#143: [One of our most popular] Climate Investing, from Gordon Gekko to the Dalai Lama

08/24/23 • 48 min

2 Listeners

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"

---

⭐ 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.”

---

🎙️ 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

---

👍 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. 🙏

---

🌎 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

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:

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"

---

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

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

---

🎙️ 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

---

👍 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. 🙏

---

Previous Episode

#142: 10 Ways to Create 10 New Hours Per Week (maybe)

⭐ I’m not a ruthless person. Except when it comes to my calendar. 😃

And the climate tech startup CEOs in our peer group program at Entrepreneurs for Impact are always looking for ways to “schedule their priorities instead of prioritizing their schedule.”

So, in this podcast, I talk through a resource I put together on the topic for my climate CEO members. Hopefully, it stimulates some new ideas for you and your teams.

And...

Here's a Google Slides version:

"Experiment: 10 Ways to Create 10 Hours Per Week"

https://tinyurl.com/2r6kyptr

(Beware: Results may vary. Widely. 😏)

Also...

If you have other topics you’d like me to cover on a future AMA podcast, just DM me on LinkedIn or reply to my Entrepreneurs for Impact newsletter on Substack.

---

👍 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. 🙏

---

Next Episode

#144: Carbon-Negative Power with Vegetarian Rocket Engines from Ex-SpaceX Engineer — Brad Hartwig⁠, CEO of ⁠Arbor

⭐ My guest today is Brad Hartwig, CEO and Cofounder of Arbor.

Arbor is a carbon removal and storage company delivering carbon-negative power that converts organic waste into clean energy and fresh water. Their CTO Andres Garcia-Clark and lots of other team members bring lessons learned from SpaceX and big energy giants.

In addition, he was a former...

Manufacturing Engineer for Crew Dragon Engines at SpaceX engineer
Test Pilot for Kitty Hawk’s 100% electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle
Chief Propulsion Engineer at the USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory
Member of the Marin County Search and Rescue

---

🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:

How his work in search and rescue showed him the devastating personal and social impacts of climate-induced natural disasters
What he means by "vegetarian rocket engines"
What they did to eliminate the smoke stack from their power production systems
How the Earth breathes each year by absorbing 100 tons of carbon dioxide each spring and summer in biomass before releasing much of that back to the atmosphere in the fall and winter
Their ability to produce zero-cost clean baseload power due to monetizing other revenue streams like carbon removal credits and the 45Q tax credit
Their modular design to be “hardware that you can hug”
What surfing means to him as a way to recharge as a CEO
Knowing whether you’re climbing the right ladder
And lots more

---

👍 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. 🙏

---

Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.