10 Incredible Tips to Climate Tech Founders to help Scale your Business
7min to gain the edge that most founders lack 💥
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Here are my top 10 actionable tips to Climate Tech founders to help scale your business:
1. Focus on Hardware, not Software
Hardware is where the real impact is.
Not convinced? Read the 5 Reasons Why Hardware Investments Beat Software in Fighting Climate Change
And pick a huge problem.
The bigger the problem, the more pent-up demand you’ll have, the quicker the valuation markups, the easier it will get to attract VCs, hire talent and make your dream come true!
2. Build a unique Network
Attend the best and nichiest Climate conferences. No need to go full ‘Web Summit’ scale with 100k participants. The more nimble, the better.
Go to The Drop and Hack Summit in Europe, and pick the right side events at SF and NY Climate Week in the States. I’ll write a post listing the best & most productive Climate events soon 👉 Stay tuned.
My personal favs are Climate retreats! 💚 Quick plug to Unplug which is an annual event in the Dolomites (Italy) gathering amazing Climate souls. Absolute gem 🌟
3. Assemble a diverse, skilled, KILLER team
Assembling that unique and incredible A-player team is 90% of the job. Most people don’t actually comprehend how important that is.
A dedicated C-level executive will consistently go above and beyond.
Such efforts quickly accumulate and make a significant difference.
Never compromise on the quality of co-founders. If it takes an additional 6-9 months to secure the best co-founder, it's worth the wait. It paves a smoother path to success.
Do you recall the wormhole scene in Interstellar? That's the impact of your '10x co-founder'. They bend space-time to help you make that magical leap 💫
4. Adopt a Global perspective and Localization strategy
The most ambitious projects aim to tackle the global market from the outset.
However, each project must start somewhere, and not all markets are created equal.
Europe's intrinsic disadvantage is its dispersion, with 28 nations, 24 official languages, and 7 major legal systems. In contrast, the US has 1 nation of 50 states, 1 language, and 1 legal system.
But, this can also be advantageous from a defensibility perspective.
Take Belgium for example. Nobody outside of Belgium will come challenge you for local contracts, grants, and production partnerships.
Focus on building a solid local foundation and secure the necessary funding. But remember, the ultimate goal is to expand internationally! 🌍
5. Ensure you are Unicorn-compatible
Try to answer the 10 Questions to Discover if you have Climate Unicorn potential 🌎🦄
If you don’t have those answers yet, go back to the drawing board and make sure to fill the gaps.
That will help you bring in your A-game when you’re ready for serious investor relations.
6. Become world-class at Pitching
Yes, some Founders are making s*** up. And Yes, some of them are overblowing numbers, their TRL, and the incredible partnerships they have in place to scale up production.
But let’s be honest, if you don’t have sufficient salesmanship, you’ll grind.
Hardware startups need serious sales & marketing skills in the team. If the CEO cannot harness that role, your COO, VP or Engineering or even a salesy CTO needs to take on that role. It is mission critical.
If you can’t sell VERY WELL, you won’t get investors onboard, sign customers, hire top talent and put your project in orbit 🚀
7. Secure Intellectual Property rights quickly
All VCs will ask you: “what’s your defensible IP?” and “Is it patent protected?”
Two reasons for it. One, they want to ensure you’re not a fraud, and you have what you claim to have.
Two, to build a ring of fire around your startup to buy you sufficient amount of time to gain solid market share before competition catches up.
Do startups have the financial and legal resources to prevent patent infringement? Nope. Especially if an incumbent decides to blindly savage your patent. You won’t have sufficient dry powder to sue them.
But it helps everyone sleep better at night to have patents. And IP protection enhances the perceived defensibility of your startup, which will considerably help you in fundraising talks and valuation negotiations.
8. Stay updated on Policy changes and regulatory guidelines
Climate policies are likely to fluctuate significantly. This volatility is expected to increase in the foreseeable future due to escalating climate tensions.
In 2022, the US climate tech ambitions took a significant leap with the IRA. However, this could potentially change following the next Presidential elections 🙄
In contrast, the UK's climate policies were some of the strongest in Europe. Unfortunately, the new Prime Minister chose to scale back a large number of ambitious projects and issue drilling permits instead 😑
We live in particularly irrational and volatile times. Policy is one of the strongest drivers of market maturity. You need to keep your finger on the pulse to seize the right opportunities or secure the ones you've already gained.
9. Secure Production partners
Many early-stage hardware startups do not recognize the immense complexity involved in scaling up hardware production.
Manufacturing is the most challenging yet crucial aspect to master.
“10 to 100 times more work goes into the production system than the initial design” - Elon Musk
Corporate production partners are essential. It's best to secure them early, either as customers, through strategic alliances, or by including them on your capitalization table.
Not only does this reassure institutional VCs, giving them confidence that 'adults' are involved, but it also paves the way for genuine growth through partnerships.
10. Attract Top Investors
And once this is all set and done, you’re ready to attract top investors.
Yes, the pedigree of your investors matters almost as much as your co-founders. Some endorsements can open doors, and certain funds can provide intangible value-add.
However, be cautious, as most may oversell and fail to deliver due to limited time and resources.
So, how do you pick the best value-add investors? Focus on the HELPERS, not the CONTROLLERS.
Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
Invest In Climate Tech Like A VC 🎓: Join over 200 students in my cohort-based course to learn how to find unique Climate Tech startups that will change the world, and how to start investing in them regardless of your budget.
Join my Climate investor community 🚀 Unlock access to groundbreaking climate deals. Dive into transformative deals like our recent nuclear fusion venture and two pioneering moonshot projects.
If you are enjoying this newsletter, the best support would be to recommend it to a Climate friend or colleague 🙏