Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups

Learn how Jacqueline van den Ende built Carbon Equity into a $125M platform mobilizing retail capital for climate tech VC & PE funds—unlocking the power of “mass affluent” investors for the planet.⭐ My guest today is Jacqueline van den Ende, Co-founder & 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.As for background, she spent approximately half her career investing in companies, as a partner with Peak Capital and as an investor at HAL Investments, and the other half building and leading companies.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- The relative risk of investing in fund of funds vs. individual angel investments- What “mass affluent” means and how a larger portion of their $177T in assets can be mobilized for climate- How to motivate new hires by focusing on what you can offer them (e.g., flexibility) instead of what you can’t (e.g., high salaries) - A new interpretation of The Golden Rule- How to learn by doing, through experiments, instead of relying on Excel and Powerpoint- What she means by saying “money as a means”- Their goal of moving $1B into climate within five years- How to interpret the quote “This Too Shall Pass” during great and hard times as a founder- Why she wakes up at 5 am- And lots more ---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Jacqueline and Carbon Equity a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our 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.

Discover how Dr. Murray Collins and Space Intelligence use satellites, LIDAR, and decades of tropical ecology expertise to protect rainforests, measure carbon, and help giants like Apple hit net zero.⭐ My guest today is Dr. Murray Collins, Cofounder and CEO of Space Intelligence, a world-leading nature data provider for Nature Based Solutions, such as the protection of tropical forests to preserve biodiversity and help corporations like Apple reach their net zero goals. .In addition, Murray is theScience Director and Co-Founder of Picture Zero, a production company dedicated to quality content about climate changeFormer Chancellor's Fellow for Space and Satellites at The University of EdinburghFormer Environmental Scientist in Residence at The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- His four years of rainforest work in Indonesia and Africa- Almost getting into a knife fight with a tiger- The 30 years of experience in tropical ecology and data analytics among him and his cofounder- The 100+ scientific papers produced by his team - How they work with conservation project developers around the world- The market validation they received from lots of consulting projects early on- Their use of optical data, LIDAR, on-the-ground metrics, and other satellite input to measure above-ground biomass for key habitats- How they help Apple invest in their Restore Fund- What pro-poor means and why it’s relevant to 1 billion people around the world- Motivation vs. discipline- Passion vs. obsession- Why he’s reading books about the Middle East- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Murray and Space Intelligence a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our 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.

Learn how Matt Maroon and C-Motive are reinventing motors with electrostatic tech—90% efficiency, $100B market impact, and the potential to slash half of global electricity use.⭐ My guest today is Matt Maroon, CEO of C-Motive Technologies.He is a six-time veteran of cleantech startups – developing and selling new technologies, from advanced batteries to energy-optimizing artificial intelligence software - with a goal of improving society’s efficient use of resources and reducing environmental impact. C-Motive is the first and only company commercializing sustainable, high-efficiency motor technology using electrostatic principles to decarbonize stationary industrial and e-mobility applications.Their investors include Prime Impact Fund, Collaborative Fund, and Starlight Ventures.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- How motors consume 50% of all electricity in the world, despite how oblivious we all are to that fact- The fact that 2% of a motor’s life cycle costs are attributed to its upfront cost – i.e., CapEx vs. its OpEx- The whopping size of the motor market at $100B in sales per year- Their efficiency at 90% compared to most motors which average 50-70%- The utility in industrial applications at less than 500 RPM, especially in geographies with high power prices- How dudes with long hair in climate tech need to stick together- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Matt and C-Motive a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Our 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.

