Climate CEOs (by EFI): Scaling Climate Tech Startups

⭐ My guest today is Shawn Lesser, Cofounder of The Real (current role) and Cofounder of Big Path Capital (prior role). The Real is helping entrepreneurs deal with burnout and depression by connecting with others going through those same mental health challenges. Big Path Capital is, according to Barron’s, “The Impact Investment Bank.” Their network of 2,500+ limited partners (investors) and 200+ impact-focused private equity firms led to billions of dollars flowing into companies that prioritize both profit and positive environmental or social impacts. --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: What triggered his depression The impacts of having too much of his identity tied up in his business Why a fish bowl being shaken up relates to where he was What he learned after spending three stints in centers to boost his mental health The speaking tour that he and his cofounder, Brent Herd, are on Why The Real is about finding purpose out of pain What an Uber driver and a post-exit entrepreneur with $800M in cash have in common And lots more --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ In today’s super short episode, I share parts of a white paper I recently wrote called “10 Lessons I’ve Learned from Coaching 100+ Climate CEOs.”  The rest of the white paper is available for free on my website at www.entrepreneursforimpact.com.  If you find something useful in it or have other lessons you think I should add to it, drop me a note at team@entrepreneursforimpact.com. 🙏

⭐ My guest today is Matt LeDucq, Cofounder and CEO of Forum Mobility. Forum Mobility is tackling greenhouse gas emissions at California’s largest ports as well as local air pollution causing asthma and cancer near these ports. They provide zero-emission trucks and electric charging for one monthly price. They recently signed a $400M JV with CBRE Investment Management and have raised over $22M in venture capital to date. In addition, Matt is the former: Executive Director at NextEra Energy Resources VP at Yingli Green Energy Holdings VP at Suntech --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: How communities near ports suffer have twice the risk of cancer and asthma The billions of dollars to be invested in electrifying transportation within ports Policy drivers such as California’s Advanced Clean Fleets are influencing a massive vehicle turnover within 12 years How their “Trucks as a Service” model works like a solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Lessons he’s bringing from giant energy companies to his fast-growing startup How they are convincing early adopters to sign up as customers Why investors love their business model and the power of derisking revenue streams The thrill of disorder and insanity within startups How we grow at the edges of our comfort zones And lots more --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ My guest today is Ryan Jeffery, the Senior Managing Director for gener8tor Sustainability, a leading accelerator investing and supporting startups at the forefront of our climate crisis. They invest $100k in startups in their 12-week programs. Over the last ten years, they’ve made investments in 1,000 startups, which have gone on to raise $1.4B. In addition, Ryan is the: Founder of Ignite, a diverse and dynamic leadership community in Chicago Founding Partner at Survival Ventures, which is investing, advising and growing ventures that preserve and protect our planet Mentor at Impact Engine And advisor to many more impact startups --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: His delightfully provocative LinkedIn post that starts with this zinger: “If you're a climate tech investor sitting on your hands waiting for better market conditions before deploying more capital, then you're not a real climate tech investor. The climate doesn't care about market conditions.” How he views fiduciary duty in light of the urgency for tackling climate change Why they’re one of the world’s biggest startup accelerators that no one has ever heard of How they pick 5 out of 500 startups to join each accelerator cohort Lessons learned from his 3 prior ventures and investing in dozens of startups Why 93% of their investments take place outside of California, Massachusetts, and New York What the top founders do well – e.g., laser-focused on customer needs, sending out monthly update lists to “friends of the company” Why Brandi Carlil’s song “The Eye” is relevant to startups and parenting And lots more --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ In today’s episode, instead of talking about business and finance, we will concentrate on the people side of growing a climate tech business. We’ll listen to five CEOs talk about advice they'd give their younger self, recommendations for their favorite books and podcasts, and the habits that keep them healthy and focused on this startup journey. If you like this episode, then consider this part 1 of more like it in the months to come. And shout out to Bill S. for his recommendation for this kind of compilation. --- #1 Naman Trivedi, Cofounder and CEO of WattBuy, which helps homeowners find the best electricity, solar plans, and more – all at the lowest price: Using just a home’s address, they crunch the data to recommend personalized bundles from the most trusted providers. To date, they’ve helped procure 20 gigawatt-hours of clean power while saving customers over four million dollars. #2 Jacqueline van den Ende, CEO at Carbon Equity, a fintech platform that seeks to power the world's most impactful climate technology solutions with retail capital: In under two years, they’ve mobilized $120M across 450+ high net worth and mass affluent individuals to invest in professionally managed VC and private equity climate funds. #3 John Tough, Managing Partner at Energize Ventures, a leading climate software investor that manages $1.2 Billion across two strategies: venture capital and