John Axelrod - Investing in Climate Tech for the Built Environment

In this episode, Michael Beckerman interviews Johnathan Axelrod, the co-founder and managing partner of Remarkable Ventures. They discuss the mission of Remarkable Ventures to drive investment and adoption in climate technologies focused on the built environment. Johnathan emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship in solving climate change and highlights the need for both incremental impact and moonshot solutions. He also shares insights on what makes a remarkable founder and provides advice for founders looking to pitch to investors. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the role of technology and entrepreneurship in addressing the challenges of the energy grid and the importance of collaboration and adaptation in achieving climate goals.

Takeaways:

• Entrepreneurship is necessary to solve the biggest problems, including climate change.
• Investing in climate technologies for the built environment requires both incremental impact and moonshot solutions.
• A remarkable founder combines determination and flexibility, willing to go beyond what most people would quit while being open to changing direction based on market needs.
• When pitching to investors, founders should focus on understanding the problem, the solution, the market, and the customers' needs.
• The energy transition is already happening on the ground, with consensus and collaboration in many states, regardless of political affiliations.
• The role of technology and entrepreneurship in addressing the challenges of the energy grid is crucial, including grid orchestration and microgrid solutions.