🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, VC edition.
Today, we are talking to Ryan Jeffery from Gener8tor
Are you a founder who does NOT live in NYC, SF, or Boston? Well, today’s episode is for you. We are bringing you an episode with Ryan Jeffery, the Managing Director of Gener8tor’s Sustainability Accelerator Program, and we have a bit of everything for you…
Ryan’s story and why Gener8tor serves this space
How they partner directly with Corporations to get their participants direct access to them for pilot projects and more
What the key milestones are for hardware companies are
And a lot more.
📺 Watch on YouTube
🍎 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify
🗣️ Join the Slack Channel
The Guest: Ryan Jeffery
Ryan, originally from Wisconsin (Go Pack Go), started out his career in tech. Eventually went on to become the co-founder of Growth Panda and became a VC.
During his time as a VC, he often felt disconnected from the founders. So, when the chance to go to an accelerator came up, he jumped at it.
At first he started out as a Mentor with Gener8tor, and now is leading the Sustainability Accelerators across the company.
🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount! 🚨🚨🚨
The Accelerator/VC: Gener8tor
Across VC, the vast majority of dollars have gone to three states. California, New York, and Massachusets. The rest of the country is at a massive dissadvantage, especially the further away you are from those hubs. Gener8tor was started to solve that. They focus on all of these forgotten areas—these flyover states.
There is one key reason this matters so much. The problems that need to be solved for the lion’s share of the country, are more likely to work when created by the folks who are intimately familiar with those problems.
Across their sustainabilitiy programs alone, they have 44 portfolio companies. In order to help them succeed they spend a lot of time getting them investment ready and then putting them in front of a lot of funds.
They boast mentors such as Kim Zou of CTVC/Sightline, Matt McGraw of Anthro Ventures (and past guest), and Meryl Breidbart from At One Ventures to name a few.
📝 Show Notes:
Topics
2:17 Intro and Background
4:00 Joining Gener8tor
7:40 The Biz Model of an Accelerator
8:28 Challenges of Financing an Accelerator
8:56 Partnerships with Corporations
11:35 Focus on Underserved Areas
13:54 The Role of Non-Silicon Valley States in Climate Transition
22:00 Value Add of an Accelerator
25:31 Perception of Accelerators by VCs
27:33 Gener8tor’s Business Model
28:16 Partnerships with Corporates for Pilot Projects
31:52 Focus on Underserved Areas in Climate Transition
34:13 Collab in Non-Tech Hub Areas
40:27 Biggest Gap in Supporting Founders Outside of Main Hubs
42:03 Role of AI in Solving Climate Change
44:04 Success Story of a Hardware MVP
47:30 Unique Considerations for Hard Tech Companies
49:40 Milestones for Hard Tech Companies
53:47 Areas of Interest in Climate Startups
57:46 Advice for Hiring and Building a Team
59:57 Pitching and Fundraising Tips
1:05:14 Networking with VCs for Series A
1:06:44 Advice for Investors in Climate
1:08:19 Advice for Getting into VC or Investing
Links
Check out our sponsor, NextWave Partners, for all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs.
This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
Asks 👋
We have recently launched a listener survey, and we would love to hear from you how we can improve the show and what you like most. Please take 7 minutes to help us with this. It’s 7 minutes for you, but it makes a huge impact on how we can serve you.
Have a specific guest or topic you’d like us to discuss? Leave a comment and let us know.
Here’s the thing: Somil and I both have day jobs, so if you’re in the helping mood, we both have an ask for you today.
Somil: I’m currently seeking to connect with founders in the built environment space for a project I’m working on. If you’re in that space, schedule a chat here!
Silas: As many of you know, my day job is solving people’s hiring headaches in climate - do you have a hiring headache? Well, let me be your Advil. (booking here)
🚨🚨🚨 Attention Hiring Managers!!! Are you struggling to find qualified candidates? Maybe getting candidates but can’t bring them across the line consistently? Or not getting sufficient applicants? — Reach out to our sponsors, NextWave Partners today to help solve that for you.
NextWave Partners is a leading Global Renewables, Climate, & Sustainability recruitment consultancy solely focused on these impact areas. They are also B-Corp Certified.
Reach out to them today to help you solve your hiring challenges and get you one step closer to making an impact.
🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see you all next episode!
#155 Supporting Underrepresented Founders, Hardware MVP & Scaling, Partnering w/ Corporates, & More w/ Ryan Jeffery (Gener8tor)