Entrepreneurs for Impact

PODCAST GUEST BIO:

Ethic is working toward a future where all investing is sustainable investing. Backed by almost $100M of funding, they empower wealth advisors and investors to create portfolios that seek to align personal values with financial goals. Their solution has catalyzed $2B of capital into more responsible funds to date.

Jay Lipman is the Co-founder and President of Ethic. He is also a Top LinkedIn Voice for the Green Economy and a member of our Climate Mastermind peer groups at Entrepreneurs for Impact. Check out his entertaining and educational ESG videos here. He claims that his sophisticated English accent is not a factor in his success, but the jury is still out.

(I wonder who reads these podcast summaries. If that's you, Tweet at me here https://twitter.com/DrChrisWedding. 🤣)

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QUESTIONS THAT WE COVERED:

Business

• What 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?

Personal

• If 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?

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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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Since it's summer, I'll play my "on vacation" card and recycle this podcast, one of our most popular so far.

Plus, Howard and Gratitude Railroad are putting on their upcoming 2023 Gratitude Investor Gathering on Sept. 10 - Sept. 13 at 1440 Multiversity in California. Check it out!

Details here:

"From outdoor sessions under the canopy of thousand-year-old redwoods, to fireside chats around roaring fire pits, this year's Gathering venue - 1440 Multiversity - specializes in curated experiences that inspire the best in the human spirit to cultivate the greater good.

What we're excited about:

• Community-centric and purpose-driven programming designed to explore ideas and catalyze investments in nature-based solutions, the inclusive economy, equitable health, alternative energy, futurist food systems, & more... Trusted and deep relationships with values-aligned investors, founders, fund managers, academics, and impact leader
• Investment opportunities and tools for accelerating capital into enduring and equitable impact"

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⭐ My guest on this podcast was Howard Fischer, the Chief Evangelist at Gratitude Railroad.

Gratitude Railroad's mission is to support investors in moving capital from traditional finance to impact investments that create deep social and environmental impact, without compromising financial returns.

His bio on the GR website is delightful in its brevity and insight into who he is. And I quote:

“Uphill over downhill; Snow over sand; Read over watch; Trees over skyscrapers; Pizza over steak; Conversation over gossip; Disagree over agree; Instinct over spreadsheets; Relationship over contract.”

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🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:

• His 40 years in hedge funds
• How his rebirth in 2013 while not religious was like a metaphorical move from Gordon Gekko to Dalai Lama
• His financial reckoning during the 2008 financial crisis when his hedge fund went from $3B to $300M
• The risks in wearing the golden handcuffs of fat paychecks from big-brand employers
• How philanthropy is broken, and government is not a great problem solver
• Why we have to move more profit-driven capital to the climate sector
• Examples of the climate investments they’ve made at Gratitude Railroad, including a focus on organic waste management
• His theme of “Free the Money” and related investments in Climate First Bank and First Women’s Bank
• Why we can’t ask people to eat their broccoli (sorry, you have to listen to understand what this means)
• Some of his favorite books, such as The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, and The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis
• And lots more

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👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏

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🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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.

And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⭐ My guest today is Micah Kotch, Partner at Blackhorn Ventures.

Blackhorn Ventures invests in companies redefining industrial resource efficiency. Their portfolio serves enterprise customers across Energy, Construction / Real Estate, Supply Chain / Logistics and Transportation – interconnected industries that generate $3T in annual revenue and account for the vast majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. They’ve raised three funds totalling over $270 in AUM. Their investments in 60+ seed and Series A ventures is performing in the top quartile of all comparable VC funds, according to Cambridge Associates.

Micah was previously part of the BMW Group, where he served as Managing Director of URBAN-X; the platform for startups reimagining city life. He is also a Founding Partner of C3, an AngelList syndicate backing companies working to reduce emissions, mitigate the worst effects of climate change, and help humanity adapt to a changing world.

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🎙️ PODCAST TOPICS:

The debate between hardware and software investing in climate tech. Why the September 11 tragedy catapulted him into sustainability. How he moved from an undergraduate major in East Asian studies to be a VC investor. How an off-grid family cabin in New Engand taught him about his current career mission. Their work to integrate impact additionality into the full life cycle of their investments. The importance of tackling big problems outside of our comfort zone. How loud music and motorcycles keep him calm. And his favorite NGO to support – Green City Force: https://greencityforce.org

And lots more!