Discover how Loren Burnett and Prometheus Materials are using algae-inspired biomimicry to reinvent cement, slash gigaton-scale CO₂, and win backing from Microsoft.⭐ My guest today is Loren Burnett, Cofounder and CEO of Prometheus Materials.Inspired by the composition of coral and seashells, Prometheus Materials combines microalgae with other natural components to form an ultra low-carbon bio-cement and bio-concrete. In addition, Loren is a former cofounder, CEO, COO, or CFO for companies that have raised nearly $200M in funding, where he led one IPO and 17 mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and achieved five exits netting shareholders over $375M in gains.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- What he’s learned from building six companies-How he got the “carbon bug”-The relationship between his company and biomimicry-The origin story for the company, including five years of university research with Department of Defense funding-How they plan to reduce 1 gigaton of GHGs per year at scale- His unique approach to getting his technology to market- Their top three customers and investors, including Microsoft- What it takes to get their new product approved by local building codes- The importance of knowing thyself so that you can trust your gut instead of listening to your irrational fears- Why Crossing the Chasm is his favorite startup book- Their long-term vision that uses biology to manufacture far more than biocement and bioconcrete- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Loren and Prometheus Materials a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠⁠⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠Our 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.

Learn how John Tough and Energize Ventures deploy $1.2B into climate software, using a PMTEDI framework, megatrend theses, and 200+ biographies for sharper investment bets.⭐ My guest today is John Tough, Managing Partner at Energize Ventures.Energize Ventures is a leading climate software investor that manages $1.2 Billion across two strategies: venture capital and growth equity. In addition, John is the former Chief Revenue Officer at Choose Energy, the largest online energy marketplace in North America, and a former investor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- How they make investment decisions using the PMTEDI model- The size of checks they write for Series A through C stage companies, and what revenue targets they aim for- The four megatrends they’re investing in- How they develop investment theses with deep dives and active pursuit of 60-100 companies that might be the sector winner- The benefits of investing in climate startups in the EU- The importance of asking “Why now?” when picking the right CEOs to back- Why he’s read 200+ biographies as a way to be a better investor- The reason that you shouldn’t be so concerned with your competition- How scarcity creates clarity (I know, sounds like a verse from the Tao Te Ching)- Why “problem first, technology second” is their preferred approach - And lots more🙏Hope you enjoy it!📣And please give John and Energize Ventures a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.--👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠Our 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.

Discover how Trina Chiasson and Ovipost scale alternative proteins with automated insect farming, crickets as the “gateway bug,” and a winding founder journey from tech to entomology.⭐ My guest today is ⁠Trina Chiasson⁠, Founder and CEO of ⁠Ovipost⁠, a VC-backed insect protein company creating automation hardware and software in order to scale alternative proteins.Previously, Trina co-founded and sold a tech company, Infoactive, to Tableau Software. She wrote a juggling pattern notation app and used circus arts to teach physics to low-income students. And she rode her bicycle more than 4,000 miles on a self-supported adventure from Maine to Oregon to raise money for a nonprofit.So, yeah, she’s pretty cool.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- The kind of person that wants to work with insect protein (The answer? “Fanatical, insane people. We weren’t built for normal life. We hate being bored and we love adventure. As a result, each of us wove a weird, windy path to Ovipost.”)- The surprising fact that 80% of cultures around the world eat bugs- How finishing her undergraduate degree in two years relates to her path as an entrepreneur- The amazing growth rates of her bugs – 50x in 5 weeks- How she pivoted from a pure tech company coming out of Y Combinator to a bug farm operator in Mississippi and Florida- The reasons they focus on crickets (the “gateway” insect) and superworms (yum!)- Why there is no “single bug” solution to insect protein- How I relate to her work (Hint: Thai-flavored cricket legs washed down with coconut milk soup) - Why her commitment to vegetarianism for 25 years is not at odds with insect protein- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Trina and Ovipost a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠Our 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.

