This is ZERO #4
Interviews with four climate CEOs. 18 new deals in climate finance. The riches of an Indian mystic. What a billionaire lacks. Get out the vote.
Welcome back to ZERO.
Howdy folks,
As you sip your morning cold brew, or nurse that craft beer (surely there are some late night readers here), please email and let me know what you like most about ZERO, or what other elements I could add to make your dreams come true — you know, building a billion-dollar company fighting climate change, self actualizing and levitating as you see fit, etc.
OK, maybe not quite that ambitious. But you get the idea.
chris@entrepreneursforimpact.com
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Climate CEO interviews.
Most months, I interview some CEOs who are growing ventures to tackle climate change, and, um, make a lot of money in the process.
Here are some recent Q&A sessions that I think you might like.
And I encourage you to click on the links to visit their home pages, and heck, even find ways to work together, or send a helpful contact their way. It takes a village, after all.
Michelle Eggers, CEO of BIOMILQ
Growing mothers’ milk outside of the human body
Ben Henneke, CEO of TIST / Clean Air Action Corporation
Planted 50+ million trees, and more to come
Deepinder Singh, CEO of 75F
Smart building controls for optimized energy and comfort
Lennie Moreno, CEO of Sofdesk
Software to make it easy to install residential solar
Shout outs to founders raising climate capital in August.
Thank goodness there is some good news like this in these f’d up times, or we’d all be much more savvy in the many varieties of wine and beer out there.
Kudos to these folks fighting the good fight, and wishing them all the best in their path. May they be YUGE!
Greyparrot (recycling tech software)
New Age Meats (alternative protein)
The Demex Group (climate insurance tech)
Zap Energy (advanced nuclear)
Klima (carbon measurement)
AppHarvest (sustainable agriculture)
For details on these deals, plus links to everything, a longer list of recent climate investments, bullets on a few climate finance headlines, and investor profiles in the climate space, check out the August issue of our “Climate Change Investment Brief.”
Insights from a “rich” Indian Mystic.
Anthony de Mello, an Indian Jesuit, tells this story in one of his books that I read this summer. I’ll summarize it below, but the full version is here.
A villager in India comes upon a sannyasi — i.e., a wandering mendicant that has attained enlightenment — and says, “I had a dream that I’d meet you today, and that you would give me a precious stone that would make me the richest man in the world.”
The sannyasi opened his robes and says, “Oh you must mean this,” as he pulls out the biggest diamond ever found. “Here you are. Please take it.”
Overjoyed, the villager takes the diamond, and sits under a nearby tree, beaming with a smile from ear to ear.
After a while, his joy subsides, and he walks back to the sannyasi and says, “Can I ask you one more favor?”
“Could you give me the inner riches that makes it possible for you to easily give away this diamond that would have made you the richest man in the world?”
—
Boom, drop the mic.
This story reminds me of the conversation between authors Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller.
While at a party hosted by a finance billionaire, Kurt tells Joseph that their host had made more money in a single day than Joseph had earned from his popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.
Joseph responds,“Yes, but I have something he will never have — ENOUGH.”
Free course - “Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship”
If you are an emerging professional, or career switcher, or just want a short primer on these topics, you can join 7,500 other folks who have completed this Coursera course I created via Duke University. (link)
“Get to” vs. “Have to”
This little insight comes from marketing guru and author of many best selling books, Seth Godin.
“Have to” has a negative connotation. As if something is a burden.
“Get to” has a more positive meaning. Like an opportunity, a freedom, a way to be proactive. Or even a luxury that is possible for us because of where we were born.
When I heard Seth talk about this, I noticed that I was frequently a “have to” kind of guy.
But I’m trying to use new language.
As an example, sometimes when I make my 30-yard commute from my house to my office in the woods, I tell the kids, “Well, I’m off to change the world,” instead of, “I have to go back to work now.”
I’m far from perfect on this, but it’s a start.
A world changing cohort of climate founders and investors
If you know any climate-focused entrepreneurs or investors who are looking to “level up” through personal and professional development among an invite-only peer group, please share this with them.
What problems does our year-long Mastermind help members solve?
“It’s lonely at the top. I want a personal advisory board that helps me make better decisions.”
“I get stuck in the daily hustle and task list. I want help evolving into a better leader and visionary.”
“Capital raising (or deployment) is always on my mind. I want to be more investor savvy (or entrepreneur friendly).”
If this describes you, schedule a phone call here: www.chriswedding.co
Here are examples of current Mastermind members.
President - Solar developer with +100M in capital catalyzed for distributed solar in the Northeast, with 20+ years in corporate finance, startups, and waste-to-energy project development
CEO - Sustainable forestry innovator, with past experience managing $800M budgets, and founding/exiting healthcare startups
CEO - Solar software leader, who dropped out of college to become the top salesperson at a multi-billion dollar national solar company, has built a company valued at $50M+ with only angel capital raised, and earned accolades as a Forbes “30 under 30” and Renewable Energy “40 under 40”
CEO - Organics waste management innovator, with $25M+ raised including funding from serious cleantech private equity investors, and is in the process of building plants valued at $75M+ across various US locations
Head of Project Finance - $150M investor in renewable energy, 1GW of structured finance expertise, formerly led the creation of major solar lending arms at two nationally known banks, and a Certified Yoga Instructor
[Note: This is for serious players well beyond the accelerator stage. A giving mentality and humility are also required. As Master Yoda put it, “Much to learn, we still have.”]
Get out the vote.
You might have heard that we (here in the US) have a rather important election in about 50 days.
If you’re yearning for a new normal, one that could put the US back in the leadership spot for climate solutions and creating jobs for the next century, here’s a new group I just joined — Climate Changemakers.
In just one hour per week, they make it easy for you to put on your big boy pants (or skirt) and play a role in democracy. The current activity is letter writing, using partially completed templates.
In addition, you can contact your local party to volunteer at polling stations, do phone banking, try text banking, help with postcard writing, or manage literature drops. I’m getting our three kiddos involved in some of these, and it can be pretty empowering.
That’s all for now.
If you know someone who might enjoy ZERO, I’d be super appreciative if you’d click that little button below. Come on, you know you want to. It just takes a few seconds…
Onward and upward, y’all.
Virtual high fives and such,
Chris
P.S. If you’re curious about where the name ZERO comes from, check it out here.
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Dr. Chris Wedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact, Founder
Executive Masterminds for entrepreneurs and investors growing businesses to tackle climate change
Invite-only peer groups. Executive coaching. Investor data. Leadership development.
(919) 274-7988
