Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups

Explore how Cloud to Street uses satellites, balloons, and big data to protect climate-vulnerable communities and unlock smarter flood insurance.My guest today is Bessie Schwartz, the Co-founder & CEO of Cloud to Street.Cloud to Street is the leading flood mapping platform designed to protect the world’s most climate-vulnerable communities.By harnessing global satellites, advanced science, and community intelligence, they monitor worldwide floods in near real-time and remotely analyze local flood exposure at a click of a button.Their mission is to ensure that all vulnerable governments finally access the high-quality information they need to prepare for and respond to increasing catastrophes.In addition, she is…A Strategist - Yale Program on Climate Change CommunicationAn Echoing Green Climate FellowResearch partner - Data-Pop Alliance - a global coalition on Big Data and development created by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, MIT Media Lab, and the Overseas Development InstituteIn this episode, we talked about the following:The relevance of her work to the recent flooding in Pakistan, leaving ⅓ of the country underwaterHow flooding is the #1 climate-related weather impactThe history of their company 10 years ago in partnership with GoogleThe difference between information and motivation to make the right decisionTheir business model of aligning incentives to help insurance companies underwrite more policies that accurately capture flood riskThe need to invest in climate adaption – which BoA estimates to be a $2T market in a few years – and not just climate mitigationHow they use 17 satellites, stratospheric balloon imaging, and drones to measure every square foot of the earth every dayWhat parametric flood insurance is a breakthrough for climate risk managementAnd lots moreHope you enjoy!And give Bessie and Cloud to Street a shoutout on LinkedIn 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.Learn more: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 — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Explore how Electric Hydrogen combines advanced electrolyzer tech, ultra-low-cost green power, and industrial-scale design to slash clean hydrogen costs.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Electric Hydrogen is a hardtech startup making hydrogen from 100% clean energy to decarbonize industrial sectors by creating a new generation of electrolyzer technologies. They recently raised $198 million from leading climate investors such as Fifth Wall, S2G Ventures Silicon Valley Bank, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Equinor Ventures, Honeywell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Rio Tinto, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Partners, Energy Impact Partners, and Prelude Ventures.  Raffi Garabedian is the cofounder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen. Previously, he was the former CTO of First Solar, the leading global manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, and the founder and CEO of Touchdown Technologies. He also holds over 20 issued patents and is a big proponent of "doing shit that matters."-------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?Are you aiming for decentralized or centralized hydrogen production?Can your clean hydrogen projects actually drive PPA creation for new renewable energy projects?What lessons learned from the solar sector are you bringing to this work in hydrogen?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Unpack how Fifth Wall combines strategic LPs, deep proptech expertise, and massive real estate reach to accelerate climate innovation across the built world.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Fifth Wall is a $3B VC fund with a new $500M climate tech fund. Their focus is the built environment. Strategic investors include over 90 of the biggest corporate players in real estate, such as Hines, Prologis, and CBRE.Greg Smithies is a Partner at Fifth Wall, where he co-leads the Climate Technology Investment team. Previously, Greg was a Partner at BMW i Ventures where he led the Sustainability investing practice. He also led Finance & Operations for both The Boring Company and Neuralink simultaneously. He started his investment career at Battery Ventures where he covered early-stage enterprise technology startups, as well as industrial technology buyouts.-------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?Why is now the right time to be investing in climate-focused prop tech?Who are your biggest investors in the fund, and why?What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

See how Baruch Future Ventures combines early-stage capital, technical due diligence, and founder empathy to accelerate resource tech breakthroughs.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Baruch Future Ventures is a VC investor that works with entrepreneurs to shorten the time and reduce the cost to commercialization of resource technology innovations. They invest in the early stages of companies in these impact areas: energy systems, food security, air quality, healthcare, and water quality.Jason Holt is a partner at Baruch Future Ventures. He is also a former entrepreneur with 27 years of experience; a PhD in chemical engineering from Caltech; and Board member or advisor to dozens of startups, especially in hardtech.-------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Discover how Enduring Planet combines revenue-based financing, speedy approvals, and zero-dilution terms to fuel climate founders at scale.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Enduring Planet is a fast and founder-friendly non-dilutive capital source for climate entrepreneurs. Apply in 10 mins. Get funded in 30 days. No collateral, no personal guarantees. Their goal is to fund $2.5B in these capital solutions in the next five years.Dimitry Gershenson is the cofounder and CEO of Enduring Planet. He is also a former entrepreneur; prior lead on Meta’s Energy Access program, a $15M+ investing initiative that enabled energy access for 3M people and unlocked nearly $500M in additional capital in underserved markets like Kenya and India; and Board member at Ecosafi, a Lowercarbon Capital-backed climate startup enabling clean cooking in emerging markets-------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Explore how Cleartrace merges real-time grid data, emissions analytics, and automated auditing to help companies prove true carbon-free power use.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Cleartrace is a decarbonization SaaS platform that provides the actionable data companies need to meet their renewable energy goals. They function as an  "anti-greenwashing" tool that helps corporations prove they are carbon-free on Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions. Investors include ClearSky, Tenaska, EDF Energy North America, Brookfield Renewable, and Exelon.Lincoln Payton is the CEO of Cleartrace and former Head of Investment Banking Americas and Global Head of Investment Banking Energy & Commodities for BNP Paribas.-------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Discover how Heirloom fuses accelerated mineralization, modular DAC systems, and heavyweight investors to pull gigatons of CO₂ from thin air.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Heirloom aims to accelerate our planet's transition to a carbon-negative society by removing 1B tons of CO2 from the air by 2035 by engineering the most cost-effective, scalable direct air capture system. Their technology enhances a naturally occurring process, called carbon mineralization, to help minerals absorb CO2 from the ambient air in days, rather than years. They are backed with $50M+ of VC funding from Lowercarbon Capital, Musk Foundation, Time Ventures, XPrize, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Grantham Environmental Trust, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and more.Shashank Samala is the CEO of Heirloom. Previously, he was an Entrepreneur In Residence at Carbon180 and Cofounder of Tempo ($75M+ for advanced software-driven electronics production). -------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Unpack how this week’s wild climate news mixes startup surges, anti-ESG backlash, and rare humility from the ultra-wealthy.In this newsletter-turned-podcast episode from Entrepreneurs for Impact, I cover the following:🚫 Texas “bans” 348 ESG funds🗺️ 350+ climate startups on a map☠️ We’re all dying right now💰 Billionaire VC investor — “We made a mistake.”🏳️ Investing in climate adaptation is not surrendering to sorrow and darkness📽️ Movie | The Story of Stuff🤮 Your network is your net worth (Vomit)🗓️ TGIF? Nope. Thank God it’s Monday🧡 Taxes — Why you should give them a big warm hug.Enjoy. Let me know if you like 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.Our three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Discover how Sealed blends energy-efficiency tech, creative financing, and behavioral economics to slash home emissions risk-free.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Sealed is a VC-backed startup that modernizes single-family houses with the latest HVAC, weatherproofing, and smart home technology. They also cover the upfront costs of these upgrades, so if they don’t reduce customer energy use, then they don’t get paid. Lauren Salz is the co-founder and CEO of Sealed. In addition to a stint at McKinsey & Company and a summer playing the flute as a street musician in Oxford, she is also a Forbes 30 under 30, Olympic-style weightlifter, and flute player. -------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat does your company do? What makes you unique versus the competition?What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?What are 1-2 lessons you’ve learned about funding your growth with outside investors?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

Learn how Brad Feld combines early-stage investing, founder empathy, and a “give first” ethos to scale climate tech breakthroughs.PODCAST GUEST BIO:Brad Feld has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He is the Cofounder of Foundry, Mobius Ventures, and Intensity Ventures. He is also the author of eight books and cocreator of Techstars, a leading startup accelerator that has accepted about 3,000 companies into its accelerator programs with a combined market capitalization over $70B.Foundry manages over $3B in assets and invests in startups and venture capital funds. Their approach is characterized by long-term thinking and a "give first" philosophy. They have 70 active investments, 100 general partners, 45 partner funds, and 1,900 Foundry network companies. Their sample climate investments include VC funds (USV, Moxxie Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital) and startups (Running Tide, Sofar).-------QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:BusinessWhat is your investment focus — e.g., sector, stage, geography, check size? What makes you unique versus the competition?What is one mistake that you see many CEOs making?PersonalIf you had to start over, what are 1-2 tips you’d give yourself in order to be faster, more effective, and higher impact?What are some habits and routines that keep you focused, healthy, and sane — e.g., meditations, exercise, productivity hacks?What recommendations do you have for our audience — books, podcasts, quotes, tools?-------PODCAST HOST: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 three 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.Online course on "Funding Your Climate Tech Startup" — Two-week boot camp offering 500+ climate investor list (with emails), a 5-step process for raising capital, the top 10 startup funding mistakes, and much more.Newsletter — A 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 3x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 60,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.