🌎 Today we are joined by Pawel Ciesielski, the Co-Founder and CEO of MaaS Loop, a Poland-based company building reverse vending machines to help collect various recyclables.

He has a background in marketing, branding, and trend projection where he specifically helped demonstrate what the world could look like in 10 or 20 years from a climate perspective.

Due to the high cost of talent and the EU's regulations around bottle deposit costs, smaller businesses require a solution to help them cost-effectively collect customer deposits.

Listen to the episode to learn more about their tech, journey, and Pawel's advice to others.

Enjoy the Episode! 🌎

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🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLetter, go to our substack to see all the written content that supplements the audio interview.  
---

📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.

📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter.

Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5

-----
Topics:
**3:20 Intro to Paweł & MaaS Loop
**4:20 What part of the waste supply chain they are working in 
**5:30 What reverse vending machines do
**7:15 Founding MaaS Loop
**10:00 How they differentiate from the rest of the circular economy 
**13:40 Explaining the cost savings
**18:40 How the technology works
**19:35 Creating their MVP
**23:50 Defining traction
**26:45 How they determined PMF
**30:00 Advice on raising $$$
**32:35 Overcoming the production scaling-up challenge 

-----
Links:
**Connect with Pawel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawel-ciesielski
**MaaS Loop Website: https://www.maasloop.com/
**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: https://www.next-wavepartners.com/
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-techies/
**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on Twitter / X 

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

🌎 In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) speaks with John Fazzolari (@fazz), the co-CEO and co-founder of Revivn, a hardware lifecycle management company that helps corporates repurpose their used electronic devices.

John has a fascinating story of building this company and despite us only recording for about 30 min, we covered a lot of ground. From why they bootstrapped the company, to his Rigatoni list for hiring purposes, to using operational complexity as a moat, to ensuring your 3rd party contractors care as much as you do about customer success, it's a great episode.

Let us know your favorite part by reaching out.

Enjoy the Episode! 🌎

---
🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLetter, go to our substack to see all the written content that supplements the audio interview.  
---

📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.

📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter.

Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5

-----
Topics:
**2:20 Intro to John
**3:00 Why the un-used hardware space
**4:05 Creating the Category 
**6:05 The Story of How They Built
**7:35 How they work
**9:10 Cost Savings 
**12:20 Logistics - Their Moat is Complex Coordination
**14:45 How to scale logistics company business 
**16:10 How to control customer quality experience 
**18:45 Examples of their impact
**22:00 Why they bootstrapped 
**23:55 Advice on Fundraising 
**27:10 Advice on Hiring | The Rigatoni List 
**30:00 How to understand if someone has potential 
**31:58 Advice to Young Entrepreneurs in Climate
**34:38 Other Ideas 

-----
Links:
**Connect with John
**Revivn
**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: https://www.next-wavepartners.com/
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn:
**HMU on Twitter: @silasmahner

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

🌎 NYCW was a pivotal moment for many of us current or aspiring climate professionals. It brought together large swaths of diverse talent, all working in different assets to solve the climate crisis. Many of these gatherings were headlined by some of the smartest minds in climate and climate tech. An implicit goal we’ve had at the CleanTechies Podcast since then is to have as many speakers from the week as we can.

I’m excited to introduce the speaker of one of the most popular talks at NYCW and the Managing Partner of Third Sphere VC, Shaun Abrahamson.

---
🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLetter, go to our substack to see all the written content that supplements the audio interview.  
---
🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨
---

Shaun is an early-stage investor in the climate sector with a background in engineering and over a decade of focus on early-stage climate investments. Shaun’s engineering mindset involves constructing narratives with numbers and employing simple models to assess the viability of proposed ideas but combines that with the perspectives of advertising professionals, emphasizing the importance of understanding human behavior — a facet engineers might overlook.
--
Topics

• 4:10 Intro
• 8:10 Balancing returns vs. impact
• 11:36 Bad investment signals in climate
• 20:59 What is Third Sphere
• 27:47 Mistakes hardware founders make
• 31:39 Design for Finance
• 49:46 Which climate capital stack segments are underutilized 
• 1:00:51 Insights
  • 1:03:45 IRA
  • 59:24 Climate x AI
  • 1:08:39 Hardware MVP
  • 1:14:15 Building a company right now
• 1:17:47 Advice to founders
• 1:23:25 Advice to VCs

--

Links

**Connect with Shaun | Third Sphere VC
**For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.
**This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
**

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

🌎 In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) & Somil Aggarwal (@somil_agg) speak with Diz Petit the Founder & CEO of LiquiDonate.

They have an amazing solution to help manage corporate waste in a way that get's it into the hands of non-profits who need the materials.

