5 topics we covered in the podcast:
1. Founding Presto
Ashwin and co-founder JJ Rayner left Uber after facing the fragmented EV charging ecosystem firsthand. They created Presto to simplify access to public charging, turning a many-to-many problem into a one-to-many platform.
2. Business Model & Customers
Presto serves B2B partners like Hertz, Avis, and Uber, offering a unified app and API for seamless EV charging. Their bottom-up approach won customer trust by delivering exceptional UX and fast support.
3. Tech & Impact
Presto acts like "Stripe for EV charging," using data and machine learning to recommend reliable stations. Their system supports dynamic pricing and grid integration to drive long-term charging infrastructure growth.
4. Founder Journey
Ashwin encourages aspiring founders to “just do it,” with eyes wide open and a partner they trust. He stresses building in a sector you love, even if the leap from corporate life feels uncertain.
5. Routines & Resources
To stay focused, Ashwin prioritizes recharge time with family and biking, emphasizing deliberate rest. He recommends books like Fall in Love with the Problem and Delivering Happiness for aspiring entrepreneurs.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Ashwin Dias - https://www.linkedin.com/in/diasashwin
Presto Charging - https://www.prestocharging.com
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🙏 SHOUT OUTS:
Please give Ashwin and Presto a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
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📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Cambium is on a mission to build better supply chains for the timber industry.
Through their operating system, Traece, they make it easy to source sustainable and local Carbon Smart Wood™ from fallen trees at large scales.
They’ve won awards, including Fast Company’s “Most Innovative” and TIME’s Best Invention 2024.
Before Cambium, Ben worked at Sandia National Laboratories and Global Hydrologic Solutions. He is also a Forbes 30 under 30 and NOLS-certified Wilderness First Responder.
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✅ Here are 6 topics we covered in the podcast:
1. Founder Origins
Ben traces his passion for forestry to his childhood in rural New Mexico. He combined that love with advanced studies at Yale, shaping Cambium’s mission.
2. Massive Market Opportunity
Global wood demand will triple by 2050, yet half of U.S. needs could come from salvaged timber. Cambium’s platform unlocks this potential through streamlined sourcing.
3. How Cambium Works
By connecting tree-care services, sawmills, and manufacturers, they reduce waste and shorten procurement cycles. Major buyers include furniture, millwork, and mass timber firms.
4. Leadership and Culture
Ben’s leadership style reflects lessons from backcountry guiding, where proactive teamwork can prevent crises. He also applies extreme ownership principles, ensuring accountability for missed goals.
5. Scaling with Intention
Cambium is expanding its team across forestry, tech, and sales, seeking low-ego, high-impact talent. Ben emphasizes adaptability and shared values over industry-specific experience.
6. Staying Grounded
Ben stays focused with daily checklists, intentional routines, and physical play like soccer. He recommends The Hard Thing About Hard Things and Deep Survival for fellow builders.
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🙏 SHOUT OUTS:
Please give Ben and Cambium some love by sharing this podcast with your people on LinkedIn, Slack, or X.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Ben Christensen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/btchr
Cambium - https://cambiumcarbon.com
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📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Activate helps scientists and engineers bring their transformative technologies to life.
Through a two-year paid fellowship, these science entrepreneurs receive the support they need to turn their ideas into hard-tech startups.
Fellows work on climate solutions, advanced manufacturing and robotics, new uses of chemistry and materials, reimagined food and agriculture, space innovations, and more.
As a nonprofit organization, Activate partners with philanthropies, universities, government programs, the corporate sector, and VC investors to help fellows bridge the gap from lab to commercialization — all without taking any equity in their startups.
Cyrus Wadia is the CEO of Activate.
He was previously director of worldwide product sustainability at Amazon, vice president of sustainable business & innovation at Nike, and assistant director of clean energy and materials R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Cyrus was also a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, a senior program officer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the founding co-director of the Haas School of Business CleanTech to Market initiative.
He holds a Ph.D. in energy and resources from UC Berkeley and an M.S. in chemical engineering from MIT.
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✅ PODCAST TOPICS:Activate has supported 249 fellows, catalyzed $3.6 billion, and helped launch 197 startups.
Fellows receive a salary and a $100,000 recoverable grant to develop deep-tech startups addressing societal challenges, especially in climate.
Technical founders, particularly PhD scientists, face challenges shifting their mindset from research to business objectives.
They must quickly learn skills like hiring, culture-building, fundraising, and balancing technical tasks with managing a business.
Cyrus emphasizes stronger university collaborations to foster entrepreneurial thinking among scientists and clearer corporate guidance about market needs and significant industry challenges.
This clarity would help Activate choose Fellows aligned with commercial demand.
Activate currently receives around 1,000 high-quality fellowship applications each year but can only support 50 due to limited resources.
Personally, Cyrus advises prioritizing mentorship early in one’s career.
He maintains balance through cycling and clear work-life boundaries. He also recommends Rick Rubin’s book "The Creative Act: A Way of Being" to founders and innovators.
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🙏 SHOUT OUTS:
Please give Cyrus and Activate some love by sharing this podcast with your people on LinkedIn, Slack, or X.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Cyrus Wadia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyruswadia
Activate - https://www.activate.org
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:
We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Alsym is developing a new generation of high-performance, low-cost, non-flammable batteries to help enable a zero-carbon electrified future for all.
Using readily-available materials that are inherently non-toxic, Alsym’s breakthrough battery technology is an alternative to lithium-ion at less than half the cost, with the same performance and with no lithium or cobalt.
Mukesh Chatter is CEO, president and co-founder of Alsym Energy. Previously, he co-founded Nexabit Networks and was CEO until its acquisition by Lucent Technologies, and co-managed NeoNet Capital LLC.
He was named to Red Herring Magazine’s Top 10 Entrepreneurs in 1999, and Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001.
Mukesh received his Master's degree in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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On the personal side:
Chatter was inspired to launch Alsym Energy after his mother’s passing, leading him to focus on solving problems that impact at least a billion people.
His goal was to create an energy storage solution that could bring electricity access to underserved communities while also addressing global industrial decarbonization needs.
In our conversation, he also stressed the importance of thinking non-linearly, embracing pivots, and prioritizing a strong team culture where leadership leads by example.
He highlighted meditation and intentional pauses between tasks as key strategies for maintaining focus and resilience in high-stress environments.
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🙏 Please give Mukesh and Alsym a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
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🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Mukesh - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukesh-chatter-1698478
Alsym Energy - https://www.alsym.com
--
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability.
We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions.
Apply here:https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
--
📣 GET MY NEWSLETTER:
I share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--
✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast.
Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation.
Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
--
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups and executive coaching), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (clean energy investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, and a super humble human being (as evidenced by this long bio).
Amperon is a Houston-based technology company specializing in AI-powered electricity forecasting and analytics solutions. Founded in 2018, Amperon provides high-precision demand, renewable generation, and price forecasts to enhance grid reliability, manage financial risk, and support decarbonization efforts.
Their platform serves a diverse clientele, including utilities, financial traders, and independent power producers, by leveraging advanced AI models and real-time analytics to navigate the complexities of modern energy markets. In October 2023, Amperon raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Energize Capital, underscoring their commitment to innovation in the energy sector.
For almost 20 years, Sean Kelly has been at the forefront of the energy trading industry, working for Tenaska, Lehman, EDF, and E.On. While at EDF, he led the transition of two nuclear plants (Nine Mile and Ginna) into the NYISO market, then led the buildout of E.On’s North American trading desk. Next, he co-founded Bridge Power Consulting and sold it to Albireo Energy in 2019. He co-founded Amperon in 2018.
In this podcast, you’ll learn these takeaways and much more.
- How to utilize AI and machine learning for accurate energy demand and price forecasting
- What is the significance of automatic weighting in analyzing diverse weather data for energy predictions
- Who said this wonderful quote: “I’ll build it if you can sell it”
- How founders should not sell themselves short or sacrifice on their long-term thesis when working with investors
- Why building strong long-term non-transactional relationships with investors and early adopter customer prospects is crucial for company growth
- Why he finds value in books like The Tao of Bill Murray and The Devil in the White City
- How boxing keeps him sane and healthy on the founder journey
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Sean - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-kelly-0792626
Amperon - https://www.amperon.co
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here:https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 GET MY NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups and executive coaching), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (clean energy investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, and a super humble human being (as evidenced by this long bio).
Blue Bear Capital is a venture and early-growth equity fund focused on digital technologies for the energy industry. On their third fund, their companies harness IoT, machine learning, and cyber security across solar, wind, and the broader energy infrastructure.
Ernst Sack is a founding partner at Blue Bear. Previously, he spent nine years at Riverstone, a leading energy private equity firm that has invested over $45B since 2000, and worked on the Mergers & Acquisitions team at Citigroup. He has held board roles for over 15 energy and software companies, including Raptor Maps, Pani, Axiom Cloud, and Shoreline.
In this podcast, you’ll learn these takeaways and much more.
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Ernst - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernst-theodor-sack-056a5211a
Blue Bear Capital - https://bluebearcap.com
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here:https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 GET MY NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups and executive coaching), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (clean energy investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, and a super humble human being (as evidenced by this long bio).
Bellwether is a climate prediction tool that uses AI to analyze Earth observation data and anticipate changes to the planet. It's used by the public and private sectors to help with disaster preparation and recovery.
How Bellwether works:
- Uses simulation techniques to analyze Earth observation data
- Predicts the likelihood of severe weather, like wildfires and floods
- Identifies damage to critical infrastructure after a disaster
- Helps deliver aid more quickly after a disaster
Dr. Sarah Russell is a startup founder, tech executive, and physician working at the intersection of business, planetary health, and machine learning.
In addition to her role as CEO of Bellwether, she is a Managing Director at X, the Moonshot Factory at Alphabet.
Previously, she held leadership roles at Venrock, the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, and Google, applying her expertise in healthcare, technology, and regulatory strategy.
In addition to her entrepreneurial and executive pursuits, she serves as an Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she remains dedicated to mentoring and advancing innovation in medicine and sustainability.
Here are some topics we covered:
- How to navigate personal growth and identity shifts after selling a business
- What is the significance of absolute risk scores in disaster preparedness and how they differ from relative risk scores
- Why AI models are advantageous over traditional physics-based models in climate and weather event predictions
- When to consider expanding a business model to offer comprehensive solutions, including vertical integration and AI-enabled services
- How to maintain focus and remember that just because you can doesn’t mean you should
- Why you should surround yourself with people way smarter than you and do the ego work to deal with that reality
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Sarah - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahrussellmd
Bellwether - https://x.company/projects/bellwether
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here:https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups and executive coaching), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (clean energy investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, and super humble human being (as evidenced by this long bio).
SolaREIT, established in 2020, specializes in providing flexible capital solutions for solar and battery energy storage real estate. By partnering with developers and landowners, SolaREIT facilitates the monetization of land assets through land purchases, lease prepayments, and land loans. Their streamlined approach and competitive pricing have enabled capital deployment for projects across 19 states, contributing to over $3.5 billion in solar and battery storage developments.
Laura Pagliarulo is the Co-founder and CEO of SolaREIT, bringing over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy sector. Before founding SolaREIT in July 2020, she served as Managing Director at CleanChoice Energy, where she led initiatives to expand access to clean energy solutions. Her extensive background also includes leadership roles at SunEdison and WGL Energy, where she focused on community solar and distributed generation projects.
Here are some key takeaways:
- How to optimize capital efficiency in solar and battery storage projects by leveraging innovative land acquisition strategies
- How they decide to structure their investment based on landowner and project owner perspectives
- Why the solar and battery storage industry demonstrates resilience and adaptability amidst legislative changes and market fluctuations
- When to consider long-term commitments within a company to fully understand its operations and foster personal growth
- How to maintain health and focus through personal habits such as outdoor exercise, mindful presence, and balanced technology use
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
SolarREIT: https://www.solareit.com
Laura's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-pagliarulo-4934aa5
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here:https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups and executive coaching), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (clean energy investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, and super humble human being (as evidenced by this long bio).
Optera provides a SaaS platform and consulting services to help enterprises manage carbon emissions, focusing on Scope 3 emissions. Their platform integrates operational and supply chain data to calculate and track emissions, helping clients to align with science-based targets, comply with regulations, and improve sustainability strategies. Optera supports auto, tech, and retail industries in decarbonizing their value chains and meeting emerging climate disclosure requirements.
Tim Weiss, co-founder of Optera, has extensive experience in renewable energy and emissions management. He has led initiatives in scaling solar technology in sub-Saharan Africa and now focuses on advancing enterprise-level decarbonization solutions through innovative SaaS and consulting models.
Here are six topics we covered:
Scope 3 Challenges: Managing Scope 3 emissions requires collaboration with suppliers and collecting primary data to address the largest and most complex portion of a company’s carbon footprint.
Optera’s SaaS Approach: Optera combines emissions tracking software with consulting expertise, offering tailored solutions for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
Benchmarking Value: Understanding performance relative to peers and industry standards is crucial for strategic decarbonization and regulatory compliance.
Regulations and Standards: New climate regulations, such as CBAM and California’s disclosure laws, are driving companies to adopt science-based targets and renewable energy strategies.
Climate Tech Resilience: Despite political shifts, the climate tech sector continues to grow, bolstered by mature technologies and strong market demand.
Leadership and Mindfulness: Tim emphasizes the importance of calculated risks, mindfulness practices, and outdoor activities to maintain balance as a leader.
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Optera Website: https://opteraclimate.com
Tim Weiss LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tim-weiss-123b5b1b
Book: The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/15-Commitments-Conscious-Leadership-Sustainable-ebook/dp/B00R3MHWUE
Podcast: People I Mostly Admire: https://freakonomics.com/series/people-i-mostly-admire/
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here:https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year.https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions:https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, and occasional monk.
Mark1 is a public benefit corporation focused on accelerating the commercialization of emerging industrial technologies and climate solutions. Being spun out of Deep Science Ventures and the Rocky Mountain Institute, Mark1 offers early-stage project development support, front-end planning, and catalytic capital for innovative companies. By bridging the gap between technology development and project development, they help startups navigate the complexities of project financing, off-take agreements, and regulatory processes.
Julian Ryba-White, Co-Founder and CEO of Mark1, was previously a Principal at Nokomis Energy, Senior Director of TenK Solar, and Manager at SolarCity
Here are five takeaways.
Bridging the commercialization gap: Julian explains the unique challenges companies face when transitioning from technology development to project deployment and how Mark1 supports this process through expertise and resources. Adoption readiness levels: Mark1 introduces the concept of “adoption readiness levels” from the DOE to measure project viability and prepare companies for scaling. Catalytic capital: Julian details their funding approach, targeting deployment of $300,000 to $500,000 for early development costs to de-risk development with a return model tied to project milestones to align incentives. Holistic project development: Mark1’s bespoke program identifies gaps in technology, finance, and equity, providing tailored support through a co-development agreement. Career advice for emerging professionals: Julian emphasizes the importance of patience, family time, and human connection in balancing personal and professional growth.
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Company Website: https://www.mark1.build
Julian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-ryba-white-1999628
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Prelude Ventures is a climate tech investment firm focusing on early-stage startups. They invest primarily in seed and Series A rounds, supporting founders with innovative technologies addressing climate challenges. They began in 2009 and have about $2 billion under management.
Matt Eggers, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures, has a wealth of experience in climate tech investing and manufacturing. Plus, he serves on one of our boards at Duke University, the EDGE Center at our Fuqua School of Business, so you know he can pick great teams! Prior roles include Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures and operational roles at Sunrun, Tesla, Genentech, and Bloom Energy.
Here are four topics we covered:
- Climate Tech Investment Strategy: Prelude focuses on strong teams, scalable technologies, and significant markets for venture-backed growth. A great team can overcome deficiencies in technology or business models and drive a startup's success.
- Creative Financing Solutions: Examples of combining venture capital, grants, and equipment financing for first-of-a-kind manufacturing facilities like Lux Wall.
- Biogenic Carbon Capture: Insights into innovative approaches like Graphyte and Vaulted Deep, which address both carbon removal and waste management.
- Personal Habits for Leaders: Matt highlights outdoor activities, meditation, and self-reflection as critical practices for mental well-being and leadership focus.
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Company Website: https://www.preludeventures.com
Matt Eggers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eggersmatt
Lux Wall: https://luxwall.com
Graphyte: https://www.graphyte.com
Vaulted Deep: https://www.vaulteddeep.com
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
SparkMeter offers grid-management solutions that enable utilities worldwide to run profitable, efficient, and reliable systems. Their investors include mutual friends at Clean Energy Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Elemental Impact.
Dan’s prior experience includes work at DNV GL and a PhD in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How an 8th-grade science project and a trip to Haiti laid the foundation for this company
- Why they chose to build solutions involving hardware, software, and communications instead of just one or two of those pieces
- How their structured customer discovery channeled 75 utility executive interviews into the formation of their new product offering
- Why we shouldn’t wait for a crisis to start building health relationships with mindfulness and therapy tools like IFS
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
SparkMeter -https://www.sparkmeter.io
Dan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-schnitzer-600934bb/
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist (book) - https://shorturl.at/EYrJp
Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead (book) - https://shorturl.at/hlgO9
The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win (book) - https://shorturl.at/2ZVRZ
High Output Management (book) - https://shorturl.at/wvZjo
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Aeorshield is unlocking the next generation of energy-efficient windows. They do this by developing the world’s most transparent silica aerogel inserts for windows, reducing energy loss through windows by 50%.
Elise’s prior experience includes roles at Johnson Controls, Activate, and a PhD from MIT where the research on aerogels all began.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How windows lead to 35% of energy loss in buildings
- How they’re using $25M in funding to expand beyond their pilot facility and scale up next year
- How to make this super-insulating material called aeroseal, aka frozen smoke
- Why you should ignore criticism from people from whom you wouldn’t proactively seek advice
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Aeroshield - https://www.aeroshield.tech
Elise - https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-strobach
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. (book) - https://shorturl.at/BgAZB
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience (Book) - https://shorturl.at/tu9dV
People’s History of the United States (book) - https://shorturl.at/wAVqu
Nature (PBS series) - https://www.pbs.org/show/nature
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Skyven is an industrial decarbonization company that designs, funds, installs, and maintains a unique steam-generating heat pump with zero downtime and no CapEx cost to customers. They have hundreds of millions of dollars of financing available.
As the founder and CEO, Arun is a mission-driven PhD engineer-turned-entrepreneur with prior roles at Texas Instruments and Metronics.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- Why they're well positioned to serve the trillion-dollar global industry process heat market
- How they price steam contracts with customers in chemicals, pulp and paper, food and beverage, ethanol, textiles, and metals
- Why building for the end goal today is a bad idea, and what you should do instead
- How screaming at the top of your lungs while cycling can help manage the roller coaster of entrepreneurship
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Skyven - https://skyven.co
Arun - https://www.linkedin.com/in/arung12
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Kita is a carbon insurance specialist bridging the insurance and carbon markets. Their insurance products act as a stamp of confidence and safeguard against loss. Their insurance claims can be paid in cash or in replacement carbon credits, providing flexibility for clients' individual risk appetites and carbon strategies.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- The relationship between billion-dollar transactions and rigorous insurance products
- The difference between counterparty, political, method, and natural catastrophes risks, and when Kita choose to insure against them
- The voluntary carbon market players they rely on to certify whether a carbon project has met its goals, or whether an insurance event is triggered
- Why she chose to do a year-long “maternity sabbatical” after each of her children was born, and what it did for her thoughts on work
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Kita - https://www.kita.earth
Natalia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-dorfman
The Magic of Thinking Big (book) - https://shorturl.at/Ucoxn
Size of carbon market in 2030 (six estimates) - https://shorturl.at/WMTV3
Matilda the Musical (movie) - https://www.netflix.com/title/80993016
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
I share lessons learned from working with 300 climate tech CEOs and investors, meditating for 25 years, teaching 90,000 students, and reading 50 books per year. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
SER Capital Partners is a middle-market private equity investment firm dedicated to North American industrial sustainability. They manage $500M in equity, plus opportunities to harness debt for the right projects. Typical investments range from $50-$150M per company.
In addition to his role at SER, Rahul is a former private equity investor at Energy Capital Partners and a Board member at Sunnova, NextLight, FirsLlight, Sungevity, and growth-stage cleantech companies.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How they pick the right companies to invest in
- Their perspective on ESG and how it adds financial value to their portfolio companies
- How they select the right management team, and what it means to be pulled vs. to push
- Why he practice Transcendental Meditation 5x per week and tries to bring a gift to every personal encounter
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
SER Capital - https://sercapitalpartners.com
Rahul - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-advani-3a711a
Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation: How Silicon Valley Will Make Oil, Nuclear, Natural Gas, Coal, Electric Utilities and Conventional Cars Obsolete by 2030 (book) - https://shorturl.at/KjlbJ
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (book) - https://shorturl.at/iihRd
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 100 CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Inspired by lessons I've learned from 300+ climate tech CEOs and investors, it's a quick read about climate tech startups, investment, wisdom, and a little humor. Join over 20,000 who get it. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the CEO of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
In this unusual episode, I do my best to go meta, above our normal climate tech challenges and opportunities, to the science and mindset of gratitude.
Does a greater appreciation for what we have mean nothing bad is happening out there?
Not at all.
But building climate tech solutions is not a spring. It's a marathon. Or maybe both.
As such, we need all the non-work tools in our toolbelt to maintain our energy, health, and focus along the journey.
In seven short minutes, I walk through five science-based benefits of gratitude and four practical ways to practice it in a few minutes each day.
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $50B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
e-Zinc produces zinc-based long-duration energy storage technology with discharge durations between 10 and 100 hours. They have raised over $100M in funding and are building their first three commercial pilots.
In addition to his role at e-Zinc, James is a Board Director of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council (LDESC) and Energy Storage Canada (ESC), as well as a former Manager at Bain and MaRS.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How the long-duration energy storage sector is poised to become a $4T market by 2040
- Why he’s going to market with a “resilience as a service” business model
- Why it’s essential to convert sustainability technology from cost centers into revenue centers
- What Vipassana meditation is, and why he starts his morning with it
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
James - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesflarsen?originalSubdomain=ca
eZinc - https://www.e-zinc.ca/
Bhagavad Gita (book) - https://shorturl.at/M73By
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (book) - https://shorturl.at/YIATK
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Coreshell can reduce the cost of batteries by roughly 25% and improve drive range by about 40% by producing metallurgical silicon anodes to replace graphite. Their collaborators include some of the biggest names in the automotive industry and the largest merchant producer of silicon metal in the Western world.
Jonathan is a UC Berkeley graduate in chemical engineering with 12 years of prior experience at New Logic Research as well as Membrane Technolgy and Research. He’s also a Climate CEO Fellow with us at EFI.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How they raised 10% of the capital of peers to reach the same milestones
- Why their metallurgical silicon anode can be 20x more cost-efficient than today’s current lithium-ion battery technology
- How he reduces stress by facing mortality in safe but adventurous rock climbing
- Why we should focus on process vs. outcomes, and how this relates to the difference between pain vs. suffering
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Coreshell - https://www.coreshell.com/
Jonathan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-tan-coreshell
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $50B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Spring Lane Capital is a private equity firm specializing in providing hybrid project capital for sustainable infrastructure and energy projects.
DevEngine Partners partners with project developers by providing development capital and hands-on development support to de-risk sustainable infrastructure projects.
CREO is a "secret club for billionaires" that connects ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices to investment opportunities in sustainability and clean energy.
In addition to co-leading these two organizations, Jason has extensive experience in sustainable finance, including roles at Renewable Resource Group, Acumen Fund, Generation Investment Management, and Encourage Capital.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- Why he likes to invest in both corporate and project finance at the same company
- What “venture infrastructure” means as a climate finance niche
- The importance of relationships vs. transactions
- How he learns to balance in life by surfing in the ocean
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Jason - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonascott/
CREO - https://www.creosyndicate.org/
DevEngine Partners - https://www.devengine.dev/
Spring Lane - https://springlanecapital.com/
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Javelin Capital is an investment and merchant banking firm focused on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising in the renewable energy, energy storage, and green chemistry sectors.
Jason brings 15 years of experience in cleantech finance and entrepreneurship, plus prior executive roles at Goldman Sachs and Citi.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How they serve green electron and green molecule companies with financial transactions ranging from $30M to $750M
- What merchant banking means and why they provide it
- The importance of not being all things to all people
- The difference between designing a life and building a career
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Javelin Capital - https://www.jav-cap.com
Jason - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsegal
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
HData provides software solutions that streamline regulatory reporting and data management for the energy industry, focusing on utilities and regulatory bodies. They are a Techstars startup with two rounds of VC funding.
Before HData, Hudson served as an attorney and advisor at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), advocating for data transparency in financial and regulatory disclosures. He also founded the Data Coalition, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing data transparency in government. He is widely recognized for promoting open data standards and leveraging technology to improve regulatory compliance and efficiency.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
- How they turn unstructured energy regulatory data into business intelligence
- The benefits of SAFE vs. convertible notes for founders
- Why most crises are not existential threats
- His recovery from alcoholism and what it means for his company culture
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
HData - https://www.hdata.us/
Hudson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hudsonhollister/
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Plentify is a smart energy company that makes affordable, reliable, and clean electricity a reality for all. Their current focus is on the demand-side management of water heaters to create virtual power plants.
Jon is the former head of clean energy for Google across Africa and a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company and South Pole Carbon Asset Management.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How smarter water heaters can reduce energy storage costs by 75%
- Why their capital raise was hardest in the easiest market (a few years back) and easiest in the toughest market (today)
- What “presencing” is and how to use it to grow your business
- Why he loves this quote: “Opportunities Multiply as They Are Seized”
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Plentify - https://plentify.io
Jon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-kornik-66b9b410
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Atmos is a climate fintech company offering savings and checking accounts to help fund the clean energy transition.
Ravi is a 25-year veteran of the clean energy industry, material science engineer, and serial entrepreneur.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- Why the $6 trillion mandate means that every lender should be a climate lender
- How they’ve crafted financial products to move tens of millions of dollars into clean energy installations
- How he almost got diabetes from working too much on his business
- What he means by "experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Atmos - https://www.joinatmos.com
Ravi - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimikkelsen
Huberman Lab podcast - https://www.hubermanlab.com/podcast
Tim Ferriss podcast - https://tim.blog/podcast
Peter Attia’s Drive podcast - https://peterattiamd.com/podcast
Canary Media podcast - https://www.canarymedia.com/podcasts
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (book) - https://shorturl.at/df2u5
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 90+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
G2 is a growth stage VC investor with $1B in assets under management and 30 portfolio companies. They invest $15-50M into companies at inflection points generating at least $10M in revenue. Their focus is the nexus of sustainable technology and traditional industries.
Brook has over two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, executive, and investor. Before G2, he spent ten years at Kleiner Perkins where he co-managed the $1B Green Growth Fund as a Senior Partner.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- What his top two picks are for gaps in the climate venture funding lifecycle
- How they build long-term relationships before investing
- Why companies often die of indigestion not starvation
- What L-theanine can do for sleep and dreams
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
G2 - https://g2vp.com
Brook - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookporter
Turo - https://turo.com
Pivot Bio - https://www.pivotbio.com
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. - https://shorturl.at/AHTbp
Speed & Scale - https://speedandscale.com
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman - https://shorturl.at/rujjd
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 90+ Climate CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Avalanche is developing the world's first fusion microreactor, and it has $45M of investor backing from our friends at Congruent Ventures, Grantham, and Climate Capital.
Brian has one of the more entertaining bios in climate tech. Here are snippets and a link: https://avalanchefusion.com/about/team/brian-riordan.
He’s an engineer hardwired to be “all-in”; he no dimmer switch and always chooses the red pill; wine-making, leather & wood workin’, campin’, bee keepin’, farmin’, salt-water lovin’ father to four awesome kids who think he’s an invulnerable jungle gym.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How they are reducing cost and regulatory hurdles often associated with conventional nuclear fission power
- The scale-up risks they avoid by building small
- The difference in transactional vs. authentic relationships
- Why you must get destroyed in the gym for mental health
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Avalanche - https://avalanchefusion.com
Brian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-riordan-a7883b11
The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything - https://shorturl.at/07HO0
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable - https://shorturl.at/wsMIm
Building Brand Authenticity: 7 Habits of Iconic Brands - https://shorturl.at/GuIV1
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
EnergyX is a direct lithium extraction company with $100M of investment, including about $50M from retail investors. Its 100 team members are advancing its new membrane, solvent, and adsorbents to boost the efficiency of extracting lithium from underground salt water.
Teague is a serial entrepreneur whose first success was launching a record label at age 20 and taking an artist to #1 in the iTunes hip hop charts. (That’s a first for a guest on the EFI podcast!)
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- The severe limitations of conventional lithium mining, such as 35% extraction efficiency and an 18-month wait time
- Why they are building two lithium extraction plants at the same time
- How he acquired the company’s foundational technology for $10,000
- Why he believes humans will live to be 140 years old in the near future
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Teague - https://www.linkedin.com/in/teagueegan
EnergyX - https://energyx.com
Elon Musk biography - https://shorturl.at/DkNYU
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
WATTMORE is an energy storage software company providing battery sizing, economic outcome forecasts, battery charging and discharging, and more.
JW is a serial founder and clean power executive (Because Solar, Main Street Power, Clean Energy Collective, SunShare), Vice Chair (Western Caucus) of the Democratic National Committee, Board member of Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, and Board member of SELF (Solar Electric Light Fund).
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- What it means to be a “deal whisperer”
- How his experience developing hundreds of solar projects helps his software company grow
- His five-year vision and recurring revenue contracts of 10 years or more
- What he learned from his mother, who was ordained in the Soto Zen Buddhism tradition
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
WATTMORE - https://www.wattmore.com
JW - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jopostal
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
CleanChoice is a retail power provider and solar project developer and owner. Combined into one, they aim to be a 100% renewable gentailer.
Zoe has experience developing and selling hundreds of megawatts of solar as the former CEO of Pine Gate Renewables and General Counsel at FLS Energy.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How they plan to build 1 GW of solar to meet their customers’ demands
- What hedging efficacy means in deregulated power markets
- Where concentration risk shows up and how they manage it
- Why reading fiction at 5:00 am helps her start the day right
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Zoe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoehanes
CleanChoice Energy - https://cleanchoiceenergy.com
The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have - https://shorturl.at/32xet
The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection - https://shorturl.at/gJZCo
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Today’s podcast is a rebroadcast of one of our most popular episodes ever. Jaqueline van Ende is the CEO of Carbon Equity. They also have some big news...
They’ve raised another €60 million in 4 months for their third climate tech fund. The goal is to raise €125 million in all which will be invested through private equity and venture capital funds in the EU and the US and eventually into at least 150 climate tech companies.
Since its founding in 2021, Carbon Equity has raised over €250 million from more than 900 investors.
To date, the company has invested in 120+ companies through 18 funds, which together, despite being early-stage innovations, already generate more than €1.7 billion in revenue.
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Jacqueline - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlvdende?originalSubdomain=nl
Carbon Equity - https://www.carbonequity.com/
Their white paper - https://www.carbonequity.com/whitepapers/the-climate-tech-opportunity
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 85+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $30B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Montauk Climate is a venture studio that launches and grows startups in the mobility, adaptation, energy, decarbonization, and sustainability sectors.
Evan is a serial founder, power trader, board member, and investor with 20 years in the energy sector, including roles as Head of Venture Investing at Riverstone, a $40B energy investment and infrastructure firm.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How a venture studio works
- How he incentivizes experienced corporate executives to help build and lead the startups they launch
- Why compute is the current of the future, and how AI could be using 10% of global power in the years to come
- Why adaptive insurance using IFTT parametric functions is needed in a future disrupted by climate change
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Montauk Climate - https://montaukclimate.com
Evan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanc1
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
WeWard is an app that rewards users for walking more each day. To date, they have 20 million users walking an extra 24% than before having the app. They provide rewards from corporate partners for hitting certain walking goals, and they’ve generated eight figures in revenue while doing so.
Yves has over 10 years of experience in creating and scaling innovative solutions for physical retail, as well as a background in machine learning, big data, web and mobile development, applied mathematics, and cognitive science, with degrees in entrepreneurship and Silicon Valley innovation from Ecole Polytechnique and UC Berkeley.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How he taught himself behavioral psychology to apply it to his ventures
- What he learned from Pokemon Go to build WeWard
- How they earn revenue from three sources and which is the biggest
- Why they’ve given $1M to charity as a startup themselves
Plus, you'll feel extra cool listening to this one because of his French accent!
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
WeWard - https://www.wewardapp.com
Yves - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvesbenchimol
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products (book) - https://shorturl.at/Worpf
Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion - https://shorturl.at/zpjFx
Lenny’s newsletter (product development) - https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
Duolingo (app to learn new languages) - https://www.duolingo.com
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Liminal uses ultrasound and machine learning to create a new way to inspect battery manufacturing, elevate cell quality, and improve cost and safety. They’ve raised over $35M from investors such as our friends at ArcTern Ventures, EIF, and Northvolt, as well as the federal government, including ARPA-E and NSF.
Andrew brings a PhD and post-doc work at Princeton University to the creation of this venture. He’s also an Active Fellow and Board member, as well as a skilled photographer.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How they sell to customers (it’s not what you think)
- How they generate revenue from three sources of value
- How a random Youtube video about bouncing batteries led to the creation of this technology
- How he reads the late-night scribbles on the notepad by his bed each morning
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Liminal - https://www.liminalinsights.com
Andrew - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-hsieh
Acquired (podcast) - https://www.acquired.fm
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
SolarKal is a curated marketplace and trusted advisor that makes solar installations easy for commercial real estate owners. Their clients represent 100 million square feet of real estate, and their 200 vetted solar installers have generated $1.6 billion in project bids to date. And over 80% of positive ROI solar projects get built.
Yaniv is a mechanical engineer, 2x founder, and MBA from Columbia with over a decade of experience in the solar industry.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How they get paid (it might not be what you think)
- How he bootstrapped the business for years until recently taking private equity investment
- How they built their software and their roadmap going forward
- The origin of their name and how that relates to the reason that clients choose them
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
SolarKal - https://www.solarkal.com
Yaniv - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanivkalish
How I Built This (podcast) - https://www.npr.org/series/490248027/how-i-built-this
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
Avnos provides a Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC) solution that inverts the water paradigm in DAC, producing water (5 tons per ton of carbon captured), eliminating heat consumption, and reducing costs by 50% compared to other forms of DAC.
Will is a serial founder, investor, and board member in climate tech.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How they accessed $100M in capital to grow this company
- How their technology does what seems impossible in the DAC sector
- How they accessed strategic investors and deployment partners on three continents
- Why walking his dog and disengaging the brain produces some of his best business ideas
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Avnos - https://www.avnos.com
Will - https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-kain
Recent $36M Series A capital raise - https://shorturl.at/d17tT
Acquired (podcast) - https://www.acquired.fm
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (book) - https://www.amazon.com/Moneyball-Art-Winning-Unfair-Game/dp/0393324818
Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy - https://shorturl.at/muTC7
Third Derivative (climate tech accelerator) - https://www.third-derivative.org
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
My guest today is Astrid Atkinson, Co-founder and CEO of Camus Energy.
Camus Energy is a VC-backed software company serving power utilities with analytics and forecasting, real-time monitoring, and advanced control for local resources to help decarbonize the grid.
Astrid was a technical writer who worked her way up to become an executive in engineering at Google. She’s also a board member at the Gridwise Alliance and an Aussie who occasionally unveils her delightful accent. In her free time, she likes to find the connections between crocheting, dog training, and growing a world-changing company.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How she shortened the sales cycle of selling into power utilities
- What factors have helped her raise $26M in investor capital
- How the Myth of Sisyphys relates to her company name and the climate change fight
- What she learned from being a Google executive aat a time when the company experienced a one-million-fold load growth
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Camus Energy - https://www.camus.energy
Astrid Atkinson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/astridatkinson
Myth of Sisyphys - https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Sisyphus-Other-Essays/dp/0679733736
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How (book) - https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Code-Greatness-Born-Grown/dp/055380684X
Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule (Paul Graham essay) - https://paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
Man’s Search for Meaning (book) - https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Nigel Broomhall, Co-founder and CEO of Invisible Urban Charging.
Invisible Urban Charging provides electric vehicles as a service, which means they design, install, own, and maintain chargers for investors, fleet managers, and corporates eager to electrify transportation while avoiding the capital expense and uncertainty associated with being a novice in the sector. They’ve signed partnerships with giants like CBRE to install over 1 million chargers.
Nigel brings three decades of experience in power utilities, energy, and banking across multiple continents.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- Why he flew from New Zealand to the US for a 15-minute meeting and how it catapulted his company to faster growth
- Why he focuses on level 2 chargers, not fast chargers
- What he learned from pitching 283 investors
- How aiming for bigger goals is easier than more humble ambitions
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Invisible Urban Charging - https://www.iucharging.com
Nigel Bloomhall - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelbroomhall
Bridgewater Associates - https://www.bridgewater.com
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers - https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205
Elon Musk (biography) - https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982181281
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It - https://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/B07VHQWQ93
Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And the Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time - https://shorturl.at/5CyxU
Open: An Autobiography - https://shorturl.at/Tqhtp
Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way - https://www.amazon.com/Losing-My-Virginity-Survived-Business/dp/0307720748
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike - https://shorturl.at/BifBH
Superhuman (email tool) - https://superhuman.com
Mushroom coffee - https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mushroom-coffee
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 75+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Evgeny Klochikhin, Founder and CEO of Sheeva.ai.
Sheeva.ai is a software and fintech company that enables payments within vehicles, making it easy to “charge and walk.” They are backed by strategic investors in the US, India, Germany, and Japan.
Prior to Sheeva, Evgeny earned a PhD in innovation policy and technology and was a senior data scientist at the American Institutes for Research, a public relations specialist for the European Jewish Congress, and a journalist in Russia.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How a personal pain point was the origin of Sheeva’s creation
- Why they had to pivot and make big changes to their business model
- How they found motivated strategic investors in four countries
- Two traits that make founders unstoppable and how he found them
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Sheeva.ai - Sheeva.ai
Evgeny - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evgeny-klochikhin-30aa714/
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (book) - https://shorturl.at/BSWmz
How to Eat the Rainbow: Tips for a Colorful Diet - https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/eat-the-rainbow
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 75+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
Aether is a molecular assembler platform that can extract lithium from previously inaccessible reserves. It uses robots and machine learning to search among trillions of enzymes for the right fit.
Pavle is a first-time founder and almost college dropout (there’s a story to that!) who’s spent almost seven years building Aether and raising $49M along the way.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How he hopes to make the US the lithium capital of the world
- Which revenue models he’s pursuing with mining partners
- How he’ll use nondilutive funding to scale tech deployment
- Why “I don’t know” is a powerful phrase to build trust
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
Aether - https://www.aetherbio.com
Pavle - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlejeremic
Noahpinions (newsletter) - https://substack.com/@noahpinion
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World - https://shorturl.at/inj
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 75+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
LiquiDonate is a VC-backed software platform that matches and moves reclaimable items (such as online returns and unsold inventory) into the hands of nonprofits who need them, thereby saving retailers millions of dollars and keeping tons of waste out of landfills.
Disney is a social impact innovator who started as employee number 15 at PostMates. She helped grow the company's customer service and Civic Labs divisions and won awards from TIME Magazine and FAST company. She’s also a feminist, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and an animal rights activist working to be a better-practicing ally for marginalized communities.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How online returns and excess inventory cost retailers $800B per year in losses
- Why you should create a Google Doc that tracks your hundreds of small and big wins in career and life
- What it’s like being a queer women CEO raising VC investment capital
- How they designed their product matching algorithm and logistics systems to optimize donations, tax credits, and low operating costs
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
LiquidDonate - https://liquidonate.com
Disney - https://www.linkedin.com/in/disneypetit
The Leading 100 (recognition for LiquiDonate) - https://the-lead.co/the-leading-100
Fast Company (recognition for LiquiDonate) - https://shorturl.at/9EOy7
Ezra Klein podcast - https://shorturl.at/hWJDa
If Books Could Kill podcast - https://shorturl.at/3R5SO
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 75+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
Ample is a new energy delivery solution for electric vehicles. It uses Modular Battery Swapping to deliver 100% charge to any EV in a few minutes. They’re supported with $270M of investment from Shell, Moore Strategic Ventures, and strategic partners in Singapore and Thailand.
John is a serial founder and executive in health, tech, and energy with multiple exits to Fortune 500 companies.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.
- How to get to “yes” with customers by converting a harder capital expense to an easier operating expense
- Why their EV battery solution can be deployed in a whole city within a few weeks at far lower costs than EV fast chargers
- The benefits of saying yes more than no to grow from uncomfortable experiences
- Which two books keep him grounded and mindful as a leader
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 75+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://shorturl.at/ouS19
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
John de Souza - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndesouza1
Ample - https://ample.com
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals - https://shorturl.at/negpn
The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan - https://shorturl.at/nBK7W
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World - https://shorturl.at/EStK5
Beginner’s mind ("shoshin" in Japanese) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshin
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:
Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 75+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:
Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:
To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: https://shorturl.at/ouS19
🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:
JFK’s 1962 speech on choosing to do hard things - https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/rice-university-19620912
26 online climate startup communities to join - https://www.climatefinance.xyz/climate-slack-communities
Top 100 CDR startups (from XPRIZE) - https://shorturl.at/5UaZu
Mooji (a Jamaican-born street artist, Christian mystic, and chai shop owner who became a teacher of the wisdom of India’s sages - https://mooji.org
🤔 PODCAST HOST:
Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Mark Bruinooge, CIO of 2040 Fund.
2040 Fund manages philanthropic capital for the 2040 Foundation and its founder, Jay Faison. Investments include private and publicly listed securities focused on climate adaptation and resilience. The 2040 Fund The Fund focuses on water systems and technology, the future of food, and energy transition. They plan to spend down all of its assets by the year 2040 maximizing impact in the near term.
Mark is also a board member at PosiGen, investment committe member at Upwell Water, and former SVP at Bank of America.
--
🌐 LINKS:
Mark - https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbruinooge
Upwell Water - https://www.water.llc
Congruent Ventures - https://www.congruentvc.com
First Street Foundation - https://firststreet.org
Elemental Excelerator - https://elementalexcelerator.com
Trellis Climate - https://www.primecoalition.org/programs/trellis-climate
Slow Productivity - https://calnewport.com/my-new-book-slow-productivity
Sloww - https://www.sloww.co
The Billionaire Who Wasn't - https://www.amazon.com/Billionaire-Who-Wasnt-Secretly-Fortune/dp/1610393341
Hydrow -https://hydrow.com
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player. It means a lot, and I read every single one. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
Also please give Mark and 2040 Fund a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
Our three-minute newsletter about changing the world through startups, finance, wisdom, and humor. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
North America's largest peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech: Grow faster by learning from other CEOs. But don't be so lonely at the top, or burn out along the way. https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a serial founder, Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Omeed Badkoobeh, co-founder and CEO of Yotta Energy.
Yotta Energy is a VC-backed distributed energy company based in Austin, Texas. They provide solar panel-level energy storage and microinverters for the commercial and industrial sectors.
Prior to Yotta, Omeed worked in sales and business development for Tesla, Evoke Electric Motorcycles, and Build NATiVE. Other fun experiences include organizing Lego robotics competitions for budding STEM youth in China.
--
🌐 LINKS:
Yotta Energy:https://www.yottaenergy.com
Omeed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omeed-badkoobeh
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player. It means a lot, and I read every single one. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
Also please give Omeed and Yotta Energy a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
Our three-minute newsletter about changing the world through startups, finance, wisdom, and humor. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
North America's largest peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech: Grow faster by learning from other CEOs. But don't be so lonely at the top, or burn out along the way. https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a serial founder, Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Mike Jackson, Managing Partner of Earthshot Ventures.
Earthshot is an early-stage venture capital firm backing entrepreneurs making a dent in climate change. Their team has collectively invested in 200+ startups over the last fourteen years.
Mike is an investor, entrepreneur, board member, and advisor to companies in clean energy, food & agriculture, buildings, and mobility sectors. He is formerly an Investor in Residence at Elemental Excelerator and Developer in Residence at Generate Capital.
--
🌐 LINKS:
Earthshot Ventures - https://www.earthshot.vc
Mike - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-jackson-vc
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player. It means a lot, and I read every single one. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
Also please give Mike and Earthshot a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
Our three-minute newsletter about changing the world through startups, finance, wisdom, and humor. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
North America's largest peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech: Grow faster by learning from other CEOs. But don't be so lonely at the top, or burn out along the way. https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a serial founder, Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Joshua Goldberg, cofounder and CEO of Sunstone Credit.
Sunstone Credit provides flexible financing solutions for commercial solar loans with activity in 30 states and 400+ solar partners.
Joshua is also a former cofounder and executive at Sunlight Financial, Astrum Solar, and Legends of Learning.
--
🌐 LINKS:
Sunstone Credit - https://www.sunstonecredit.com/
Joshua - https://www.sunstonecredit.com
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Their $1B in loan applications. $21M in corporate capital raised. Why solar leases are stupid. How solar is sold at the kitchen table. Their activity in the $40k to $5M solar size range. The speed of their loan process averaging just 1-4 weeks.
And lots more!
Please give Joshua and Sunstone Credit a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or X by sharing this podcast with your people.
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
It means a lot, and I read every one.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Tim Boeltken, Founder and Managing Director of INERATEC.
INERATEC is an e-Fuel company based in Germany that recently raised $129M to transform 1 GW of renewable energy into 125 million gallons of sustainable e-Fuel by 2030.
Tim brings a PhD in chemical engineering and nine years of dedication to building INERATEC.
Hope you enjoy it!
🌐 LINKS:
INERATEC:
https://www.ineratec.de/en
Tim:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-boeltken/?locale=en_US
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
How their total addressable market is $14T (with a “T”) with use cases in aviation, shipping, and heavy-duty transport. Their BOO model to build, own, and operate e-Fuel plants. The science of making e-Fuels. Why he’s not in the 5 AM club. Their global expansion plans. How his founding team has stayed together for so many years. What makes German engineers cry.
And lots more!
Please give Tim and INERATEC a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
It means a lot, and I read every one.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Bill Liao, General Partner at SOSV and Chairman at Ki Tua Fund.
Bill is a rare kind of guy, in the best way. He’s a thoughtful and prolific investor, recognized as one of the Top 100 minority ethnic leaders in technology by the Financial Times, as well as the kind of person who refused to fly in an airplane until his nonprofit, WeForest, planted 100 million trees.
SOSV is a venture capital firm that provides pre-seed, seed, venture, and growth stage funding to 1,000s of startups in the technology sector, with a focus on deep tech for human and planetary health.
Ki Tua Fund is a growth-stage corporate VC firm focused on food and medicine.
Hope you enjoy it!
🌐 LINKS:
Bill:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billliao/?originalSubdomain=ie
SOSV:
https://sosv.com/
Ki Tua Fund:
https://www.kituafund.com/global/en.html
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
What the Founder Pledge is, and why he signed it. Insights from two startups he cofounded with billion-dollar IPOs. Why good advice is based on expensive experiences that didn’t go as planned. How doubt is a powerful driver for the scientific method. The power of humility. A coaching session for me on purpose. The business benefits of neural diversity. Why a one-person cap table is a red flag. Philosophy books that shaped his thinking. And lots more!
Please give Bill, SOSV, and Ki Tua Fund a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
It means a lot, and I read every one.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Alex Rappaport, CEO and Cofounder of ZwitterCo.
ZwitterCo is a VC-backed water tech company that uses zwitterionic chemistry (yes, that’s a real term) and extremely fouling-resistant membranes to reduce industrial water use, save energy, and reduce chemical inputs.
Alex turned a startup bootcamp during his M.S. at Tufts University into an award-winning business and the largest Series A investment in water tech to date.
Hope you enjoy it!
Share this podcast with your people to give Duncan and Highland a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter.
🌐 LINKS:
ZwitterCo:
https://zwitterco.com/
Alex:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-rappaport/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
How ⅔ of the world is projected to be experiencing water shortages by 2025. Why water costs are rising faster than we think. His near-death experiences with water. How their filters don’t clog even in very dirty industrial environments. Tips on telling your company store more effectively. The link between water security and climate resilience.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
It means a lot, and I read every one.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Duncan McIntyre, CEO of Highland.
Highland brings a turnkey solution to make EV fleet adoption simple, reliable, and cost-effective for school buses and other fleets.
Duncan sold his previous company in energy and emissions management for $100M.
Hope you enjoy it!
Share this podcast with your people to give Duncan and Highland a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter.
🌐 LINKS:
Highland – https://highlandfleets.com/Duncan – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dumcintyre/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
How to convert CapEx to OpEx to make it easier for customers to say yes. What it takes to raise $250M in private equity funding from smart investor friends of mine like Vision Ridge. The value of performance guarantees to reduce customer risks. How they reduce life cycle costs for city fleets. Why it’s good to expect tough times. His routine of organic farming even in cold New England mornings before the sun comes up.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
It means a lot, and I read every one.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Rohan Puri, CEO of Stable.
Stable maximizes EV charging station ROI with strategic placement and pricing solutions.
Rohan brings experience from MIT, Harvard, and TechStars. Hope you enjoy it!
And give Rohan and Stable a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
🌐 LINKS:
Stable – https://stable.auto/Rohan – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohanspuri/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
How 70% of EV fast chargers are underperforming financially. Why static pricing at EV charging stations makes no sense. How 15% vs. 5% should inform ideal charging goals for chargers. Their AI tool for optimizing charger location for quicker paybacks to investors. Deliberately keeping their team small. Why you shouldn’t sell software to software companies. Relentless focus.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
It really means a lot, and I read every one.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Mike Hall, CEO of Anza Renewables.
Anza is a solar module and battery storage procurement platform that helps developers and project owners see more options in less time to increase project profits and productivity.
Mike is a long-time solar industry veteran with 20+ years of experience, including ex-CEO of Borrego and Board member of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Mike and Anza a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
🌐 LINKS:
Anza Renewables – https://www.anzarenewables.com/Mike Hall – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-hall-b281615/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
What he’s learned as the solar sector has grown 500x since he got involved. How their platform is saving 100s of customers millions of dollars and moving gigawatts of product into high high-quality projects. Why economies of scale procurement contracts don’t always lead to cost savings. The path to founder happiness without reaching unicorn status. How ultimate frisbee and Buddhism keep him calm and centered as a leader.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Dr. Gilwoo Lee, Founder and CEO of Zordi.
Zordi is a VC-backed agricultural platform blending Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and machine learning to reshape and enhance sustainable greenhouse farming.
Gilwoo is a PhD in AI with experience at Facebook, Dreamworks, and Michigan Venture Capital.
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Gilwoo and Zordi a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
🌐 LINKS:
Zordi – https://www.zordi.com/Gilwoo Lee – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilwoo-lee-581a13199/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Why Kholsa Ventures invested in them. Mainstreaming climate tech solutions by selling on non-climate consumer benefits. Their expansion plans into new crops, business models, and geographies. The role of computer vision and machine learning. How her robots measure pests, plant health, and growth rates to optimize yields. Why she gets up at 5 am. Which billionaires inspire her to be more focused and ambitious.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Amit Gupta, CEO of Aeroseal.
Aeroseal is a cleantech company – with $100M of investor capital raised to date – focused on increasing building efficiency by reducing HVAC losses in the duct system and leaks in the building envelope using patented technologies.
Amit is a mechanical engineer with experience at Tata Motors, Carrier, and 75F, as well as CEO of Aeroseal since its founding in 2010.
🌐 LINKS:
Aeroseal – https://aeroseal.comAmit Gupta – https://www.linkedin.com/in/amit-gupta-36abb0/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
40% of global greenhouse gas emissions tied to buildings. 50% of those emissions linked to HVAC use. Their “fix a flat” tagline for leaking buildings. Why their solution is as “safe as bubble gum.” The 40 years of lab testing for their technology and incubation at Carrier. Their changing business model from just selling machines to leasing and software. Why they raised capital after ten years of high-margin operations. His desire to be more courageous, to lead like his “hair was on fire.” The role of meditation in his growth. The need to manage energy better than we manage time.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Zach Jones, cofounder and CEO of C-Zero.
C-Zero converts natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon. The hydrogen provides clean, low-cost energy on demand, while the carbon can be permanently sequestered. Investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, SK Gas, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Engie.
Zach is biomedical engineer-turned-CEO with experience at The Economist, Beryllium Capital, EconoMEDics, and East Meets West Foundation.
🌐 LINKS:
C-Zero – https://www.czero.energy/Zach Jones – https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachjones06/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Why natural gas is thermodynamically clean given its high hydrogen content. Why big energy companies are motivated investors in his venture, where a scaled up plant could cost $500M. The power of extreme focus. The top three things a CEO must do well. How to think about upstream methane emissions. How to crack natural gas without electricity. The need to be a skeptical optimist. Impacts of the federal 45V incentive.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Matt Ellis, CEO of Measurabl.
Measurabl is the ESG platform built for real estate to measure, manage, disclose, and act on ESG data. Their 200+ employees serve clients representing 17 billion square feet of real estate and $2T of value in 93 countries.
Matt is the former Director of Sustainability Solutions at CBRE, a Fortune 500 company and global leader in commercial real estate services and investments with around 3 billion square feet under management. His new book is: From Green to ESG: How Data-Driven Transparency Changed Real Estate for Good.
🌐 LINKS:
Measurabl – https://www.measurabl.com
Matt – https://www.linkedin.com/in/measurabl
Matt’s book, Green to ESG – https://www.amazon.com/Green-ESG-Data-Driven-Transparency-Changed/dp/B09TZ9BSCN
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Why his private equity, asset manager, and REIT customers use his software. How he prices his products. His data partnership with the FTSE index, which is moving billions of dollars into green real estate. The pains of customer price discovery. Why self advocacy matters. How he balances strategic and VC investors. Future consolidation in this industry.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Aaron Luque, Cofounder and CEO at EnviroSpark.
EnviroSpark is a leading installer of EV charging stations and delivers a fully customizable solution at little to no cost for property owners. With a team of over 130 people and thousands of stations installed, they are on a mission to raise awareness of the benefits of electric vehicles
Aaron is a serial environmental entrepreneur, based in Atlanta, Georgia, who conceived of the idea for EnviroSpark during a round-the-world travel adventure to 20 countries with his wife and business partner.
🌐 LINKS:
Aaron - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronluque
EnviroSpark - https://envirosparkenergy.com
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
The magic of financing EV charging installations to make it easier for real estate owners to say yes. How he scaled the company from a $5,000 investment to a multi-million dollar company before taking outside investment. The need to have a bias for action. Concentration risk of working too much with big customers. The moral responsibility and enormous economic opportunity of transportation electrification.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Jason Aramburu, CEO of Climate Robotics.
Climate Robotics is a team of roboticists, soil scientists, and AI researchers developing advanced robotics to help sequester carbon via biochar, capitalizing on the fact that the Earth’s soils contain more than 14 times more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere.
Jason is a serial entrepreneur and investor interested in new applications of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, Sensors and Trustless Computing to large industries such as agriculture, mining, logistics, energy, health and climate change mitigation.
🌐 LINKS:
Jason - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonaramburu
Climate Robotics - https://www.climaterobotics.com/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
His current company’s ties back to his Gates Foundation-funded biochar company founded in 2006. How they’re tackling the 50% of total costs involved in transporting biochar from the site of biomass to the agricultural field. Why biochar is a permanent carbon sequestration solution, despite common misperceptions. The price per ton of various carbon removal solutions. Crop outperformance when the soil is enhanced with biochar. What it means when we say: “Name it and you can tame it.”
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Manuel Pinuela, CEO at Cultivo.
Cultivo exists to accelerate finance to regenerate nature. They do this by building portfolios of high-quality natural capital that generate healthy financial returns that are good for nature and society.
Manuel has been named an Inventor of the Year and 35 Innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review for Latin America. Born in Mexico, he earned his PhD from the Imperial College of London in electrical engineering.
🌐 LINKS:
Manuel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuel-pinuela
Cultivo - https://cultivo.land
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
This statistic: More than half of the world’s total gross domestic product, or $44 trillion, involves activities that are moderately or highly dependent on nature. How they’re building a “search engine for natural capital.” The role of proprietary algorithms vs. boots on the ground in their assessments. How projects earn multiple revenue streams while focusing on improving degraded land.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Kameale Terry, Cofounder and CEO of ChargerHelp!.
ChargerHelp! is the only national EV charger-dedicated operations and maintenance service provider, with over 1,000 EV technicians trained so far. Their key offering is Reliability as a Service (RaaS) – “a labor subscription service that provides peace of mind to charging station owners and operators who require fast and reliable O&M services at consistent, hassle-free prices, with 97% EV charger up time.”
Kameale Terry is a former banker, policy fellow, and EV charging software executive. She’s also the daughter of Belizean immigrants born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. She believes that an “equitable green economy can be achieved through realignment of existing workforces in conjunction with clean technology.”
🌐 LINKS:
Kameale - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamealecterry
ChargerHelp! - https://www.chargerhelp.com
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Their new partnership with SAE International to create a standardized EV charging technician program. The benefits of betting on American consumerism to choose new technology products that delight them (like EVs). How they will leverage the largest data set nationally for EV charging operations. Why she’s a member of the 5 AM club and how it affects her mornings. How we miss out on solutions when we don’t include all people. Insights from a favorite book, Paradise Built in Hell.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Jack Morrison, CEO and cofounder at Scythe Robotics.
Scythe produces “state-of-the-art autonomous machines that handle the mowing while your team works hard to keep your properties looking their best.” As they say, “Smell Grass, Not Gas:
Leave the noise and gas fumes behind. With all-day battery life and high torque electric motors, Scythe gives you power without pollution.”
Jack is a liberal arts-trained technical leader with a passion for fast code and connecting computers with the physical world. He was previously the Co-Founder and CTO of Replica Labs, which focused on 3D scanning and was acquired by Occipital.
Links:
Jack - https://www.linkedin.com/in/morrisonjack/
Scythe Robotics - https://www.scytherobotics.com/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
How their robotic lawnmowers can reduce costs vs. conventional lawn care by 40%. The business pivot that turns their lemons into lemonade. How the Robocup (robots playing soccer) was part of the company’s origin story. What led investors to commit $60M to their growth. How their guaranteed reliability and “pay as you mow” model align incentives to create happy customers. The diversity of their team with 40 disciplines across 80 team members, aka, Scythers.
And lots more!
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Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ In today's super short holiday episode, I cover these 4 topics:
(1) Top 30 software innovators: Electrify everything, (2) 7,000+ climate technologies vetted by the U.S. government, (3) 12 tips for better sleep (Stanford scientist), (4) If you’re not getting the recognition you deserve, then remember the Wright Brothers
---🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the world-changing climate tech CEOs and investors I interview here.
---🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ In today's super short holiday episode, I cover these 4 topics:
(1) Report — Climate investing for family offices, (2) POV — What climate tech software means for an $80B VC investor, (3) Mental model — Hanlon’s Razor (Don’t assume the worst), (4) Mental fitness — What is the feeling you're unwilling to feel?
---🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the world-changing climate tech CEOs and investors I interview here.
---🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Haroon Inam, CEO and co-founder at DG Matrix.
DG Matrix is a power electronics startup building L3 DC fast EV chargers, that are 10-20x smaller than competitors, as well as all-in-one single-unit microgrid solutions. They have over 100 engineers innovating on these two products.
Haroon has three decades of experience in executive, product, and operations roles in energy technology companies, including the commercialization of billions of dollars worth of power electronics products and over 50 patents awarded.
Links:
Haroon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harooninam
DG Matrix - https://www.dgmatrix.com
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Their $1B pipeline of big companies that are excited to use their fast chargers. The benefits of fast chargers that are 70% smaller than competitors’. The role of silicon carbide in their innovation. Lessons learned from 30+ years in power electronics. The benefits of improving EQ (emotional intelligence) earlier in one’s career. Why he meditates and aims for a low ego.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant.
InnerPlant is a VC-backed agtech company on a mission to transform farming by enabling crops to communicate with growers. Their Living Sensor plants emit optical signals detectable by tractors in the field or by satellites in space.
Shely is a serial entrepreneur with experience in multiple sectors across multiple countries with an MBA from Stanford University.
Links:
Shely - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelyaronov/
InnerPlant - https://innerplant.com/
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
United Nations estimates that we lose 40% of crops to diseases and pests each year. How she’s building tech that sounds like a mood ring for plants. The benefits of cross-domain expertise. Why they settled on fungal infections in soybeans as their first problem to solve. How they use a paid waiting list of farmers who are helping to co-create the best product-market fit. The number one reason that startups fail. Lessons from wizards and prophets.
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Micah Kotch, Partner at Blackhorn Ventures.
Blackhorn Ventures invests in companies redefining industrial resource efficiency. Their portfolio serves enterprise customers across Energy, Construction / Real Estate, Supply Chain / Logistics and Transportation – interconnected industries that generate $3T in annual revenue and account for the vast majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. They’ve raised three funds totalling over $270 in AUM. Their investments in 60+ seed and Series A ventures is performing in the top quartile of all comparable VC funds, according to Cambridge Associates.
Micah was previously part of the BMW Group, where he served as Managing Director of URBAN-X; the platform for startups reimagining city life. He is also a Founding Partner of C3, an AngelList syndicate backing companies working to reduce emissions, mitigate the worst effects of climate change, and help humanity adapt to a changing world.
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
The debate between hardware and software investing in climate tech. Why the September 11 tragedy catapulted him into sustainability. How he moved from an undergraduate major in East Asian studies to be a VC investor. How an off-grid family cabin in New Engand taught him about his current career mission. Their work to integrate impact additionality into the full life cycle of their investments. The importance of tackling big problems outside of our comfort zone. How loud music and motorcycles keep him calm. And his favorite NGO to support – Green City Force: https://greencityforce.org
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ In today's super short holiday episode, I cover these 5 topics:
(1) 200 climate tech experts define top investment trends. (2) U.S. Department of Energy gives guidance on climate tech investment readiness. (3) The formula for happiness: Just two variables. (4) Carl Rogers: Accept reality before you can change it. (5) Nightly gratitude challenge
---🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the world-changing climate tech CEOs and investors I interview here.
---🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Mike Reynolds, Managing Director at Ultra Capital.
Ultra Capital is a mid-market investor in infrastructure and growth equity in the energy transition. They were founded in 2016 and have invested $5M to $25M per company across two funds.
Mike’s prior work includes structured finance at a little-known firm named Goldman Sachs and founding EverVest, a financial modeling software for infrastructure investors.
🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:
Potential risks that billions of dollars in the IRA get clawed back if Republicans gain control of D.C. The financing niche they fill by sector and company stage. Why they don’t take tech risk. What they look for in a founding team. Why we should take a 40-year, not 4-year, view on our career trajectory. The need to set boundaries to protect time with family. FOMO vs. JOMO.
Read their white paper on political risks to the Inflation Reduction Act here: https://tinyurl.com/yxj2xv65
And lots more!
🙏 QUICK FAVOR:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is me. That’s right. No guest. Just 10 or so lessons learned from my work in capital raising for climate ventures as a private equity investor, founder, board member, and investment banker.
If you liked these tips, share them with a founder friend.
I know it's rough out there raising capital right now. But remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t stress too much about your 1-year goals. Try to think about the 10-year plan instead. #EasyToSayHardToDo
🙏 Quick favor:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 To boost your growth in climate tech, Entrepreneurs for Impact can help you with...
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Lila Preston, Head of Generation Growth Equity.
Generation Growth Equity is a part of the larger Generation Investment Management, an investment management firm founded in 2004 by former US Vice President Al Gore and Goldman Sachs' Asset Management head David Blood, with a focus on sustainable investment options. They now manage about $40B.
Generation Growth Equity invests globally in growth-stage, private companies with proven technology and commercial traction, run by talented, mission-driven management teams.
They take active minority positions in companies that are driving broad-based, system-positive change. They’re now investing out of their fourth fund, a $1.7B vehicle.
Lila joined Generation in 2004. Previously, she was a director of finance and development at VolunteerMatch in San Francisco and was also a Fulbright Fellow in Southern Chile. She received a BA in English and Latin American Studies from Stanford University and an MBA from London Business School.
She serves on the board of Nature’s Fynd and as a board observer for CiBO Technologies, Optoro, and Pivot Bio. She is also on the Board of Advisors at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
What she means by “system positive” as a filter for their investments. Why sustainability is at the core of their strategy and boosting investor returns. Which risks they’re willing to take – i.e., no tech risk, no product-market fit risk.
How they develop the conviction to invest $50M to $150M per company. The breadth of their sustainability research and what parts of that they share out to the world. The need to “stay in your lane” when investing and let others do the same.
Example investments such as M-KOPA which started out as an energy access play and grew into a financing vehicle to improve households in Africa in new ways. The massive opportunities for biology to replace chemistry – e.g., with their Pivot Bio investment.
The biggest challenges that CEOs in their portfolios face. The role of life cycle assessments to assess net impacts, positive and negative. The distinction between being proactive and reactive in investment and career development more broadly. What her Fullbright work in Chile taught her.
And lots more!
🙏 Quick favor:
Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.
This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.
🌎 To boost your growth in climate tech, Entrepreneurs for Impact can help you with...
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Andy Moon, CEO and Cofounder of Reunion.
Reunion's mission is to accelerate investment into clean energy. The Inflation Reduction Act created a simpler way to finance solar, wind, battery storage, and other clean energy projects through the sale of tax credits. In July 2023, Reunion launched a marketplace for corporations to identify, due diligence, and purchase tax credits from leading project developers. Reunion raised corporate funding from leading clean energy investors in January 2023, and their founding team previously raised over $2B to finance solar energy projects around the world.
Andy is the former CEO of SunFarmer, a Y Combinator-backed social enterprise that has completed over 1,500 solar energy installations in Asia. Previously, he raised over $200 million from institutional investors to finance solar energy projects in the US and Europe, and worked as a consultant in the energy and buildings practice at McKinsey and Company. He was also an early advisor to Possible Health, a leading public health nonprofit. Andy holds a Phi Beta Kappa honors degree from Stanford University and was named a 2016 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
Our shared experience of the friction required to use tax equity to finance solar projects going back to 2009-2010. How those high transaction costs and bottlenecks are still a part of this financing mechanism today. The drastic increase expected in tax equity funding from around $20B today to over $80B in a few years.
The process he used to pick this new venture. Why his cofounder selection was so important. What he learned from building SunFarmer, a Y Combinator-backed startup funding distributed solar installations in Asia. His 90/10 rule on focus.
What his managed marketplace at Reunion makes tax credit transferability easier between project developers and corporate buyers. How tax credits can fund 30-50% of a project. The costs to buy these credits.
The role of newer technologies in the tax credit landscape, such as hydrogen and biogas. Why his team uses the two-week sprint model to manage performance. How the book Radical Candor has shaped Reunion’s culture.
And lots more!
👍 Quick favor:
Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 To boost your growth in climate tech, Entrepreneurs for Impact can help you with...
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, long-haired "hippie capitalist," and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guests today are my collaborators at Terraset, the anti-GHG 501c3 that purchases CDR (aka, carbon removals) using philanthropic dollars.
Adam Fraser is our new CEO. Alex Roetter is the founder and also GP at Moxxie Ventures. Erzsi Sousa is also a Board member and wizard brand strategist.
I guess I’m a host and guest, too, as a cofounder and Board member of Terraset, too.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
Why Adam took the leap and joined Terraset, leaving behind a CEO role at a multinational impact NGO. Why we chose Adam, instead of a CDR expert, to scale up Terraset.
The types of donors supporting Terraset’s mission and why they’re contributing (i.e., to build an entirely new and crucial industry, not to get offsets)
How we prioritize which CDRs we purchase. The recent growth in CDR purchases year-over-year. Our thoughts on engineered vs. nature-based solutions. And lots more…
Hope you enjoy it!
And please give Adam and Terraset a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Quick favor:
Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 To boost your growth in climate tech, Entrepreneurs for Impact can help you with...
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, long-haired "hippie capitalist," and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Steven Rothstein, the founding Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets.
Previously, Steven ran the world-renowned Perkins School for the Blind, as well as Environmental Futures, Citizen Schools, and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
The lack of substance behind state-level anti-ESG investing headlines. The overwhelming majority of people who believe businesses can achieve a public good and generate market-rate financial returns. The Ceres Freedom to Invest program to make this a red, white, and blue issue, and not just a green issue
How the TCFD frames risk and opportunity creation for investors in a low-carbon future. Why 92% of the Fortune 500 companies conduct sustainability reporting to investors. The SEC and California state greenhouse gas disclosure rulemaking and what it means for 8,000+ companies.
What the insurance industry’s $40B of losses last year could mean for the future of that industry in a world where major weather events occur every two weeks today vs. every four months in 1980.
Why this quote from H.L. Mencken is relevant: "For every complex problem, there's a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." How the banking industry might face more risk from climate exposure today than the risks it faced in the subprime crisis of years past.
And lots more!
👍 Quick favor:
Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 To boost your growth in climate tech, Entrepreneurs for Impact can help you with...
2-minute newsletter: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Climate CEO peer group community: https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): https://t.ly/V6xcB
DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): https://t.ly/QCcl5
Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, long-haired "hippie capitalist," and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Laura Zapata, Cofounder and CEO of Clearloop.
Clearloop creates carbon solutions for organizations of all sizes, from global corporations to small businesses and educational institutions, to decarbonize the economy, expand access to clean energy, and accelerate the development of new solar projects in American communities where the greatest economic and environmental benefits can be achieved.
Clearloops works in partnership with utility-scale solar developer Silicon Ranch, which acquired Clearloop in 2021.
In addition, Laura is the former Head of Global Communications for Uber Eats, Press Secretary for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential race in Ohio, and communications lead for other Congressional offices.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
How to get Taylor Swift to partner with Clearloop (half serious). What she learned by working at Uber in a “move fast and break things” mentality. Having the former Governor of Tennessee as a cofounder (a first for our podcast). How to move from being an intrapreneur with Uber Eats to an entrepreneur. The importance of being optimistic.
What we all need to do to improve climate tech’s communication strategy to broaden the tent (btw, pop quiz: how many degrees Fahrenheit is 1.5 degrees Celsius?). Why working with renewables in the South can have more impact given the carbon intensity of the power grid. How Clearloop’s model of carbon offsets for corporates changes how renewable energy power plants are financed. The need to build a life, not just a career (and the joy of farmer’s markets).
And lots more!
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Tim Krysiek, Managing Partner at MassMutual Ventures.
MassMutual is an insurance and financial services firm with $460B in AUM, and MassMutual Ventures is their venture arm.
Their new US Climate Tech Fund represents $100M and is focused on early-stage opportunities (Series A and B) in climate intelligence, sustainable cities, and clean power. Initial check sizes are $2-5M.
Tim was previously Managing Director at Equinor Ventures where he worked across the energy value chain, including renewables, fusion, mobility, and storage. He was also a consultant at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (now S&P Global), a researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, and a political risk consultant at Google.
Krysiek achieved all these great things because he got an MBA from Duke University, where I teach. (OK, I exaggerate slightly.)
When not investing in world-changing companies, I hear that he’s an aspiring Eastern European cook focused on the 3Ps – pierogies, pelmeni, or potica.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- His team’s work investing in five climate tech unicorns
- How his study of geopolitics across twelve countries shaped him into an investor
- What their climate intelligence focus means in terms of cheaper data and falling processing costs
- How the Net Zero Tracker of corporate climate goals influences their thesis around voluntary carbon markets
- Why he’s excited about investing in proptech given the durability of buildings and the potential value that MassMutual can create for companies in that space
- What he means by keeping one foot on certain ground and the other on uncertain ground
- How much water he drinks per day and its relationship to the number of steps he takes per day
- His three favorite climate books and three favorite business books (Power Law, anyone?)
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Dawn Lippert, the CEO of Elemental Excelerator, Partner at Earthshot Ventures, and Senior Climate Advisor at Emerson Collective.
Elemental Excelerator advances solutions to climate change and deploys them in the communities that need them the most. Each year, they fund 15-20 companies up to $1 million to improve systems across categories such as energy, mobility, water, agriculture, and beyond. To date, they have invested in 150 companies.
Earthshot Ventures is a venture capital firm backing entrepreneurs making a dent in climate change, and it spun out of Elemental in 2021.
Emerson Collective was established and led by Laurene Powell Jobs, and is working to renew some of society’s most calcified systems, creating new possibilities for individuals, families, and communities.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- How her work with sea turtle conservation in Puerto Rico and off-grid solar work in India led her to where she is today
- Why it’s so important that the 150 companies that Elemental has funded form close partnerships with local communities for project development
- The genesis of Earthshot Ventures as an experiment to combine top-quartile VC returns with nonprofit support
- Their love of experimentation and their creation of eight financial products to meet the needs of climate founders
- The missing gap of FOAK finance (i.e., first of a kind) as companies go from VC funding to project finance
- Their obsession with moving more capital into climate, especially because 50% of the solutions we need to meet our 2030 climate goals have not yet been commercialized
- How to balance urgency with importance in our calendars
- Why joy is so essential in her work and company culture
- What she looks for in founders they back
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Matt Lipscomb, Founder and CEO of DMC Biotechnologies.
DMC is a Boulder-based biotech company that sustainably produces bio-based chemicals using fermentation, with over $50M in VC funding and a team of over 40 people.
In addition, Matt is a:
- Certified Ski Mountaineering Guide
- Rock climbing guide and instructor
- Director for the American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education
- PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- The meaning of metabolic engineering
- How rock climbing has taught him to better manage risks as a CEO
- His experience seeing glacier retreat has inspired his work
- How DMC engineers microbes to standardize fermentation for cost-effective scale-up
- The definition of “friend-shoring” and how DMC improves companies’ supply chains
- Why his early work in chemical plants led him to where he is today
- What he means to cross-train physically and intellectually
- The pains of fast growth and techniques he uses to build culture and cohesion while growing 3x this year
- Why investors care that you’re founding a company with a former cofounder
- The difference between lifespan and healthspan
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Gabe Phillips, Founder and CEO of Catalyst Power.
Catalyst Power is an ESCO, retail electricity provider, community solar aggregator, and solar/battery developer for commercial and industrial businesses in the Northeast US.
In addition, he is a distance runner, musician, woodworker, father, and thriver on 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I told him that we might need to have an intervention later.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- The outsized benefits of doing hard things
- How his customers view risks and risk mitigation when it comes to solar power
- Why a roll-up acquisition strategy made sense to launch this business
- How he’s able to get clean renewable power at cheaper prices for customers than brown power
- What the following phrase means: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
- Three of his favorite books on entrepreneurship, meditation, and the benefits of being uncomfortable
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Brad Hartwig, CEO and Cofounder of Arbor.
Arbor is a carbon removal and storage company delivering carbon-negative power that converts organic waste into clean energy and fresh water. Their CTO Andres Garcia-Clark and lots of other team members bring lessons learned from SpaceX and big energy giants.
In addition, he was a former…
- Manufacturing Engineer for Crew Dragon Engines at SpaceX engineer
- Test Pilot for Kitty Hawk’s 100% electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle
- Chief Propulsion Engineer at the USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory
- Member of the Marin County Search and Rescue
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- How his work in search and rescue showed him the devastating personal and social impacts of climate-induced natural disasters
- What he means by "vegetarian rocket engines"
- What they did to eliminate the smoke stack from their power production systems
- How the Earth breathes each year by absorbing 100 tons of carbon dioxide each spring and summer in biomass before releasing much of that back to the atmosphere in the fall and winter
- Their ability to produce zero-cost clean baseload power due to monetizing other revenue streams like carbon removal credits and the 45Q tax credit
- Their modular design to be “hardware that you can hug”
- What surfing means to him as a way to recharge as a CEO
- Knowing whether you’re climbing the right ladder
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
Since it's summer, I'll play my "on vacation" card and recycle this podcast, one of our most popular so far.
Plus, Howard and Gratitude Railroad are putting on their upcoming 2023 Gratitude Investor Gathering on Sept. 10 - Sept. 13 at 1440 Multiversity in California. Check it out!
Details here:
"From outdoor sessions under the canopy of thousand-year-old redwoods, to fireside chats around roaring fire pits, this year's Gathering venue - 1440 Multiversity - specializes in curated experiences that inspire the best in the human spirit to cultivate the greater good.
What we're excited about:
- Community-centric and purpose-driven programming designed to explore ideas and catalyze investments in nature-based solutions, the inclusive economy, equitable health, alternative energy, futurist food systems, & more...
