Feb 2, 2023
On this episode, I speak with Gabriel
Sheer, Director of Inovation and manager of the energy and mobility
portfolios at Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit startup
accelerator about the current state of the climate tech/climate
solutions startup space at the beginning of 2023. Gabriel is also a
good friend. We first became acquainted through his work organizing
Seattle Green Drinks in the bid '00s, we later worked together at a
sustainability tech startup in Seattle. Gabriel has had an
interesting career leading up to where he is now, from the early
days of car share working at Flex Car (and then Zip Car),
independent consulting, product and strategy consulting, helping
launch Lime Bike, and now working with Elemental Excelerator.
Gabriel shares advice for job seekers interested in working in climate solutions startups: build your network, do your research, find a team that you feel like you can trust. Working in a startup can be like riding a rollercoaster and you want to feel like everyone is all-in.
Gabriel shared some resources, and I've added a few more to the list below.
- ClimateTech VC - CTVC.Co
- WorkOnClimate.org Slack Community
- CanaryMedia.com for coverage of sustainability issues and businesses
I've compiled a list of job boards for sustainability and impact jobs and will keep adding to it.
Here are a few of my favorites, and I know Gabriel would endorse many of them because we have traded links and episodes from these sources:
- InsideClimateNews.org which also has a number of great newsletters
- CleanTechnica.com
- Grist.org
- Bloomberg Green
- Climate Forward from the NYT
- Spark from MIT Technology Review
- The Impact – Website, newsletter and podcasts about sustainability startups and VC
- Volts Podcast and newsletter with Dave Roberts
- Zero Podcast from Bloomberg
If you are looking for a few books to help you get up to speed on topics related to the climate crisis, solutions and decarbonization: