This Week in MCJ (11/21/20)
Tell us which climate topics you most want to learn about!
Hey everyone,
A few things of note from MCJ-land, this week.
1) We added the ability to listen to CTSS episodes via audio, as well as video. We are also going to experiment soon with publishing 1-2 as podcasts, to see if we want make that a thing going forward.
2) We have a Make-a-thon coming up! This is an experiment to build more connective tissue in this community, give people the time/space/collaboration opportunities to think out of the box about how to address climate change, and hopefully come out with more learning, more relationships, and maybe even the spark of what could become something bigger! More details below on how it works and how to sign up.
3) We are considering doing an experiment or two with longer form written posts, where we take deep dives into specific topic areas that we and the community are hungry for more knowledge about. If you have requests for topic areas you’d like to see covered, let us know! Some we are excited about are the future of carbon markets/offsets, how to tell if big companies are serious about their net zero commitments, and the future of cities, to name a few.
Jason
💪 Join MCJ’s first-ever Make-a-thon!
We invite those in the MCJ Community to attend a kick-off call on Friday, November 27th at 4 PM EST (drop us an email for an invite) to learn more about the Make-a-thon your fellow MCJers are organizing.
The Make-a-thon is intended to foster new ideas, projects and collaboration related to climate. Participants are welcome to form teams and work on whatever projects that excite them. Whether it be a software prototype, a proposal for a new policy or an artistic endeavor, we are eager for you to bring to life the projects you’re excited about and share them with the rest of the community. The Make-a-thon is tentatively slated to happen from Friday, 12/4 to Friday, 12/18, culminating in a community demo session, where each team will walk through what they built and their key learnings from the experience.
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 131: Jon Goldberg & Julio Friedmann, Founder & CEO and Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct
This week’s guests are Jon Goldberg & Julio Friedmann, Founder & CEO and Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct. Carbon Direct is a strategic advisor for companies that need help allocating their negative emissions spend, and an investor in companies developing negative emissions technologies, that are ready for scale.
They have a fascinating perspective, as they are dialed in both to where the big companies are with their net zero commitments, but also where the negative emissions technology industry and carbon markets are, and what we need to do to get them to where they need to be.
This was one of my favorite episodes yet, and I highly recommend you give it a listen!
📼Climate Tech Startup Series (CTSS)
CTSS is a series for members, where we feature founders of early-stage companies, sharing their startup’s business and mission. Members can check out our recent episode below and find an updated list here.
🎧 We are testing an audio option for the Climate Tech Startup Series. You’ll be able to watch or listen to the episode. Let us know what you think!
CTSS Episode 18: Solstice Solar with CEO & Co-Founder, Steph Speirs
Solstice is dedicated to making clean energy accessible to everyone, while focusing especially on underserved BIPOC and low-to-moderate income communities. Solar is cheaper than ever, but those who need solar savings the most are the least likely to get it.
4 out of 5 Americans are locked out of the solar market for various reasons, but community solar offers a solution. It allows communities to sign up for a shared solar farm in their area - saving money on monthly electric bills while supporting local clean energy. Solstice works with local community partners to educate communities about the benefits of community solar and signs them up for savings. Solstice is the only women, POC-owned and led company in the industry.
CEO & Co-Founder, Steph Speirs, walks me through the origin story of the company, their progress to-date, their long vision, and what is coming next!
Great episode, don’t miss it!
💸 Earth Fund Investments
In 2019, Jeff Bezos announced the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund. On Monday, Bezos Earth Fund announced their first grants, investing $791 million into 16 different organizations. The grant recipients include the Environmental Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund. Check out the full list here!
Vox writer, Teddy Schliefer gives some color to Bezos’ investing in his article “Jeff Bezos Plays It Safe On $10 Billion Climate Giveaway” on Recode by Vox.
🙋♀️🙋♂️ Volunteers Needed!
Sophie Janaskie, MCJer and MBA student at Stanford, is researching what climate regulations/policies would best support the development and deployment of climate-tech solutions in different sectors. She is looking for any climate entrepreneurs who would be willing to chat for 20-30 minutes about how they think about the non-market strategy for their company. Check out her slack post here or DM her for information!
🎓 Alumni News!
Check out this recent Bloomberg article (PDF) featuring two MCJ alums! We are excited to see Nori and Shopify working together. Iowa farmer, Kelly Garrett, is selling carbon credits for carbon removal on his farm to Shopify through a carbon-credit marketplace run by Nori.
Nori was recently featured on our Climate Tech Startup Series. Members can check out Jason’s conversation with CEO & Co-Founder, Paul Gambill here & members can find Jason’s podcast episode with CEO & Founder of Shopify, Tobi Lütke, here! For non-members, a preview of Tobi Lütke is also available here.
Big news out of Aclima this week! MCJ Alum and CEO & Co-Founder of Aclima, Davida Herzl and her company have raised a large B round of financing! Read more about it here and check out Davida’s blogpost. You can also listen to Davida’s MCJ episode here!
Big news this week from venture capital firm Union Square Ventures!
scoop: Union Square Ventures, known for its investments in Twitter, Coinbase & Carta, is raising its first dedicated climate-tech fund, sources say wsj.com/articles/union… via @WSJVC #cleantech #climatechange
We touched on Managing Partner Albert Wenger’s perspective on climate tech investing several months ago, in his MCJ episode, found here.
