Chris Sacca, a celebrated venture investor and founder of Lowercarbon Capital, shares his inspiring journey from investing in tech giants like Twitter and Uber to tackling climate change. He discusses his humble beginnings and the evolution of his investment philosophy, focusing on decarbonization ventures. Sacca emphasizes the importance of authenticity, storytelling, and collaboration in evaluating founders and building impactful companies. He also explores innovative carbon removal strategies and the need for diversity in the entrepreneurial landscape.
01:16:13
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Early Hustles
Chris Sacca had various side hustles from a young age, like selling air fresheners and blow pops.
He also detailed cars, mowed lawns, and cleaned dorm rooms for extra cash.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Leverage and Loss
While in law school, Chris Sacca day-traded with student loans, turning them into $12 million, but high leverage led to significant losses.
He worked various jobs to repay debt, showcasing resilience.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Setback as Motivation
After significant financial setbacks, Chris Sacca viewed it as a challenge to start anew.
He remained determined to achieve wealth and influence.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Greenlights is a candid and unconventional memoir by Matthew McConaughey. The book blends wild stories, life lessons, and poetic insights, offering a roadmap to catching more 'greenlights'—those moments when everything in life seems to go your way. McConaughey draws on his 36 years of journaling to share his approach to living, which emphasizes recognizing and embracing the greenlights in life, even when they are disguised as yellow or red lights. The book is a celebration of life, gratitude, and self-dedication, and it provides practical advice on navigating life's challenges and finding success and happiness.
Chris Sacca is one of the most accomplished venture investors of the last half century. He founded Lowercase Capital in 2010 and made seed stage investments in Twitter, Uber, Instagram, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Stripe. Lowercase’s first fund famously became one of the highest returning venture funds in history and landed Chris at #2 on the Midas List in 2017. After retiring together with his wife Crystal that year, they came back to the business to found Lowercarbon Capital to fund “kickass companies that make money slashing carbon emissions.” Lowercarbon manages in excess of $2 billion of outside capital, excluding its largest investor – Chris and Crystal. Our conversation covers Chris’s humble upbringing, early entrepreneurial endeavors, and ups and downs in his early professional years. We cover his transition to Google, foundations of his investing philosophy at Lowercase, and work today at Lowercarbon. Along the way, Chris shares his sourcing of deals, evaluation of founders, and work with portfolio companies. He is a gifted storyteller and a walking case-study on grit. For full show notes, visit the episode webpage here. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership