54. How to make ESG work in venture capital with Andrew Noble of Par Equity

ESG is an area that is work in progress at the moment. Andrew Noble is a partner at Par Equity, but is also on the Steering Committee of the ESG_VC initiative, which is trying to pull together a standard framework for venture capital.

We cover a wider range of areas in our discussion. Andrew talks about ESG generally and gives a framework for how he thinks about different types of ESG. We discuss how the market looks at these things and outline some of the challenges.

We dig into how ESG works in venture capital in particular. We talk about the challenge of setting goals in companies that have limited resources and how to think about when companies should look at these things. Referencing the ESG_VC report, we talk about how companies set priorities and how breaking down the data gives insight into when companies are progressing in different areas.

Finally we talk about how these issues are presented in the market and how to avoid greenwashing.

Par Equity website: https://www.parequity.com/

ESG_VC website: https://www.esgvc.co.uk/

ESG_VC report: https://www.esgvc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ESG_VC_Report_2022.pdf

After our recording, Andrew also suggested the following podcast episode for further perspective on ESG: https://thisweekinstartups.com/proof-of-impact-ceo-fleur-heyns-on-meaningful-metrics-for-measuring-environmental-impact-this-week-in-climate-startups-e1466/

Suggested books:

The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Bio

Andrew Noble

Partner, Par Equity

Andrew is a member of Par Equity's Investment Committee and sponsor partner to several Par portfolio companies. In addition, Andrew leads Par's distribution of its discretionary managed funds, takes an active role on improving Par’s operations and technology infrastructure and represents Par Equity on the Steering Committee of ESG_VC, a pan-European initiative aimed at improving the ESG credentials of VC backed companies.

Andrew is a former management consultant with McKinsey & Co, specialising in sales optimisation for FTSE 100 clients, before rejoining Par Equity in May 2019. Andrew has broad experience across the early stage venture capital and private equity markets having personally invested in more than 50 innovative, high growth companies since 2008, as well as founding Transition Capital, a management buy-in vehicle, in 2017, where he was managing director, leading the deal sourcing, due diligence, and fundraising efforts. Andrew is a former athlete, having competed for TeamGB in Alpine Skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School.