Trusted and deep relationships with values-aligned investors, founders, fund managers, academics, and impact leader * Investment opportunities and tools for accelerating capital into enduring and equitable impact"
⭐ My guest on this podcast was Howard Fischer, the Chief Evangelist at Gratitude Railroad.
Gratitude Railroad's mission is to support investors in moving capital from traditional finance to impact investments that create deep social and environmental impact, without compromising financial returns.
His bio on the GR website is delightful in its brevity and insight into who he is. And I quote:
“Uphill over downhill; Snow over sand; Read over watch; Trees over skyscrapers; Pizza over steak; Conversation over gossip; Disagree over agree; Instinct over spreadsheets; Relationship over contract.”
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- His 40 years in hedge funds
- How his rebirth in 2013 while not religious was like a metaphorical move from Gordon Gekko to Dalai Lama
- His financial reckoning during the 2008 financial crisis when his hedge fund went from $3B to $300M
- The risks in wearing the golden handcuffs of fat paychecks from big-brand employers
- How philanthropy is broken, and government is not a great problem solver
- Why we have to move more profit-driven capital to the climate sector
- Examples of the climate investments they’ve made at Gratitude Railroad, including a focus on organic waste management
- His theme of “Free the Money” and related investments in Climate First Bank and First Women’s Bank
- Why we can’t ask people to eat their broccoli (sorry, you have to listen to understand what this means)
- Some of his favorite books, such as The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, and The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ I’m not a ruthless person. Except when it comes to my calendar. 😃
And the climate tech startup CEOs in our peer group program at Entrepreneurs for Impact are always looking for ways to “schedule their priorities instead of prioritizing their schedule.”
So, in this podcast, I talk through a resource I put together on the topic for my climate CEO members. Hopefully, it stimulates some new ideas for you and your teams.
And...
Here's a Google Slides version:
"Experiment: 10 Ways to Create 10 Hours Per Week"
https://tinyurl.com/2r6kyptr
(Beware: Results may vary. Widely. 😏)
Also...
If you have other topics you’d like me to cover on a future AMA podcast, just DM me on LinkedIn or reply to my Entrepreneurs for Impact newsletter on Substack.
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ In this Ask Me Anything (AMA) podcast, I cover these five questions from listeners to the Entrepreneurs for Impact podcast and readers of the Entrepreneurs for Impact newsletter on Substack.
- “You always ask your guests what books they’re reading, but how about you? What books do you like to recommend?” – Thanks, Casey
- “What are some of the best non-financial resources that are available to entrepreneurs (aside from badass climate CEO peer groups at Entrepreneurs for Impact)?” – Thanks, Nick
- “If I want to have a bigger impact on climate change, should I work for a big firm or smaller one?” – Thanks, Tyler
- “I want to help female founders in climate tech succeed. I would love to start off by working pro bono and helping them raise funds and learn as I go. But where do I start?” – Thanks, Helena
- “If I’m raising VC capital for my startup, what do I need to create for investors, besides a pitch deck?” – Thanks, Brook
If you have other questions you’d like me to cover on the next AMA podcast, just DM me on LinkedIn or reply to my Entrepreneurs for Impact newsletter on Substack.
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Amanda Hall, Founder and CEO of Summit Nanotech, which supports the electric vehicle revolution by capturing lithium ion in brine using nanotechnology.
In their unique process, they shorten the average industry rate of lithium production from 18 months to 1 day. They also dramatically reduce the amount of water, pressure, heat, and chemicals needed to responsibly mine this valuable input for battery storage.
To date, they’ve raised $7M in grants and $65M from investors, such as Capricorn, Evok Innovations, Volta, and Grantham.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How her training as a geophysicist in the oil and gas industry trained her for this job
-
Why she felt compelled to travel to Tibet and why that led her to come back, quit her job, sell her home, sell her oil and gas stocks, and rethink her contributions to the world
- What the human kidney and biomimicry taught her about early designs for Summit’s technology
- Her advice on trusting her gut to make tough decisions earlier rather than later
- The importance of trusting and verifying the data you rely on for growing your company
- Why they are vertically integrating to own land and own lithium outputs
- What they look for when hiring new team members, such as humility, relentlessness, and a desire to do the impossible
- Her favorite quotes
- Book recommendations for CEOs to better manage their team’s growth
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guests today are Devin Whatley, Managing Partner, and cofounder, and Geoffrey Eisenberg, Partner, at Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF).
EIF is a long-time VC investor in renewable energy, distributed energy, smart transportation, and sustainable agriculture.
On their fifth fund, they invest in companies in seed, Series A, and Series B, with a focus on post-revenue companies with no tech risk that are looking to scale. They like to be the lead investor and write checks between $3M and $10M.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- What has helped them raise capital over 13 years across so many cycles in the sustainability, cleantech, and climate tech worlds
- Why they sometimes take 2-3 years getting to know a CEO before deciding to invest
- How they think about the total addressable market today vs. the distant future
- The benefits of disclosing the “skeletons in the close” of the company early…because they’ll definitely be discovered by the investor at some point
- Their focus on CEOs who are obsessed but not flashy (i.e., show, don’t tell)
- Some success stories in their portfolio, such as EV Connect and ZepSolar
- Book recommendations to help them maintain humility and perspective on how history shapes the present day
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Shawn Lesser, Cofounder of The Real (current role) and Cofounder of Big Path Capital (prior role).
The Real is helping entrepreneurs deal with burnout and depression by connecting with others going through those same mental health challenges.
Big Path Capital is, according to Barron’s, “The Impact Investment Bank.” Their network of 2,500+ limited partners (investors) and 200+ impact-focused private equity firms led to billions of dollars flowing into companies that prioritize both profit and positive environmental or social impacts.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- What triggered his depression
- The impacts of having too much of his identity tied up in his business
- Why a fish bowl being shaken up relates to where he was
- What he learned after spending three stints in centers to boost his mental health
- The speaking tour that he and his cofounder, Brent Herd, are on
- Why The Real is about finding purpose out of pain
- What an Uber driver and a post-exit entrepreneur with $800M in cash have in common
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ In today’s super short episode, I share parts of a white paper I recently wrote called “10 Lessons I’ve Learned from Coaching 100+ Climate CEOs.”
The rest of the white paper is available for free on my website at www.entrepreneursforimpact.com.
If you find something useful in it or have other lessons you think I should add to it, drop me a note at team@entrepreneursforimpact.com. 🙏
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Matt LeDucq, Cofounder and CEO of Forum Mobility.
Forum Mobility is tackling greenhouse gas emissions at California’s largest ports as well as local air pollution causing asthma and cancer near these ports.
They provide zero-emission trucks and electric charging for one monthly price. They recently signed a $400M JV with CBRE Investment Management and have raised over $22M in venture capital to date.
In addition, Matt is the former:
- Executive Director at NextEra Energy Resources
- VP at Yingli Green Energy Holdings
- VP at Suntech
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- How communities near ports suffer have twice the risk of cancer and asthma
The billions of dollars to be invested in electrifying transportation within ports
Policy drivers such as California’s Advanced Clean Fleets are influencing a massive vehicle turnover within 12 years * How their “Trucks as a Service” model works like a solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) * Lessons he’s bringing from giant energy companies to his fast-growing startup * How they are convincing early adopters to sign up as customers * Why investors love their business model and the power of derisking revenue streams * The thrill of disorder and insanity within startups * How we grow at the edges of our comfort zones * And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Ryan Jeffery, the Senior Managing Director for gener8tor Sustainability, a leading accelerator investing and supporting startups at the forefront of our climate crisis.
They invest $100k in startups in their 12-week programs.
Over the last ten years, they’ve made investments in 1,000 startups, which have gone on to raise $1.4B.
In addition, Ryan is the:
- Founder of Ignite, a diverse and dynamic leadership community in Chicago
- Founding Partner at Survival Ventures, which is investing, advising and growing ventures that preserve and protect our planet
- Mentor at Impact Engine
- And advisor to many more impact startups
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
- His delightfully provocative LinkedIn post that starts with this zinger: “If you're a climate tech investor sitting on your hands waiting for better market conditions before deploying more capital, then you're not a real climate tech investor. The climate doesn't care about market conditions.”
- How he views fiduciary duty in light of the urgency for tackling climate change
- Why they’re one of the world’s biggest startup accelerators that no one has ever heard of
- How they pick 5 out of 500 startups to join each accelerator cohort
- Lessons learned from his 3 prior ventures and investing in dozens of startups
- Why 93% of their investments take place outside of California, Massachusetts, and New York
- What the top founders do well – e.g., laser-focused on customer needs, sending out monthly update lists to “friends of the company”
- Why Brandi Carlil’s song “The Eye” is relevant to startups and parenting
- And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ In today’s episode, instead of talking about business and finance, we will concentrate on the people side of growing a climate tech business. We’ll listen to five CEOs talk about advice they'd give their younger self, recommendations for their favorite books and podcasts, and the habits that keep them healthy and focused on this startup journey.
If you like this episode, then consider this part 1 of more like it in the months to come.
And shout out to Bill S. for his recommendation for this kind of compilation.
1
Naman Trivedi, Cofounder and CEO of WattBuy, which helps homeowners find the best electricity, solar plans, and more – all at the lowest price: Using just a home’s address, they crunch the data to recommend personalized bundles from the most trusted providers. To date, they’ve helped procure 20 gigawatt-hours of clean power while saving customers over four million dollars.
2
Jacqueline van den Ende, CEO at Carbon Equity, a fintech platform that seeks to power the world's most impactful climate technology solutions with retail capital: In under two years, they’ve mobilized $120M across 450+ high net worth and mass affluent individuals to invest in professionally managed VC and private equity climate funds.
3
John Tough, Managing Partner at Energize Ventures, a leading climate software investor that manages $1.2 Billion across two strategies: venture capital and growth equity.
4
Sarah Richardson, co-founder and CEO of MicroByre, which "makes pets out of bacteria": They domesticate naturally occurring bacteria and introduce them to industry. They enable customers to efficiently produce bio-derived chemistries at or below current petrochemical economics. Newly cooperative bacteria can replace ancient biomass (petrochemicals) with renewable biomass (lawn clippings) efficiently and economically.
5
Bryan Hassin, CEO of DexMat, a next-gen climate tech materials company that transforms carbon from an expensive environmental problem into high-value, high-performance nanomaterials: And he brings 100s of millions of dollars in prior startup exits to this important problem.
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Adam Wolf, Founder and CEO of Eion.
Eion is an enhanced rock weathering startup that works with farmers and ranchers to safely and permanently pull carbon out of the air. They use rock called olivine, which is the most abundant on Earth, and by 2026, they will be on track to permanently remove 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.
Their growth got extra support with a $12M Series A from investors such as AgFunder, Trailhead Capital, and Orion Corporation.
In addition, Adam is the former:
- Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist at Arable Lands
- Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University
Oh, and he’s also got a PhD from Stanford University and is learning how to build a studio in his backyard using traditional building techniques. So, yeah, he likes to build stuff.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How their company name came to his cofounder in a dream and has 3-4 relevant meanings
-
Why this olivine rock is so powerful as a carbon removal tool
-
How they utilize existing infrastructure from farmers and ranchers to mainstream solutions at scale for lower costs
-
Why they spent two years figuring out how to get the measurement process right to assess carbon removal
-
The critical role of Norwegian fjords and rock crushing in scaling their company
-
What he means by B.S. counterfactual carbon baselines
-
Why the Department of Agriculture’s Climate Smart Commodities program is so important
-
The benefits of “voracious self-learning”
-
And lots more
👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Grant Canary, Founder and CEO of Mast Reforestation.
In addition, Grant is also a former:
- Maggot farmer (!) – that is, growing industrial-grade insect protein using food waste
- Chess and poker player, and improv enthusiast (these are relevant to his CEO work now)
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
The nuances of the carbon removal and credit world
-
What their new project financing allows them to do
-
How they bought a 130-year-old seed company
-
Why forests often cannot regrow on their own after a wildfire
-
Why they set up 100-year endowments to fund ongoing reporting on forest health and carbon sequestration
-
The role of buffer pools to insure carbon credit integrity
-
The importance of poly- vs. monoculture in their replanting
-
How he took advantage of grad school arbitrage by studying in Bogota
-
Why it’s so important to create a compelling future (vs. doom and gloom) in order to mainstream climate efforts
-
His favorite startup books
-
And lots more
👍 Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Naman Trivedi, Cofounder and CEO of WattBuy.
WattBuy helps homeowners find the best electricity, solar plans, and more – all at the lowest price. Using just a home’s address, they crunch the data to recommend personalized bundles from the most trusted providers. To date, they’ve helped procure 20 gigawatt-hours of clean power while saving customers over four million dollars.
Partners include corporations such as Amazon, Redfin, and Samsung, as well as investors such as Schneider and MCJ Collective.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How they reduce friction to make customers’ decisions easier
-
Why they focus on action and not just education around clean power choices
-
How they bill their customers under a SaaS model
-
Why they’re product- and service-agnostic in the clean energy industry
-
Whether they sell on cost or climate in terms of priority
-
How they do business with a focus on relationships, not transactions
-
Why this Buddhist quote is relevant to his style of productivity – “Don’t just do something, sit there”
-
Why he thinks to-do lists are useless
-
And lots more
👍 Please leave a review or 5-star rating (🙏) on your favorite podcast player. This is the best way for more listeners can discover the climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Casper Rasmussen, co-founder and CEO of Monta.
Monta is “the operating platform powering the EV ecosystem serving drivers, companies, cities, and the electricity grid with one integrated software solution.”
Based in Denmark, with 8 offices and 170+ employees, they are backed by leading climate investors such as Energize Venture and Pale Blue Dot.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How he grew his company from 0 to 150+ employees in just over 2 years
-
What led investors to commit more than $60M to his company’s growth
-
Why Monta aims to be the “Android of EV charging software”
-
How their technology allows EV owners to optimize for the lowest power cost and GHG emissions for their charging
-
Various hypotheses that they tried and abandoned for the current business model
-
How beer among the early team at a summer house led to the core values they have today
-
What radical transparency means for them around salary, equity, and financial disclosure to all employees
-
Why half of the team is focused on R&D and innovation
-
What led to EVs being 50-90% of new car purchases in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Casper and Monta a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Al Subbloie, Founder and CEO of Budderfly, a business that provides 100% of the upfront capital needed to give businesses premium, high-efficiency HVAC, refrigeration, LED lights, and more to reduce their energy costs and reduce their carbon footprints.
Backed by over $500M of investor capital, Budderfly uses a combination of patented technologies and proprietary energy software to monitor equipment and collect critical data about business’s energy usage.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
What led to his success building his prior company to 2,500 people over 16 years
-
How he convinced investors to commit half a billion dollars to grow his company
-
His unique model of “owning the power bill and the outcome” for his energy efficiency investments
-
Why this phrase matters: “A % of a larger number is a large number”
-
How to sell on benefits, not features
-
Why selling to franchises is a great got-go-market strategy
-
The power of capitalism to do good in the world
-
Why he hates to micromanage
-
What it means to “run towards the (lion) roar”
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Al and Budderfly a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Jacqueline van den Ende, Co-founder & CEO at Carbon Equity, a fintech platform that seeks to power the world's most impactful climate technology solutions with retail capital.
In under two years, they’ve mobilized $120M across 450+ high net worth and mass affluent individuals to invest in professionally managed VC and private equity climate funds.
As for background, she spent approximately half her career investing in companies, as a partner with Peak Capital and as an investor at HAL Investments, and the other half building and leading companies.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
The relative risk of investing in fund of funds vs. individual angel investments
-
What “mass affluent” means and how a larger portion of their $177T in assets can be mobilized for climate
-
How to motivate new hires by focusing on what you can offer them (e.g., flexibility) instead of what you can’t (e.g., high salaries)
-
A new interpretation of The Golden Rule
-
How to learn by doing, through experiments, instead of relying on Excel and Powerpoint
-
What she means by saying “money as a means”
-
Their goal of moving $1B into climate within five years
-
How to interpret the quote “This Too Shall Pass” during great and hard times as a founder
-
Why she wakes up at 5 am
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Jacqueline and Carbon Equity a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Dr. Murray Collins, Cofounder and CEO of Space Intelligence, a world-leading nature data provider for Nature Based Solutions, such as the protection of tropical forests to preserve biodiversity and help corporations like Apple reach their net zero goals. .
In addition, Murray is the
- Science Director and Co-Founder of Picture Zero, a production company dedicated to quality content about climate change
- Former Chancellor's Fellow for Space and Satellites at The University of Edinburgh
- Former Environmental Scientist in Residence at The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
His four years of rainforest work in Indonesia and Africa
-
Almost getting into a knife fight with a tiger
-
The 30 years of experience in tropical ecology and data analytics among him and his cofounder
-
The 100+ scientific papers produced by his team
-
How they work with conservation project developers around the world
-
The market validation they received from lots of consulting projects early on
-
Their use of optical data, LIDAR, on-the-ground metrics, and other satellite input to measure above-ground biomass for key habitats
-
How they help Apple invest in their Restore Fund
-
What pro-poor means and why it’s relevant to 1 billion people around the world
-
Motivation vs. discipline
-
Passion vs. obsession
-
Why he’s reading books about the Middle East
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Murray and Space Intelligencee a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Matt Maroon, CEO of C-Motive Technologies.
He is a six-time veteran of cleantech startups – developing and selling new technologies, from advanced batteries to energy-optimizing artificial intelligence software - with a goal of improving society’s efficient use of resources and reducing environmental impact.
C-Motive is the first and only company commercializing sustainable, high-efficiency motor technology using electrostatic principles to decarbonize stationary industrial and e-mobility applications.
Their investors include Prime Impact Fund, Collaborative Fund, and Starlight Ventures.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How motors consume 50% of all electricity in the world, despite how oblivious we all are to that fact
-
The fact that 2% of a motor’s life cycle costs are attributed to its upfront cost – i.e., CapEx vs. its OpEx
-
The whopping size of the motor market at $100B in sales per year
-
Their efficiency at 90% compared to most motors which average 50-70%
-
The utility in industrial applications at less than 500 RPM, especially in geographies with high power prices
-
How dudes with long hair in climate tech need to stick together
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Matt and C-Motive a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Loren Burnett, Cofounder and CEO of Prometheus Materials.
Inspired by the composition of coral and seashells, Prometheus Materials combines microalgae with other natural components to form an ultra low-carbon bio-cement and bio-concrete.
In addition, Loren is a former cofounder, CEO, COO, or CFO for companies that have raised nearly $200M in funding, where he led one IPO and 17 mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and achieved five exits netting shareholders over $375M in gains.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
What he’s learned from building six companies
-How he got the “carbon bug”
-The relationship between his company and biomimicry
-The origin story for the company, including five years of university research with Department of Defense funding
-How they plan to reduce 1 gigaton of GHGs per year at scale
-
His unique approach to getting his technology to market
-
Their top three customers and investors, including Microsoft
-
What it takes to get their new product approved by local building codes
-
The importance of knowing thyself so that you can trust your gut instead of listening to your irrational fears
-
Why Crossing the Chasm is his favorite startup book
-
Their long-term vision that uses biology to manufacture far more than biocement and bioconcrete
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Loren and Prometheus Materials a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐My guest today is John Tough, Managing Partner at Energize Ventures.
Energize Ventures is a leading climate software investor that manages $1.2 Billion across two strategies: venture capital and growth equity.
In addition, John is the former Chief Revenue Officer at Choose Energy, the largest online energy marketplace in North America, and a former investor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How they make investment decisions using the PMTEDI model
-
The size of checks they write for Series A through C stage companies, and what revenue targets they aim for
-
The four megatrends they’re investing in
-
How they develop investment theses with deep dives and active pursuit of 60-100 companies that might be the sector winner
-
The benefits of investing in climate startups in the EU
-
The importance of asking “Why now?” when picking the right CEOs to back
-
Why he’s read 200+ biographies as a way to be a better investor
-
The reason that you shouldn’t be so concerned with your competition
-
How scarcity creates clarity (I know, sounds like a verse from the Tao Te Ching)
-
Why “problem first, technology second” is their preferred approach
-
And lots more
🙏Hope you enjoy it!
📣And please give John and Energize Ventures a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
--
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Trina Chiasson, Founder and CEO of Ovipost, a VC-backed insect protein company creating automation hardware and software in order to scale alternative proteins.
Previously, Trina co-founded and sold a tech company, Infoactive, to Tableau Software. She wrote a juggling pattern notation app and used circus arts to teach physics to low-income students. And she rode her bicycle more than 4,000 miles on a self-supported adventure from Maine to Oregon to raise money for a nonprofit.
So, yeah, she’s pretty cool.---
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
The kind of person that wants to work with insect protein (The answer? “Fanatical, insane people. We weren’t built for normal life. We hate being bored and we love adventure. As a result, each of us wove a weird, windy path to Ovipost.”)
-
The surprising fact that 80% of cultures around the world eat bugs
-
How finishing her undergraduate degree in two years relates to her path as an entrepreneur
-
The amazing growth rates of her bugs – 50x in 5 weeks
-
How she pivoted from a pure tech company coming out of Techstars to a bug farm operator in Mississippi and Florida
-
The reasons they focus on crickets (the “gateway” insect) and superworms (yum!)
-
Why there is no “single bug” solution to insect protein
-
How I relate to her work (Hint: Thai-flavored cricket legs washed down with coconut milk soup)
-
Why her commitment to vegetarianism for 25 years is not at odds with insect protein
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Trina and Ovipost a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Geir Robstad, Cofounder of Heaten, a very high-temperature heat pump that can achieve 200°C process temperature at low costs while being completely independent of fossil fuels. They are backed by leading climate tech investors such as Azolla Ventures.---
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How their technology can reduce GHG emissions by 1 gigaton by 2050
-
Why governments should make it illegal to not use waste heat
-
What it means for decentralized heat to be the elephant in the room
-
Their nine-year journey of R&D and $30M of investment
-
Why they needed to pivot in 2017 to their current technology and customer use case
-
How they help industrial players in chemicals, paper, and district heating create process heat at lower costs with clean energy
-
The massive benefits of using COTS (What’s this? Gotta listen to find out!)
-
Why it’s a good thing for you to have competitors
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Geir and Heaten a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Sarah Richardson, co-founder and CEO of MicroByre.
MicroByre makes pets out of bacteria. They domesticate naturally occurring bacteria and introduce them to industry. They enable customers to efficiently produce bio-derived chemistries at or below current petrochemical economics. Newly cooperative bacteria can replace ancient biomass (petrochemicals) with renewable biomass (lawn clippings) efficiently and economically.
They’re backed by leading climate tech investors such as Prime Impact Fund, MCJ Collective, and Earthshot Ventures.
Sarah has a PhD in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and was a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow of Genomics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory she worked on massive-scale synthetic biology projects and the integration of computational genomics with experimental genomics.
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
What it means to be a germ wrangler
-
How they are bringing about biomanufacturing at scale
-
The 95% of bacteria we don’t yet understand and the potential that represents to tackle humanity’s greatest problems
-
Why it’s important to learn how to learn
-
The role of luck vs. skill in growing a company
-
How she overcame the challenges of raising VC capital
-
Why they’ve assembled a team of microbiologists, chemists, molecular biologists, data scientists, and computer scientists to automate the collection and curation of bacterial data.
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Sarah and MicroByre a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Bryan Hassin, CEO of DexMat, a next-gen climate tech materials company that transforms carbon from an expensive environmental problem into high-value, high-performance nanomaterials, targeting 2-3 gigatons of GHGs reduced through its solutions.
In addition, Bryan is also:
-
Former co-founder and CEO of Third Derivative, the world's largest climate tech accelerator, which has catalyzed $500M+ of investment in 100+ gigaton-potential climate tech startups
-
Former Entrepreneur In Residence at RMI
-
Serial entrepreneur with $350M+ of exits to date
-
Independent Director for Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp., a climate-focused SPAC with a $210M market cap
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
Why this company stood out from the 2,000+ he reviewed while at Third Derivative
-
The role of $20M of non-dilutive capital into his venture
-
The importance of bigass goals
-
Not being the smartest person in the room (because if you are, then you’re in the wrong room)
-
Playing to win versus playing not to lose
-
Hypothesis testing and its role in his startup journeys
-
Why “drop-in replacement” are magical
-
The distinction between the first and the best markets to go after
-
How his sabbaticals played a role in his career
-
His favorite non-business, non-climate books and why they matter to climate tech
-
Why we need to ask, “What would need to be true in order for XYZ to be possible?”
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Bryan and DexMat a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Nick Flores, Managing Director at Caprock, a multi-family office and founding B Corporation with $8B of assets under advisement and a rigorous approach to impact investing.
In addition, Nick is the former:
-
Director of Investment & Entrepreneur Services for Investors’ Circle
-
Manager of the Capital Access Program at Green for All
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
Their work helping 299 families invest $8B across six asset classes
-
How they select fund managers to invest in
-
His origins outside of the world of wealth and how that affects his investment outlook
-
What impact intentionality means
-
The misconception that impact investing means below-market returns
-
What a theory of change is all about
-
The biggest gaps in impact investment fund managers across asset classes
-
Advice he would give his younger self
-
His love of stoicism
-
Tools he uses to speed up his typing
-
Recommended books
-
And lots more
🙏Hope you enjoy it!
📣And please give Nick and Caprock a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
--
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
--
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
⭐ My guest today is Jeff Erhardt, CEO of Mattiq.
Mattiq is a materials discovery startup delivering innovative electrochemical solutions to decarbonize the fundamental building blocks that power the world. By 2024, they plan to have screened one trillion materials for deployment in real-world systems, such as cleaner fuels and chemicals.
