Climate CEOs
by Chris Wedding — CEO Coach | CEO, Entrepreneurs for Impact
Latest episode
17 Years as an Entrepreneur Taught Me This About Freedom
17 Years as an Entrepreneur Taught Me This About Freedom
About this podcast
The leading twice-weekly, ad-free podcast for entrepreneurs, investors, & executives in energy, infrastructure, & climate. Get practical insights on raising capital, commercialization, business strategy, scaling startups, project finance, M&A, corporate innovation, and executive leadership. Explore AI infrastructure, data centers, power and grid, nuclear energy, critical minerals, energy storage, industrial technology, advanced manufacturing and materials, geothermal, biotech, carbon removal, forestry, mobility, and climate tech. Plus, career advice, healthier habits, and book recommendations.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 344 episodes
- 17 Years as an Entrepreneur Taught Me This About Freedom · 5 minEntrepreneurship promises freedom. But building a company can also create more obligations, more complexity, and more people with a say in how you spend your time. After 17 years…
- Beyond ChatGPT: AI Built for Energy, Mining & Climate | Lium · 50 minWhat if AI could analyze terabytes of satellite, climate, grid, and subsurface data with a single question? Lium is building an AI operating system for the physical world that…
- Climate Tech Is Getting Funded. Just Not for Climate. · 10 min20 recent climate, industrial, and energy tech fundraises teach us new lessons: Sell into AI infrastructure, national security, resource scarcity, and hard economics. Climate…
- Your Sales Pipeline Is Fiction: "The Mom Test" · 9 minYour CRM probably contains millions of dollars in imaginary revenue. Climate tech and energy startups often mistake customer interest for buying intent. “Really interesting” and…
- Can AI Find the Next Billion-Dollar Lithium Deposit? | Atana Elements · 46 minWhat if AI could find billion-dollar critical mineral deposits hiding in forgotten geological data? Atana combines oil-and-gas geology, proprietary datasets, and AI to discover…
- The $1.5 Billion Solar Heat Project Replacing Fossil Fuels in Heavy Industry | GlassPoint · 53 minIndustrial heat consumes more energy globally than electricity, yet it remains one of the hardest parts of the economy to decarbonize. GlassPoint has spent nearly two decades…
- The $440M Bet to Reinvent Climate Innovation | NY Climate Exchange · 50 minClimate change may be one of the biggest forces reshaping the global economy, yet we still treat climate collaboration like a pop-up event. The New York Climate Exchange wants to…
- What 45 Climate CEOs Are Teaching Me About Leadership · 47 minToday I’m sharing a conversation where the tables are turned: I was a guest on the Supercool podcast with my friend Josh Dorfman, the cofounder of climate tech startup Plantd. We…
- The Climate Investments Unlocking the Next 100 Projects · 12 minMost climate investors ask which project offers the best return. A better question: Which investment makes the next 100 projects easier, cheaper, and faster? This episode…
- 70% of U.S. Substations Are Outdated...Here’s What's Next | NovaTech Automation · 45 minRoughly 70% of U.S. substations were built before modern digital technology. Now AI, renewables, batteries, and EVs are forcing a century-old grid to become something…
- The 6 People You Should Never Hire · 9 minHiring mistakes can cripple a startup in energy, infrastructure, or industrial technology. This simple three-trait framework helps CEOs spot great team players and six dangerous…
- 7 Lessons for Hard-Tech Startups | Vanessa Chan (Time100 List) · 47 minWhat kills hard-tech startups usually isn’t the technology. It’s everything surrounding it: unit economics, supply chains, customers, workforce, financing, and the long road from…
- 15 Rules for Building Billion-Dollar Projects On Time, On Budget · 16 minBig projects routinely blow their budgets, schedules, and sometimes the companies building them. But research across 16,000+ projects reveals surprisingly consistent rules for…
- Can Microbes Replace $100B of Fertilizer? | Switch Bioworks · 48 minNitrogen fertilizer feeds billions of people. But producing it consumes staggering amounts of energy. Switch Bioworks is engineering microbes that could replace industrial…
