#102: 🥛 Silicon Valley Bank Crisis: Glass half full?

4 bullets on climate tech, startups, productivity

Mar 21, 2023

Good morning, folks.

In today’s 3-minute read, we’ll cover these 4 juicy nuggets below — as delightful as the opposite of getting Covid for the second time, despite wearing a mask on 12 hours of flights across the country and back. 🙄

Climate Startups & Investment

#1 — 🥛 Silicon Valley Bank: Glass half full?
#2 — 💣 Forget about “climate time bombs.”

Productivity & Living the Good Life

#3 — 👁️ Visualization vs. actual practice.
#4 — 💪🏽 Be a warrior, not a worrier.

Onward and upward,

Chris

#1 — 🥛 Silicon Valley Bank: Glass half full?

Was the collapse of SVB bad for the 1,550 climate tech and sustainability clients that banked there?

Hell ya.

But does its collapse necessarily mean awful things for companies tackling climate change?

Nope.

🗻 OK, now let’s learn some Japanese.

(Stay with me…)

The first kanji (character) on the right means “danger,” pronounced as “ki.”

The second character on the right means “opportunity,” also pronounced as “ki.”

Now is the time for other banks and investors to step into the opportunity created by the SVB crisis.

Who’s it gonna be?

#2 — 💣 Forget about “climate time bombs.”

Here’s an ominous headline from CNN yesterday.

As the article highlights:

“This report is the most dire and troubling assessment yet of the spiraling climate impacts we all face if systemic changes are not made now.”
“Humanity is on thin ice – and that ice is melting fast.”
“While the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels is still possible, the report noted, the pathway to achieving it is rapidly closing as global production of planet-heating pollution continues to increase – emissions grew by nearly 1% last year.”

But, here’s the problem…

It seems unlikely that we can use any more scary adjectives to motivate investors, consumers, and governments into climate action.

📻 The reality is that we all “tune into the same radio station”…

WIIM — What’s In It for Me?

Messages around solutions and benefits might be more effective than doom and gloom.

🍯 As we say in the South — “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

—

Note: Here is the latest IPCC report summarized in 7 graphs. My favorite is this one: scenarios for scaling up climate action.

#3 — 👁️ Visualization vs. actual practice?

A University of Chicago study by Dr. Biasiotto in the 1950s tested the power of visualization.

Ninety people were divided into three groups and were asked to do the following:

Group 1 — Practice shooting basketball free throws every day
Group 2 — Visualize themselves making free throws
Group 3 — Sit on their butts and do nothing 🍑

After 30 days, here’s how much the three groups improved.

❄️ In conclusion, let’s all quit our jobs, sit on meditation cushions, and visualize the climate getting cooler.

Or maybe there’s another point to this study…

#4 — 💪🏽 Be a warrior, not a worrier.

Said differently, it’s much better to…

Go on offense vs. play defense
Focus on your next action vs. the next analysis
Jump over the fire vs. whine about it being too hot (like a little 👶)

I am writing this for myself as much as for you, my dear readers. ❤️‍🔥 😅

That’s all, y’all.

Make it a great week, because it’s usually a choice.

⛰️ And whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways that I can help you:

Climate Masterminds — The #1 peer group community in North America for growth-stage startup CEOs & investors fighting climate change. Capped at 36. Join the waitlist.
1:1 Executive Coaching — When we grow, our businesses grow. Capped at 5. Join the waitlist.
Podcast — 115+ interviews with CEOs and VC investors discussing climate tech, better habits, and life lessons. Listen now.

Cheers,