Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups Smart Energy & Mobility: $700M Fund → 9 IPOs (incl. Tesla) — Tim Wang, The Westly Group
Discover how The Westly Group deploys $700M across energy, mobility, and industrial tech by funding growth-stage startups, driving sustainable infrastructure, and backing future climate unicorns.
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.
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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?
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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.