growth equity. #4 Sarah Richardson, co-founder and CEO of MicroByre, which "makes pets out of bacteria": They domesticate naturally occurring bacteria and introduce them to industry. They enable customers to efficiently produce bio-derived chemistries at or below current petrochemical economics. Newly cooperative bacteria can replace ancient biomass (petrochemicals) with renewable biomass (lawn clippings) efficiently and economically. #5 Bryan Hassin, CEO of DexMat, a next-gen climate tech materials company that transforms carbon from an expensive environmental problem into high-value, high-performance nanomaterials: And he brings 100s of millions of dollars in prior startup exits to this important problem. --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ My guest today is Adam Wolf, Founder and CEO of Eion. Eion is an enhanced rock weathering startup that works with farmers and ranchers to safely and permanently pull carbon out of the air. They use rock called olivine, which is the most abundant on Earth, and by 2026, they will be on track to permanently remove 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.  Their growth got extra support with a $12M Series A from investors such as AgFunder, Trailhead Capital, and Orion Corporation. In addition, Adam is the former: Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist at Arable Lands Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University Oh, and he’s also got a PhD from Stanford University and is learning how to build a studio in his backyard using traditional building techniques. So, yeah, he likes to build stuff. --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: - How their company name came to his cofounder in a dream and has 3-4 relevant meanings - Why this olivine rock is so powerful as a carbon removal tool - How they utilize existing infrastructure from farmers and ranchers to mainstream solutions at scale for lower costs - Why they spent two years figuring out how to get the measurement process right to assess carbon removal - The critical role of Norwegian fjords and rock crushing in scaling their company - What he means by B.S. counterfactual carbon baselines - Why the Department of Agriculture’s Climate Smart Commodities program is so important - The benefits of “voracious self-learning” - And lots more --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ My guest today is Grant Canary, Founder and CEO of Mast Reforestation. In addition, Grant is also a former: Maggot farmer (!) – that is, growing industrial-grade insect protein using food waste Chess and poker player, and improv enthusiast (these are relevant to his CEO work now) --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: - The nuances of the carbon removal and credit world - What their new project financing allows them to do - How they bought a 130-year-old seed company - Why forests often cannot regrow on their own after a wildfire - Why they set up 100-year endowments to fund ongoing reporting on forest health and carbon sequestration - The role of buffer pools to insure carbon credit integrity - The importance of poly- vs. monoculture in their replanting - How he took advantage of grad school arbitrage by studying in Bogota - Why it’s so important to create a compelling future (vs. doom and gloom) in order to mainstream climate efforts - His favorite startup books - And lots more --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ My guest today is Naman Trivedi, Cofounder and CEO of WattBuy. WattBuy helps homeowners find the best electricity, solar plans, and more – all at the lowest price. Using just a home’s address, they crunch the data to recommend personalized bundles from the most trusted providers. To date, they’ve helped procure 20 gigawatt-hours of clean power while saving customers over four million dollars. Partners include corporations such as Amazon, Redfin, and Samsung, as well as investors such as Schneider and MCJ Collective. --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: - How they reduce friction to make customers’ decisions easier - Why they focus on action and not just education around clean power choices - How they bill their customers under a SaaS model - Why they’re product- and service-agnostic in the clean energy industry - Whether they sell on cost or climate in terms of priority - How they do business with a focus on relationships, not transactions - Why this Buddhist quote is relevant to his style of productivity – “Don’t just do something, sit there” - Why he thinks to-do lists are useless - And lots more --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself. And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ My guest today is Mike Winn, Founder and CEO of DroneDeploy. DroneDeploy is a software company harnessing drones to provide interior and exterior visual data – any altitude, any angle, all in one platform. They have raised over $140M and serve over 5,000 businesses in 180 countries, including 18 of the 20 largest construction companies. --- 🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: - Why he was happy to have an angry customer in the early days - What a digital twin is and why they matter - How they’re making work on critical infrastructure safer, quicker, and more productive by avoiding dull, dirty, and dangerous work - How his love of remote control helicopters and a trip to South Africa helped start this business - The role of timing in determining the success of a startup - How AI and robots can make us superhuman - How to procrastinate in a productive way - And lots more --- 🙏 Hope you enjoy it! 📣 And give Mike Winn and DroneDeploy a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people. --- 👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏 --- 🌎 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. Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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. Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.