Down to Zero

Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy is Powering the Future of Climate Tech with $3.5 Billion 🚀 Florian Dahlhausen and I speak with Mario Fernandez who leads Breakthrough's billion-dollar Catalyst program dedicated to first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial scale projects.   Highlights from our latest Down to Zero episode 👇 🎯 How Breakthrough Energy supports Climate Tech companies across stages Discovery Programs – Incubating future tech (think: Fellows). Development Programs – Investing in cutting-edge solutions (think: Ventures). Deployment Programs – Scaling proven technologies (think: Catalyst). 🔑 Technologies That Catalyst Focuses on As They Are Ready to Scale  Clean Hydrogen Long Duration Energy Storage Sustainable Aviation Fuel Direct Air Capture Decarbonizing Manufacturing 💡 How to Avoid Falling Into the Funding Valley of Death Build Demos: Prove tech viability with significant demos. De-Risk Tech: Ensure scalability and replicability. Bring Skills In-House: Develop construction and operational expertise vs. licensing. Partner Wisely: Leverage strategic partnerships for growth. (links in comments)   #ClimateTech #Energy #VentureCapital #FOAK

How did a company that was bootstrapped for five years turn into a $4B climate-tech success story? Christopher Hopper from Aurora Solar gives Shaneez and me a masterclass in iterating to product-market fit, navigating challenges, and scaling with purpose in this episode of Down to Zero. Here are our takeaways: 1. Pivoting to Solve Your Own Problems 🚀 Not many know that Aurora Solar started as a solar installation company. Chris and his team struggled with inefficient solar design processes, leading them to develop their own web-based tools. This pivot would prove to completely alter the company's trajectory. 2. Bootstrapping Until It's Too Risky to Play Safe 💰 For the first five years, Aurora Solar was bootstrapped. Then the energy revolution started to accelerate. They were uniquely positioned to win. Not raising capital became too risky and the opportunity too big. 3. Constant Reinvention as a Founder 💡 Spending days in meetings instead of building products yourself can be soul-sucking. Chris came to view the company as his "product" and re-framed success around building an organization. Finding magic can come from hiring a great team and trusting them to build incredible products. 4. Navigating Industry Volatility 📈 The solar coaster is not for the faint of heart. Chris advises focusing on efficiency, making smart investments, and remaining customer-obsessed during downturns. Uncertainty and opportunity are two sides of the same coin. 5. Three Life Lessons from a Decade in Startups 🦉 - Revisit Your Why: Continuously align with your core motivation to maintain resilience. - Embrace Serendipity: Trust the process and follow your passions, even if the path isn’t linear. - Be Intentional with People: Surround yourself with those who share your values and mission. Links in comments! #founder #investing #vc #venturecapital #entrepreneur #startup #climatetech #solar #growth #leadership #culture #innovation

The future of mobility in India's megacities is electric. BluSmart⁠, India’s #Uber-rival, is one of India's leading integrated electric ride-hailing and charging network operator. With over $200M raised, 7,000 EVs, 4,700 charging points, and 13.3 million zero-emission trips, BluSmart is revolutionizing transportation in a nation of 1.4 billion. Florian Dahlhausen and Shaneez Mohinani and I sat down with BluSmart’s visionary co-founder and CEO Punit K Goyal on this episode of Down to Zero, as he shares his journey from building solar power plants to leading the charge in decarbonizing mobility on a grand scale. Here are some highlights: 🚗 BluSmart's Vertically Integrated Model: Explore BluSmart's unique business model, the virtuous cycle of building both an electric ride-hailing platform and a charging infrastructure network, and how this integrated approach sets them apart in the competitive landscape. ☀ Sustainability at Scale: Learn how BluSmart is pioneering sustainability, such as when they went 100% EMISSIONS FREE by contracting 30 MW of solar power to power their entire charging network. 🌿 Building for Climate-Tech in India: Gain insights from Punit on the opportunities awaiting entrepreneurs in India's climate-tech scene, from financing EV infrastructure to pioneering battery recycling and long-range EV manufacturing. Links to the podcast in comments! 🛎 Subscribe to be the first to unlock new playbooks from leading experts on building successful climate-tech ventures. https://lnkd.in/gmECjDp7 #ClimateTech #Entrepreneurship #SustainableMobility #CleanEnergy#Innovation #BluSmart

From Barack Obama’s White House to climate venture capitalist, Shomik Dutta at Overture is an expert at helping startups “control their policy destiny”. Overture has built a strong portfolio out the gate investing in companies such as Antora Energy, Crux, and Earth Force Technologies. In this Down to Zero episode filled with rizz and humor, Florian Dahlhausen and I dive into how Shomik and his partners at Overture see the world, and why cultivating political power can reshape a company’s trajectory. Some highlights: - On what he learned from Obama: “I was a super early campaign staffer for Barack Obama at a time when not many people thought that he had a chance of being President. That brings a confidence in being able to tackle things that seem very hard.” - On what makes a top 0.01% founder: “We love founders with a ‘missionary zeal’ towards the problem coupled with ‘mercenary’ commercial capabilities.” He then discusses the specific traits that help founders win capital from Overture. - On your role in an era of high partisanship: "For every hour you have spent poring over the IRA in an extractive excitement, what are the things you're going to do to ensure that the folks who delivered you the IRA have a chance to govern?" Links to the podcast in the comments! https://lnkd.in/ga7v3pfx

