Venture studios: How do they work?
$1B VC investor. GHG emission graphs. Enlightenment. How to grow up. Unavoidable realities. (#171)
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I write about climate tech startups and investment, personal optimization, and conscious leadership (with poor attempts at humor).
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Today’s topics:
GHG emissions are down. Oh wait, they’re up.
Venture studios — How do they work?
Podcast — $1B VC investor in climate startups
You can’t become enlightened, but…
How do wise elders see the world?
Three unavoidable parts of life. (Hint: Don’t avoid them.)
P.S. I’m speaking at the VERGE climate tech conference on Oct. 30. If you’ll be there, let me know!
1.
GHG emissions are down. Oh wait, they’re up.
The EU and US — We’re getting on the right track.
China, India, and the rest of the world — Oh, $%@!
Thanks to Nate Bullard (curator) and Friedlingstein et al. (authors, Global Carbon Budget 2023) for the graphs below.
So what?
How can we focus more on investing and scaling climate innovation outside the OECD countries?
If we replace “energy efficiency” with “opportunities for GHG reduction in the rest of the world,” then former US Energy Secretary Steven Chu's quote could be relevant here: “Energy efficiency is not just low-hanging fruit; it is fruit lying on the ground.”
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2.
Venture studios: How do they work?
Let me blow your mind real quick:
“Startups created in venture studios achieve seed funding 2x as fast and exit 33% faster than conventional startups.
From 2018 to 2023, the number of startup studios has doubled to 877.”
Below are 35 venture studios focused on climate tech.
I’ll add one more — Montauk Climate — and the podcast I did with their cofounder, Evan Caron.
And here’s how they work. Shout out to Max Pog for incredible research on this.
That 20-40% equity for studio creators sounds pretty tasty.
So what?
If you’re an experienced entrepreneur looking to build your next thing, call one of these 36 climate tech venture studios.
Ditto for investors eager to increase their speed to, and probability of, a successful exit.
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3.
Podcast: $1B VC investor in climate startups
My guest on a recent Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI) podcast was Brook Porter, Partner at G2 Venture Partners.
G2 is a growth-stage VC investor with $1B in assets under management. They've invested in 30 portfolio companies.
Their focus is the nexus of sustainable technology and traditional industries. They invest $15-50M into companies generating at least $10M in revenue.
Brook has over two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, executive, and investor. Before G2, he spent ten years at Kleiner Perkins, co-managing the $1B Green Growth Fund as a Senior Partner.
In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways.
What his top two picks are for gaps in the climate venture funding lifecycle
How they build long-term relationships before investing
Why companies often die of indigestion, not starvation
What L-theanine can do for sleep and dreams
So what?
Listen to the episode and tell me what you are taking away from the interview.
Share your thoughts with a comment on my LinkedIn post.
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4.
You can’t become enlightened.
“Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people; there is only enlightened activity.”
— Zen Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki
So what?
Let’s reconsider how we judge performance for ourselves and others. We should anchor on our best behavior, not our worst. Ditto for others.
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5.
How do wise elders see the world?
“The world is more magical, less predictable, more autonomous, less controllable, more varied, less simple, more infinite, less knowable, more wonderfully troubling than we could have imagined being able to tolerate when we were young.”
― Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis: Author of Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up
So what?
Do we focus more on the magical, varied, and infinite? Or the lack of predictability, simplicity, and control? If you haven’t heard the story of the two wolves from the Cherokee tradition, now would be a good time to check it out.
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6.
Three unavoidable parts of life.
"There are three aspects of reality: pain, uncertainty, and constant work.”
— Psychotherapist Phil Stutz: Author of 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower--and Inspire You to Live Life in Forward Motion
He believes people who accept these parts of life are happier than those who try to avoid them.
It’s time for an emotional staring contest. Don’t blink.
But what does he know? He only has 40 years of experience in the field.
So what?
It might be a while if we’re waiting to be content until we end all pain, uncertainty, and constant work.
That’s all, y’all.
Make it a great week because it’s usually a choice.
~ Chris
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P.S. Find me on LinkedIn. I post daily.
P.P.S. If you’d like to join our private climate CEO peer group or receive executive coaching from me, visit our website: EFI (Entrepreneurs for Impact)