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🙏 QUICK FAVOR:

Please leave a review or rating on your podcast player.

This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here.

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🌎 ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS FOR IMPACT:

2-minute newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠

Climate CEO peer group community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Live online course about startup capital raising (coaching, peer feedback): ⁠⁠⁠https://t.ly/V6xcB⁠⁠⁠

DIY course about startup capital raising (170 slides, 70-item library, 250-investor list): ⁠⁠⁠https://t.ly/QCcl5⁠⁠⁠

Entrepreneurs for Impact is led by Dr. Chris Wedding — a 4x founder, 4x Board member, Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, ax-throwing champ, and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio). 😃

My guest today is Jake Susman, Cofounder and CEO of Ambient Fuels.

Ambient Fuels is a pure-play developer of green hydrogen projects, guiding heavy industry through the great green upgrade.

In addition, he is the:

• Executive Advisory Board Member at Activate Capital
• Board member of Urban Resiliency Advisory Board with the Partnership Fund for New York City
• Board Member at SolarKal, the largest commercial solar marketplace in the U.S.
• Board President & Co-Founder at Cleantech Leaders Roundtable

In this episode, we talked about:

• How Ambient Fuel was focused on green hydrogen before the Inflation Reduction Act made it super attractive to be in this sector
• The kinds of sectors that Ambient helps the most – e.g., refining, chemical, and fertilizers
• His prior development firm, Own Energy, and its origin as one of the earliest VC-funded renewable energy project developers, which was later purchased by EDF
• The genesis of his entrepreneurial journey via “el jefe” at AES in Spain
• Why timing can be so important in determining whether a deal gets done, or dies on the vine
• The fact that not all investor capital is created equal and a gross analogy with fast food
• Why premortem analysis exercises can help reduce future startup failure risks
• His commitment to meditation 4x per week and sweating in some kind of physical activity every day
• And lots more

Hope you enjoy it.

And give Jake and Ambient fuels a shout-out on LinkedIn, Slack, or Twitter by sharing this podcast with your people.

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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:

1. 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.
2. 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.

WeWard is an app that rewards users for walking more each day. To date, they have 20 million users walking an extra 24% than before having the app. They provide rewards from corporate partners for hitting certain walking goals, and they’ve generated eight figures in revenue while doing so.

Yves has over 10 years of experience in creating and scaling innovative solutions for physical retail, as well as a background in machine learning, big data, web and mobile development, applied mathematics, and cognitive science, with degrees in entrepreneurship and Silicon Valley innovation from Ecole Polytechnique and UC Berkeley.

In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeaways and much more.

1. How he taught himself behavioral psychology to apply it to his ventures
2. What he learned from Pokemon Go to build WeWard
3. How they earn revenue from three sources and which is the biggest
4. Why they’ve given $1M to charity as a startup themselves

Plus, you'll feel extra cool listening to this one because of his French accent!

🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:

WeWard - https://www.wewardapp.com

Yves - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvesbenchimol

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products (book) - https://shorturl.at/Worpf

Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion - https://shorturl.at/zpjFx

Lenny’s newsletter (product development) - https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

Duolingo (app to learn new languages) - https://www.duolingo.com

📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:

Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re a community of 80+ CEO Fellows, Alumni Allies, and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $20B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. Apply here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📣 READ EFI’S NEWSLETTER:

Join over 20,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who get our three-minute read about changing the world through startups, finance, humor, and wisdom. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✍🏼 LEAVE A PODCAST REVIEW:

To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, we appreciate this small gesture of your appreciation. Here are instructions: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews⁠⁠⁠⁠

🤔 PODCAST HOST:

Dr. Chris Wedding is the founder of EFI (climate CEO peer groups), cofounder of Terraset (carbon removal), Senior Advisor at Javelin Capital (investment banking), Board member at World Tree (regenerative forestry), Board Advisor at DG Matrix (next-gen power electronics), Duke & UNC professor, ex-private equity investor, ex-investment banker, occasional monk, father of three, 2x ax-throwing champ (huh?), Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2006 (Google it), and super humble guy (as evidenced by this long bio).