Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups

Dr. Sarah Richardson shares how MicroByre is “taming germs” to unlock scalable biomanufacturing, replacing petrochemicals with lawn clippings—backed by Prime Impact, MCJ Collective, and Earthshot Ventures.⭐ My guest today is Sarah Richardson, co-founder and CEO of MicroByre.MicroByre makes pets out of bacteria. They domesticate naturally occurring bacteria and introduce them to industry. They enable customers to efficiently produce bio-derived chemistries at or below current petrochemical economics. Newly cooperative bacteria can replace ancient biomass (petrochemicals) with renewable biomass (lawn clippings) efficiently and economically.They’re backed by leading climate tech investors such as Prime Impact Fund, MCJ Collective, and Earthshot Ventures.Sarah has a PhD in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and was a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow of Genomics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory she worked on massive-scale synthetic biology projects and the integration of computational genomics with experimental genomics.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- What it means to be a germ wrangler- How they are bringing about biomanufacturing at scale- The 95% of bacteria we don’t yet understand and the potential that represents to tackle humanity’s greatest problems- Why it’s important to learn how to learn- The role of luck vs. skill in growing a company- How she overcame the challenges of raising VC capital- Why they’ve assembled a team of microbiologists, chemists, molecular biologists, data scientists, and computer scientists to automate the collection and curation of bacterial data.- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Sarah and MicroByre a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Bryan Hassin shares how DexMat is turning carbon into high-performance nanomaterials targeting gigaton-scale GHG reduction—backed by his $350M+ exits, Third Derivative experience, and $20M in non-dilutive funding.⭐ My guest today is Bryan Hassin, CEO of DexMat, a next-gen climate tech materials company that transforms carbon from an expensive environmental problem into high-value, high-performance nanomaterials, targeting 2-3 gigatons of GHGs reduced through its solutions.---In addition, Bryan is also:- Former co-founder and CEO of Third Derivative, the world's largest climate tech accelerator, which has catalyzed $500M+ of investment in 100+ gigaton-potential climate tech startups- Former Entrepreneur In Residence at RMI- Serial entrepreneur with $350M+ of exits to date- Independent Director for Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp., a climate-focused SPAC with a $210M market cap---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- Why this company stood out from the 2,000+ he reviewed while at Third Derivative- The role of $20M of non-dilutive capital into his venture- The importance of bigass goals- Not being the smartest person in the room (because if you are, then you’re in the wrong room)- Playing to win versus playing not to lose- Hypothesis testing and its role in his startup journeys- Why “drop-in replacement” are magical- The distinction between the first and the best markets to go after- How his sabbaticals played a role in his career- His favorite non-business, non-climate books and why they matter to climate tech- Why we need to ask, “What would need to be true in order for XYZ to be possible?”- And lots more---🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Bryan and DexMat a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Nick Flores unpacks how Caprock helps 299 families invest $8B with impact intentionality, select top fund managers, and prove that purpose-driven portfolios don’t mean below-market returns.⭐ My guest today is Nick Flores, Managing Director at Caprock, a multi-family office and founding B Corporation with $8B of assets under advisement and a rigorous approach to impact investing.In addition, Nick is the former:- Director of Investment & Entrepreneur Services for Investors’ Circle- Manager of the Capital Access Program at Green for All🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- Their work helping 299 families invest $8B across six asset classes- How they select fund managers to invest in- His origins outside of the world of wealth and how that affects his investment outlook- What impact intentionality means- The misconception that impact investing means below-market returns- What a theory of change is all about- The biggest gaps in impact investment fund managers across asset classes- Advice he would give his younger self- His love of stoicism- Tools he uses to speed up his typing- Recommended books- And lots more🙏Hope you enjoy it!📣And please give Nick and Caprock a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.--👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.--🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Jeff Erhardt shares how Mattiq is harnessing AI and electrochemistry to screen one trillion materials, accelerate cleaner fuels and chemicals, and scale breakthroughs through joint ventures with major energy and chemical players.⭐ My guest today is Jeff Erhardt, CEO of Mattiq.Mattiq is a materials discovery startup delivering innovative electrochemical solutions to decarbonize the fundamental building blocks that power the world. By 2024, they plan to have screened one trillion materials for deployment in real-world systems, such as cleaner fuels and chemicals.In addition, Jeff is the former…- Executive Vice President of Intelligent Systems & Industrial AI at GE- CEO of Wise.io- COO of Revolution Analytics- Creator of two sabbaticals, the last one lasting two years🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- How they are commercializing the work of a leading scientist at Northwestern University, Chad Mirkin- Their focus on minimizing and mimicking larger systems in order to speed up novel chemistry discoveries with real-world applications- Why culture eats strategy, and how startups need to hire fast and fire fast- What it means to include AI and machine learning in their processes- Similarities between their work and genomics and synthetic biology- Their business model of going to market with big chemical and energy partners via joint development agreements that allow for some cash up front, plus revenue or profit sharing down the road- Recommended books from his two-year sabbatical- Why you can’t be a good executive unless you understand history- And lots more🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Jeff and Mattiq a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Discover how Trevor Best and Syzygy Plasmonics are using LED-powered photocatalysis to electrify chemical production, slash emissions, and reimagine a $5T industry.⭐ My guest today is Trevor Best, Cofounder and CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics.He's also a member of our Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community at Entrepreneurs for Impact!Syzygy is commercializing a deep-decarbonization platform dedicated to cleaning up the emissions-heavy chemical industry. They use breakthrough technology pioneered in the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University to harness energy from LED light to power chemical reactions. This new technology has the potential to partially or fully electrify the chemical industry, shifting it to renewable electricity, and cost-effectively reducing its carbon footprint.🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:- How he raised over $100M to fund the company- What photocatalysis means- How a case of beer and rare astronomical phenomena were key in deciding the company name- Their work in ammonia cracking, blue hydrogen, and dry reforming- The projects they’re launching this year with multinational companies from Asia and the US- The massive cost, energy, and carbon savings made possible through their technology- What the children’s movie Frozen has taught him- How his love of science fiction translates to lessons in startup leadership- And lots more🙏 Hope you enjoy it!📣 And give Trevor a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---👍 Please leave a review or rating on your favorite podcast player. This is the #1 way that more listeners can discover the amazing climate CEOs and investors I get to interview here.---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Maria Fujihara and Sinai Technologies are turning sustainability into a value driver with enterprise software that measures, prices, and reduces GHGs for the planet’s heaviest polluters.My guest today is Maria Fujihara, Founder and CEO of Sinai Technologies.Sinai Technologies is a VC-backed enterprise software company that measures, analyzes, prices, and reduces GHG emissions for large companies.In addition, Maria is the former:Coalition Advisor for Project DrawdownTechnical Coordinator for the Green Building Council in BrazilParticipant in the Global Solutions Program (GSP) at Singularity UniversityIn this episode, we talked about:Her origin story, coming to the US from Brazil with nothing, and then raising $40M and employing 60 peopleHow they chose to work with some of the world’s biggest pollutersHer work to find cultural and business alignment with her carbon-intensive customersThe challenge of stranded assets for large corporationsHow their SaaS solution helps companies understand and take action on decarbonizationThe role of TCFD and CDP in GHG reporting and corporate governanceHow her company moves sustainability from a cost center to a value adderWhat it’s like being a woman CEO of a VC-backed companyThe HeartMath Institute and the connection between the heart and the brainRecommended booksAnd lots moreHope you enjoy it!And give Maria a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen, shares how they’re scaling grid batteries with $275M raised, a 420MWh California project, and a 10GW agreement with the world’s largest battery maker.My guest today is Kelcy Pegler, CEO of FlexGen, an energy storage software provider with $275M in investor capital raised to date.In addition, Kelcy is the:Founding Partner at Charles Joy VenturesFormer President of NRG Home SolarFormer Executive Chairman of SofdeskIn this episode, we talked about:Their new 420MWh battery project in CaliforniaHow they maximize energy storage revenue via load shifting, peak shaving, and ancillary servicesTheir revenue modelHow they don’t sell, but instead help their customers to buyTheir 10 GW agreement with the world’s largest battery manufacturerThe recent rapid growth from 30 to over 200 employeesWhat Parkinson’s Law is and how to manage itWhat you can learn from children’s books like Elephant and PiggyWisdom from tennis legendsAnd lots moreHope you enjoy it!And give Kelcy and FlexGen a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Bret Kugelmass, CEO of Last Energy, reveals how his team is cutting nuclear build costs, landing contracts in the UK, Poland & Romania, and scaling a $200M-per-unit model to decarbonize global power.My guest today is Bret Kugelmass, Founder and CEO of Last Energy.In addition, Bret is…The podcast host at Titans of NuclearManaging Director at The Energy Impact CenterFormer CEO of Airphrame, a drone company that he sold to a Fortune 500 buyerA graduate of the Stanford School of EngineeringLast Energy is a VC-backed full-service developer of small modular nuclear power projects with the goal of transforming the nuclear power industry by dramatically reducing the time and cost of construction. Their mission is to decarbonize global energy production and increase access to clean, affordable power. They are targeting 2025 for its first units, which require around $200 million to build, and they are investigating 800 other potential sites to deploy the units across Europe.In this episode, we talked about:The three most common misperceptions about nuclear energyWhat he learned from 800 interviews with nuclear energy expertsCommon mistakes made by 50 next-gen nuclear startupsThe outsized role that construction finance plans in the overall cost of nuclear powerLast Energy’s initial contracts to build small modular nuclear reactors in the UK, Poland, and RomaniaWhat he means by this quote: “We’re innovative in the way that we are not trying to be overly innovative. We don't reinvent the reactor core, the physics, the chemistry, the materials.”How to avoid multiplying risksThe role of business model vs. tech innovation to get clean energy to marketThe distinction between corporate and project finance for their go-to-market strategyAnd lots moreHope you enjoy it!And give Bret and Last Energy a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

From unicorn counts to fusion funding, EV myths, and mindset hacks like pronoia and PQ, this newsletter-turned-podcast dishes out rapid-fire insights for climate founders and investors.In this newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact, I cover the following:Climate Startups & Investment🦄 How many climate tech unicorns are there?🙋‍♂️ How do I transition to a job in climate tech?🏎️ The lies about electric vehicles💥 2.8 billion reasons that fusion should matter to you.🚫 This is why $4,000,000,000 at two firms is not enough.🍺 If you stop drinking in 2050, does it matter? [climate goals]Better Habits & Deep Work😲 Choose pronoia over paranoia⛅ A free therapy lesson from Stutz📊 What’s your Positive Intelligence Quotient (PQ)? [Take this test]🤔 “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”Enjoy!Ping me on LinkedIn to let me know what you think about it.https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding-------Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Here's our weekly newsletter — A 3-minute summary of climate tech startups, better habits, and deep work trends: https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.comOur main program is a Climate CEO Mastermind peer group community: https://entrepreneursforimpact.comOur invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Discover how Dollaride is transforming city transit deserts with EV retrofits, asset-financing for drivers, and a $10M award powering 15K+ riders toward cleaner, more equitable mobility.My guest today is Su Sanni, Founder of Dollaride, a mobility company for communities underserved by public transit.In addition, Su is also:Venture Partner with RepublicFellow with Visible HandsFormer Cofounder and CEO of WeDidIt, an online fundraising platform for nonprofitsIn this episode, we talked about:What a transit desert is and how it costs us billions of dollars in lost productivity annuallyThe $10M award that Dollaride won from the state of New YorkTheir solid customer traction with over 15,000 riders in just one yearHow his solution relates to the micromobility field more broadlyHis origin story and the inspiration for this businessHow their business is evolving from an Uber-like tech platform to an asset-financing model to make EV purchases easierThe process by which they retrofit commercial vehicles from ICE to EVWhy it’s so important that he walks his kids to schoolAnd lots moreHope you enjoy it.And give Su a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.---Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate innovators grow faster with new investment capital, share best practices among peers, expand their networks, and reach their full potential.Our two offerings include:Climate CEO Mastermind Peer Groups — Our invite-only cohorts of 12 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Today’s highly curated Mastermind members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.