Super excited to share this with you. We've got someone who went to the same high school where Steve Jobs and Woz did back in the day. He then worked at Square on international expansion, went on to work with VC Legend Mike Maples, and eventually ended up as the Chief of Staff at Chris Sacca's, Lowercarbon Capital. 

We are talking about Shawn Xu. 

Shawn talked us through his journey to climate, what it takes to be a good VC, what they look for, the areas he's bullish on, and what he's working on now. 

I quite enjoyed this conversation (I say that a lot but I do mean it). 

Enjoy today's episode! 

Topics: 

• 4:29 Intro to Shawn, his career journey, going to high school where Steve Jobs went and getting into VC
• 11:37 Creating access and equity to the Silicon Valley mentality
• 15:59 His climate journey
• 24:38 The inside scoop on VCs - what skills do you need to develop
  • Finding 26:44
  • Picking 27:54
  • Winning 28:58
  • Supporting 29:31
• 31:54 Lowercarbon's Thesis
• 34:29 The founders they look for
• 36:49 Advice to Founders
• 42:20 Areas he's bullish on
• 44:42  His role at Lowercarbon 

Links: 

• Connect with Shawn: 
• The Lowercarbon Capital Website: 
• Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: 
• Join the Slack Channel:  
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: 
• HMU on Twitter: @silasmahner

__________

We are proud to continue working with NextWave as our official show sponsor for this podcast. NextWave and all of its staff are highly motivated to advance the ClimateTech revolution and are constantly innovating ways that they can help affect that transition. From experts in the talent space to ESG experts, NextWave is taking on Climate and Social responsibility head-on and helping companies build great cultures that not only make the world a better place but also increase workplace satisfaction. Reach out to NextWave Partners today to learn more about how we might partner with you today. https://www.next-wavepartners.com/ / [email protected]

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]