They were unbelievably compassionate and deeply thoughtful people. I felt like I hit the jackpot. V.C.s with a heart. And a mission to save the planet. Through tech, yes, but also sheer capitalism. They only invest in start-ups with better unit economics than the existing solution. Because they’re practical and understand that a green premium will never catalyze a change in purchase behavior.
The biggest pro right now I would say is the street cred. That is, the interest from others. Other marketing people in V.C. are like, wow, climate? That’s cool. Must be good storytelling. Vaccines for honeybees, biodegradable styrofoam, drones that plant trees at 120/minute? Yes please. My 9- and 11-year-old sons also think what I’m doing is incredibly cool. They haven’t invited me yet to talk to their class, though. So maybe I’m overestimating the hip factor. Dinner conversations are fun though.
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Mary Goldman, financial reporting, Cambridge, England:
I like being in a position where I get to challenge the C-suite to think more about climate change and how it will impact their business and start conversations about how they need to adjust their strategy to respond to climate risk. The cons include the internal politics and the feeling of always shouting into a void. Sometimes I have to take clients on a long journey of even acknowledging that climate change is real.
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Scott Hackel, research at a nonprofit, Madison, Wis.:
We conduct applied research on new approaches, both tech and human factors, to mitigate climate change equitably. It’s really fun to always be working on new, innovative approaches. It’s ever-evolving. And the applied nature of the work means interacting with all the people that both use these new approaches and those who work on pushing them into the market. Observing the community interaction with innovation is both fulfilling and fascinating. The downside is that applied research takes a lot more time than mainstream implementation, is filled with all kinds of practical barriers, and, ultimately, means a fair amount of failure.
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Alexander Flake, patent law, Boulder, Colo.:
