Climate CEOs

Climate 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 change that with a $440M first phase on Governors Island that brings business, universities, government, and innovators together year-round.
Guest bio:
Sanjayan Muttulingam is CEO of the New York Climate Exchange and former CEO of Conservation International. A scientist, conservation leader, and former CBS News contributor, he has spent his career connecting climate science, capital, business, and public engagement.
Company summary:
The New York Climate Exchange is building a global climate hub on Governors Island, minutes from Wall Street. Its planned mass-timber, geothermal, and solar-powered campus will combine research, education, workforce development, business collaboration, and convening space, with ambitions to eventually inspire similar exchanges in cities worldwide.—
Seven things you’ll learn in this episode:
1. Build for permanent problems. Don’t treat enduring challenges like pop-ups.
2. Sell opportunity, not fear. Customers need a reason to want the future.
3. Make the economics work. Impact without profitability won’t scale.
4. Execution beats commitments. Ambition is easy; delivery is hard.
5. Ask for help. Do your homework first, then make the ask.
6. Protect your top three. Let lesser priorities fall off the list.
7. Think in decades. Build around forces that outlast short-term cycles.

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Four more things:

Join our private CEO peer group in energy, infrastructure, industrial tech, and climate tech: 
→ ⁠entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠

Join 40,000+ and read our free Climate CEOs newsletter:
→ ⁠entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com
⁠
Help our podcast guests and leave a rating or review on Apple or Spotify.
→ Thanks in advance!

Join 97,000+ and take my course, Renewable Energy & Green Building Entrepreneurship:
→ ⁠coursera.org/learn/renewable-energy-entrepreneurship

Today 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 get into:
Why I built Entrepreneurs for Impact, and what I’ve learned from working closely with 45 investor-backed CEOs.
What climate and energy CEOs are struggling with right now, from fundraising and customers to hiring and scaling.
Why the leadership style that gets a company started often won’t get it through the next stage.
What I learned from moving between environmental science, private equity, entrepreneurship, and teaching at Duke and UNC.
How 25+ years of meditation has changed the way I think about ambition, stress, leadership, and performance.

And why did I create a cartoon version of my photo for this episode? I don't really know.

Check out more episodes with Josh at Supercool:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/supercool/id1758404839

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Extra stuff

Join our private CEO peer group in energy, infrastructure, industrial tech, and climate tech: 
→ entrepreneursforimpact.com

Join 40,000+ and read our free Climate CEOs newsletter:
→ entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com

Help our podcast guests and leave a rating or review on Apple or Spotify.
→ Thanks in advance!

Join 97,000+ and take my course, Renewable Energy & Green Building Entrepreneurship:
→ coursera.org/learn/renewable-energy-entrepreneurship

Most 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 explores the Transition Acceleration Framework developed by CalSTRS, Generate Capital, and Rhodium Group, and why catalytic capital can have an impact far beyond a single project.
Seven things you’ll learn in this episode:
Why the best climate investment may be the one that unlocks the next 100 projects.
How catalytic capital can lower costs and risks for future projects.
Why first-of-a-kind projects often fall between venture capital and infrastructure finance.
How early projects can build supply chains, workforce, permitting pathways, and customer confidence.
Why different stages of commercialization require different types of capital.
How investors can measure impact beyond the emissions reduced by a single project.
Why the biggest opportunity may be funding the transition from 0 → 1, so conventional capital can fund 1 → n.

Read more here:
https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com/p/where-does-the-next-climate-dollar

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Are you a VC- or PE-backed CEO building in energy, infrastructure, or climate tech?
Join 50 CEOs, plus 50 investors and post-exit founders, who help each other make better decisions on capital, strategy, scaling, and leadership.
See if the CEO community is a fit → entrepreneursforimpact.com

Get smarter on energy, infrastructure, and climate tech in 2 minutes.
Join 40,000+ professionals getting practical insights on startups, investing, commercialization, strategy, and leadership.
Get the free newsletter → entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com

Help more people find this podcast.
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Roughly 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 fundamentally different.
Company bio:
NovaTech Automation provides automation, monitoring, and control technology for electric utilities, with equipment in roughly 25% of U.S. substations. Founded in 1979, the family-owned company helps utilities modernize aging infrastructure while integrating increasingly complex power sources and loads.
Guest bio:
Conrad Oakey is CEO of NovaTech Automation and the second generation to lead the 45-year-old company. A Duke MBA, he has helped expand the business while navigating utility sales, acquisitions, succession, and technological change.
Seven things you’ll learn in this episode:
Why the grid must shift from “plan and predict” to “sense and respond.”
Why 4% power-demand growth changes the economics of grid innovation.
How to sell new technology into deeply risk-averse utilities.
Why customer pull matters more than technically elegant innovation.
How a $10K product can expand into a $100K integrated solution.
Why buying an established business can beat starting from zero.
Why NovaTech kills roughly 98 of every 100 product ideas.

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Are you a VC- or PE-backed CEO building in energy, infrastructure, or climate tech?
Join 45 CEOs and 45 investors and post-exit founders who help each other make better decisions on capital, strategy, scaling, and leadership.
See if the CEO community is a fit → entrepreneursforimpact.com

Get smarter on energy, infrastructure, and climate tech in 2 minutes.
Join 40,000+ professionals getting practical insights on startups, investing, commercialization, strategy, and leadership.
Get the free newsletter → entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com

Help more people find this podcast.
If this episode was useful, take 20 seconds to follow the show or leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
It helps bring these conversations to more entrepreneurs, investors, and executives.

Hiring 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 hiring archetypes before they join the company.

The Frramework:
Adapted from Patrick Lencioni’s "The Ideal Team Player," this episode applies three traits to climate tech hiring: humble, hungry, and smart, meaning emotionally intelligent.
Even talented candidates can fail when one of these traits is missing.

Seven things you’ll learn in this episode:
Why humble + hungry + smart is a powerful hiring filter.
Why character can matter more than climate or energy expertise.
How the Accidental Mess-Maker creates problems despite good intentions.
Why the Lovable Slacker can quietly slow a fast-growing startup.
How to recognize the ambitious, charismatic Skillful Politician.
Why Bulldozers can deliver results while damaging the team around them.

The one interview question that matters:
Which virtue is missing?

Read more here:
https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com/p/which-climate-tech-character-did

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Are you a VC- or PE-backed CEO building in energy, infrastructure, or climate tech?
Join 45 CEOs and 45 investors and post-exit founders who help each other make better decisions on capital, strategy, scaling, and leadership.
See if the CEO community is a fit → entrepreneursforimpact.com

Get smarter on energy, infrastructure, and climate tech in 2 minutes.
Join 40,000+ professionals getting practical insights on startups, investing, commercialization, strategy, and leadership.
Get the free newsletter → entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com

Help more people find this podcast.
If this episode was useful, take 20 seconds to follow the show or leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
It helps bring these conversations to more entrepreneurs, investors, and executives.