In addition, Jeff is the former…
-
Executive Vice President of Intelligent Systems & Industrial AI at GE
-
CEO of Wise.io
-
COO of Revolution Analytics
-
Creator of two sabbaticals, the last one lasting two years
🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:
-
How they are commercializing the work of a leading scientist at Northwestern University, Chad Mirkin
-
Their focus on minimizing and mimicking larger systems in order to speed up novel chemistry discoveries with real-world applications
-
Why culture eats strategy, and how startups need to hire fast and fire fast
-
What it means to include AI and machine learning in their processes
-
Similarities between their work and genomics and synthetic biology
-
Their business model of going to market with big chemical and energy partners via joint development agreements that allow for some cash up front, plus revenue or profit sharing down the road
-
Recommended books from his two-year sabbatical
-
Why you can’t be a good executive unless you understand history
-
And lots more
🙏 Hope you enjoy it!
📣 And give Jeff and Mattiq a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.
🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Trevor Best, Cofounder and CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics.
He's also a member of our Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community at Entrepreneurs for Impact!
Syzygy is commercializing a deep-decarbonization platform dedicated to cleaning up the emissions-heavy chemical industry. They use breakthrough technology pioneered in the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University to harness energy from LED light to power chemical reactions. This new technology has the potential to partially or fully electrify the chemical industry, shifting it to renewable electricity, and cost-effectively reducing its carbon footprint.
In this episode, we talked about:
- How he raised over $100M to fund the company
- What photocatalysis means
- How a case of beer and rare astronomical phenomena were key in deciding the company name
- Their work in ammonia cracking, blue hydrogen, and dry reforming
- The projects they’re launching this year with multinational companies from Asia and the US
- The massive cost, energy, and carbon savings made possible through their technology
- What the children’s movie Frozen has taught him
- How his love of science fiction translates to lessons in startup leadership
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Trevor a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Maria Fujihara, Founder and CEO of Sinai Technologies.
Sinai Technologies is a VC-backed enterprise software company that measures, analyzes, prices, and reduces GHG emissions for large companies.
In addition, Maria is the former:
- Coalition Advisor for Project Drawdown
- Technical Coordinator for the Green Building Council in Brazil
- Participant in the Global Solutions Program (GSP) at Singularity University
In this episode, we talked about:
- Her origin story, coming to the US from Brazil with nothing, and then raising $40M and employing 60 people
- How they chose to work with some of the world’s biggest polluters
- Her work to find cultural and business alignment with her carbon-intensive customers
- The challenge of stranded assets for large corporations
- How their SaaS solution helps companies understand and take action on decarbonization
- The role of TCFD and CDP in GHG reporting and corporate governance
- How her company moves sustainability from a cost center to a value adder
- What it’s like being a woman CEO of a VC-backed company
- The HeartMath Institute and the connection between the heart and the brain
- Recommended books
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Maria a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen, an energy storage software provider with $275M in investor capital raised to date.
In addition, Kelcy is the:
- Founding Partner at Charles Joy Ventures
- Former President of NRG Home Solar
- Former Executive Chairman of Sofdesk
In this episode, we talked about:
- Their new 420MWh battery project in California
- How they maximize energy storage revenue via load shifting, peak shaving, and ancillary services
- Their revenue model
- How they don’t sell, but instead help their customers to buy
- Their 10 GW agreement with the world’s largest battery manufacturer
- The recent rapid growth from 30 to over 200 employees
- What Parkinson’s Law is and how to manage it
- What you can learn from children’s books like Elephant and Piggy
- Wisdom from tennis legends
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Kelcy and FlexGen a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Bret Kugelmass, Founder and CEO of Last Energy.
In addition, Bret is…
- The podcast host at Titans of Nuclear
- Managing Director at The Energy Impact Center
- Former CEO of Airphrame, a drone company that he sold to a Fortune 500 buyer
- A graduate of the Stanford School of Engineering
Last Energy is a VC-backed full-service developer of small modular nuclear power projects with the goal of transforming the nuclear power industry by dramatically reducing the time and cost of construction. Their mission is to decarbonize global energy production and increase access to clean, affordable power. They are targeting 2025 for its first units, which require around $200 million to build, and they are investigating 800 other potential sites to deploy the units across Europe.
In this episode, we talked about:
- The three most common misperceptions about nuclear energy
- What he learned from 800 interviews with nuclear energy experts
- Common mistakes made by 50 next-gen nuclear startups
- The outsized role that construction finance plans in the overall cost of nuclear power
- Last Energy’s initial contracts to build small modular nuclear reactors in the UK, Poland, and Romania
- What he means by this quote: “We’re innovative in the way that we are not trying to be overly innovative. We don't reinvent the reactor core, the physics, the chemistry, the materials.”
- How to avoid multiplying risks
- The role of business model vs. tech innovation to get clean energy to market
- The distinction between corporate and project finance for their go-to-market strategy
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Bret and Last Energy a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
In this newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact, I cover the following:
Climate Startups & Investment
- 🦄 How many climate tech unicorns are there?
- 🙋♂️ How do I transition to a job in climate tech?
- 🏎️ The lies about electric vehicles
- 💥 2.8 billion reasons that fusion should matter to you.
- 🚫 This is why $4,000,000,000 at two firms is not enough.
- 🍺 If you stop drinking in 2050, does it matter? [climate goals]
Better Habits & Deep Work
- 😲 Choose pronoia over paranoia
- ⛅ A free therapy lesson from Stutz
- 📊 What’s your Positive Intelligence Quotient (PQ)? [Take this test]
- 🤔 “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”
Enjoy!
Ping me on LinkedIn to let me know what you think about it.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Su Sanni, Founder of Dollaride, a mobility company for communities underserved by public transit.
In addition, Su is also:
- Venture Partner with Republic
- Fellow with Visible Hands
- Former Cofounder and CEO of WeDidIt, an online fundraising platform for nonprofits
In this episode, we talked about:
- What a transit desert is and how it costs us billions of dollars in lost productivity annually
- The $10M award that Dollaride won from the state of New York
- Their solid customer traction with over 15,000 riders in just one year
- How his solution relates to the micromobility field more broadly
- His origin story and the inspiration for this business
- How their business is evolving from an Uber-like tech platform to an asset-financing model to make EV purchases easier
- The process by which they retrofit commercial vehicles from ICE to EV
- Why it’s so important that he walks his kids to school
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it.
And give Su a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our two offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Sandeep Nijhawan, the Cofounder and CEO of Electra.
Electra is decarbonizing ironmaking for green steel production using intermittent renewable energy and low-grade iron ores, and producing higher-quality steel at the same time. Backed by $85M of VC and corporate VC capital, they will do all this at zero cost premium to existing steel manufacturing.
In addition, Sandeep is the former:
- President of AquaHydrex, which was focused on developing a novel electrolyzer for the hydrogen economy
- Operating Partner for True North Venture Partners
- President of Staq Energy, a distributed energy storage solutions developer
In this episode, we talked about:
- Their new partnership with Nucor, the largest steel manufacturer in the U.S.
- How he transitioned from a PhD in mechanical engineering to leading energy tech startups
- Why his “midlife crisis” led to the clarity to build novel energy solutions among small teams of bonafide geeks
- The importance of producing green steel at 60 degrees Celsius instead of 1,600 degrees
- How they balanced strategic and financial investors, ignoring conventional wisdom in the process
- The ways in which steel plants can get access to their solution as an OpEx, instead of just as a CapEx
- The prioritization of self, family, and team – not the reverse order – and this is anti-selfish
- Perspectives on really knowing the “why” in order to allow the “how” to be easier
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy.
And give Sandeep and Electra a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our two offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
In this newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact, I cover the following:
- 💰 $64B of new cash for climate in 2022
- 📰 New carbon removal buyer's guide
- ☁️ TPG invests $300M into carbon credit platform
- 🤔 Pain + reflection = progress
- ⛰️ 75 Hard vs. 60 Medium
- 🥇 Here’s what this VC looks for in a climate tech startup
- 📰 News flash: Climate is about people, not just startup exits
- 🙋♂️ Want a job in climate tech?
- 📈 Price’s Law: The square root of people
- 👵 Retire far earlier than age 65
Enjoy!
Ping me on LinkedIn to let me know what you think about it.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.com
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Jake Susman, Cofounder and CEO of Ambient Fuels.
Ambient Fuels is a pure-play developer of green hydrogen projects, guiding heavy industry through the great green upgrade.
In addition, he is the:
- Executive Advisory Board Member at Activate Capital
- Board member of Urban Resiliency Advisory Board with the Partnership Fund for New York City
- Board Member at SolarKal, the largest commercial solar marketplace in the U.S.
- Board President & Co-Founder at Cleantech Leaders Roundtable
In this episode, we talked about:
- How Ambient Fuel was focused on green hydrogen before the Inflation Reduction Act made it super attractive to be in this sector
- The kinds of sectors that Ambient helps the most – e.g., refining, chemical, and fertilizers
- His prior development firm, Own Energy, and its origin as one of the earliest VC-funded renewable energy project developers, which was later purchased by EDF
- The genesis of his entrepreneurial journey via “el jefe” at AES in Spain
- Why timing can be so important in determining whether a deal gets done, or dies on the vine
- The fact that not all investor capital is created equal and a gross analogy with fast food
- Why premortem analysis exercises can help reduce future startup failure risks
- His commitment to meditation 4x per week and sweating in some kind of physical activity every day
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it.
And give Jake and Ambient fuels a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our two offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Joseph McMillin, Cofounder and CEO of Atlas Organics.
Atlas Organics is a national leader in organic waste recycling. Their key partner is Generate Capital, a multi-billion-dollar sustainable infrastructure investor.
Joseph is also a member of the Climate Mastermind peer groups we run at Entrepreneurs for Impact with three dozen growth-stage CEOs and investors tackling climate change.
In this episode, we talked about the following:
- His purchase of an old school bus, which he renovated and drove across the country during Covid, with his wife, young son, and four dogs (woah!)
- The importance of his earliest investors – such as Closed Loop and Gratitude Railroad – having confidence that he and his partner would land on the right business model to scale organic waste recycling
- Their evolution from collecting food waste in a truck to doing public-private partnerships to handle cities’ waste and buying existing organic waste processing facilities across the country
- How his projects earn revenue, and which revenue sources are contracted versus the spot market
- The role of city and state mandates and voluntary targets in driving greater organic waste recycling
- How their talent and operational processes have been influenced by books, such as Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm, as well as the interview practices described in topgrading
- His ideal morning routine of exercise, journaling, meditation, and reflection – if he’s able to get up at 4:45 am
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy.
And give Joseph a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our two offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest is Alex Roetter, General Partner at Moxxie Ventures, Founder of Terraset, and former Head of Engineering at Twitter.
In addition, he came up with this great idea around which we teamed up together to launch Terraset, an anti-GHG 501(c)(3) for advanced market commitments in the carbon removal industry (CDR).
In this episode, we talked about the following:
- How philanthropy only provides 2% of its donations to tackle climate change, and only 3.8% of that small number goes to carbon dioxide removal (CDR)
- Why advanced market commitments (or AMCs) can help create market validation for CDR companies so they can get their projects financed
- How Terraset is similar and different from the $925M Frontier Fund, which includes partners such as Stripe, Shopify, Alphabet, Meta, and McKinsey
- The ways that Terraset makes it easier for donors to find trusted CDR projects to support, and receive a tax deduction in the U.S.
- The preseed and seed VC funding he provides at Moxxie Ventures, which focused on climate tech, as well as health tech, AI, and more
- Examples of the cool portfolio companies they’ve funded, such as BasiGo, an EV bus company in Nairobi
- Mistakes he has seen CEOs, including himself, make and how to avoid them
- Why environmental and social co-benefits in climate tech financing matter
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Alex a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our two offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
In this newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact, I cover the following:
- 💵 New “Climate Finance Tracker”
- 🤬 To all the carbon tech haters
- 😮 A new tablet to kill your pen and paper
- 👂 We have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason
- 🚀 We launched a new anti-GHG NGO called Terraset
- 💰 15 money-winning climate tech pitch decks
- 🤔 Are you becoming better or bitter?
- 😵 Beware of “Thinkwashing”
Enjoy!
Ping me on LinkedIn to let me know what you think about it.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our two offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Howard Fischer, the Chief Evangelist at Gratitude Railroad and CEO of Basso Capital Management.
Gratitude Railroad's mission is to support investors in moving capital from traditional finance to impact investments that create deep social and environmental impact, without compromising financial returns.
His bio on the GR website is delightful in its brevity and insight into who he is. And I quote:
“Uphill over downhill; Snow over sand; Read over watch; Trees over skyscrapers; Pizza over steak; Conversation over gossip; Disagree over agree; Instinct over spreadsheets; Relationship over contract.”
In this episode, we talked about:
- His 40 years in hedge funds
- How his rebirth in 2013 while not religious was like a metaphorical move from Gordon Gekko to Dalai Lama
- His financial reckoning during the 2008 financial crisis when his hedge fund went from $3B to $300M
- The risks in wearing the golden handcuffs of fat paychecks from big-brand employers
- How philanthropy is broken and government is not a great problem solver
- Why we have to move more profit-driven capital to the climate sector
- Examples of the climate investments they’ve made at Gratitude Railroad, including a focus on organic waste management
- His theme of “Free the Money” and related investments in Climate First Bank and First Women’s Bank
- Why we can’t ask people to eat their broccoli (sorry, you have to listen to understand what this means)
- Some of his favorite books, such as The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, and The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy.
And give Howard a shout-out on LinkedIn or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Learn more:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Taj Ahmad Eldridge.
Taj is the Director of Climate Innovation at Jobs for the Future, and Cofounder of Include Ventures, a fund of funds investor focused on emerging managers at the intersection of “Alpha + Inclusion + Sustainability.”
In addition, Taj is…
- Advisory Panel member @ The Schmidt Family Foundation
- Founding Advisory Board member @ GreenTech Noir
- Board Member @ Homeboy Industries
- Former Director of the Startup Accelerator @ University of California, Riverside
- Former Senior Director for Investment @ the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
- And investor in Invictus Growth Partners, SparkCharge, Form Energy, ChargerHelp!, and many more high-impact ventures
In this episode, we talked about:
- Who holds the real power in allocating capital
- The importance of place-based innovation
- How talent is universal, but opportunity is not
- Jobs for the Future’s goals of creating 25,000 new jobs in climate resilience
- The need to reframe climate change as a mission around public health, social equity, and economics
- Two of his portfolio companies led by Black founders and CEOs that are changing federal transportation policy and making EV charging super easy
- How he believes a focus on minority-led ventures creates alpha opportunities
- The need to bring your whole self to work
- Wisdom from the beat poets like Jack Kerouac and one of our favorite books, Dharma Bums
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy it!
And give Taj a shout-out on LinkedIn or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Learn more:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guests in this episode are Sophie Bakalar and Tomás Álvarez Belón from Collaborative Fund.
Collaborative Fund is a 10-year-old VC firm investing at the intersection of for-profit and for-good, with a long-time focus on climate. Today, they’re investing in Series A- and B-stage startups from their $200M Collab SOS Fund. Through their Shared Future initiative, they're also investing $100,000 into 100 startups per year that come through top-notch accelerator programs like YCombinator, Activate, and AirMiners.
In this episode, we talked about the following:
- How they make investment decisions
- Lessons they’ve learned from past investment mistakes
- Tips for startup founders who are new at pitching to investors
- Two of their portfolio companies tackling cell cultured animal fat and smarter EV charging through software that recognizes the bottlenecks of the power grid
- The importance of distinguishing roles and responsibilities among founders
- Personal goals of ever greater simplicity in life
- Recommended sci-fi books to read
- The power of slow mornings
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy!
And give Sophie, Tomás, Collaborative Fund, and Shared Future a shout-out on LinkedIn or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Learn more:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest for his episode is Damian Beauchamp, the President and Chief Development Officer of 8 Rivers.
In addition, he is also:
- An advisor to the Carbon XPrize
- A Board member at NET Power
8 Rivers is a platform company developing the sustainable infrastructure of tomorrow by inventing and commercializing large-scale innovations in the race to Net Zero. Founded by a former Wall Street finance executive and a literal rocket scientist, their investors include industry heavyweights Exelon, SK Group, McDermott, and Occidental Low Carbon Ventures.
In this episode, we talked about the following:
- How they’re creating billions of dollars of market-proven value
- How Blue Ocean strategies have served them well
- The validation they’ve received on a net-zero, cost-neutral natural gas power plant in Texas
- Their go-to-market plan of innovation and IP development, followed by licensing the tech to others for maximum scale and climate benefits
- The path to securing big-name corporate partners
- The need to be optimistic and solutions-oriented when it comes to tackling climate change
- Quotes from Calvin Coolidge on the power of persistence
- Why he has a picture of the Grand Canyon as his LinkedIn banner picture
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy!
And give Damian and 8 Rivers a shout-out on LinkedIn or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Learn more:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
My guest today is Bessie Schwartz, the Co-founder & CEO of Cloud to Street.
Cloud to Street is the leading flood mapping platform designed to protect the world’s most climate-vulnerable communities.
By harnessing global satellites, advanced science, and community intelligence, they monitor worldwide floods in near real-time and remotely analyze local flood exposure at a click of a button.
Their mission is to ensure that all vulnerable governments finally access the high-quality information they need to prepare for and respond to increasing catastrophes.
In addition, she is…
- A Strategist - Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
- An Echoing Green Climate Fellow
- Research partner - Data-Pop Alliance - a global coalition on Big Data and development created by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, MIT Media Lab, and the Overseas Development Institute
In this episode, we talked about the following:
- The relevance of her work to the recent flooding in Pakistan, leaving ⅓ of the country underwater
- How flooding is the #1 climate-related weather impact
- The history of their company 10 years ago in partnership with Google
- The difference between information and motivation to make the right decision
- Their business model of aligning incentives to help insurance companies underwrite more policies that accurately capture flood risk
- The need to invest in climate adaption – which BoA estimates to be a $2T market in a few years – and not just climate mitigation
- How they use 17 satellites, stratospheric balloon imaging, and drones to measure every square foot of the earth every day
- What parametric flood insurance is a breakthrough for climate risk management
- And lots more
Hope you enjoy!
And give Bessie and Cloud to Street a shoutout on LinkedIn or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Learn more:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Electric Hydrogen is a hardtech startup making hydrogen from 100% clean energy to decarbonize industrial sectors by creating a new generation of electrolyzer technologies. They recently raised $198 million from leading climate investors such as Fifth Wall, S2G Ventures Silicon Valley Bank, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Equinor Ventures, Honeywell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Rio Tinto, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Partners, Energy Impact Partners, and Prelude Ventures.
Raffi Garabedian is the cofounder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen. Previously, he was the former CTO of First Solar, the leading global manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, and the founder and CEO of Touchdown Technologies. He also holds over 20 issued patents and is a big proponent of "doing shit that matters."
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do?
- What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Are you aiming for decentralized or centralized hydrogen production?
- Can your clean hydrogen projects actually drive PPA creation for new renewable energy projects?
- What lessons learned from the solar sector are you bringing to this work in hydrogen?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Fifth Wall is a $3B VC fund with a new $500M climate tech fund. Their focus is the built environment. Strategic investors include over 90 of the biggest corporate players in real estate, such as Hines, Prologis, and CBRE.
Greg Smithies is a Partner at Fifth Wall, where he co-leads the Climate Technology Investment team. Previously, Greg was a Partner at BMW i Ventures where he led the Sustainability investing practice. He also led Finance & Operations for both The Boring Company and Neuralink simultaneously. He started his investment career at Battery Ventures where he covered early-stage enterprise technology startups, as well as industrial technology buyouts.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Why is now the right time to be investing in climate-focused prop tech?
- Who are your biggest investors in the fund, and why?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Baruch Future Ventures is a VC investor that works with entrepreneurs to shorten the time and reduce the cost to commercialization of resource technology innovations. They invest in the early stages of companies in these impact areas: energy systems, food security, air quality, healthcare, and water quality.
Jason Holt is a partner at Baruch Future Ventures. He is also a former entrepreneur with 27 years of experience; a PhD in chemical engineering from Caltech; and Board member or advisor to dozens of startups, especially in hardtech.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Enduring Planet is a fast and founder-friendly non-dilutive capital source for climate entrepreneurs. Apply in 10 mins. Get funded in 30 days. No collateral, no personal guarantees. Their goal is to fund $2.5B in these capital solutions in the next five years.
Dimitry Gershenson is the cofounder and CEO of Enduring Planet. He is also a former entrepreneur; prior lead on Meta’s Energy Access program, a $15M+ investing initiative that enabled energy access for 3M people and unlocked nearly $500M in additional capital in underserved markets like Kenya and India; and Board member at Ecosafi, a Lowercarbon Capital-backed climate startup enabling clean cooking in emerging markets
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Cleartrace is a decarbonization SaaS platform that provides the actionable data companies need to meet their renewable energy goals. They function as an "anti-greenwashing" tool that helps corporations prove they are carbon-free on Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions. Investors include ClearSky, Tenaska, EDF Energy North America, Brookfield Renewable, and Exelon.
Lincoln Payton is the CEO of Cleartrace and former Head of Investment Banking Americas and Global Head of Investment Banking Energy & Commodities for BNP Paribas.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Heirloom aims to accelerate our planet's transition to a carbon-negative society by removing 1B tons of CO2 from the air by 2035 by engineering the most cost-effective, scalable direct air capture system. Their technology enhances a naturally occurring process, called carbon mineralization, to help minerals absorb CO2 from the ambient air in days, rather than years. They are backed with $50M+ of VC funding from Lowercarbon Capital, Musk Foundation, Time Ventures, XPrize, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Grantham Environmental Trust, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and more.
Shashank Samala is the CEO of Heirloom. Previously, he was an Entrepreneur In Residence at Carbon180 and Cofounder of Tempo ($75M+ for advanced software-driven electronics production).
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
In this newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact, I cover the following:
- 🚫 Texas “bans” 348 ESG funds
- 🗺️ 350+ climate startups on a map
- ☠️ We’re all dying right now
- 💰 Billionaire VC investor — “We made a mistake.”
- 🏳️ Investing in climate adaptation is not surrendering to sorrow and darkness
- 📽️ Movie | The Story of Stuff
- 🤮 Your network is your net worth (Vomit)
- 🗓️ TGIF? Nope. Thank God it’s Monday
- 🧡 Taxes — Why you should give them a big warm hug.
Enjoy. Let me know if you like it.
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Sealed is a VC-backed startup that modernizes single-family houses with the latest HVAC, weatherproofing, and smart home technology. They also cover the upfront costs of these upgrades, so if they don’t reduce customer energy use, then they don’t get paid.
Lauren Salz is the co-founder and CEO of Sealed. In addition to a stint at McKinsey & Company and a summer playing the flute as a street musician in Oxford, she is also a Forbes 30 under 30, Olympic-style weightlifter, and flute player.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Brad Feld has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He is the Cofounder of Foundry, Mobius Ventures, and Intensity Ventures. He is also the author of eight books and and cocreator of Techstars, a leading startup accelerator that has accepted about 3,000 companies into its accelerator programs with a combined market capitalization over $70B.
Foundry manages over $3B in assets and invests in startups and venture capital funds. Their approach is characterized by long-term thinking and a "give first" philosophy. They have 70 active investments, 100 general partners, 45 partner funds, and 1,900 Foundry network companies. Their sample climate investments include VC funds (USV, Moxxie Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital) and startups (Running Tide, Sofar).
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
This is another newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact.
So, yep. It's still August.
Lots more downtime. More vacations. Fewer guests wanting to get off Mt. Fuji and talk on a podcast. 😅
Here's what I cover today:
- ⛰️ A carbon tech wishlist from a $350M fund.
- 😲 You don’t need VC funding.
- 🎙️ Climate tech podcast #1 — “Making ESG Investing Easier for $2 Billion.”
- 🎧 Climate tech podcast #2 — “$100M Love Letter to Pioneering Climate Businesses Leaders.”
- 💰 225 millionaires fit into four categories.
- 📣 I’ll share your pitch deck with 25 early-stage climate investors.
Let me know if you like it.
- https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
This is a newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact.
That, of course, means that I took too much vacation and didn't line up a guest for this week. 😂
But oh, the goodness herein!
- 🤑 Climate tech VC — 4 market updates
- 🏎️ Funding data for 200+ mobility startups
- 🏥 143 million climate refugees
- 🌾 Movie | Vegans are not weenies
- 🌎 Save $250 | Learn climate tech startup funding with me
- ⛈️ Under every beautiful company logo is a hot mess
Let me know if you like it.
- https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Sweep is a SaaS company that helps large companies reduce carbon emissions in their businesses and supply chains. Sample customers include multi-billion-dollar global enterprises such as Saint-Gobain and HP.
Rachel Delacour is the Co-founder and CEO of Sweep. She is also a Board Member at 2MX Organic, Investment Committee member at RAISE France, and Board member at Shine, as well as the former President at France Digitale and Co-Founder & CEO of BIME Analytics (acquired by Zendesk). She also speaks French very well; that's because she is French and lives in France.
(I wonder who reads these podcast summaries. If that's you, Tweet at me here https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding. 🤣)
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Ethic is working toward a future where all investing is sustainable investing. Backed by almost $100M of funding, they empower wealth advisors and investors to create portfolios that seek to align personal values with financial goals. Their solution has catalyzed $2B of capital into more responsible funds to date.
Jay Lipman is the Co-founder and President of Ethic. He is also a Top LinkedIn Voice for the Green Economy and a member of our Climate Mastermind peer groups at Entrepreneurs for Impact. Check out his entertaining and educational ESG videos here. He claims that his sophisticated English accent is not a factor in his success, but the jury is still out.
