Capital Series: Christian Hernandez, 2150

Oct 4, 2023

Christian Hernandez, co-founder of venture capital firm 2150, discusses his journey into the climate space and their mission of revolutionizing cities' design and construction. They explore the importance of decarbonizing the built environment and their investment approach. The podcast also touches on topics such as reserves allocation, investment decisions, risk balancing, development of an investment thesis, measuring impact, and the search for 'giga-chorns'.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Decarbonizing the Built Environment

01:37 • 22min

Reserves and Follow-On Investments in Backed Companies

23:37 • 2min

Ownership and Investment Decisions

25:51 • 12min

Logistics of Initial Deals, Approach to Risk, and Portfolio Flexibility

37:29 • 2min

Developing an investment thesis and investigating the cooling problem

39:38 • 3min

Measuring Impact and Building a Framework

42:23 • 10min

The Search for 'Giga-Chorns' and the Importance of Capital and Deal Flow

52:31 • 3min

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress.

Christian Hernandez is a partner and Co-founder at 2150. 2150 is a venture capital firm focused on the built environment. They're building businesses that are changing how our cities are designed, constructed and powered for good. They hunt for “gigacorns,” which they define as the technology champions of the coming decades with the potential to benefit billions of people, create billions in commercial value, and lower gigatons of emissions.

Jason and Christian have a great discussion in this episode about Christian's journey from being a technology operator to a generalist technology VC, and then his awakening about the magnitude of the climate crisis and his path to building 2150, from meeting his co-founders to the initial thesis to their approach to the different twists and turns on the way to getting that first fund raised, and of course where they're heading in the future. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, we cover:

[2:16] An overview of 2150 and Christian's background
[8:51] Early days of starting the firm and its focus on the built environment
[16:22] Christian's views on structure, stage, et.c plus how they evolved at final close
[20:34] His thoughts on portfolio construction generally
[23:39] 2150's reserves and follow on
[26:57] Christian's thoughts on extensions, down rounds, and pay to play
[30:22] How he measures impact and the balance between hardware and software
[33:49] Advantages of being Article 9 Fund
[35:08] Christian's early LP targets and how they played out
[37:47] Risks and what 2150 is comfortable with
[42:22] The firm's impact framework
[44:31] The role of brand building and how Christian thinks about deal flow
[46:26] The launch of Urban Partners
[52:37] An overview of "gigacorns"

Get connected:

Christian Hernandez X / LinkedIn
Jason Jacobs X / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

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Episode recorded on Sept 26, 2023 (aired on Oct 4, 2023)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant