Inevitable

Turning Students into Founders at Stanford Climate Ventures

Listen Later

Dave McColl is Executive Director of Stanford Climate Ventures (SCV), a program designed to help students build climate companies through rigorous go-to-market strategy and hands-on company building. SCV is a project-based course at Stanford University that has helped launch dozens of startups across energy, infrastructure, and industrial decarbonization.

In this episode of Inevitable, Yin Lu, General Partner at MCJ,  sits down with McColl to unpack the SCV playbook—from “earned secrets” to the importance of customer discovery.

The conversation also features three founders who came out of the SCV ecosystem:

  • Carla Pinzon, Founder of Expand Power, solid-state transformers for a more flexible grid
  • Raj Tilwa, Founder of Focal, personalized heating systems for commercial spaces
  • Nico Pinkowski, Founder of Nitricity, decentralized fertilizer with air, water, and renewable power

    • Together, they share how SCV shaped their companies, from early pivots and customer insights to product-market fit, and what it takes to build sustainable businesses. 

    Episode recorded on March 13, 2026 (Published on April 14, 2026).

    In this episode, we cover: 

    • (0:00) An overview of Stanford Climate Ventures (SCV)
    • (5:12) The origin of SCV and its community-driven model
    • (10:14) How SCV works: discovery, iteration, and “earned secrets”
    • (16:25) The biggest founder mistake: ignoring the customer
    • (18:56) What predicts success: discovery volume and team dynamics
    • (25:51) Carla Pinzon (Expand Power): solid-state transformers for a modern grid
    • (32:21) Finding product-market pull through customer discovery
    • (35:56) Raj Tilwa (Focal): personalized heating vs heating entire spaces
    • (44:21) 100+ interviews to find a real painkiller in hospitality
    • (52:10) Nico Pinkowski (Nitricity): decentralized fertilizer production
    • (58:31) How product-market fit can take years

      • Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

      Connect with MCJ:

      • Cody Simms on LinkedIn
      • Visit mcj.vc
      • Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

      *Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      InevitableBy an MCJ podcast
      • 4.8
      • 4.8
      • 4.8
      • 4.8
      • 4.8

      4.8

      165 ratings

      More shows like Inevitable

      View all
      Energy Gang by Wood Mackenzie

      Energy Gang

      1,252 Listeners

      Climate One by Climate One from The Commonwealth Club

      Climate One

      571 Listeners

      Columbia Energy Exchange by Columbia University

      Columbia Energy Exchange

      399 Listeners

      Currents by Norton Rose Fulbright

      Currents

      124 Listeners

      Interchange Recharged by Wood Mackenzie

      Interchange Recharged

      506 Listeners

      Redefining Energy by Laurent Segalen and Gerard Reid

      Redefining Energy

      132 Listeners

      Switched On by Bloomberg

      Switched On

      103 Listeners

      Climate Rising by Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative

      Climate Rising

      78 Listeners

      Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change by Michael Liebreich, Bryony Worthington

      Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

      80 Listeners

      Volts by David Roberts

      Volts

      638 Listeners

      Catalyst with Shayle Kann by Latitude Media

      Catalyst with Shayle Kann

      279 Listeners

      The Green Blueprint by Latitude Media

      The Green Blueprint

      203 Listeners

      Zero: The Climate Race by Bloomberg

      Zero: The Climate Race

      230 Listeners

      Shift Key with Robinson Meyer by Heatmap News

      Shift Key with Robinson Meyer

      119 Listeners

      Open Circuit by Latitude Media

      Open Circuit

      141 Listeners