(I wonder who reads these podcast summaries. If that's you, Tweet at me here https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding. 🤣)
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/entrepreneurs-for-impact/message
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Mitra Chem is solving three problems:
- Shifting the Western electric vehicle and energy storage industries' battery portfolio towards safer, cheaper, and cleaner iron-based battery cathodes
- Building production capacity in the USA to offset production asset overconcentration in China
- Accelerating by >90% the lab-to-market timeline for a portfolio of battery materials through a proprietary machine learning advantage
Vivas Kumar is the Cofounder and CEO of Mitra Chem. Previously, he was a senior manager in Tesla's Battery Team, where he was the lead commercial negotiator for strategic contracts representing billions of dollars in aggregate multi-year spend along the battery materials supply chain (the company's largest BOM category). Throughout his career, he has conducted commercial negotiations and handled partnerships with executive and senior government counterparties in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Vivas earned degrees in engineering at Rice University and an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Lime Rock New Energy invests private equity capital out of its first $375M fund into maturing companies focused on renewable energy products and services, energy efficiency for industry and the built environment, and transportation electrification.
Mark Lewis is a Managing Director with Lime Rock New Energy, with responsibility for investment sourcing, execution, and overall fund management. He currently serves on the board of directors of EPE, Qmerit, and Smart Wires. Previously, he was the President of TAE Technologies, Inc., the world’s largest and most advanced fusion energy technology development company; CEO of ONEnergy, a diversified energy services company involved in energy retailing, commercial and industrial energy efficiency and distributed solar projects; Managing Director at MissionPoint Capital Partners, an environmentally driven investment firm focused on financing the transition to a lower-carbon economy; and head of Global Business Development at GE Energy where he was involved in over $15 billion of transactions.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
The Westly Group was founded in 2007 and has four venture capital funds with over $700 million under management. They have become one of the premier venture investors in North America focused on energy, mobility, buildings, industrial technology, and cybersecurity. They invest $5-$15M per company, and one of their nine IPOs includes Tesla. Check out their portfolio here: https://westlygroup.com/portfolio
Tim Wang joined the Westly Group in 2015 and helps manage the firm’s deal flow and due diligence process. Prior to joining the Westly Group, Tim was a co-founder and Head of Business Development at a China-based financial technology start-up, ChinaScope, where he raised $5M from Moody’s Corporation. Tim began his career as an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, a leading financial data provider for financial institutions and advisory firms. Tim worked with the Client Development team out of their New York office before moving to Hong Kong to lead their Asia go-to-market efforts and build a team that would manage relationships with all of Capital IQ’s clients in the region. Tim holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Soluna Computing is a NASDAQ-listed public company that builds smarter, small-footprint data centers to buy and use excess renewable power.
John Belizaire is the CEO of Soluna Computing and a serial entrepreneur who sold his first company at age 28 for $150 million.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Climentum Capital invests via late seed and Series A rounds in European startups that can reduce megatons of CO2 equivalents. With initial ticket sizes ranging between 1 and 5 million EUR, they are building a portfolio of 25 companies.
Yoann Berno is a General Partner at Climentum Capital, a mentor with Breakthrough Energy Fellows, a software engineer, and a former cofounder at Catalyst (Enable), Angels Partners, and Supernova.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Nth Cycle is a metals processing technology company. They work with battery recyclers and miners. Their customizable and clean electro-extraction technology installs onsite to recover critical minerals from separated e-waste, low-grade ore, and mine tailings. They profitably separate critical minerals from other elements, transforming them into production-grade feedstocks for the clean energy transition.
Megan O'Connor is a Forbes 30 Under 30 and PhD graduate in environmental engineering from Duke University with scientific and entrepreneurial experience at Yale University and Innovation Crossroads. She cofounded Nth Cycle five years ago.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is an international law firm with a particular focus on the technology & media, energy, financial, and real estate & construction sectors. They have been recognized as one of the most innovative law firms by Financial Times and one of the top firms for client service by BTI Consulting.
Mona Dajani, an industry thought leader and a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, is the global co-leader of the firm’s Energy and Infrastructure Projects Team at and also leads the Renewable Energy practice, which covers clean energy, clean energy technology, hydrogen, and sustainable finance. She is qualified as a lawyer in the U.S., as a registered foreign lawyer in England, and a licensed professional engineer.
Their Hydrogen Energy Map Tracker is here: https://www.thehydrogenmap.com
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
CapShift empowers philanthropic, donor-advised funds, and financial institutions (along with their clients) to mobilize capital for social and environmental change. They are a turnkey impact investment solution for the $1 trillion charitable investment market.
Adam Rein is the Cofounder and Chief Investment Officer. Since 2014, he has served as a Managing Director for MissionPoint Partners, an impact investment advisory and asset management firm. Previously, Adam co-founded Altaeros, an MIT startup bringing affordable broadband to rural communities. Adam is also a co-founder of Greentown Labs, the largest climate tech incubator in North America. Previously, Adam worked as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company. Adam has an MBA from MIT Sloan, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA from Yale University.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more. The next live, online course is June 1 to 14.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
In this episode, I'm once again trying a new format, something less formal. A solo recording where I talk through a few recent news stories in climate tech finance.
Let me know if you like it.
- https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding/
In this show, I cover two topics:
(1) Highlights from my newsletter
- 💸 2x valuation increase — SOSV Climate Tech 100 list.
- ☀️ New report — How to finance a “First of a Kind (FOAK)” project.
- 😵 Are you an unconscious leader?
- READ MORE: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com/p/its-getting-hot-in-here-2x-valuation?s=w
(2) My new live course on climate tech funding
- June 1 to 14
- 1-2 live class sessions per week
- 1-2 optional live Q&A sessions per week
- Enrollment capped at 25 students
- 500+ climate investor list (with emails)
- 5-step process for raising capital
- 4 tools for assessing your competitive edge
- 9-step method for improving your 1-page business plan
- 10 top startup funding mistakes to avoid
- Network of peers to support you
- ENROLL HERE: https://maven.com/entrepreneurs-for-impact/fund-your-climate-tech-startup
--
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more. The next live, online course is June 1 to 14.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
In this episode, I'm trying a new format, something less formal. More like a conversation with you. And much shorter than usual.
Let me know if you like it.
- https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding/
In this show, I cover two topics:
(1) Highlights from my newsletter
- 🌤️ 56 early-stage climate startups to Google (Diamond List)
- 🏆 62 world-changing companies tackling the climate crisis (Fast Company)
- 🏀 Can you jump 44 inches into the air and dunk a basketball? (Two books to help you play to your strengths)
- READ MORE: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com/p/-118-climate-tech-startups-to-watch?s=w
(2) My new live course on climate tech funding
- June 1 to 14
- 1-2 live class sessions per week
- 1-2 optional live Q&A sessions per week
- Enrollment capped at 25 students
- 500+ climate investor list (with emails)
- 5-step process for raising capital
- 4 tools for assessing your competitive edge
- 9-step method for improving your 1-page business plan
- 10 top startup funding mistakes to avoid
- Network of peers to support you
- ENROLL HERE: https://maven.com/entrepreneurs-for-impact/fund-your-climate-tech-startup
--
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more. The next live, online course is June 1 to 14.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIOS:
Shopify is a leading global e-commerce platform where "millions of the world's most successful brands sell, ship, and process payments anywhere." Nearly 600M shoppers made a purchase from a Shopify merchant in 2021, and around $496B has been sold on Shopify by merchants to date.
Stacy Kauk is the Head of Sustainability and formerly Head of Ozone Protection and Head of Chemicals Management at Environment and Climate Change Canada.
She plays leadership roles in the $32M they've invested to support carbon-negative companies through their Sustainability Fund, and the new $925M commitment from Shopify, Stripe, Alphabet, Meta, and McKinsey Sustainability to do the same over ten years in the Frontier Fund.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more. The next live, online course is June 1 to 14. It's capped at only 25 students.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIOS:
Sustain.Life is a software solution that futureproofs mid-cap businesses tackling climate change. This includes the following benefits: (1) measure, track, and manage carbon emissions, (2) identify areas to make operational changes that reduce emissions, and offset the rest, and (3) leveraging tools and reports to engage suppliers, employees, customers, and other key stakeholders.
Mike Hanrahan is the Co-founder, Interim CEO, and Board Member. He is also the CEO of 4Sided, a firm that builds SaaS companies; former Co-founder of Jet.com; and former CEO of Intelligent Retail Lab at Walmart.
Alyssa (Zucker) Rade is the Chief Sustainability Officer. She was formerly Director of Sustainability for Vornado Realty Trust and Environmental Designer at Atelier Ten.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?
- What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO mastermind peer groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more. The next live, online course is June 1 to 14. It's capped at only 25 students.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Co-led by Cofounder and CEO Moji Karimi, Cemvita Factory is reimagining heavy industries for the net-zero economy via a portfolio of nature-inspired microbial solutions for the oil and gas and mining. Their work focuses on carbon-negative biomanufacturing, biomining, and subsurface biomanufacturing.
Moji is a carbon-negative entrepreneur and a technology futurist. His mission is to create a sustainable future where humans have applied technology to balance the rate of climate change. A future where humans live in harmony with nature. As an operator, he has a track record of taking a range of multidisciplinary ideas to market.
He started the company with his sister, Dr. Tara Kojimi, who has devoted her academic and professional careers to studying biological systems and applying natural principles in the service of creating biologically-inspired technology.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our three offerings include:
- Climate CEO mastermind peer groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.
- Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more. The next live, online course is June 1 to 14. It's capped at only 25 students.
- Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Co-led by Cofounder and CEO Dr. Anastasia Volkova, Regrow is the first digital platform to unlock the power and profitability of resilient agriculture through a single, measurable, and verifiable system. Regrow combines best-in-class agronomy (from FluroSat, started by Anastasia) with soil and carbon modeling (from Dagan, acquired by FluroSat) to deliver customized, site-specific and scalable solutions to businesses across the supply chain.
Anastasia's passion is Earth observation, automation, and efficiency. With three degrees and a doctoral thesis on autonomous navigation systems, she has experience in project management, transportation, and IT, including leading a 370-person team for UEFA, workshopping with Airbus, managing software development teams for American/European companies, starting a web development company, and running a successful event management startup.
Her thesis "Feature-based Visual Navigation in GPS-denied environment" is the basis for Regrow's software for the processing of remotely sensed images (including Machine Learning), assignment of semantic labels on visual features, and multi-sensor/ multi-temporal data fusion for localization purposes.
She is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council and Board Director for the Aurora Space Startup Cluster, an Australian initiative to promote the aerospace industry with 65 member companies across the entire supply chain.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $5B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Co-led by Cofounder and CEO Sandeep Ahuja, cove.tool is an end-to-end automated green building performance software suite. It produces beautiful analysis graphics for energy, daylight, carbon, HVAC design, and more. Using machine learning, it considers thousands of options in order to select the lowest cost and highest performance material components for new construction and renovations.
cove.tool has raised over $36M of venture capital funding, including investors such as FootPrint Coalition (Robert Downey, Jr.'s fund), Third Sphere, URBAN-X, and Mucker Capital.
Sandeep is also the founder of a successful sustainability consulting firm Pattern r+d. She has presented at the UN environment assembly, with 1,500 global delegates, on the impact of building on climate change, showcased at the Tedx Atlanta, SXSW, won the Forbes 30 under 30, and Atlanta Startup Battle.
Multiple publications have written about Sandeep's impact in the AEC industry including Architect magazine, Tech Crunch, Site Selection, and ArchDaily. With her desire to bring automation into the AEC world, she is pioneering the integration of building performance into the design and construction process by developing and using intelligent technology and software. Sandeep has presented at multiple architectural and engineering conferences including AIA, ACUI, ASHRAE, Facades+, Tech+, Build Tech, DBL.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $5B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Co-led by COO and Cofounder Roshan Vani, Nexus PMG is a low-carbon, bio-based infrastructure development expert focused on project management, drone monitoring, 3D laser scanning, financial modeling, site selection, fuel supply, offtakes, permitting, FEED studies, EPC contracts, and project execution.
Customers include some of the biggest names in infrastructure and finance, such as Apollo, Riverstone, Cargill, Skanska, Ultra Capital, Ember Infrastructure, and QIC.
Roshan is a solutions-focused executive and advisor with more than 15 years of success across the construction industry. His broad areas of expertise include leadership, team building, risk analysis, business development, cash-flow forecasting, process improvement, client relations, and strategy.
In addition to prior roles at Bechtel Power Corporation and Fluor, he is the Founder of Cloud EPC, a cloud-based enterprise project management and project controls system for the engineering, procurement, and construction industries.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by CEO and Co-founder Brennan Spellacy, Patch is an API-based solution enabling customers to embed carbon footprint estimation and removal directly into their digital products and experiences.
Backed by Andreessen Horowitz and other VC investors, Patch collaborates with a wide range of carbon removal project types, from traditional nature-based projects 一 such as forestry, soil, and kelp 一 to leading-edge carbon removal technologies 一 such as biochar, bio-oil, and mineralization.
Prior to Patch, Brendan was trained as a chemical engineer and worked as a web developer and product manager for groups such as Sonder, Shopify, and McGill University.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by CEO and Co-founder Dr. Shreya Dave, Via Separations is an MIT spinout enabling industrial process efficiency with novel chemistries that allow manufacturing facilities to slash energy consumption while making more product.
Targeting the 12% of US energy consumption that is wasted each year separating chemical compounds with heat, Via Separations reduces the load of the process by 90%, electrifies the most energy-intensive step in chemical production, and generates additional revenue for the customer. Today, Via is deploying its technology in pilot trials at pulp and paper facilities to eliminate 500 million metric tons of CO2 by 2050.
Via's investors and partners include Prime Impact Fund, Safar Partners, The Engine, Embark Ventures, ARPA-E, the National Science Foundation, and Greentown Labs.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Co-led by Cofounder and Managing Partner Abe Yokell, Congruent Ventures is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco. They focus on sustainability challenges and investing early across hardware, software, enterprise, consumer, deep technology, fin-tech, and business model innovation, with 36+ positive-impact investments to date.
Abe oversees Congruent’s investments in AMP Robotics, Blueprint Power, OptimoRoute, For Days, Leap, Omnidian, Amply Power, Raptor Maps, Span.IO, Vector, and Phase Genomics.
He has over 15 years of investment experience, having invested across sectors and business models, and was responsible for opening RockPort Capital’s West Coast office in 2007.
Abe graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Economics, with minors in Chemistry and Biology.
When not serving as entertainment for his young children, Abe enjoys hiking, cycling, skiing, travel, and pointing out solar roofs to whoever happens to be nearby.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Give us some examples of recent investments that you’re excited about.
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- Tell us about 1-2 tips you’d give your “younger” self in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact.
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $5B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Managing Director Dave Kirkpatrick, SJF Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Durham, San Francisco, New York, and Seattle that has been at the forefront of impact investing since 1999. They have invested in 70+ high impact ventures that are creating a healthier, smarter and cleaner future.
Dave Kirkpatrick helped lead SJF’s capitalization of four funds totaling $260 million starting in 1999. His portfolio engagements include Terabase Energy, ROOM, Waycare, Voltaiq, Living Earth, ENTOUCH Controls, and Community Energy, as well as exited companies TransLoc, NEXTracker, groSolar, CleanScapes, B.B Hobbs, and Foxfire. Dave’s industry focus areas include solar energy, energy efficiency, recycling & reuse, and mobility. Dave also serves as the founding co-chair of the Impact Capital Managers, a network of private capital fund managers in the U.S. and Canada investing for financial returns and impact.
Prior to SJF, Dave founded and managed two other successful enterprises – KirkWorks, a cleantech investment research firm; and SunShares, a solar energy and recycling company. Dave was named the 2005 CDVC Practitioner of the Year by the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance and Recycler of the Year in 1996 by the National Recycling Coalition.
Dave earned a BA in Physics and History from Duke University in 1982 and an MBA from UNC Kenan Flagler Business School (KFBS) in 1991. He was named KFBS Executive MBA Alumnus of the Year in 2010. He enjoys gardening, kayaking, and trying to learn Spanish.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Give us some examples of recent investments that you’re excited about.
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- Tell us about 1-2 tips you’d give your “younger” self in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact.
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by CEO and Co-founder Dr. Marcus Lehmann, CalWave is unlocking the vast and steady carbon-free power from ocean waves worldwide. They have built a proprietary wave energy converter technology that achieves high performance while surviving storms and extreme conditions.
Marcus is a Forbes 30 Under 30 and brings 15+ years of experience as an industrial engineer and startup builder from Cyclotron Road, E.ON, Siemens, and BMW.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by CEO and Managing Partner Ricardo Angel, Piva Capital is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. They invest in specialty chemicals, new materials, energy, mobility, industrials, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, robotics, automation, supply chain, logistics, electrification, and automation.
Ricardo Angel leverages over 25 years of experience investing in the industrial and energy sectors to find and back visionary entrepreneurs, solving the world’s greatest challenges through breakthrough technologies and innovative business models.
Before starting Piva in 2019, Ricardo was a founding Managing Director of GE Ventures. He led origination and investments and served on dozens of company Boards, providing leadership and guidance to management teams to drive operational and financial value. He also led Energy Technology Ventures (ETV), a $300 million joint venture formed by GE, NRG Energy, and ConocoPhillips. Previously, Ricardo worked at Chevron’s Venture Capital group, in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, and as a consultant at the CNA Corporation.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Give us some examples of recent investments that you’re excited about.
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- Tell us about 1-2 tips you’d give your “younger” self in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact.
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
TS Conductor technology for smarter power transmission lines provides safety, reliability, and longevity, all while doubling ampacity over ACSR and reducing line power loss by 40%. TS Conductor also solves sag issues caused by heat, ice, stresses, and long span in large conductors, while reducing costs in fitting and installation. Their solution can be used in all price-sensitive distribution applications for new build and reconductoring. Recent investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, National Grid Partners, and a subsidiary of NextEra Energy.
Dr. Jason Huang has been working in advanced conductors for the past 10 years, with over 20 years prior experience in composite material technologies. He is regarded as one of the utility industry’s leading experts in composite core wire and cable technology.
Before forming TS Conductor, Dr. Huang was the CEO and CTO of CTC Global, VP of Engineering Technology at BAE Systems Composite Structures, and product development lead at CYTEC Engineered Materials and Goodrich High-Temperature Composite Corporation.
He has a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University, an MBA from the Fisher College of Business, and an MS in Materials Science from the University of California.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market value and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much larger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Co-led by Cofounder and Managing Director, Murray McCraig, ArcTern Ventures is an earthtech venture capital firm investing to solve humanity’s greatest challenges — climate change and sustainability — since 2012.
Murray is an experienced company builder with a passion for generating positive environmental impact. He has founded and led the growth of multiple technology startups: Spotnik Mobile—a wireless technology company sold to TELUS, a mobile carrier; EnviroTower—an energy efficiency solution for commercial buildings; and Fluence Corporation—a global municipal and industrial water treatment business. Earlier in his career, Murray was a principal with the McKenna Group, a Silicon Valley-based strategy consulting firm, where he worked with global tech companies and early-stage ventures to launch new innovations.
Murray holds an MBA from Ivey Business School (Western University) and is a former Olympian who competed for Canada in the 1992 Barcelona games.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Give us some examples of recent investments that you’re excited about.
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- Tell us about 1-2 tips you’d give your “younger” self in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact.
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market value and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much larger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Co-led by Managing Director, Andrew Beebe, Obvious invests in world positive early-stage startups like Beyond Meat, Proterra, and Diamond Foundry, and brings perspectives as prior product designers and company operators.
Andrew brings to Obvious Ventures a lifelong passion for building companies around sustainable systems and people power.
For nearly two decades, Andrew has focused on clean technology and clean energy solutions. He started down the clean tech path with Energy Innovations in 2003, which he grew from a business plan to a major solar developer serving customers like Google, Disney, Sony Pictures, and British Telecom. After selling the company to Suntech in 2008, Andrew served as Chief Commercial Officer at Suntech as well as Vice President of Global Product Strategy. During his tenure, Suntech became the largest solar company in the world. After leaving Suntech, Andrew spent two years as Vice President of Distributed Generation for Nextera Energy, the largest clean energy developer in the U.S.
Before his cleantech career, Andrew spent a decade building companies in the early days of “Web 1.0.” In 1998, Andrew co-founded Bigstep.com, an e-commerce platform designed to serve the needs of small businesses entering the Internet age.
Here's the transcript of the podcast.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Give us some examples of recent investments that you’re excited about.
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- Tell us about 1-2 tips you’d give your “younger” self in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact.
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market value and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much larger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by Managing Director and Cofounder, Kate Frucher, The Clean Fight is a flagship not-for-profit accelerator, that identifies and scales the top growth-stage climate tech companies from around the world that are looking to expand into New York. The current focus is easy-to-adopt solutions that bring the environmental, economic, and health benefits of deep decarbonization to non-luxury buildings.
Kate Frucher is an experienced executive who's launched, operated, and scaled technology and services businesses from startup to $100 million+ multiple times. Adept at diving into new industries and driving innovation and rapid growth, her track record includes having built and led product, design, engineering, innovation, operations, business development, enterprise sales, account management, marketing, people/HR, legal, finance, and other functions. In addition, she brings to her startup cohorts experience in crafting business and product strategies, growing high-performing teams and cultures, developing new organizational capabilities, fundraising, and building boards. She's a life-long social entrepreneur who’s driven innovation and reform in government and nonprofits.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- Give us some examples of recent investments that you’re excited about.
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- Tell us about 1-2 tips you’d give your “younger” self in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact.
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by Founder, Executive Chairman, and CEO Sanjoy Banerjee, Urban Electric Power (UEP) develops non-toxic, thermally safe, long-duration batteries made of plentiful elements such as zinc and manganese, and has the backing of university, government, strategic, and financial investors.
Dr. Sanjoy Benerjee is also a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering City College of New York and Director of the City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute. Banerjee was recruited from UC Santa Barbara, where he had been Department Chair and previously taught at Berkeley, McMaster University, and worked at Atomic Energy of Canada, as Director of the Applied Science Division. In addition, he has served as Mitsubishi Professor at the University of Tokyo, the Burgers Professor at TU Delft, and at ETH Zurich. He has also served on several advisory boards: NASA Fluid Physics, the oil- industry Flow Assurance Consortium, and the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, congressionally mandated to advise on nuclear facilities.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by President Blake Sturcke, Encore Renewable Energy is a community-scale solar and energy storage development company, as well as a B Corps showing leadership on diversity in the energy sector.
Blake serves as the President for Encore Renewable Energy, where he spearheads all of the Company’s project and corporate finance activities. In addition, Blake leads the Company’s corporate development and M&A activities and oversees a number of general management functions. Prior to joining Encore, Blake co-founded Turning Earth, a leading clean energy company within the organics recycling and waste-to-energy sector. Earlier in his career, Blake worked for 15 years for leading global investment banks as a capital markets and corporate finance banker to high-growth companies in the U.S., Asia and Latin America. Blake began his career at Morgan Stanley where he held a succession of positions, including leadership roles in the firm’s Investment Banking Division in New York, Hong Kong and India.
Blake is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School, a community-based charter middle school governed by the New York State of Education Department which was founded to provide interdisciplinary education to adolescents of all abilities and backgrounds, with a focus on environmental sustainability. In addition, Blake is a member of the Advisory Board of 118 Capital, a New York-based impact investing organization catalyzing economic, social and environmental impact in the Americas. Blake received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, where he graduated as a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society, and earned his BA in Economics from Bucknell University. He later co-founded the Bucknell Finance Network. Blake regularly guest lectures on topics including clean energy, financing green technologies, and corporate development, at academic institutions including Bucknell, Columbia, Yale, UVM and Villanova.
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Led by Michael Lee, Octopus Energy is a technology-driven, renewable energy retailer, directly supplying over 3 million customers globally with 100% green electricity at a cheaper price and with a focus on incredible customer service. Founded five years ago as a global energy retailer, Octopus Energy entered the U.S. market in 2020, forming Octopus Energy U.S. and fueling the company’s global expansion. Octopus Energy is valued at over $4.6 billion and is one of energy-tech’s fastest-growing private companies.
Michael is an entrepreneur who believes technology can unlock cleaner and cheaper electricity all while delighting the customer. His background is nearly a decade in renewable energy, including working on some of the first battery storage projects and developing solar solutions for Fortune 500's internationally. Michael is the co-founder of Evolve Energy, which was acquired by Octopus Energy in 2020. He has a background in finance and holds an MBA from Harvard.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for growth-stage CEOs and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
PODCAST GUEST BIO:
Bill Nussey is the founder of the Freeing Energy Project, whose mission is to accelerate the shift to cleaner, cheaper energy.
His new book is: Freeing Energy: How innovators are using local-scale solar and batteries to disrupt the global energy industry from the outside in.https://www.freeingenergy.com
Prior to Freeing Energy, Bill spent most of his career as a tech CEO. His first company, which he co-founded in high school, provided graphics software for early, text-based personal computers. His second company, Da Vinci Systems, was started out of his college dorm room and grew to serve millions of users across 45 countries. Later, he spent several years as a venture capitalist with Greylock. In 1998, he left the firm to run a portfolio company, iXL, which went public and grew to almost $500 million in revenue. After iXL, he joined Silverpop as CEO. Silverpop grew to nearly $100 million and became a global leader in cloud-based marketing. In 2014, IBM acquired the company and made it the foundation of the IBM Marketing Cloud. Shortly after the acquisition, Bill was promoted to VP Corporate Strategy out of IBM’s world headquarters in New York. Bill’s companies have created thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in value.
