Meet Ted Dillon: Leading Large Scale Climate Solutions at Clean Energy Ventures #14

🌿 Hey Earth First Fam!

Welcome to Newsletter #14!

Who’s leading the charge? None other than Ted Dillon from Clean Energy Ventures!

Here’s what you can expect in this edition:

1. Who is Ted Dillon and What’s his Story?

2. What’s Clean Energy Ventures and What do they invest in?

🌟 In Conversation with Ted: An Inspiring Climate Tech Leader

Meet Ted Dillon: A Climate Tech Trailblazer⚡️

Ever wondered how diverse backgrounds can shape impactful careers in climate tech? Meet Ted Dillon from Clean Energy Ventures (CEV). His journey started with a fascinating mix of film, physics, and computer science during his undergrad years. From there, he jumped into helping wind developers tell stories and guided energy retailers through the smart grid transition—a true testament to how varied experiences can lead to a rewarding climate tech career.

From the Ground Up 🚀

Ted kicked off his career at a creative marketing consultancy firm, working with a wide range of energy sector players for nearly a decade. He supported one of the largest wind developers in the US and helped utilities and energy retailers navigate the emerging smart grid landscape. This rich and varied experience was the perfect setup for his future in climate tech.

A Personal Catalyst 🔥

When Ted’s first child was born, his dedication to clean tech took on new urgency. Wanting to make a bigger impact, he moved away from consulting and found his way to CEV. Initially working as an independent consultant with clean-tech players big and small, Ted decided to join a firm rather than start his own firm. This led to his role as an operating partner at CEV, where he helps companies gain a competitive edge through early-stage support.

 I get to play a mentorship role and help them think about how to attack and disrupt the world to solve climate change.

Founder First: The Core of Investing 💖

For Ted, understanding the founder’s vision and potential is key to successful investing. The CEV team focuses on aligning impact goals with market viability, ensuring that their technologies are practical and scalable without heavy reliance on policy or philanthropic capital to drive long-term adoption.

Balancing Profit and Planet 💸

Ted firmly believes businesses can be both financially successful and environmentally impactful. CEV targets technologies that offer lower costs or higher quality than fossil-based alternatives. This approach ensures their investments not only yield returns but also significantly contribute to mitigating the climate crisis.

Ted Dillon's story is a powerful example of how passion, diverse experience, and a commitment to sustainability can drive meaningful change in the world of climate tech. 🌍💡

Get to know Ted!

Favorite Book: The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby

Favorite Podcast: Odd Lots by Bloomberg

Favorite Mantra: “Kindness Counts” 

Wishes people knew about the climate space: “Economic Opportunity” 

Most excited about in the future: “I’m excited for the future of low carbon cement because it’s the most used commodity on the planet after water.”

🌍 Enter Clean Energy Ventures: Pioneering a Greener Tomorrow

Navigating Early-Stage Challenges and Founder Qualities ⚡️

Investing at the early stage is one of the hardest parts of venture capital, especially in

climate tech. Clean Energy Ventures understands that startups, often just a small team, initially may not have the time or resources to calculate their potential impact on the world and communicate that to important stakeholders.

To solve this problem, CEV built the Simple Emissions Reduction Calculator to provide an order-of-magnitude understanding of the potential of an investment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This tool is their rallying cry to make us all hyper-aware of the critical need to slash GHG emissions and focus on the solutions that will make the biggest impact.

During due diligence, CEV digs deep into the assumptions behind initial data and projections. They align financial pro formas (aka the future finances!) with impact narratives (aka success stories!) to ensure both are realistic. By bridging these worlds, CEV makes the impact side more reliable.

Practical and Market-Ready Technologies 💡

CEV is committed to investing in technologies that are practical and market-ready. They want technologies that offer lower costs or higher quality than fossil-based alternatives ultimately ensuring that people will buy them.

Evaluating Founders Beyond the Tech 🌟

CEV goes beyond just evaluating the technology; they also assess the leadership qualities of founders. They use a comprehensive leadership assessment in partnership with Dialogos (think like Myers Briggs), involving quantitative psychological tools and interviews.

How much of a fact-finder are they? How quickstart are they when taking on new projects? What’s their level of follow-through? Do we think about them as an opposer or an encourager?

In climate tech, where pivoting is harder compared to software, it’s crucial to have founders who can adapt and bring in the right talent. A founder’s willingness to bring in senior-level peers who can complement their skillset is essential.

Investing in Impactful Sectors 🌍

CEV's diverse portfolio reflects their commitment to addressing various environmental challenges:

• OXCCU - Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Investing in technologies that bring down the cost of sustainable aviation fuel, addressing the significant environmental footprint of air travel.

• Nth Cycle, Volexion - Battery Supply Chains: Supporting companies innovating in battery production, recycling, and supply chain management to meet the increasing demand for raw materials in a low-carbon scenario.

• Carbon Upcycling - Low-carbon Cement: Working with large industry to address decarbonization of the hidden commodity you engage with every day.

Ted and the CEV team are excited about these emerging themes and their potential to drive significant environmental and economic returns. CEV is leading the way in climate solutions, combining strong relationships, visionary founders, and diverse investments to create a sustainable future! 🌿💡

Earth First Trivia (from Monday!)

1. What percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions is attributed to food waste? 8%

2. What percentage of plastic packaging used globally is recycled effectively? 9%

Until next time,

Woovin & Haley

Earth First 🌍✌️

Have any climate related feedback or content topics you’d like to see in Earth First? Feel free to reach out team@theearthfirst.co 

If you are a climate tech startup or investor making real impact - hit us up! - we would love to chat woovin@theearthfirst.co or haley@theearthfirst.co 

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