- The 40-Year VC Lesson: Relationships Beat Transactions | Brad Feld · 55 minLegendary venture capitalist Brad Feld, co-founder of Foundry Group and Techstars and author of Give First, explains how founders can use resilience, mentorship, long-term…
- The Climate Tech Map: Where Capital and Innovation Are Still Missing | Speed & Scale, Doerr Capital · 48 minClimate tech is scaling fast. But the data shows huge gaps in industrial decarbonization, carbon removal, energy storage, and the capital needed to turn breakthrough technologies…
- The CEO Vulnerability Paradox | Strong ≠ Invincible · 6 minClimate CEOs are expected to project confidence. But acting invincible can make investors, employees, and customers trust you less. This minisode explores the "vulnerability…
- How to Get 30% More Power From Existing Nuclear Plants | Alva Energy · 53 minWhat if America could add gigawatts of nuclear power without building new nuclear plants? Alva Energy is upgrading existing reactors to produce 20–30% more power, potentially…
- How CEOs Hire A-Players (#326) · 11 minMost hiring mistakes don’t happen because CEOs can’t recognize talent. They happen because interviews reward candidates who are good at interviewing. This minisode explores a…
- How to Buy Clean Energy Across 1,000 Buildings | VECKTA Energy (#325) · 46 minWhat if commercial businesses could cut clean energy project costs by up to 45%, all while someone else finds, buys, finances, and operates on-site systems on massive real estate…
- Why Good Startup Acquisitions Go Bad (#324) · 12 minMost acquisitions don’t fail because the deal thesis was wrong. They fail because integration breaks exactly what made the company worth buying. This minisode explores why…
- The Half-Size Electric Truck Built to Replace Full-Size Pickups | TELO (#323) · 50 minElectric vehicles shouldn't just be gas trucks with batteries. They should be entirely different machines. That's the premise behind Tello Trucks' attempt to reinvent one of…
- The Ocean's Billion-Ton Carbon Removal Opportunity | Gigablue (#322) · 44 minWhat if the cheapest, largest carbon removal machine on Earth isn't a factory, but phytoplankton in the ocean? Company bio: Gigablue is building MCFS (Microalgae Carbon Fixation…
- From OpenAI to $500M in Project Finance for Forests | Living Carbon (#321) · 44 minHow do you turn degraded farmland into an investable climate asset? Living Carbon has raised $76M in equity and unlocked $500M in project finance by combining reforestation…
- Why Smart Founders Still Make Bad Decisions (#320) · 7 minSmart CEOs make bad decisions all the time. Often, the problem isn't intelligence; it's solving the wrong problem. This minisode explores the Double Diamond framework, a…
- The $230M Bet on Turning Homes Into Power Plants | Lunar Energy (#319) · 50 minWhat if your home could cut electricity bills by 60%, survive weeks without the grid, and earn money while you sleep? Lunar Energy is building an integrated home energy system…
- When Founder Mode Becomes a Trap (#318) · 6 minThe skills that help climate tech founders survive the early years can become liabilities as companies scale. This minisode explores the tension between founder mode and manager…
- The Robot Crew Building Solar Farms Faster Than Humans | Luminous (#317) · 49 min4,000-pound robots are helping solar developers install panels faster, safer, and with fewer defects…without changing how construction sites operate. Luminous is building an…
- 15 Energy Tech Startups to Watch (#316) · 10 minMost climate coverage focuses on companies that have already succeeded. This episode focuses on the next wave. From fusion and industrial heat to wildfire prevention, energy…
- 190% Net Revenue Retention: The Software Layer for the Power Grid | Texture (#315) · 47 minMost grid modernization discussions focus on hardware. Texture is building the operating system that connects utilities' fragmented software, meter data, DERs, and workflows into…
- How Urgency Makes CEOs Worse Decision-Makers (#314) · 7 minClimate change is urgent. That does not mean every decision should be. Many climate CEOs operate in a constant state of urgency. This minisode explores how urgency can improve…
- 4 Lessons on Career, Habits, Books + Building a Better Life (#313) · 29 minSpecial episode? Maybe. Some listeners asked me this... How about you answer the four final questions that you ask each podcast guest? So I did. Here they are: • Give some…
