Climate Papa

This episode is a bit more papa and a bit less climate. Ben shares some family news and processes it with his 6-year-old and 3-year-old. They hit on some climate topics, the purpose of ants, and what was in the universe before earth. Kids are the best. Happy Father’s Day to all the fellow climate papas out there. Referenced in the episode: Last year’s Father’s Day special Astrophysics for People in a Hurry In other fun news, I made Bloomberg Green’s “13 Most Influential Climate Leaders to Watch in 2024” Hope to see many of you at the Bloomberg Green Festival in July in Seattle. Shoot me a note (ben@climatepapa.com) if you’re planning to make it. We may have some special Climate Papa meetups in the works!

Nat Bullard discusses the importance of understanding the present in decarbonization efforts, stocks, and flows. The conversation delves into his annual trend report on the state of decarbonization, exploring the process of creating it and its impact. Topics range from big life transitions to raising kids in Singapore, offering valuable insights for those interested in climate and sustainability markets.

As the first episode of the year, I’m focusing on a bit of a personal update. Today, I'm announcing the launch of a new climate venture fund, Stepchange. I use this week's episode to share the story behind the fund. I struggled with putting this episode out—I felt self-conscious spending the time promoting my work so publicly. But I believe that investing our money, our time, and our social capital in these startups is the best thing that I can do right now to make a difference. These companies will be critical to our energy transition and to addressing big elements of the climate crisis. This is how I’m spending most of my time. This is my toolkit, my hammer—and I’m going to swing it. So yes, this episode is me introducing Stepchange. The episode plays out in three parts: We review the Stepchange thesis on climate investing, discuss how the fund came to be, and chat with our venture partners: Anay and Arthur. We also meet three of our fund advisors: Steph, Ari, and Ian. I interview founders from the fund’s first four investments: itselectric, Bayou Energy, Line.Build, and Rhizome. I chat with fund collaborators and investors (LPs): Aaref from Bain Capital Ventures, Julie Sandler from PSL, and Marc Bridge. Thanks so much for listening today. I'm really excited to get Stepchange out into the world. Here’s to 2024. -Benben@stepchange.vc Referenced in the episode: Stepchange The Guide to Software in Climate Tech, written by Ben and Nathan itselectric: Tiya & Nathan Bayou Energy: James Line.Build: Dasha & Steph Rhizome: Mish Bain Capital Ventures: Aaref Hilaly PSL: Julie Sandler Marc Bridge (At Present) Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

See Nicole's work referenced here. The world of climate tech is small and something happened about two years ago. From climate newsletters to Twitter accounts and LinkedIn posts... everything became more...colorful. There were stunning watercolors explaining the carbon cycle in oceans, the carbon impact of a hamburger, or the way that heat pump works to magically transfer heat into a home. Nicole Kelner had arrived on the scene. Taking her unique water color style and combining it with a deep desire to understand, and communicate, climate solutions. In this conversation, Nicole shares her journey to climate tech artist, her process for coming up with new art ideas, and her love of running the business. We also cover why Taylor Swift should date a climate scientist, the role of AI in art, and how to make wind turbines into a beautiful neon mural. Nicole's created the first climate solutions coloring book, The Electrify Everything Coloring book. The next episode of Climate Papa will share more on my focus for 2024. If you haven’t already subscribe here to follow along. To see more of Nicole’s work: Her website Her Substack blog Referenced: Climatoonist Nicole’s IPCC Image | Original IPCC image You want to work in climate spreadsheet Get connected: Nicole - LinkedIn | X Ben - LinkedIn | ⁠Climate Papa⁠ To get in touch, email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

It was the summer of 2022 and David Rusenko had completed 15 years of a classic Silicon Valley success story. It started back in 2007 when he applied to the 4th batch of YC two hours before the deadline with his startup--Weebly. He grew Weebly, a website and ecommerce platform, to hundreds of employees and hundreds of millions in revenue and was acquired by Square in 2018. At Square he took on integrating Weebly and leading all of the growing company’s ecommerce products. When it came time for David to pop his head out to think about what was next he came to a familiar conclusion--he would deeply regret not spending this essential next decade working on climate. This conversation was filled with an abundance of agreement on the urgency to work on climate, founder-company fit, and the values we want to bring to our work with founders. We talk about some of the areas most interesting to us and the underrated role that YC has played in bolstering the climate tech ecosystem. As I've gotten to know David over the last few months, I've consistently found a kindred spirit--someone trying to take the last 15 years of product and company building and apply it to climate tech. Putting to use all the founder empathy muscles possible, and trying to dust off our electrical engineering backgrounds. We also love hearing our kids comment on the slow and smelliness of fossil fuel burning machines. David invites climate tech founders that are raising their pre-seed or seed rounds to get in touch at leapforward.vc--and to maybe look for some fun easter eggs on his website. Referenced in the episode: David's taxonomy of climate tech YC Request for Climate Tech Startups David’s talk on How to Find Product Market Fit Lazard Cost of Energy Report Guide to Software in Climate Tech Get connected: David - LinkedIn | Leap Forward Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix) Note: Nothing in this episode should be viewed as investment advice.

Ben sits down with Dimitry Gershenson, a fellow climate papa, to discuss balancing fatherhood with startup ambitions and the importance of vulnerability. They also explore climate funding gaps and the unique ways fintech tools like revenue-based financing can support climate companies. Dimitry's experience in M&A and energy access initiatives brings valuable insights to the conversation. Bridging the gap between capital and government receivables is another key topic, showcasing specific case studies of invested companies.

I wasn't sure if I should put an episode out this week. I feel like at any given moment nearly 100% of my mind and attention and definitely my emotional energy has been on processing the events over this last weekend in Israel. Climate Papa is not a news podcast and certainly not a geopolitical podcast. But this is a personal podcast--it's been a space over the last few months where I've shared a lot about what I'm thinking about and processing. It's a bit of a window into my lens on the world. And this week I’ve been feeling a lot of pain. In this short message I share what I’m feeling and share a poem that struck me.The Diameter Of The Bomb by Yehuda Amichai (1976): The diameter of the bomb was 30 centimetersand the diameter of its effective range about 7 meters,with four dead and 11 wounded.And around these, in a larger circleof pain and time, two hospitals are scatteredand one graveyard. But the young womanwho was buried in the city she came from,at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,enlarges the circle considerably,and the solitary man mourning her deathat the distant shores of a country far across the seaincludes the entire world in the circle.And I won’t even mention the crying of orphansthat reaches up to the throne of God andbeyond, making a circle with no end and no God. I will return to talking about climate change and technology shortly. Love,Ben

Announcement: It’s PNW Climate Week next week and I’m going to host the first ever Climate Papa meetup! Next Wednesday, September 27th, at 3:30pm at Volunteer Park. Register here! Fall is here—the leaves are changing and it’s back to school season. This time of year always feels like the “real” start to the year. Coincidentally, it’s when the Jewish High Holidays begin, the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, followed by Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. What does this have to do with climate change? Well, Jews have been on an annual rhythm of “repentance, prayer, and charity” for millennia. Perhaps the High Holidays have something to teach us about how to build a pattern of individual and collective assessment, reflection, and action? Ben turns to Tamar, host of a climate Torah Study podcast, to get a High Holidays 101 lesson, and to help unpack the symbolism of the holidays in the context of a climate crisis. They reflect on how holidays can awaken our motivation, how disasters affect communities, and they compare the Book of Life to regular IPCC reports. Tamar Libicki is a mother and fan of green energy, habitat restoration, regenerative agriculture, and Torah study. She hosts the "Ḥoni's Circle" podcast along with Rabbi Paula Rose, which is a project of Congregation Beth Shalom and Ahavat v'Avodat haAdamah.  Referenced in the episode: Climate Papa Meetup - Seattle 9/27 3:30pm Honi’s Circle Future Crunch A Paradise Built in Hell Unetaneh_Tokef Leonard Cohen - Who by Fire If You’re Reading This, You’re Probably ‘WEIRD’ on Ezra Klein Get connected: Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)

Well, we made it ten episodes in before hitting on the most emotionally charged of home appliances—the cooktop. Despite gas stoves not being a significant cause of emissions, they are a clever lock-in device used to drive homeowners to want to keep (or even add) gas hookups to their homes. The plan may ultimately backfire as we all become aware of how terrible it is for our (and especially our kids’) health to be combusting gas inside our homes. Fortunately, there’s a quiet, powerful, and clean alternative — induction cooking. Ben chats with Weldon about the joyous exploration of 2-year-olds as they learn how the world works, including the toilet. They take the same curiosity to unpack the health concerns of burning methane gas in our homes and exploring why induction is going to be the ideal way for most of us to cook in the future. They discuss how Weldon’s new company, Channing Street Copper, is solving the biggest barrier to induction adoption—removing all the complex electrical work. By adding energy storage (a big battery) to the stove it can work with a standard power outlet and even continue to work during power outages. Ben and Weldon wrap up discussing the fundamental optimism needed to be a parent and that choosing to work on climate is just doubling down. Weldon Kennedy is a Co-Founder and CMO of Channing Street Copper. He previously founded and scaled the first Kenya-native running shoe company, Enda, after serving as the Managing Director for Change.org Europe. Referenced in the episode: Ezra Klein: Your Kids Are Not Doomed Get connected: Weldon - LinkedIn | Channing Street Copper Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Editing help from Stuart at Castos Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix) Transition Music: NiNe GriNd by Balkan Bump

It's the middle of August. For most of us, this is a hot and humid time of year--especially with heat waves raging across much of the world. To deal with more extreme temperatures we're going to need effective cooling, and a lot of it, quickly. Fortunately, we have the right device that can suck heat out (or push it into) our homes — heat pumps. Ben chats with Bill to get to the bottom of how heat pumps work their magic. They unpack how ductless systems make sense as the "platform of the future" for the ideal experience and why we're now at the product and UX optimization moment for heat pumps. They talk about the work Bill is doing at Quilt to make this ideal product a reality and how Bill went from a product leader working on Gmail and ad analytics products to explaining heat pump phase changes. Bill leads Quilt’s product and go-to-market efforts. Previously, he led teams developing energy efficiency technology for Google’s real estate footprint, and earlier worked on products like Gmail and Google Analytics. His family heats and cools their home with a ductless heat pump, and he’s passionate about building a much better product and adoption experience to help leave his two sons a more sustainable world. For future episodes, subscribe in your podcast app and here for broader Climate Papa updates. Referenced in the episode: Electrify: An Optimist's Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future Bill Gates' How to Avoid a Climate Disaster Get connected: Bill - Quilt | LinkedIn Ben - ⁠Climate Papa⁠ Feedback? Guest suggestions? Email ⁠ben@climatepapa.com⁠ Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)