In doing this, they are also reducing their reverse supply chain costs by about ~50%.

Diz was a great guest and had a lot of great insights to share.

Enjoy the Episode! 🌎

---
🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLetter, go to our substack to see all the written content that supplements the audio interview.  
---

Main Takeaways: (read the full version on Substack) 

1. Spend a lot of time talking to the market
2. Set the right metrics
3. Match Supply & Demand
4. Realistic TAM
5. Consider non-climate-VCs

Topics:

• 2:33 Diz & Her Story
• 6:25 Why Entrepreneurship?
• 8:02 How to Identify the End User
• 16:25 Why Would Someone Use Their Software?
• 18:25 What CSOs Think About This
• 21:45 Metrics
• 25:36 Things that Surprised Her
• 28:49 Their Fundraise Experience
• 32:54 Advice to Founders 

Links:

• Connect with Diz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/disneypetit 
• LiquiDonate: https://liquidonate.com/
• For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners.
• Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

🌎 Today's episode is the first of our new founder show format, where we are keeping it a bit shorter and focusing on what they are doing rather than too many of the broader trends.

Our guinea pig is Will Wiseman, Founder & CEO of Climatize. A revolutionary platform that is empowering community solar projects to scale effectively by getting them financed where PE is not doing the deals due to smaller sizes.

Main Takeaways: (read the full version on Substack) 

1. Make it easy to use.
2. Calculate the ROI of your fundraising process for a morale boost.
3. Hire "ready" talent early on.
4. Co-founders SHOULD think differently.

---
🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLetter, go to our substack to see all the written content that supplements the audio interview.  
---

Topics:

• 2:26 His Career Journey
• 6:42 How He Looks at Impact Work 
• 8:04 FInTech Founding as an Engineer
• 13:13 Why PE Isn't Filling the Need
• 16:40 How they "Pitch" to Consumers
• 20:12 Hiring & Talent 
• 26:08 Building the Product
• 28:26 Advice to Founders
• 32:29 Future Challenges
• 34:59 On Making it "Real" to Climate Deniers 

Links:

• Connect with Will 
• Climatize.Earth 
• For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners. 
• This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast. 
• Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

Description

In the increasingly competitive landscape of VCs and startups, there is a growing trend where founders and VCs engage in content creation to establish their legitimacy and thought leadership. Through podcasts, articles, and social media platforms, they share insights, experiences, and expertise, fostering a transparent and accessible platform for people to gain conviction in them. This content-driven approach not only enhances their personal and professional brands but also contributes to knowledge-sharing and community-building. As simple as this is, there are still surprisingly few who do it regularly and well. On this episode, we had the absolute pleasure of having on one of our favorite content creators x VCs: Illai Gescheit, Venture Partner at Siemens Energy Ventures.

Illai Gescheit, based in London, started in medical devices and startup development. After contributing to the development of insulin pumps for diabetics, he ventured into cloud computing and consumer software startups, eventually joining Amazon to lead their startup and venture capital programs. Currently, he serves as a venture partner at Siemens Energy Ventures, focusing on piloting and investing in climate and energy startups. He has also served in a number of advisory roles including Techstars, Google, MassChallenge, and the World Economic Forum.

Illai is very thoughtful in how he communicates nuances of piloting technology, managing your board, engaging with big oil, and other pressing topics in CT VC. His years of putting out content have made him one of the most polished guests we’ve ever had.
--
Topics

• 4:47 Intro
• 9:05 How climate companies can think about big oil
• 18:02 His motto: kindness is my strategy
• 25:03 The importance of content and personal branding
• 40:10 Investing “in-kind” and with “sweat equity”
• 53:46 Insights
• 1:11:17 Are climate companies selling too early?
• 1:12:43 Recruiting talent for early-stage startups
• 1:16:03 Choosing the right board member
• 1:19:35 Advice to fund managers
• 1:22:42 The climate company he would build today

--
Links

• Connect with Illai Gescheit
• For all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs, check out our sponsor NextWave Partners. 
• This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast. 
• Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas

Support the show

In this episode, Somil Aggarwal (@somilagg) interviews Iris Ten Have about her journey into VC from a science background, what ie means to be a Head of Science in VC, how to successfully build in hardware, and more.
 
 Enjoy the Episode! 🌎
 
 📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.

📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter.

Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5

-----
Topics:
**6:25 Academia to venture
**15:46 What helped her prepare for VC
**18:42 How Extantia started
**25:33 What makes a successful hardware investment
**30:16 How to get your pre-orders for your MVP
**36:05 Evaluating decarbonization potential
**44:38 Advice to founders
**48:36 What VCs can learn from scientists
**51:11 Biggest challenges for funds

-----
 Links:
**Connect with Iris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iris-ten-have/
**Extantia: https://extantia.com/
**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: https://www.next-wavepartners.com/
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-techies/
**HMU on Twitter: @somilagg

-----
Other episodes you might enjoy:
**Most Recent Episode: #131 Selling to Utilities, The Disruptor Mistake, Clean Your Camp, Carrot vs Stick Regs, & More w/ Michael Jung (ICF Climate Center)
**Similar Topic: #117 Early Stage Hiring Decisions, Heeding the Lessons from CleanTech 1.0, Energize's $300m Growth Fund Close, & More w/ Eileen Waris (Energize Capital)
**Something Totally Different:

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) speaks with Mike Jung from the ICF Climate Center.

Given Mike's work across a wide variety of clients currently + his experience in the utility space, we had a lot of interesting things to talk about.

Of all the things, perhaps the most interesting, were his insights on selling to utilities. So, if you're selling to utilities, listen up this one is for you.

Enjoy the Episode! 🌎

📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.

📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter.

Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5

Topics: 

Links:
**Connect with Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikejung/
**ICF Climate Center: https://www.icf.com/climate-center
**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
**HMU on Twitter: @silasmahner

You might enjoy:
**Most Recent Episode: #130 Financing Emerging Clean Technologies, The Incentive of Repeat Transactions, Hiring a Founding Team, & More w/ Kevin Kyer (Pyrpose.io)
**Similar Topic: Helping Utilities Utilize Wasted Data with Sean Murphy of PingThings
**Something Totally Different: #116 Consultative VC, Understanding Customers (as a VC), Developing Industry Ne

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

Why you should listen:

• Learn how to hire a founding team
• Find out the secret to properly structured incentives to achieve repeat transactions when working in emerging markets
• Learn how to communicate your offering to non-climate-nerds

Not already a subscriber…subscribe today and support us either financially or through sharing the post.

In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) & Somil Aggarwal (@somil_agg) speak with Kevin Kyer, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Pyrpose - a direct lending platform that, using the crowdfunding laws, allows individuals to lend to companies creating clean solutions in order to deploy their technology, the user is also getting a return on their money. They specifically focus on emerging markets because of how high the cost of capital is and the unwillingness of large lending institutions to operate in those markets currently. 

Enjoy the Episode! 🌎

📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.

📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter. 

Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5

Topics:
1:59 Intro
8:48 What is Pyrpose?
15:22 Marketplace Approach
18:04 Consumers and sellers
25:59 GTM
29:01 Raising on this model
32:26 Crypto and climate
35:49 Picking a founding team
42:41 Finding talent
45:46 Advice to Founders
49:16 Climate-specific PMF advice
52:23 Ideas 

Links:
**Connect with Kevin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmkyer/
**pyrpose.io
**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners:
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn:
**Twitter: @silasmahner / @somil_agg

Other episodes you might enjoy:
**Similar Topic: How Microfinance Helps Unbanked & The Climate Vulnerable w/ Celyn & Kristen (ShareChange)
**Something Different:

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]

Why you should listen:
**How to succeed in building your company from a seasoned ClimateTech and energy investor
**How to successfully expand your thesis and launch a new fund
**Learn the best ClimateTech industries of the future

Show notes:
In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) & Somil Aggarwal (@somil_agg) speak with Jason Blumberg from Earth Foundry. Earth Foundry came out of Energy Foundry, who after a successful decade of investing in energy technologies is expanding its scope to other areas of climate tech.

Jason Blumberg is the co-founder and Managing Director of Earth Foundry. As a former consultant and founder in the energy space, he has sat on many boards and has a wide array of knowledge about energy and beyond to share with us. 

Enjoy the Episode! 🌎

📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.

📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter. 

Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5

Links: 

• Connect with Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonblumberg/
• Earth Foundry: https://www.earthfoundry.com
• Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: https://www.next-wavepartners.com/
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-techies/
• HMU on Twitter: (@silasmahner) & (@somil_agg)

Other episodes you might enjoy:

• Most Recent Episode: #128 Branding & Marketing Your ClimateTech Startup w/ Anna Konstantinova (AnnaKo.Co)
• Similar Topic: #116 Consultive VC, Understanding Customers (as a VC), Developing Industry Networks for Your PortCos, & More w/ Rick Zullo (Equal Ventures)
• Something Totally Different:

Support the show

If you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.

• 70+ Placements
• 5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)
• The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)
• 90-day placement guarantee

It's really hard to say no to that.

Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company.

We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank.

Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]