🦄 How many climate tech unicorns are there?
Your weekly 3-minute read on climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work
Good morning, folks.
In today’s 3-minute read, we’ll cover these 5 juicy nuggets below — just as sweet as the first time you experienced a Tesla accelerate like a race car and giggled uncontrollably like a small child. 👶
Climate Startups & Investment
#1 — 🦄 How many climate tech unicorns are there?
#2 — 🙋♂️ How do I transition to a job in climate tech?
#3 — 🏎️ The lies about electric vehicles
Productivity & Living the Good Life
#4 — 😲 Choose pronoia over paranoia
#5 — ⛅ A free therapy lesson from Stutz
Onward and upward,
Chris
#1 — 🦄 How many climate tech unicorns are there?
Are you a failed startup if you’re not a unicorn?
Of course not. Please kick your FOMO off the bus.
But it’s pretty sweet if you actually do reach that stratosphere. 😇
That would, of course, be awesome for you, your team, the climate, and your investors — but equally important — for the broader climate solution community. We need mo’ validation.
Here’s the current list of 47 climate tech unicorns from HolonIQ.
Note: This list does not include startups that have had exits — e.g., IPO, SPAC, strategic acquisitions.
And click here to see the companies’ geographic location, sector, recent VC capital raise, and estimated valuation.
#2 — 🙋♂️ How do I transition to a job in climate tech?
More than 90,000 folks have been laid off in the broader tech sector this year. 🤯
Oh, snap.
And many people in non-climate sectors are tired of “selling sugar water” (origin story here with good ole’ Steve Jobs) and want to find more meaningful work. 🎉
Great.
For both groups, here’s an amazing resource to help you find a job in climate tech.
Happy hunting to you — and welcome to the club!
#3 — 🏎️ The lies about electric vehicles.
“A Prius is worse for the planet than a Hummer. EVs are coal-powered cars. Lithium mining is uniquely bad for the environment. Cobalt mining relies largely on slave labor, if not child slave labor.
Actually, that last part is sadly true.
But the rest? Lies.
And I'm not even going to get into the hypocrisy of posting anti-EV rhetoric from a lithium-ion-battery-powered phone or laptop.”
This entertaining and well-researched article from MotorTrend is worth a read. And maybe fun to send to your favorite EV hater.
I’ll summarize two of their points here:
“EVs powered by coal”
“In 2021, the U.S. power grid's makeup was 38 percent natural gas, 22 percent coal, 20 percent renewables, 19 percent nuclear, and 1 percent other (like petroleum). This means that if all cars in the U.S. were suddenly powered by electricity, at most only 22 percent of them would be fully coal-powered. If you lump nuclear in with renewables because atomic energy produces no CO2 emissions, 39 percent of the grid is emission-free. [And that percentage is getting higher each year.]
Replacing gasoline with coal (which, for the record, is an abysmal idea) would reduce energy usage by 31 percent. Another way to think about it: Right now, Americans use about 9 million barrels of oil a day for our automotive transportation needs. Magically switching to EVs charged via burning coal would result in only needing the equivalent of about 6 million barrels.”
EVs as oil savers
“ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles only send between 16 to 25 percent of the energy created from burning gasoline to the wheels. The other 75 to 84 percent is lost due to inherent inefficiencies.
EVs(eventually) send 87 to 91 percent of the energy in the battery to the wheels.”
#4 — 😲 Choose pronoia over paranoia.
We’ve all heard this bold and depressing quote from Andy Grove, the founder and former CEO of Intel:
“Only the paranoid survive.”
Yikes.
Debbie Down much?
But what if a different way there was?
(Yes, that was Yoda speaking.)
Here’s your new favorite word for 2023:
Pronoia:
The belief that the world around us conspires to help us get what we want/need
If you think this is only for pot-smoking hippies from the 1960s, hang tight.
I’m going to double down on that sentiment.
Here’s an excerpt from a 1963 novella by J. D. Salinger — Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters — where a character states:
“I am a kind of paranoid in reverse.
I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.”
“Oh, the delusion!” you might be thinking.
But let’s consider the following:
First, the Mayo Clinic describes the health benefits of a positive bias toward life as follows:
Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress and pain
Greater resistance to illnesses
Better psychological and physical well-being
Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and stroke
Reduced risk of death from cancer
Reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions
Reduced risk of death from infections
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
Second, if you assume the best in any situation, and great things happen, then you’re proven right. Well done.
Third, if you assume the best in any situation, and a shit show occurs, then you go just back to that Daily Stoic book you’ve been reading most mornings. Shit happens. Accept. Learn. Move on.
Ah, if only it were that easy… 😔
#5 — ⛅ A free therapy lesson from Stutz.
First, mental health is real.
“In 2019-2020, 21% of adults were experiencing a mental illness. That is equivalent to over 50 million Americans.” (source)
Second, therapy can be awesome.
Third, please watch this film over the holidays. It’s irreverent, raw, funny, and super practical at the same time.
Here’s the summary from Rotten Tomatoes:
“Phil Stutz is one of the world's leading psychiatrists.
He's helped countless patients over 40 years, including world-class creatives and business leaders, and among them many therapy-skeptics.
Directed by friend and patient Jonah Hill, the film explores Stutz's life and walks the viewer through his signature visualization exercises, The Tools.”
Check out short videos on The Tools here.
That’s all, y’all.
Make it a great week, because it’s usually a choice.
Cheers,
Chris
—
Chris Wedding
Founder @ Entrepreneurs for Impact
Climate CEO peer groups | Podcast