Learn how Geir Robstad and Heaten are replacing fossil fuels in heavy industry with high-temp heat pumps, unlocking gigaton-scale GHG reductions and cheaper clean process heat.⭐ My guest today is ⁠⁠Geir Robstad⁠⁠, Cofounder of ⁠⁠Heaten⁠⁠, a very high-temperature heat pump that can achieve 200°C process temperature at low costs while being completely independent of fossil fuels. They are backed by leading climate tech investors such as Azolla Ventures.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- How their technology can reduce GHG emissions by 1 gigaton by 2050- Why governments should make it illegal to not use waste heat- What it means for decentralized heat to be the elephant in the room- Their nine-year journey of R&D and $30M of investment- Why they needed to pivot in 2017 to their current technology and customer use case- How they help industrial players in chemicals, paper, and district heating create process heat at lower costs with clean energy- The massive benefits of using COTS (What’s this? Gotta listen to find out!)- Why it’s a good thing for you to have competitors- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Geir and Heaten a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.com⁠⁠⁠Our main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠Our 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.

Dr. Sarah Richardson shares how MicroByre is “taming germs” to unlock scalable biomanufacturing, replacing petrochemicals with lawn clippings—backed by Prime Impact, MCJ Collective, and Earthshot Ventures.⭐ My guest today is Sarah Richardson, co-founder and CEO of MicroByre.MicroByre 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.They’re backed by leading climate tech investors such as Prime Impact Fund, MCJ Collective, and Earthshot Ventures.Sarah has a PhD in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and was a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow of Genomics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory she worked on massive-scale synthetic biology projects and the integration of computational genomics with experimental genomics.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- What it means to be a germ wrangler- How they are bringing about biomanufacturing at scale- The 95% of bacteria we don’t yet understand and the potential that represents to tackle humanity’s greatest problems- Why it’s important to learn how to learn- The role of luck vs. skill in growing a company- How she overcame the challenges of raising VC capital- Why they’ve assembled a team of microbiologists, chemists, molecular biologists, data scientists, and computer scientists to automate the collection and curation of bacterial data.- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Sarah and MicroByre a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur 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.

Bryan Hassin shares how DexMat is turning carbon into high-performance nanomaterials targeting gigaton-scale GHG reduction—backed by his $350M+ exits, Third Derivative experience, and $20M in non-dilutive funding.⭐ My guest today is 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, targeting 2-3 gigatons of GHGs reduced through its solutions.---In addition, Bryan is also:- Former co-founder and CEO of Third Derivative, the world's largest climate tech accelerator, which has catalyzed $500M+ of investment in 100+ gigaton-potential climate tech startups- Former Entrepreneur In Residence at RMI- Serial entrepreneur with $350M+ of exits to date- Independent Director for Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp., a climate-focused SPAC with a $210M market cap---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- Why this company stood out from the 2,000+ he reviewed while at Third Derivative- The role of $20M of non-dilutive capital into his venture- The importance of bigass goals- Not being the smartest person in the room (because if you are, then you’re in the wrong room)- Playing to win versus playing not to lose- Hypothesis testing and its role in his startup journeys- Why “drop-in replacement” are magical- The distinction between the first and the best markets to go after- How his sabbaticals played a role in his career- His favorite non-business, non-climate books and why they matter to climate tech- Why we need to ask, “What would need to be true in order for XYZ to be possible?”- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Bryan and DexMat a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur 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.

Nick Flores unpacks how Caprock helps 299 families invest $8B with impact intentionality, select top fund managers, and prove that purpose-driven portfolios don’t mean below-market returns.⭐ My guest today is Nick Flores, Managing Director at Caprock, a multi-family office and founding B Corporation with $8B of assets under advisement and a rigorous approach to impact investing.In addition, Nick is the former:- Director of Investment & Entrepreneur Services for Investors’ Circle- Manager of the Capital Access Program at Green for All🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- Their work helping 299 families invest $8B across six asset classes- How they select fund managers to invest in- His origins outside of the world of wealth and how that affects his investment outlook- What impact intentionality means- The misconception that impact investing means below-market returns- What a theory of change is all about- The biggest gaps in impact investment fund managers across asset classes- Advice he would give his younger self- His love of stoicism- Tools he uses to speed up his typing- Recommended books- And lots more🙏Hope you enjoy it!📣And please give Nick and Caprock a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.--👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to 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.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur 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.