Mike Schroepfer: Lessons from Scaling Meta to Investing in the Energy Transition

Mar 20, 2025

Mike Schroepfer, Partner at Gigascale and former CTO of Meta, shares his journey from tech titan to climate advocate. He debunks the myth that America can’t build hard things while discussing key lessons from the dot-com crash. Mike emphasizes the intersection of AI and energy innovation, addressing the urgent need for efficient solutions as AI demands grow. He also dives into how modular technologies can reduce costs and the collaborative spirit required to tackle climate challenges, showcasing the promising future of startups in this space.

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ANECDOTE

Early Career in Visual Effects

Mike Schroepfer's first job involved creating motion tracking software.
This software was used in films like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Gladiator.

ANECDOTE

Fundraising During the Dot-Com Crash

During the dot-com crash, Schroepfer's startup secured funding from Sequoia, being their only software deal that quarter.
He bought assets from failed companies, highlighting the importance of timing in startups.

ADVICE

Persistence in Fundraising

Getting many "no's" is part of being an entrepreneur; don't give up easily.
Keep pitching, stay persistent, because you only need one "yes" to succeed.

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Mike Schroepfer is Partner at Gigascale, a venture firm he founded and self-funded to back startups building venture-scale businesses with the potential for outsized climate impact. Previously, Mike served as CTO at Meta (Facebook’s parent company) from 2013 to 2022, having originally joined in 2008 as VP of Engineering.

In this episode, Mike and Cody discuss his career journey, key lessons learned, and their shared counterpoint to the often-repeated myth that "America doesn’t build hard things." They also dive into AI, energy’s role in its advancement, and the work Mike and his team are doing at Gigascale.

Mike has been a longtime supporter of MCJ, and we’re honored to count him among our investors. It’s inspiring to see a technologist of his caliber not only invest in climate solutions but also roll up his sleeves to help founders tackle hard problems and build the future.

In this episode, we cover:

[2:08] Mike’s early career working on video software
[5:28] Fundraising challenges and lessons from the dot-com crash
[10:12] Working at Sun, Mozilla, and joining Facebook in 2008
[13:16] Risks and opportunities of early Facebook
[15:40] Managing large engineering teams and the value of humility
[18:30] The era of building hard things in the U.S.
[21:25] AI and energy innovation: compute, chips, and power
[27:49] How scale brings down cost curve and modularized technology
[32:01] How he thinks about software-based opportunities
[37:40] Shrep’s pivot to climate tech after Meta
[41:04] The talent interest evolution in climate
[43:33] Gigascale’s investment thesis
[49:49] Gigascale’s approach to identifying sectors
[51:37] Storytelling and marketing in climate tech
[54:10] Gigascales talent efforts for its portfolio

Episode recorded on Mar 4, 2025 (Published on Mar 20, 2025)

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