⚡ He Sold 2 Startups for $395M. Now He’s Betting on Climate + AI (#193)
$14B Lost, 10,000 Jobs Gone—And You’re Still Using Plastic Straws?
Welcome to my newsletter from Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI).
I share lessons learned from working with 400 climate tech CEOs and investors (plus 25 years of meditation practice) to help people fight climate change profitably and maybe even lead a happier life.
Join 20,000+ folks and access 190+ prior issues.
Today’s topics in 4 minutes:
CLIMATE NUMBERS: $14B in low-carbon projects lost this year.
INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT: Lessons from selling two companies for $395M.
CLIMATE FINANCE INNOVATION: New revolving fund for carbon removal.
MINDFUL MOMENT: 35 years of meditation training.
READER POLL: Climate change and AI walk into a bar.
ATTEMPTS AT HUMOR: Inappropriate birthday card.
JOIN A ZOOM SESSION WITH ME: Just tell 3-5 friends.
1. CLIMATE NUMBERS
$14B in low-carbon projects lost this year.
That’s the value of businesses closed, canceled, or downsized in U.S. climate-savvy manufacturing and energy generation projects this year due to political craziness.
And 10,000 jobs lost.
Mostly in Republican districts.
Let’s Make America Great Again(er) with investments for the 21st century.
Learn more in E2’s project tracker. (Tissues not included.)
2. INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT
Lessons from selling two companies for $395M.
Josh Felser, Managing Partner at Climactic, was my recent guest on our Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI) podcast.
Climactic is an early-stage venture fund investing in the energy, AI, automation, and robotics sectors to address climate change and its effects. It is backed by folks like Chris Sacca and Reid Hoffman.
Previously, he co-founded Freestyle Capital, where he sourced or invested in the unicorns Airtable, Patreon, BetterUp, and Intercom.
In the podcast, we talk about his work with Al Gore, Guns N’ Roses, and the NBA; reframing climate language in non-partisan terms; avoiding the 5 AM club; beachside Buddhas; and much more.
3. CLIMATE FINANCE INNOVATION
New revolving fund for carbon removal (CDR).
Adam Fraser, CEO of Terraset, was guest #151 on our Entrepreneurs for Impact podcast back in 2023.
(Full disclosure: I co-founded Terraset, a 501c3 that offers a tax-deductible way to support permanent carbon removal.)
Terraset just launched the first philanthropic revolving fund for carbon removal.
Backed by a seven-figure donation from the Schmidt Family Foundation, it stretches every donation further by reinvesting proceeds into future CDR purchases.
Here’s how it works:
Terraset pre-purchases future tons of carbon removal from vetted suppliers.
Once those tons are delivered, they’re resold to corporate buyers, and the proceeds are recycled into the next round of pre-purchases.
One donation = multiple advanced purchases = multiple CDR companies supported.
It’s a way to make philanthropy less like charity and more like catalytic, early-stage funding.
4. MINDFUL MOMENT
35 years of meditation training.
I started using The Way app after meditating with Zen master Henry Shukman via the Tim Ferriss podcast.
Unlike other apps with a million options, there’s no menu. Just one path. Step by step.
Just. Sit. Down.
Follow the voice.
And breathe, like it’s 500 B.C.
It’s oddly freeing.
Like a great business strategy:
Fewer choices = less decision fatigue, more conversions, and happier humans.
(Without the 19-tier freemium funnel.)
5. READER POLL
Climate change and AI walk into a bar.
6. ATTEMPTS AT HUMOR
Inappropriate birthday card.
Unless you’re a 17-year-old. Photo here.
(This almost got a laugh in our household.)
7. JOIN A ZOOM SESSION WITH ME
Just tell 3-5 friends.
I will start offering a monthly live video session and try to be more helpful to you, my brilliant and model-like readers.
These Zoom sessions include:
Q&A on climate tech, startups, finance, meditation
Small group breakouts
One “ask” from everybody (How can we help you?)
To join:
Share this newsletter with 3-5 people.
Email us at team@entrepreneursforimpact.com (“Let’s Zoom. I shared the newsletter!”)
We will add you to the meeting invite.
That’s all, y’all.
Make it a great week. It’s usually a choice.
~ Chris
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