Bill’s journey into clean energy began with a TED Talk, which grew into 100+ articles and, most recently, a top ten energy podcast called The Freeing Energy Podcast. All of this supported and ultimately led to his upcoming book called Freeing Energy. Supported by 320 interviews across the world, the book’s mission is to help readers understand a powerful new approach to accelerating the shift to clean energy. The core ideas focus on decentralized (or local) energy, novel business models, and new approaches to ownership and finance.
PODCAST HOST:
The parent company of the Climate Torch podcast is Entrepreneurs for Impact.
We are the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
REsurety delivers data-driven solutions for the clean energy economy and the tools to identify value and manage risks from clean energy investments.
Lee Taylor is the Co-Founder and CEO of REsurety. Since founding REsurety in 2012 to commercialize research he conducted at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Mr. Taylor has built a rapidly growing company, gained institutional financing, and attracted top-notch talent, advisors, and directors. Today, REsurety’s products are not only award-winning, but are redefining the way clean energy buyers and sellers are thinking about and managing risk. Under Mr. Taylor’s stewardship, REsurety has amassed contracts supporting more than 5,000 MW of renewable energy generation capacity and counts many of the U.S. — if not the world’s — largest companies as customers and partners, including Microsoft, Invenergy, Capital Power, Southern Company, Nephila Climate, and Allianz.
Mr. Taylor holds an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was named an Edward Tuck Scholar (awarded for academic achievement) and recipient of the Lt. Walter Jacobs Memorial Prize (awarded for intellectual leadership). He also holds Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Biology from the University of Virginia.
QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:
Business
- What does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?
- How are you funding your growth — e.g., revenue, VC, CVC, government grants, M&A? What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned along the way?
- Outside of your current business, what other 1-2 climate or sustainability sectors seem like promising areas in which to start a business? What might those solutions look like?
Personal
- If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?
- What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?
- What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you — outside of your own family?
Closing
- Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
PODCAST HOST:
The parent company of the Climate Torch podcast is Entrepreneurs for Impact.
We are the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $4B in market cap or assets under management, and are influencing corporate priorities and infrastructure much bigger than that.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Co-led by Dr. Dmitriy Antropov, the private infrastructure integrated investment team at Partners Group ($119B+ in AUM) focuses on: (1) telecommunication infrastructure, in particular datacenters, (2) energy and mobility transformation, and (3) next-generation healthcare services.
He has been with Partners Group since 2008 and has 17 years of industry experience. He has originated, led, and executed over USD 1.5B in investments generating 20%+ IRR. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at UniCredit Group, L.E.K. Consulting and Apax Partners. He holds a PhD in world economics from Financial University under the Government of Russian Federation, Moscow. He is also a Financial Risk Manager.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by CEO and Co-founder Kentaro Kawamori, Persefoni is a SaaS platform that enables companies and financial institutions to measure, disclose, and reduce their carbon footprint, thereby meeting stakeholder and regulatory climate disclosure needs with the highest degrees of trust, transparency, and ease.
They recently announced a $101M in Series B and the launch of free carbon accounting product. Prelude Ventures and TPG’s The Rise Fund led the round — the largest-ever investment round in any Climate Tech SaaS company.
Prior to founding Persefoni, Kentaro was an early-stage venture investor and Chief Digital Officer at a Fortune 500 energy firm. In 2020, Kentaro was recognized by Forbes on its 30 Under 30 and in 2021 by SXSW in its startup pitch event.
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Zuleyka Strasner, Zero is an online marketplace for sustainable groceries, home goods, personal items, and more, on its way to becoming the largest sustainability platform for consumers in the country.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"If you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
First, you have to trust in yourself. In a startup, you’re always dealing with some new problem or setback, but we have always, and without fail, found our way through them, as scary as it may have been at the time. The second tip is to be quick about what stays and what goes, whether it’s ideas, processes, or people. Holding on for too long doesn’t work."
"Do you have any requests, announcements, or final advice for our listeners?
Being a founder/CEO requires you to be many things to many people. Sometimes it’s the most rewarding thing in the world, and sometimes it’s the most difficult. The only path is to trust in yourself, and to listen to those around you — the people you hired (because they’re experts after all), your customers, and the people who support you, such as mentors and advisors."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Virginia Klausmeier, Sylvatex is a climate tech company utilizing sustainable chemistry & materials science to accelerate the shift to the electrification of transportation. We do this by massively increasing EV material production throughput while lowering the cost and carbon footprint of the biggest bottleneck in the lithium-ion battery, the cathode.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"What are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?
- Don’t wait for the perfect time
- There is always another way
- Surround yourself with people who fill your bucket!
- Learn to listen to your gut
- Really learn to listen effectively"
"Driven by impact, we are unique because:
- All our chemistry is biobased - Powered by plants!
- We aim to create solutions that can integrate into the current traditional processes to make immediate impacts and evolve with the industry.
- Our approach is to have the lowest cost and most efficient process so that economics drive adoption. As a result of our wild success is a massive reduction in the carbon footprint of batteries."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Co-led by Dr. Eric Toone, Breakthrough Energy Ventures is a long-term VC investor — anchored by Bill Gates, Ray Dalio, and mission-aligned peers — that aims to build the new, cutting-edge companies that will lead the world to net-zero emissions.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"The first decade of this century saw cleantech v1.0, which was pretty much a failure, so we wanted to do something different. The fund is a 20-year fund instead of a 10-year fund to more closely approximate the timeline for the development of technologies and businesses in this space. We have a very technical organization with around 20 people on the team who have doctoral degrees in chemistry, math, physics, and related fields. The idea was to bring a very technical group of people together to do diligence on these technologies. The first fund is fully deployed. We raised the second fund and started investing out of that at the beginning of this year. We have about 80 companies we’ve invested in across the globe."
"There's been an extraordinary amount of money that has entered this space over the last couple of years, and valuations that have gone through the roof. Eight of our companies over the past six months raised between $250-800 million, and we have a company that will likely raise over a billion dollars in its next round. Even at that level, it is still a drop in the bucket. Money in the whole sustainability space still accounts for single-digit percentages of all venture capital, and capital directed towards energy is less than 1%. It's gratifying to see the new capital in this space, but the investment is still way less than what's required."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Co-led by CTO and Cofounder Staff Sheehan, Air Company is an investor-backed carbon-to-value innovator recognized by awards such as Time Magazine Invention of the Year, Fast Company World Changing Idea, and NASA Conversion Challenge.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Our technology is basically artificial photosynthesis. The only inputs to our chemical manufacturing process are carbon dioxide that we capture from point sources or the air, water, and wind and solar electricity. The only things that come out are alcohol products and oxygen gas. It sounds simple, but if it was easy then somebody would have done it before and climate change wouldn't be quite as bad as it is right now. It gets pretty complicated when you get down to the details."
"Air Company started out and is currently selling premium consumer goods at the top of their class using the alcohol that we produce from carbon dioxide. Our first product was vodka, which we make from carbon dioxide. Our vodka is in the market in New York City, and it won gold medals at the three largest blind-taste test competitions in the world. When the pandemic hit, our second product was launched, which we accelerated due to the sanitizer shortage that was happening in New York City. We call it Air Spray. It's an 80% ethanol hand sanitizer. We ended up donating 15,000 bottles to underserved communities and first responders during the pandemic. Then our third product is launching shortly. By the time this podcast airs, it may actually be launched, so we have another product that's coming out soon!"
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Briana Warner, Atlantic Sea Farms is dedicated to making a powerful and positive impact on the health of our customers and oceans by creating craveable and innovative products made from sustainably farmed sea greens, all while expanding opportunities for Maine's fishing communities.
More about Atlantic Sea Farms:
"Good food should do good. At Atlantic Sea Farms, our kelp is never dyed and grown in the clean, cold waters of Maine. Use our kelp in place of any other green vegetable for a delicious umami kick and a boost of B12, calcium, and iodine. Think grain bowls, tacos, sauces and soups. And Kelp forests may remove 20 times more carbon from the atmosphere than land-based forests and help to mitigate the effects of ocean acidification." https://atlanticseafarms.com
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Josh Dorfman, Plantd turns atmospheric carbon into low-prices, high-performance building materials using industrial hemp, an ultra-strong, fast-growing plant that captures over 3x more carbon than trees.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Most home builders are using a product called oriented strand board (OSB). We decided to build these, too, but to make them out of hemp. We think there are opportunities to make a better product, but it still looks and performs like the OSB builders use today. We're not going to ask builders to adopt an alternative building technique. We just want to slide into construction as it works today and to make it easy for people."
"I met Huade Tan, who is our co-founder and CTO, back in February. He spent six years at SpaceX before moving to the Research Triangle Park to start a new company. In parallel, I had been feeling frustrated with engineered wood, seeing the price go up while the quality declined, and I felt there had to be a better alternative. When I met Huade, we were supposed to talk about manufacturing. But I put this idea out there, and he thought it was interesting. His team at SpaceX had also been thinking about alternative biomass and within 20 minutes, we decided to go for it."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Co-founder and Managing Partner Paul Straub, Wireframe Ventures is a pre-seed and seed-stage investor focused on technology benefiting people and planet, including impact ventures focused on climate change, synthetic biology, AI, automation, and zero-emission transportation.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"For many years, my area of focus was around renewables, built environment, and things that were very traditional for cleantech. What's been great about Wireframe is that when we think about decarbonization, we are agnostic in terms of whether you're working in agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, or carbon removal and sequestration. There's an entirely open playing field from our point of view, and we're agnostic from a technology standpoint, too. We will invest in synthetic biology, computational biology, hardware, software, or business model innovations. We view those as great tools and what we care about is who is wielding those tools. We want to know what is the product capability and expertise of a founding team to actually put those tools to work towards the mission around climate. We think about the health of the planet or climate as being the primary objective."
"The most prominent climate tech companies right now are the ones that combine climate and SAAS. We see these kinds of uncapped valuations for SAAS businesses in general, but then add climate and all of the sudden it's just explosive in terms of the valuations. We've got a lot of software businesses that we’re backing. But there's also a lot of interest in carbon removal technologies, which is terrific because it is certainly needed, but it does feel like there are some echoes of the first cleantech boom. I'm trying to remain very open to what's going to work this time because things are very different. There's just an enormous amount of capital flowing into technologies that still have a lot of technical risks and still require project capital to scale. We certainly need some great solutions to remove carbon from the air, but it’s still a very early market."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Co-founder and COO Max Nova, NCX is a VC-backed net-zero pioneer using AI, remote-sensing, and robust forestry science to map all forest assets in the US, create the largest forest carbon project in the US, and build a marketplace of high-quality carbon offsets.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"One of the things you'll hear a lot of people say is that this is a critical decade for the climate or climate action, and it's true. There are these commitments that go out to 2040 or 2050, but we have to start making progress now because the scale of the problem is enormous. We see a lot of our role at NCX is helping bring scale to bear on this challenge by being able to engage every landowner in the country, and one day the world. It's every acre every year. That's the kind of scale that we need to do and even forests won't be a silver bullet for this thing either."
"What's fascinating is that most of these Chief Sustainability Officer positions -- those making or catalyzing buy decisions for our carbon offsets -- did not exist a year ago, two years ago. Everybody is new. Everybody is trying to figure this out. Because it's a new role, there's tremendous diversity in how this is set up in corporations across a bunch of different sectors. Sometimes the Chief Sustainability Officer reports to marketing, sometimes they're part of the supply chain logistics group, sometimes they report directly to the CEO. It's fascinating to see in different companies how this position fits into the org chart because it reflects something about the organization's priorities and why they're making these commitments because there's not one reason. There's a lot of different reasons, both internal and external, that companies choose to make these commitments."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by Founder Derek Handley, Aera Ventures invests at the frontier of deep technology and sustainability to accelerate the world to a better future. "Those who create breakthrough ideas the fastest will generate new markets, exponential financial returns and a better future for us all."
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Everything I do now is related to some social or environmental issue. I had the chance to build an alliance of different CEOs around the world who were tackling the same question on different scales. I partnered with Richard Branson and was helping large-scale business leaders transitions with these issues. My wife and I then set up a small Charitable Trust. We didn't know what to call it, we end up calling an Aera. It means exactly what it sounds like; it's the Latin word for “era.” It's the root word for our time, our generation. The Foundation came first, and then we spun out different projects, and the venture fund is a project at the Foundation. It's a unique genesis story to build a venture capital fund from a charitable trust, but the mission was always to work on sustainability and climate."
"The space that I think is blue sky and most exciting is heavy industry. The problem is so big with cement, plastic, steel, chemicals, etc. We're looking for interesting companies in that space. Also, the intersection of climate and fintech is really interesting. I think “Okay, we have a banking system and a finance system that is trying to turn the ship to meet the climate issue.” I'm starting to dream that people might build entirely new banking institutions or financial institutions that are climate-focused and built for a sustainable world."
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website: www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits: https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members: https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership: https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by CEO Eric Adamson, Tortuga AgTech aims to raise agricultural margins and reduce hard human working conditions by delivering innovative robotic crop pickers to farmers throughout the world.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Our aim is to solve the farm’s hardest problem, which we view to be the crushing labor of manual hand harvesting by creating robotic crop pickers, which we believe will then fundamentally shift the rest of the industry because when you relieve the pressure point of the system everything else changes naturally."
"When we meet with farmers we never lead with the fact that we are applying four machine learning models to the decision of whether or not to pick a berry. Instead, we lead with a pick quality rate which is as good or better than any human. We also make an effort to demonstrate that we are listening to farmers and have listened to other farmers before them. I think this grounds Tortuga in the problem we are actively trying to solve."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast:
https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com/blog-interviews/eric-adamson-ceo-of-tortuga-agtech
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
- Website — www.entrepreneursforimpact.com
- Membership benefits — https://bit.ly/3l12Gyg
- Sample Mastermind members — https://bit.ly/3ipSehS
- Request more information on membership — https://bit.ly/3mj48eM
Led by CEO Kristina Skierka, Power For All is a global coalition of 200 private and public organizations campaigning to deliver universal energy access before 2030 through the power of decentralized, renewable electricity. To learn more please visit their website.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Kristina spoke to Power For All's mission saying, "As our name suggests, our mission is to end energy poverty. When we were starting the company, it was very important to us to take a strong opinionated stance that energy access is simply a right that all deserve. There is no gray area in that."
Kristina highlighted the company's belief in local changemakers as a catalyst to solving energy access problems saying, "First, we take the perspective that policy change needs to be driven by local change-makers. We feel that we can contribute to this process by supporting and upskilling these individuals, but it is ultimately their contribution that gets the work done. Enacting policy change is not glamorous. It often takes the form of showing up to a minister’s office at 8 AM and waiting to be seen at the end of the day around 4 PM and then making the case of how a specific policy change could unleash the development of energy access within a given country. The policy change process is one of persistence."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Cofounded by Helen Bertelli, Women in Climate Tech provides free monthly programming to its hundreds of members and newsletter subscribers to facilitate the career growth of women fighting the climate crisis. The organization recognizes that the climate and gender equality issues are closely intertwined and is striving to solve both. She is also the Founder of Benecomms, a climate- and impact-focused marketing and PR firm.
"We have a dual mandate at Women in Climate Tech," she said. "The first part of the mandate is to do whatever we can to serve our members — getting them jobs, facilitating financing rounds, and more. The second part of that mandate is to seek the largest scale of impact possible at which to do this work. Working in a system that is stacked against you can be soul-destroying work, and we want to change that underlying system."
She said, "We formalized this group and then really launched more broadly in January of 2021. We have seen explosive growth with new subscribers and members joining every day. We provide monthly programming in the form of networking events, speakers, skill development opportunities. We are still trying various formats to learn what best serves our members, but at this point all of our programming is free, and we believe we’ve provided tremendous value to our early cohorts."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Phil Croskey, MD Energy Advisors helps residential, commercial, government, and industrial clients reduce their energy cost and implement energy efficiency programs. To learn more visit their website.
Below are two excerpts from the episode.
Phil spoke about his upbringing saying, "I was born and raised in Cleveland Ohio in the 1970s in what, looking back on it, was a largely red-lined African American community. I’ll never forget the day my mother got laid off from her job at the hospital. Losing that job really hurt her, because a lot of her self worth attached to her professional life. From that moment on, I knew I never wanted to be dependent on a job, recognizing that they come and go."
Speaking to the importance of investing in client education Phil highlighted an early customer experience, "I’ll never forget one of our early conversations with a large commercial real estate manager where we set up a meeting, explained how we could add value and reduce their electricity bill, and by the end, she stood up and thanked us for educating her in a manner that helped her better do her job. This was one of our earliest lessons in the value of investing in consumer education."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Sanchali Pal, Joro provides an app for automated carbon tracking to help consumers make better purchase decisions and offset their carbon footprint. To learn more check out their app in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Speaking to the importance of solving your own problems Sanchali spoke about the origins of her interest in carbon footprint tracking, "I first became interested in the problem of tracking and managing carbon footprints, from my interest in reducing my own carbon footprint. I found a number of carbon calculators, but they were all static and required substantial data entry. I began by building my own carbon tracking model in an Excel spreadsheet that tracked the four major categories of food, travel, goods, and services, and home energy use. Over many years, these efforts helped me reduce my carbon footprint by 30% over four years. Nonetheless, after these four years, I began to realize that there was an increasing number of people who saw the world as I did and wanted to take climate action, both on the large systemic scale but also in terms of their own carbon footprints as a starting point."
Sanchali noted the complexity of the carbon offset market saying, "Carbon offsets are tricky, and I learned this firsthand by trying to buy carbon offsets for my wedding guests. No offset project is perfect or without its flaws. We believe this reality necessitates a portfolio approach in the same way that no financially savvy individual bets all their money on a single stock. We recognize that there are risks and that each project operates on a different timeline. In addition, we consider factors such as permanence, additionality, biodiversity impact, transparency, and local community impacts."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by managing director David Miller, Clean Energy Ventures is catalyzing investment in seed-stage climate tech companies with the potential to drive a 2.5+ gigaton reduction in carbon emissions. For more detailed show notes read the interview transcript here.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Speaking to Clean Energy Venture's approach to venture investments Miller said, "Clean Energy Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm. We are often the first institutional capital to invest in a company, often at the seed stage. We are always looking for companies with transformative potential that might not receive capital otherwise. In fact, we have created a metric to define the type of transformative impact that we are looking for. We aim to invest in companies with the potential to reduce 2.5 gigatons of GHG emissions by 2050. We recognize the importance of climate change and the limited time at our disposal. Nonetheless, as early-stage investors, more than anything else we invest in people. As a consequence of our people-first approach, we believe we are able to add substantial value in the form of mentorship and a hands-on investment approach from our entrepreneurial team members and venture partners."
Miller highlighted the importance of the firm's screening methodology, saying, "My initial partners and I have been investing in climate tech companies for 16-17 years. These days we are seeing potential investments in hundreds of companies every year so the importance of screening is greater than ever before. Our screening process is simple and focuses on impact. We ask two questions. The first is how much emission reduction impact does one unit of your product drive, and how does it drive it? We recognize that the definition of the unit will vary across companies but we want to understand the impact on this granular level. The second question is how many units do you expect to deploy at scale? From there, we map the answers to these questions to an S-curve of adoption and calculate the area under the curve for comparison against our 2.5 gigaton benchmark."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Scott Frazier, Carbon America is a carbon dioxide capture and sequestration 'super developer' deploying existing off-the-shelf carbon removal technology while also developing its own proprietary next-generation technology. Carbon America was created to transform the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) industry by lowering costs and rapidly increasing deployment.
Scott described Carbon America's approach to carbon capture sequestration saying, "Carbon America is an end-to-end vertically integrated carbon sequestration project development company. We think of the company’s evolution in three stages. In the first stage, we are using existing off-the-shelf carbon capture technology to remove CO2 in projects that we consider to be low-hanging fruit, such as ethanol or ammonia production plants. In the second stage, we plan to deploy proprietary technology, currently being developed in-house, for addressing less concentrated flue gas point sources. In the third stage, we intend to deploy ambient carbon capture technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. In this way, we are meeting the urgency of the moment and demonstrating our project development and management expertise while we develop and contribute unique technologies and approaches to the carbon removal space."
Scott further highlighted his unconventional cleantech background, "I was originally trained as an aerospace engineer. After my schooling, I was fortunate enough to work on some of the space shuttle programs and then eventually transitioned to working on a really audacious project with Andy Beal [a finance billionaire and philanthropist]. Some of the facilities and projects that I and the team I assembled under Beal are being used today by SpaceX and Elon Musk. I think I learned an incredibly valuable lesson in audaciousness: If you keep it simple and break problems into their component parts, there is no reason that very difficult problems cannot be solved. After about four years working for Beal, I spent eight years working on a solar technology project and then transitioned to working on an energy storage application with the cofounder of Carbon America, Alex Lau [a real estate developer and cleantech super angel]."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Kevin Schulte, GreenSpark Solar is a distributed solar project developer and contractor based in Rochester, New York. The company has consistently been one of Rochester's fastest-growing businesses and continues to expand to date with project development capabilities ranging from residential solar installations to commercial-scale projects for which the company provides engineering procurement and construction services. To learn more visit the company's website.
Kevin summarized GreenSpark's business saying, "GreenSpark Solar is a certified B Corporation and solar energy development/installation company based in Rochester, New York. We do a variety of distributed solar projects ranging from residential projects, of which we will contract 150-200 deals this year, to small business projects, to larger-scale projects for which we have an in-house engineering procurement and construction team. We will do about 50 MW of those projects this year. At our core, we are builders, and we’re building solar at scale in the larger Rochester area."
Kevin talked about his path to cleantech entrepreneurship saying, "I have always had the overarching intention of working for the benefit of others. I started college as a biotechnology and premed student with an interest in epidemiology. However, in my first college class, my professor showed a pictograph of the greenhouse gas effect. It immediately became clear to me that this was a very big problem that I wanted to work on. I changed my major and studied economics, public policy, and energy system design. After college, I sent a resume and cover letter to every company on the American Wind Energy Association webpage and got a job in the industry. In 2002 after a couple of years of working in the industry, my college friends and I decided to start a business. That business has evolved from a consultancy to the nation’s largest distributed wind installer, to a solar and storage company today."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
--
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by founder Komal Ahmad Copia is striving to solve the world's dumbest problem in food waste and hunger by creating a platform to connect food oversupplied businesses with food-hungry nonprofits. The company is also developing predictive analytics tools to reduce food waste for restaurants and large food suppliers.
Komal summarized Copia's mission and business saying, "Copia is trying to solve “the world’s dumbest problem.” In a world with so much technology, innovation, and abundance, issues like hunger should not exist. The hunger problem is a logistics problem, not a scarcity problem. Copia is a platform that connects businesses with excess food to nonprofits that are in need at just the right time when these nonprofits can make use of donated food."
Komal highlighted Copia's approach to scale saying, "We serve the United States and Canada. We have partnered with Doordash and Postmates, and we have created a webhook integration that automatically notifies a driver for one of these services when a business requests that food be picked up. These partnerships provide tremendous scale with 500,000 drivers throughout the United States, making us geographically agnostic."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Josh Santos, Noya is bringing carbon-negative technology to market by retrofitting existing cooling towers to provide no-cost carbon removal technology to large facility managers. The company generates revenue by selling upcycled food-grade carbon dioxide to the beverage industry and has established revenue-sharing agreements with its facility manager partners. To learn more about Noya visit their website.
Josh highlighted Noya's mission and capital-light approach to carbon capture and sequestration saying, "Noya’s fundamental aim is to combat climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by means of retrofitting existing infrastructure with carbon removal technology. The upfront capital costs of constructing new carbon removal technologies are substantial. Instead, our approach is to retrofit existing industrial cooling towers by adding a chemical blend into the water that sits within these towers. Consequently, this water becomes a sponge that sucks carbon dioxide out of the air. There are two million cooling towers in the United States so we have a lot of work ahead of us."
Josh noted two key ingredients in Noya's pitch to facility managers, saying "It has been important to create incentive alignment and appeal to the inherent wants and needs of these facility managers. One of these needs is to improve the sustainability of their facilities. There has been a big push to implement LED lighting and address other forms of low-hanging carbon fruit, but ultimately there is a need to do more. Our retrofit offers a carbon-negative contribution to the larger push to meet sustainability commitments. The second aspect of this incentive alignment has been our business model which requires no capital or operating expenditure from the facilities that we retrofit. Instead, we finance the installation of the equipment and cover operational costs in exchange for getting access to these large carbon sinks. On the back end, we give facility owners 10% of the revenue that we generate from the sale of the consequent carbon dioxide concentrate."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Co-led by Principal Amy Duffuor, the Prime Impact Fund invests catalytic capital into early-stage technologies with the capability to have a gigaton scale impact on carbon emissions.
Amy noted Prime Impact Fund's differentiated approach to venture capital saying, "Prime Impact Fund is a $50 million early-stage fund focused on pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds for companies with the potential to create gigaton-scale carbon emission reductions. All of our capital from limited partners is structurally more patient and flexible, or what we call “catalytic capital,” which gives us an advantage and opportunity to approach the problem a little differently."
Amy highlighted some of Prime's early investments saying, "We have invested in 13 companies to date, and they really run the gamut. The first company that we invested in was Lilac Solutions, which is an extraordinary company that is doing great work in the lithium extraction space. Another portfolio company is Clean Crop Technologies that creates unique ionized gasses to increase food safety, reduce crop loss, and address food waste. This is important since agriculture is responsible for over 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and food waste alone is responsible for about 6% of emissions. The last one that I will mention here is Noon Energy which is a long-duration energy storage provider. Their low-cost battery is a carbon-oxygen battery driven by a proprietary catalyst that could replace peaker plants."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Claire Schlemme Renewal Mill reduces food waste by upcycling the byproduct of plant-based milk to create high-quality Okara flour and baking mixes. The company's Okara flour is used in products made by other plant-based food makers while its baking mixes are sold directly through its website.
Claire summarized Renewal Mill's business saying, "Renewal Mill is an upcycle food company. We upcycle byproducts from food manufacturing into superfood ingredients and premium pantry staples. We are currently working with the pulp residue from plant-based milk. This pulp material is nutritious and has a lot of fiber and protein. This leftover pulp is often wasted and certainly not processed and upcycled at scale as we are attempting to do. For soy milk residue, we dry out the pulp and produce it as “okara,” which has an East Asian heritage. For oat milk, we perform a similar process and brand the material as upcycled oat protein flour. Our goal is to ultimately move beyond the plant-based milk space and continue to capture otherwise wasted sources of fiber and protein. There are numerous opportunities to do this in the tomato and potato spaces in particular."
Claire spoke to the importance of mission alignment in seeking outside capital saying, "For the first two years, the company was funded through grants from both Yale and the Closed Loop Foundation. We recently received funding from Kroger as part of their Zero Hunger Initiative. We have also employed more traditional forms of capital raises with convertible and SAFE notes. Our funding sources have been mostly in the impact space. When we first incorporated the company, we did so as a public-benefit corporation, which I believe has been powerful in filtering our potential investor list to the most mission-aligned subset. We have received funding from traditional waste-to-value investors as well as an investor that focuses on plant-based food systems."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Nuha Siddiqui Erthos is developing a compostable plant-based resin to substitute to serve as a drop-in replacement for petroleum-derived products in the manufacturing of single-use plastics.
Nuha spoke to erthos's mission saying "erthos is our take on the combination of earth and ethos. We are creating plant-powered alternatives for traditional plastic inputs. We aim to make these substitutes both compatible with existing infrastructure and compostable at end of life. Our product replaces polystyrene and polypropylene in single-use applications such as cutlery. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we are trying to make it more sustainable."
Nuha elaborated on the company's go to market strategy saying, "We are working with large established manufacturers and aiming to launch our product next year. The end-use applications include bottle caps, food casing, and cutlery."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Manik Suri, Therma is deploying next-generation IoT devices to reduce product waste and decrease energy waste throughout the global cold chain.
To learn more about Therma visit their website.
Manik noted the company's product offering saying, "Therma stands for Temperature Humidity Equipment Remote Monitoring Application. Our technology is an Internet of Things device that reduces the waste of energy, product, and refrigerants across the refrigeration supply chain."
Manik highlighted the scale of the refrigeration industry saying, "The refrigeration industry is interesting but probably not something that the layman has given much thought to, and frankly, I hadn’t given it much thought either until a few years ago. The industry has been around for about 150 years and hasn’t seen as much innovation as you might think. The “refrigeration cold chain” is used to describe all of the refrigeration assets that help keep perishable products cold across the life cycle. There are a couple hundred million units of refrigeration assets in the commercial and industrial sectors alone. There is more than $1 trillion worth of inventory moved through these refrigeration assets each year from fruits and vegetables to pharmaceuticals and blood plasma. The scale of the cold chain is growing at approximately 11% a year with growth fueled by the developing world. There are estimates that China’s current cold chain is only 20% of its full potential while the estimate is closer to 10% in Africa."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by co-founders Jeremy Greven and Laura Zizzo, Manifest Climate is a building a climate intelligence platform to help companies better understand, manage, and communicate climate risk. To learn more about the TCFD standards that Manifest Climate looks to broadly implement visit their website.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Laura highlighted the company's mission and product offerings saying, "Manifest Climate is a climate intelligence platform for business. We help customers translate climate so that they can better understand it, manage it, and disclose it to investors. We help clients communicate climate risk to investors and internally within their companies so they can make decisions that enhance business resiliency. We want to take climate out of the sustainability silo and put it into the organizational framework."
Jeremy spoke to the company's evolution saying, "The company and its product offering have evolved with market demands. The company was born out of Mantle 314, a management consultancy company working with big financial institutions globally. It eventually became clear that boardrooms across the world were demonstrating a common need for better information concerning the management of climate. However, the combination of commonality and impact at scale makes this problem uniquely suited for a software solution. Ultimately we are bringing a “SaaS plus” model to the market where we can leverage technology to build upon the experiences and insights of subject matter experts on our team that have over five years of experience working with corporate clients in the climate space. In addition to the technology layer, we can offer a higher-touch service with custom reporting broken down by business lines as well as workshops where management teams can engage with Q&A and get one-on-one time with subject matter experts on our team."
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: Agtech deals, climate podcasts, plus 2 investor tools to measure GHGs, "soiling your pants" for microbiome health, and beef gets "epi-canceled."
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by CEO Julia Collins, Planet FWD has developed software to provide consumer brands the insight need to understand and reduce their carbon footprints. The company has also developed its own sustainable snack brand called Moonshot. To learn more visit their website.
Below are two excerpts from the episode.
Describing Planet FWD's mission Julia said, "Our mission is to help brands bring planet-friendly products to market by helping them deeply understand their carbon footprint and then putting them on a path to carbon neutrality. To facilitate this carbon light approach, we provide access to the data and information that brands may otherwise lack in making supply chain and go-to-market decisions. We also work to connect our brand partners with suppliers that we have independently verified across various measures of sustainability."
Highlighting the company's go-to-market approach Julia said, "We have developed a carbon modeling software tool that can be applied to numerous industries from food to fashion, though food remains our initial industry of focus. To demonstrate the feasibility of making sustainability a core part of the value proposition of a consumer brand, we built our own brand called Moonshot to be the first explicitly climate-friendly product in the snack category. Ultimately, our mission is to serve all brands in the consumables space."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: Recent climate tech deals from Voltus, Mainspring, ESS, Solid Power, Navitas Semiconductor, and 10 more. Plus 8 climate accelerators or challenges to apply for (Joules, LACI, 100+, AirMiners, Clean Energy Trust, Amazon, ADB, GS).
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by Executive Chairman Brett Isaac, Navajo Power develops large utility-scale solar and solar plus storage projects with a focus on providing energy access and economic benefits to the Navajo Nation and other tribal communities.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"We are a utility-scale solar and energy storage development company with the mission of maximizing community benefit to the Navajo Nation. We started the company to bring the clean energy revolution to the tribal and indigenous communities that have been forgotten and left behind."
"I believe the majority of the unelectrified homes in the United States are on Navajo Nation property. There are somewhere between 15,000-18,000 homes on Navajo Nation property that lack access to electricity or reliable electricity. I think many of us do not realize that some of these homes that you drive by each day do not have running water although large transmission lines run overhead."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
--
Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Doug Willmore, World Tree acts as a platform to facilitate the planting of Empress Splendor trees to sequester carbon while generating returns for both farmers and investors through both carbon offset and lumber sales.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Doug described World Tree's business saying, "We grow sustainable forests and farms in North America and Central America. With plans to expand into South America next year. We primarily focus on the growth of the Empress Splendor tree, which is the fastest-growing tree in the world. This species of tree grows to about 80 feet tall and 20 inches in diameter in about 10 years. (Most trees take 20 to 50+ years to reach maturity.) After this period of growth, we can harvest the trees to produce high-value lumber products for end-use as guitars, flooring, and other finished wood products."
Dough highlighted the company's scale saying, "We work with approximately 240 small farmers with about 5,000 acres planted. We plan to plant another 10,000 acres of trees over the next 12 months. Beyond this year, we truly believe the sky's the limit. We are in discussions with larger institutions to plant anywhere from 2,000 to 100,000 acres for single projects."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: Climate finance speakers, 99% of the investment industry’s $69T controlled by one demographic, 3x3x3 learning framework from McKinsey, climate risk disclosure vs. investors' blood pressure.
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by CRO Matt Duesterberg, OhmConnect delivers the benefits of distributed demand management to both consumers and grid operators to increase grid reliability and reduce the cost of electricity. To learn more about OhmConnect visit their website.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Matt described OhmConnect's business saying, "OhmConnect pays people to reduce their electricity use once or twice a week. By selling this demand reduction into electricity markets as an alternative to power grid operators paying a centralized generation facility to provide more electricity, we can make this counterintuitive model work. Over the last six years, we have paid customers $13 million, and we are seeing rapid growth."
Matt highlighted OhmConnect's scale saying, "We have tens of thousands of consumers signed up for our demand response services whose devices such as thermostats and refrigerators are automatically regulated by our software to respond to grid signals. Historically, it has been difficult for incumbent utilities to interface with homeowners in such a sophisticated manner, but we have been able to fill this gap."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: SPAC overage, over 1,000 indoor agtech startups (map), cobalt and child labor (infographic), and which Native American land are you sitting on?
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by Heather Hochrein, EVMatch provides a software platform that enables both a peer-to-peer EV charging system (analogous to Airbnb for electric vehicle chargers) and facilitates apartment building charging sessions through automatic scheduling and access control.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Heather described EVMatch's business saying, "We are a software platform that provides access to privately owned EV charging stations with the ultimate goal of increasing the feasibility of EV ownership. Our platform was initially created to provide a peer-to-peer network of homeowners who have individual level 2 charging stations and can provide access to this infrastructure to their neighbors and community members in exchange for additional cash. In this sense, we say that we are the “Airbnb of electric vehicle charging stations.” Moreover, we have begun to provide reservation-based software for apartment complexes and church facilities to help these facilities manage EV charging sessions.
We have three revenue streams. Our primary revenue stream is a service fee that we charge to customers when using the peer-to-peer network, in much the same way that Airbnb customers pay a transaction fee when they book a reservation. Our secondary revenue stream is an annual subscription fee (i.e., a SaaS offering) that we charge to our commercial customers for the reservation management service. Finally, we earn a commission on the resale of level 2 charging hardware."
Heather highlighted the company's work to drive electric vehicle adoption by addressing range anxiety saying, "It is absolutely a primary motivation. Range anxiety is a combination of relatively short-range batteries in the existing fleet of electric vehicles and insufficient public charging infrastructure. While we believe the former will be addressed by gradually improving battery chemistry coming out of labs working in conjunction with automakers, we are actively working on the latter. While we do not directly build charging stations, we work to maximize their usage rate, making this infrastructure more accessible to all. It is also clear that the EV charging infrastructure must continue to be built out, and we expect that as this continues our role will only continue to expand in terms of the smart software management of these facilities."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: 26 deal summaries, plus an interview with hydrogen CEO Mo Vargas at BayoTech, and behavioral science for climate persuasion.
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by CEO Kevin Berkemeyer, Station A derives tangible energy savings estimates from complex data analysis of non-residential buildings in the US, enabling a two-sided marketplace in which building owners can simply access cost-saving clean energy options from leading providers. To learn more visit their website.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
Kevin described Station A's business saying, "Station A is a software-powered clean energy marketplace. Our mission is to provide ultimate transparency, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness for anyone to adopt clean energy technologies. More specifically, we look to facilitate solar, solar + battery, or solely battery deployments for building owners. After simply providing an address, we provide building owners with data-driven clean energy options and allow them to then secure a quote from our marketplace of approximately 2,000 providers. Station A has a somewhat unique history as the company started as a software unit within NRG, where we worked with building owners to identify what form of clean energy to adopt and then whom to work with to build it out. Station A was spun out of NRG in 2018 with the mission of more broadly bringing this project identification and matching capability to the market."
Kevin highlighted the scale and opportunity for energy and dollar savings within the built environment saying, "Our modeling estimates that 592,000 buildings within the United States would have positive bill savings with aggregate savings of more than $14 billion a year. Ultimately, the goal of this process was to flip the somewhat strange data dynamic, where traditionally the clean energy provider has to request data from the building owner to then be able to provide a pitch with projected savings. Instead, we enable those providers to show up with a comprehensive estimate of building savings without having to make that data request."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led byDr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: 12 leading climate tech companies, 95% of investors are evaluating ESG risks this year, $5T/year needed to achieve UN SDGs, your new climate justice advisory board, and our "atomic" habits (tiny and powerful).
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by CEO Lindsey Hoell, Dispatch Goods provides a reusable container logistics service for restaurants aiming to increase sustainability and the quality of their takeout food presentation.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Dispatch Goods is focused on solving the reverse logistics of reuse. It has become increasingly apparent that the culture of throw away is problematic from both a health and environmental perspective. We aim to solve for reusability through the lens of addressing the challenges associated with collecting, sorting, processing, cleaning, and redistributing reusable packages."
"We are looking to offer a pickup service that is comparable to the weekly recycling to which we have all become accustomed. In the case of higher-end restaurants, some of our restaurant partners have decided to build the “avocado upcharge” into their menu prices and offer the service as the default take-out option. Nonetheless, we have been able to demonstrate that our reusable service can boost restaurant revenue with the positive PR that they receive."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: Climate tech VC tops $17B last year, 1 trillion reasons to love green infrastructure, climate CEO interview with David Energy, and the Iron Man invests in bamboo toilet paper.
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by CEO Mo Vargas, BayoTech provides on-site hydrogen supply for industrial customers at an industry-leading carbon intensity and economic rate using a pay-as-you-go model that reduces upfront capital costs.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Our basic goal is to provide low to zero-carbon hydrogen at the cheapest cost possible. We primarily offer this through a service called BayoGaaS wherein we build, own, operate, and finance projects and then sell that to the end-user which reduces the upfront capital cost to the customer. Our onsite generators have a lower carbon intensity than many of the traditional offerings such as electrolyzers due to the reduction in transportation and conversion losses."
"The two primary concerns are carbon intensity and cost. On the carbon intensity front, customers are often overwhelmed by ESG concerns and the need to adopt cleaner solutions. There are many cool applications of clean technology and hydrogen, but the notion that an industrial customer needs to get into the hydrogen production business can be daunting. We simplify this with our BayoGaaS offering. On the cost side, we know that the industry is primarily motivated and moved by the least cost solution. We can produce hydrogen at less than $2 per kilogram, which is far lower than the majority of the industry and makes our offering extremely compelling to customers."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: Interviews with two CEOs working on carbon capture and containerized green housing. Plus, 24 pages of cleantech and renewable energy investments, and how to say "no" to many and "yes" to the precious few.
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by James McGinniss, David Energy operates as both an electricity retailer and behind-the-meter energy storage aggregator allowing the company to more accurately predict and control energy consumption thereby saving consumers money on their monthly bills through the monetization of their storage assets.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"David Energy is a reference to the classic story of David vs. Goliath, which we believe is representative of the emergence of the individual electricity consumer with the rise of distributed energy systems that prioritize consumers over big centralized utilities."
"David Energy is essentially a wealth manager for customers’ energy assets such as batteries. Ultimately, we buy power in wholesale markets with the consumer insight that is provided by the data from our network of customers who have granted us access to their devices. This allows us to more accurately predict and control consumption and pass the consequent savings directly to customers. By doing so, we monetize these assets, through our certification as an electricity retailer, when they are not needed for home backup energy. This makes us different than a standalone software provider that would not have the access to electricity markets to truly enable many of the services we provide."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
ZERO is a weekly newsletter about climate finance, startups, and personal development. In this issue, we deliver the spoken podcast version, which covers the following: 75+ environmental monitoring startups (market map). $100B in savings to retire coal. Green steel? Carbon-free oil? LCA on EVs. 6 emerging tech trends. It's 100% your fault. Got "Think Time?"
For more trends, check out other issues of our free weekly newsletter ZERO: Climate Finance via Entrepreneurs for Impact: https://zeronewsletter.substack.com
Led by Emily Morris, Emrgy is deploying high capacity factor next-generation distributed and modular hydropower technology.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"To understand Emrgy’s approach to hydropower, first, forget everything you think you know about hydro! Most people think of hydro as a mature technology that requires large waterways and big construction budgets and long timelines. We change that by focusing on low-cost, standardized, and durable projects installed with an emphasis on distributed and modular generation facilities."
"Our modular generation facilities are each about the size of a large SUV and cost between $35,000 and $50,000. These modules generate electricity with a spinning turbine in much the same way that a windmill would generate electricity. Our primary market to this point has been in the Western US, where the relative lack of accessible water creates the need to move water longer distances, thus creating canals and surface water infrastructure sites in which we can generate electricity. We believe that water has an important role to play in the future of energy for its capacity factor that is higher and more predictable than both solar and wind."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Mike Jha, AgShift reduces agriculture and food waste through better quality control by using AI and the Internet of Things.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Our mission is to reduce food waste. We apply the latest innovations in technology such as the Internet of Things, computer vision and artificial intelligence as a means of expression intended to achieve this mission. We automate the quality assessment and grading process for the food industry. Quality is a fundamental concept for the food industry, and we are designing the protocols to make this process better, faster, more consistent and digitized. Ultimately, it is much easier to reduce food waste than it is to increase food production."
"We primarily offer our solutions as a software as a service model (SaaS) with an annual subscription. Because our technology is based on artificial intelligence algorithms that run in the background and perform much of the quality assessment analysis, we think this model makes the most sense. We are flexible with customers who may prefer to pay more upfront and less over time, and we can also lease our hardware rather than sell it directly to customers."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by General Managing Director Amy Francetic, Buoyant Ventures seeks to invest in early-stage digital climate mitigation and climate adaptation-focused companies.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"We are focused on early-stage digital climate tech solutions. We are looking for software and low-cost hardware that can be layered upon existing infrastructure. In addition to our digital focus, we are also unique in our focus on both climate adaptation and mitigation."
"I started working in the high-tech industry in California. My first job out of school was working at a video game company. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about software. I then worked at Hasbro before running a toy company that we then sold to Lego in 2000. Around the same time, I was diagnosed with cancer which forced me to focus on what mattered to me. After beating cancer and having our daughters with my husband I decided to devote my career to the climate tech space given both the financial opportunity but more importantly the chance to make a positive impact on the world. In many ways, this is what I most respect about the young people looking to get into the space now. They have been able to have this dual mission of doing well financially while keeping the bigger impact picture in mind."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Jacquelyn Dadakis, Green Coast Enterprises is a sustainable infrastructure developer focused on the construction, remodeling, and certification of green commercial buildings in the Southeast.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"We are a triple bottom line real estate development and green building services company based in New Orleans. We've built nearly $100 million worth of real estate here in the city of New Orleans over the last 13 years. We also provide LEED certifications, Enterprise Green Community certifications, and green building retro-commissioning to other building owners throughout Louisiana and Mississippi."
"We work really well with a large portfolio owner of buildings that are commercially metered. Our typical customer relationships are an affordable housing developer that has many multifamily buildings, a school district, or a municipality. Looking forward, we hope to work with more utilities in the Southeast on their commercial building programs, in which they invest money in retrofitting these facilities in order to realize the potential of energy efficiency."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Tom Arnold, Gridium aims to reduce the carbon intensity of the built environment with energy efficiency solutions ranging from software optimization to deep retrofits for commercial and industrial real estate providers.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Gridium is the leading partner for companies looking to navigate the energy transition. We provide useful software that enables companies to manage energy more effectively with the equipment they already have. In the last year, we have expanded our offerings to help companies upgrade their existing equipment to increase operational efficiency while reducing carbon impact. We service about 3,000 commercial buildings and about a half-billion square feet of office space."
"If you look at any city in America and see the high-rise apartment or office buildings, you are looking at billion-dollar assets. However, none of these assets, as incredible as it may seem, are credit-rated. If the asset is not credit-rated, you cannot do the typical ESCO model which is needed to finance a retrofit at this scale. We were able to figure out a financial solution that has enabled us to do ten million dollars of deep energy retrofits in the last year or so. I am not talking about 5% energy savings that you might get from our software solution; I am talking about 30%, 40%, or 50% energy savings from a fundamental transformation of the building."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Kiran Bhatraju, Arcadia Power is a platform that provides consumers various clean energy choices to decarbonize their homes. With options ranging from renewable energy credits to community solar and a guaranteed seamless billing experience, Arcadia power makes clean energy accessible and affordable for the residential sector.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"We are a new nationwide digital utility platform. We give clean energy access to everyone across the country no matter where you live -- home or apartment. Our business is against the backdrop of an industry with a monopoly structure that does not provide a lot of options, and we aim to change that. We have been in the market for five years, but we have been adding new products to the platform over time. We came to the market with a basic 100% renewable energy plan in which homeowners would purchase credits against their bill, and we have become one of the largest virtual power plant platforms in the country."
"We are a team of product developers, data scientists, and engineers whose singular focus is to make the customer experience as simple as possible. The reality is that if a single customer would try to go out into the market to purchase clean electrons for themselves whether from a community solar perspective or otherwise, it is nearly impossible."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Aaron Ratner, President of Cross River Infrastructure Partners, a sustainable infrastructure developer, delivering next-generation climate positive projects, including carbon, hydrogen, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Cross River Infrastructure Partners is a platform of development companies deploying climate technology and capital into sustainable infrastructure projects. We do two things. We co-develop projects with development teams that have very focused expertise in a particular vertical, and we also partner with technology providers to become a developer of their technology as a service into the market. We currently work across carbon, hydrogen, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy, which are increasingly intertwined. The model is to have a platform to catalyze early commercialization of projects and technologies. Our goal is to bring together corporate partners, investment capital and talented technology developers to get early players accelerated up the technology adoption curve."
"Our vision is to have built a platform that enables nascent but proven climate technologies to accelerate their deployment and get more projects in the ground by bringing together corporate customers and institutional finance. An additional aspect of the platform would include systematized vetting of technologies, which is a very difficult task. There is really a small window of opportunity, in which a technology is neither too early, risking relationships and capital, nor too late, wasting time and market opportunity. We are going to continue to refine our criteria for this type of project and technology evaluation."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Jennifer Wagner, CarbonCure Technologies is deploying carbon sequestration retrofit technology for existing concrete plants as it aims to ultimately reduce 500 megatons of CO2 annually.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"We are one of the fastest-growing companies in the carbon removal industry. We offer a retrofit technology for concrete manufacturers that enables the production of the same reliable, durable concrete but with a reduced carbon footprint. Our solution is unique for its scalability and immediacy. There are many great carbon reduction strategies for an industry that require huge capital expenditures and long timelines for implementation, but we aim to make an impact more quickly and economically. Our solution works with existing infrastructure and regulations and can be installed in a single working day, without disrupting operations."
"I am a chemist by training. After completing my undergraduate degree in Montreal, I continued to graduate school where I learned that I did not particularly enjoy lab work. After a particular presentation, I was told by a professor that he did not like the scientific aspect of my presentation, but if I were selling him something, he would buy it. This partially motivated me to pursue an MBA (chuckling). Through conversations with peers, I met CarbonCure’s founder founder Rob Niven who had a consultancy company and was beginning to launch what would become CarbonCure at the time. The rest is history."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Kate Steel, Nithio is using data science to build a platform for evaluating credit risk and facilitating institutional investment towards off-grid energy solutions in Africa.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Our mission is to unlock financing at scale for energy access in Africa. There are 600 million people in Africa who lack access to electricity. It is believed that about 300 million of these people would be best served by off-grid energy solutions. Fortunately, there is a strong off-grid solar market that offers a pre-packaged solution for many of these households. In addition, there is a robust pay-as-you-go financing structure layered on top of that. However, because these systems are not paid for up-front, there is some actual and perceived risk that must be managed to ensure the system is paid for in full over time. We are able to model and understand the consumer financing risk at the household level which enables investors to come off the bench and join the game, thereby fueling the deployment of this off grid solar and storage in Africa. Ultimately, we are creating an alternative credit model standard to unlock this broader financing potential."
"We are an intermediary for a blended financing facility. We welcome all types of risk profiles, including equity and debt investors, but would like to see more institutional capital. We operate as a capital conduit enabled by our analytics engine. There are a few market leaders in the off-grid solar space in Africa and a long tail of smaller and often local companies as well. We exist to provide funding for many of these companies as they grow and scale into bigger players."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by Wanona Satcher, Mahkers Studio builds residential and commercial spaces from used shipping containers. The company is currently focused on accelerating the speed of deployment while dramatically reducing the total cost of construction with its modular construction process in order to address the affordable housing crisis.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"Mahkers Studio is a green manufacturing and design-build company. We creatively reuse shipping containers as a modular real estate solution. We are able to customize these containers as residential and community spaces with the most impact coming from their ability to serve as affordable housing solutions. We view our solutions as an improvement, in terms of material and land-use efficiency, within the traditional construction industry."
"Our fundamental goal is to address the affordable housing crisis. In order to do so, we needed a cost-effective and abundant material that could be constructed in a more efficient and localized manner. These constraints naturally lead to shipping containers that are already existing and consequently cheaper. We are also able to achieve benefits in terms of carbon reduction, structural integrity, and land-use efficiency."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
Led by CEO Pandwe Gibson, EcoTech Visions serves as a co-manufacturing space in Miami Florida to help entrepreneurs and startups develop eco-friendly localized manufacturing capacity.
Below are two excerpts from the podcast.
"We are committed to limiting the planet’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in alignment with the UN’s recommendations and the ideal outcome of the Paris A. We aim to contribute to this broader mission by facilitating the distributed manufacturing of bio-resin and other environmentally friendly products in a manner that promotes entrepreneurship and innovation across materials sciences and business models. There is no need for every venture to figure out and build their own manufacturing capacity. They can outsource that to us."
"Co-manufacturing can be compared to co-working offices in the sense that instead of sharing an office or workspace, entrepreneurs are able to share the use of advanced manufacturing equipment in a manner that is optimized for local supply chains. Legacy systems have traditionally forced entrepreneurs to outsource production to China and other parts of the world. This outsourcing comes at a significant cost in terms of complexity, fragility, and carbon footprint that we are looking to reduce by bringing cost-effective production back to the United States in a more regionalized way. We also aim to provide customers with about 10% cost savings through this shift."
Here is the transcript summary of the podcast.
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Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change.
We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.
Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls.
Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members.
To request more information on membership, click here.
Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.