In this episode, I’m thrilled to be joined by Shaun Abrahamson, Co-founder & Managing Partner of Third Sphere, one of the top climate VC firms, proudly investing since 2013 in the ‘bad logo, bad demo’ stages of incredible companies. In our conversation, we explore various turning points in financial markets and in companies’ journeys, providing concrete tools for mastering those crucible moments and of course - the capital stack. This episode is packed with takeaways for anyone navigating the complex (yet fun!) world of climate tech and deep-tech, and covering things like Financing is overlooked at the very early days of the companies, how can it be carefully thought out from the beginning (as it should) ? Climate tech founders aren’t only facing the “usual” founders’ challenges but also deal with an array of unique challenges that require diverse funding forms beyond traditional venture capital. What are they? How can we solve these challenges? Lessons learned from the first wave of Cleantech 1.0 (and its hangover phase), highlighting the importance of incorporating non-dilutive and non-equity funding. Intentionally choosing investors Why cap tables are far from borin Customer discovery for hardware done right (with some insights taken from Tesla and Apple’s cases) Using LLM's as cheat sheets along the journey And so much more Anyways, join us. *** Welcome to Universe Partners: The Podcast, where we transition from the ‘why’ to the ‘how', and discuss the ways financing, innovation, and collaboration can accelerate deep-tech and first-of-a-kind technologies for global resilience amidst the rapid changes in our economy, climate, technology, geopolitics, and society. I’m Shani Zanescu, a climate tech investor and a founder at heart (and of a few ventures, spanning both for-profit and non-profit sectors). I invite you to join this episode, follow for more, share with a friend, and become...a Universe Partner. *** Thank you for listening to Universe Partners. The content of this podcast, including all audio, text, images, and other material, is the property of Shani Zanescu and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this material is prohibited. For permissions and inquiries, please contact hello@universe-partners.com.