- 10 Energy Tech Startups Raised Nearly $1B. Here's What They Have in Common (#312) · 12 min10 climate tech startups raised nearly $1B. But the bigger story is where capital is quietly concentrating across AI infrastructure, grid modernization, industrial…
- The Man Who Invented Cradle to Cradle on AI + Industrial Design | William McDonough (#311) · 56 minWilliam McDonough is one of the world's most influential sustainable design thinkers. His book, Cradle to Cradle, kick-started my career path. And I enjoyed working with him in…
- The CEO Sabbatical Test (#310) · 9 minI discuss insights from recent discussions with EFI Climate CEO peer group on sabbaticals, burnout, and building companies that can thrive without the founder in every decision…
- Can Nuclear Power Reach 3¢/kWh? | Aalo Atomics (#309) · 45 minAalo Atomics is developing modular nuclear power plants designed for factory production. They seek to make nuclear energy scalable enough to support AI infrastructure, industrial…
- 95 Industrial Decarbonization Startups to Watch (#308) · 10 minIndustrial emissions make up roughly a quarter of global CO₂ emissions, yet many of the most promising climate tech companies remain largely unknown outside specialized circles…
- The $60M Bet on Battery-Powered Stoves | Copper (#307) · 42 minEmbedding batteries into appliances to bypass big bottlenecks: home electrical upgrades. Instead of rewiring buildings, Copper turns induction stoves into distributed energy…
- 7 Tactics Women CEOs Use to Scale Faster (#306) · 10 minWomen founders receive just 2–3% of venture capital. So why do they consistently outperform on capital efficiency, revenue generation, and exits? Six climate tech leaders share…
- The Hidden Startup Governance Trap | Eric Ries (#305) · 59 minEric Ries is the author of Lean Startup (millions of copies sold), serial founder, ex-EIR at Harvard, and author of a new book: Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How…
- What Top Energy Tech Investors Want Founders to Know | Voyager, SOSV + More (#304) · 8 minThe discussion draws on insights from leading climate investors, including Voyager Ventures, Decarbonization Partners, MassMutual Ventures, SOSV, SJF Ventures, Energy Impact…
- The 3,000-Year-Old Battery Replacing Industrial Gas | Cache Energy (#303) · 42 minThis limestone battery can achieve 100+ hour heat storage without lithium and zero standby losses. Industrial heat is a $1T+ problem, but most solutions ignore storage…
- Why Smart Founders Lose Focus (#302) · 7 minWhen expansion feels like productivity, climate CEOs often drift into adjacent markets, new products, and endless “opportunities” that quietly dilute execution. This episode…
- Turning Waste Biomass Into Carbon Removal | Carba (#301) · 50 minBiomass waste is one of the largest unmanaged carbon flows, yet most climate solutions ignore it. This founder is turning landfills into carbon sinks using decentralized…
- The Startup Debt Most Energy Tech Founders Ignore (#300) · 9 minVendor Financing Isn’t Free Money – Extending supplier payment terms can improve runway and reduce dilution, but concentrated climate supply chains create hidden dependency risk…
- The $2B Investor View: Debt Should Be Your Second Round | Aligned Climate Capital (#299) · 47 minThis 6x company founder and CEO explains how to structure smarter climate tech investment rounds and actually get renewable energy projects financed. Peter Davidson is CEO and…
- The Hidden Cost of Saying Yes to Every Opportunity (#298) · 7 minThree decisions that determine if climate tech founders scale or stall: Customer focus, sustainable intensity, and information diet all compound into capital efficiency and…
- The Strange Carbon Removal Playbook: Waste Biomass + Public Parks | Graphyte (#297) · 53 minScaling carbon removal through existing supply chains, community-aligned infrastructure, and signing up JPMorgan in the process. – Barclay Rogers is the founder and CEO of…
- Why Cheap Power Is Becoming Data Centers' Biggest Advantage (#296) · 12 minYour data center project clears IRR. Investors nod. But it still doesn’t get built. In this episode, we break down decisions shaping climate CEOs right now: • IRR vs. MCC —…
- Stop Pretending Solar + Batteries = Firm Power | 247Solar (#295) · 42 minDid I get your attention? Bruce Anderson hopes so. He is the founder and CEO of 247Solar, an MIT-linked spinout, and has worked in solar for more than four decades. He completed…