👋 Welcome New MCJers!
Below are new members who joined the community and introduced themselves in the past week. You can learn more about them on #introductions, where you can welcome them to the community.
A warm welcome to the MCJ Community!
Caelin Tran: Currently a MBA student at Harvard, Caelin has experience in chemical engineering, computer science and solar/storage. He has learned so much about the climate from MCJ and can’t wait to meet more MCJers.
Stephan Ellner: Currently, a software engineer/engineering director at Google. Stephan is looking to pivot professionally to climate. He is looking for impactful software opportunities.
Sam Ian Rosen: Sam who also goes by Captain Planet, is CEO of Tap which is a software company dedicated to clean drinking water. He believes we can rebuild the tap water system to eliminate single use plastic.
Charlotte Mallo: Currently, a senior marketing manager for an innovation consulting and technology company. She is hoping to contribute to the community and get involved in entrepreneurial projects around clean energy and urbanization.
Andreas Bruse: A software guy by trade, Andreas is looking to dedicate more of his professional time to the climate. He has been the Head of Technology and CTO of a fintech company in Sweden. He is hoping to gain a broader understanding of the climate problems and connect with the community.
David Jones: Currently based in the bay area and focusing on tech, David is looking for opportunities addressing climate and connecting with people who made the transition to clean tech and renewable energy.
Katie Holligan: Currently, working for a small clean energy company called Carbon Lighthouse which works to reduce the emission from commercial real estate. She is hoping to find her next opportunity and meet more of the MCJ community.
Leah Graves: Currently a UCLA student. She is hoping to use her Pure Math degree to promote environmental justice and sustainability. She is really excited to see where others’ climate journeys have taken them in terms of career choice. She is also looking for an internship in the climate space.
Gregg Lind: Previously, working in tech at Mozilla, Gregg is looking for new opportunities in the climate finance space. He has spent the last year working as a technical advisor on a strategic reforestation start up. He is looking forward to meeting fellow MCJers.
Rob Lee: Currently, the Program Director at the Climate Action Reserve. He runs one of the 4 major carbon offset programs. He is looking forward to contributing and meeting more of the MCJ community.
Brendan O’Connell: He has spent the last two years working as an investment banker in the TMT space. He is looking for people who are building companies or products that he can feature in his newsletter that focuses on the carbon footprint of streaming products. He’s also excited to meet more MCJers.
📚 Startup Resources
The 2021 Keeling Curve Prize is accepting applications for the prize from innovative climate change solutions in the areas of Capture & Utilization, Energy, Finance, Social & Cultural Pathways, and Transport & Mobility. Each year the Keeling Curve Prize gives out 10 awards of $25,000 USD each. Deadline: February 10, 2021 For more info click here!
Calling Startups, Academics & Researchers Ready to Tackle the Planet's Toughest Problems! Climate change is demanding urgent action. We need deep and meaningful collaboration. The Techstars Sustainability Challenge brings together founders, nonprofits and universities with innovative industry leaders in sustainability. In this four-month challenge, they will connect the most promising applicants with industry-leading companies to build out real-world solutions. It's innovation with impact, powered by Techstars. Deadline: March 8, 2021 For more info check out Cody Simms’ post.
💼Climate Jobs
Here are some jobs shared by members of the MCJ community that we think might be of interest to you. Many of these opportunities and the MCJers who shared them can be found in #climatejobs in the MCJ Slack.
Mechanical Engineer at Running Tide (Portland, ME) (job listing)
Marketing Lead at Green Guardians (Remote, US) (job listing)
Wells Fargo added six climate and ESG-related job postings around sustainable finance, climate, and ESG issues. Hosted under the new Sustainable Finance Center of Excellence. These roles are mostly flexible on location, and the positions close on November 28 (careers page)
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
The Atlantic: "How Jeff Bezos is Spending His $10 Billion Earth Fund”
James Richards’ Blog: “Investing in the New Industrialists”
NPR: “Climate Activists Want Biden To Bar Appointees With Fossil Fuel Ties”
MCJ’er James Richards wrote this insightful post, “Investing in the New Industrialists”
MCJ’er Teddy Blank wrote this great post on his perspective on climate tech investing, “Suspended in a sunbeam in a vast cosmic arena”
🎟Climate Events
As a reminder, we have a MCJ Events Calendar, where you can view and post events for the rest of the MCJ community to attend. When posting an event, please refer to this checklist.
*We’re highlighting a few upcoming events below; please refer to the events calendar for a complete list.*
Upcoming
MCJ Make-a-thon Kickoff (Friday, November 27th @4pm ET)
As shared above, we’re hosting a kickoff meeting over Zoom for those interested in participating in the upcoming MCJ Make-a-thon (drop us an email for an invite).
Petri’s Founder Speaker Series with Adam Behrens, CEO and Founder of Mori (Tuesday, December 1st @12pm ET)
Petri is hosting their second talk of their Founding Speaker Series. This event with feature Andy Behrens, CEO and Founder of Mori. Sign up for the event here.
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