Climate CEOs (formerly Entrepreneurs for Impact): Scaling Climate Tech Startups Climate VC: $1B+ Under Management + 100M Trees — Bill Liao of SOSV on Startup Survival & Scaling Deep Tech
SOSV’s Bill Liao shares lessons from managing $1B+ in climate & deep tech ventures, why he planted 100M trees before flying again, & his startup mantra: don’t die, don’t quit, don’t suck.
⭐ 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!
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🌐 LINKS:
Bill:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billliao/?originalSubdomain=ie
SOSV:
https://sosv.com/
Ki Tua Fund:
https://www.kituafund.com/global/en.html
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🎙️ 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.
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🌎 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). 😃