#13: Maximizing climate impact and minimizing parental jerkhood with Dimitry Gershenson

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Oct 17, 2023

Ben sits down with Dimitry Gershenson, a fellow climate papa, to discuss balancing fatherhood with startup ambitions and the importance of vulnerability. They also explore climate funding gaps and the unique ways fintech tools like revenue-based financing can support climate companies. Dimitry's experience in M&A and energy access initiatives brings valuable insights to the conversation. Bridging the gap between capital and government receivables is another key topic, showcasing specific case studies of invested companies.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Prioritizing Family in Entrepreneurship

01:54 • 21min

Viewing Children as Humans

22:58 • 17min

Understanding Historical Wins and Different Tools for Collaboration

40:15 • 2min

Maximizing climate impact and minimizing parental jerkhood: Investing in climate innovation and deployment

41:57 • 4min

Exploring Revenue-Based Financing and Capital for Grant Execution

45:47 • 3min

Bridging the Gap: Connecting Capital and Government Receivables

49:02 • 17min

Ben sits down with fellow climate papa, Dimitry Gershenson. They head off the deep end into how to balance being a present father with being present for your start up ambitions. They explore if founding a startup makes you more of a jerk to your kids and the importance of vulnerability and apology when you mess up. They reflect on how those same skills make you a much better parent, partner, and leader.

They then turn to the money that makes the world go round and the gaps in the climate funding markets where there’s not enough going around. Dimitry ramps Ben up on the unique ways that fintech tools like revenue-based financing can be applied to climate companies and how many other financiers aren’t doing this right—either giving out bad, dilutive, terms, or taking way too long to finance the companies that urgently need capital. These realizations have led Dimitry to start Enduring Planet to address the market gap.

Prior to Enduring Planet, Dimitry led M&A and served as COO for Rango Wireless, an Enduring Ventures portfolio company. Before that, Dimitry built 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. While at Meta, Dimitry also led the development of multiple predictive ML products in the cleantech space and built corporate accelerator programs for impact startups in India and Puerto Rico.

Outside of Enduring Planet, Dimitry sits on the board of Ecosafi, a Lowercarbon-backed climate startup enabling clean cooking in emerging markets. Dimitry holds an MS in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley, a BS in Natural Resource Management from Rutgers University.

Referenced in the episode:

Get connected:

Dimitry - LinkedIn | Enduring Planet
Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠

Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠

Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

Note: Ben is an angel investor in Enduring Planet. Nothing in this episode should be viewed as investment advice.