Climate Tech Founders | August 2023

On the docket for this month:

• 5 things to keep in mind when hiring your dream team
• Media hits about our portfolio founders and their companies
• Upcoming events, awards and opportunities

Building Your Team

5 critical hiring principles for early-stage startups

By Lisa Noeltner , VP Talent, At One Ventures

I have been helping early-stage companies recruit for over 20 years and one thing I have learned is that every founder and team has their own take on how to run a recruiting process.

Process has ranged from “bring me the best candidate and I will hire them on the spot”, to “I want to see 100 candidates and put them through 10 interviews and an assignment.”

While I am not here to tell any founder how to run their recruiting process, what I do want to share is a golden rule that all founders should follow regardless of their process.

The golden rule is to treat candidates the way they would want to be treated.

This means being mindful of the following:

1. The candidate is giving you their time. Most candidates are working full time so they are balancing a full-time role with multiple interviews. It’s not easy and is very time consuming, not to mention mentally draining.
2. The candidate is likely talking to other companies, not just yours.  Understand that they are committing a lot of their time into the career change process, not just the time they spend interviewing with your company. Time given should be respected.
3. Keeping the candidate in the loop until you get to a no-or-go situation. Regardless of how many steps you decide to put in place during the interview process, the candidate should always know where they stand even if where they stand is in the funnel with other candidates. Candidates should never have to reach out to you to inquire about where they stand or next steps as you should have someone appointed to “own” the candidate and keep them informed at all times.
4. Keep your commitments. If you say you will get back to a candidate, get back to them. Even if you don’t have an answer for them on next streps yet, you should still keep the candidate informed that you are still in process of meeting other candidates, you are still making some internal decisions about the role, or whatever the case may be.
5. Close the loop. Once you have any communication with a candidate, you are now responsible to communicate with that candidate throughout the entire process until once again, you get to a go- or no-go situation. Ghosting is not cool!

It’s your personal and company brand! The way you treat candidates is a direct reflection of your personal brand as well as the brand of your company! I can’t tell you how many times a candidate has thanked me for just keeping my commitments, or keeping them in the loop. We can do better than this and we should!

When they say that this is a small world, trust me, it is! People remember how they are treated and they talk about it. They will send you referrals, they will speak highly (or not) of you in social settings, they may one day be a fit for another role with you.

One last thing...

Ask yourself if your process is a process that really makes sense or are you doing this because that is how you were treated when you interviewed, or that is how they did it at my last company, or just because, etc.

Early-stage companies move fast and they truly do need scrappy people who can flex. Perhaps having ridiculously long and laborious interview process is truly not the best way to do things. 

In the News

President of Kenya at 'Roam Park' Inauguration

Roam Motors has built the largest electric motorycle assembly plant in East Africa – and the Kenyan President William Ruto was there for the opening event. See more on CleanTechnica.

MightyFly wins Michigan Mobility grant

The cargo hybrid-EV drone company is ramping up to cover mid-mile delivery needs for businesses, winning a grant from Michigan Mobility to demonstrate cargo flights in 2024. Read on VerticalMag.

Material Evolution raises £15 million Series A

The startup secured a £15 million Series A to decarbonize the cement industry. Its product is made from local waste streams and has an 85% lower carbon footprint compared to Portland cement (OPC). See TechCrunch  and  Tech.eu articles.

Cruz Foam product announcement 📦 | CBS News 

Santa Cruz coffee company partners with locals making environmentally friendly shipping foam'  Watch broadcast news segment.

Colossal Biosciences CEO on science fiction 🧬 becoming reality | Rolling Stone

He's gotten the comparison many time. Hear founder Ben Lamm finally explain the Jurassic Park analogy and his de-extinction company. Read his byline.

Halo Car delivers driverless vehicles 🚗 | Axios

In Las Vegas you can now order an EV to your doorstep and it is delivered via a remote operator. Read articles in Axios  and TechCrunch .

Orbillion Bio in piece on lab-grown meat 🍖 | The Atlantic

Founder Patricia Bubner was interviewed by the prolific writer Annie Lowrey for this in-depth feature on lab-grown meat. Read now .

Ascend Elements key part of EV trend piece 🔌 | Reuters

CEO Mike O'Kronley explains how to maximize efficiency of recycling processes and minimize the number of processing steps needed to turn black mass into battery-ready material that the EV automakers really need most. See Reuters article . 

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

If you're going to Climate Week in New York, register for this free event ASAP.

Climate Tech Cocktails has partnered with Live Nation to pull off a massive climate tech event to kick off Climate Week. We saw the full guest list from last year and can confirm it's a Who's Who of climate tech investors, founders, etc. 

• When: Monday, September 18th *8pm-12am 🎊
• Where: Irving Plaza 🪩
• RSVP here: Climate Tech Cocktails Party RSVP

At One is now on TikTok (yes, really!)

Why in the world? TikTok is a fascinating medium, sure. But it's also well-suited for the types of vibrant, visual stories we see within our portfolio. 

1. First, if you're not on TikTok yet, consider caving (as we did) and join the short-form video network with 1 billion+ monthly active users.
2. Find us there @AtOneVC  and give us a follow.
3. Scroll through existing posts, please react, reply, etc. to future ones!

About At One Ventures: What We Look For

We back early-stage (Seed, Series A) companies that are using disruptive deep tech to upend the unit economics of established industries while dramatically reducing their planetary footprint. We also look for companies that are pioneering new industries that are actively regenerative to planetary health. Lastly, we look for companies that have significant potential to be healthy, scalable businesses, because the positive impacts we invest in only last as long as the businesses that carry them.