As a 15-year Google veteran now building the "brain" of the future grid, Astrid Atkinson, CEO of Camus Energy, knows what it takes to make the leap from Big Tech into climate-tech entrepreneurship. In this Down to Zero episode, Florian Dahlhausen and I pick Astrid's brain on lessons learned during the journey, and nerd out on all things grid-tech. Some highlights: ⚡ On why grid-tech is necessary NOW: "We're moving from a one-way grid where centralized power gets consumed by end users, to one with decentralized generation and a lot of activity on the local network - EVs, batteries, solar, etc. We need a management model that can handle that." ⚡ On the parallels between managing supply and demand for energy on the grid with the technology approaches developed at Google: At Google, Astrid's role was to manage a physical internet work. With the grid, it's also a physical network with physical network constraints. Catch Astrid’s ‘generalized theory of infrastructure development’ on the ep! ⚡ On why AI may not be an immediate panacea: "For large-scale, high reliability (you want zero failures) automation like for the grid, you wouldn't normally start with AI. AI is fundamentally taking in data and then producing probability-based rather than certainty-based outcomes." Read on and listen to the episode to hear more about the topics above, and also hear Astrid's actionable advice for Big Tech folks looking to make the leap! #climatetech #ai #entrepreneurship https://lnkd.in/g88aeYfj

We started Down to Zero as a Stanford University Graduate School of Business school project exactly one year ago! We're still blown away by all the love and encouragement from thousands of listeners and readers! Your support kept us going through graduation, new jobs as climate-tech operator / investor, relocations, and the occasional COVID spell! Thank you! 🙏 So, what do we have in store for this year? Down to Zero gets bigger and better, as we further explore our central question: How do you build a successful climate company? We're joined by more climate-tech unicorn CEOs sharing their playbooks, and senior leaders at climate funds/initiatives founded by the likes of Bill Gates and John Doerr! We are just getting started. Thank you for your support on this journey! 🚀🚀🚀 Florian and Shaneez  

Will the IRA be rolled back if Republicans win the election? Which areas are most vulnerable? And how can climate-tech founders navigate a possibly changing climate policy landscape?   In one of our most candid Down to Zero episodes to date, Shaneez Mohinani and I tackle ideology, politics, and the future of energy policy with none other than Kate Gordon, former Senior Advisor to US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Some highlights: 📢1. Why the election outcome matters: “The ability to get more climate legislation through will rest on who's president. Every piece of the bills is being implemented by the agencies, by civil servants. Former President Trump said that he will dismantle the civil service if he takes office. That's a real threat.” 📉2. The MOST vulnerable parts of the IRA: Electric vehicle credits, labor unions, and more are vulnerable. Take a look at the podcast/Substack (links below) for the full scoop. It's not easy to overturn a policy that is creating real benefits to people (see Obamacare). 🍀3. The LEAST vulnerable parts of the IRA: Carbon removal, hydrogen, SAF, and other technologies have bipartisan support and large economic opportunities for red states. "There is a bigger pot of things that are not really controversial than there are ones that are.” 💭4. The importance of storytelling: "Talk about resilient local economies and how these technologies will help us get there. That is so much more resonant in any political regime than talking about getting to a 1.5-degree global temperature." 💰5. How to win DOE funding It’s not just about tech and scalability. You should also show real community benefits. But be honest about them. ⏩We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! #IRA #climatetech #climatepolicy #2024election

Impossible Foods is aptly named because it achieved what many deem impossible: creating a new market that disrupted the meat industry's Goliaths, and building a global consumer brand for climate hard-tech. Florian Dahlhausen and I were fascinated to dive into the mind of Nick Halla, employee #1 and former SVP at Impossible, on the latest episode of Down to Zero. Some of our favorite takeaways: ◾ On building a wildly ambitious hard-tech company: "We had a big vision and a big mission. We're a bit edgy. If it's too pristine and perfect, it's not quite as interesting." ◾ On creating a go-to-market strategy for a market that doesn't exist yet: "We needed to 1) build credibility, 2) change the story, and 3) use our small volume for a big impact. That led us to look at influencers in the meat world." ( 👀 looking at you, David Chang) ◾ On leveraging crises in a hard tech startup: "Hard tech is hard. Expect things to go wrong. Have a solutions-oriented company mindset. Some of the best times at Impossible were when we went through a crisis, knowing that we're going to come out of the other end much stronger" ◾ On focusing and finding the right time to scale: "Don't go from zero to 100 at launch [...]. One of the more powerful statements we worked through over time was: it's not a no, it's just not now." Read takeaways from the conversation in the Substack linked below, and listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. https://lnkd.in/gRMmm63p

Can AI help unlock access to billions of dollars in funding for your climate-tech startup?   Shaneez Mohinani and I sat down with Helena Merk, CEO and Co-Founder of Streamline Climate to answer this question on the latest episode of Down to Zero. Streamline helps climate-tech startups find and win non-dilutive funding with their AI-powered grant discovery and drafting platform.   Short answer: yes! Read on to find seven hacks we learned from Helena to maximize your chances of finding - and winning - grants. And the best part: Streamline Climate is available to everyone since last week, so take a look if you want help finding and winning those climate $$$.   Listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts (links in the comments) https://shorturl.at/yISYZ

Faster deployment of physical climate technologies at scale is needed to reach our climate goals, whether it’s for utility-scale renewables or carbon capture plants that help us get to net zero.   But how do you actually deploy physical infrastructure correctly, quickly, and profitably?   In the second part of Florian Dahlhausen’s and my conversation with Boris Schubert from Silicon Ranch Corporation on Down to Zero, we get in the weeds of answering this question. Sneak peek in the graphic below.   Listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and join 1100+ readers following our journey on Substack (links in the comments) 🎧🧾