02 · Your storyThe Snapshot 1. In one sentence: what is your startup, and what mission are you racing to achieve?
The Origin 2. What moment made you start your company? Hint: The scene, the frustration, the conversation. Whatever made it real.
The Problem and Solution 3. What are you solving, and for whom? Hint: Name the customer as specifically as you can.
4. Why does it matter for the climate, in plain words? Hint: Put a number on the impact if you can.
5. How does it work, and why is it better than what customers use today? Hint: Explain it as you would to a smart friend outside the industry.
6. What has been hardest so far, and what did it teach you? Hint: Near-misses and moments of doubt make the strongest stories.
The Proof 7. Where are you today in numbers? Include one real customer or deployment story. Hint: Revenue or growth, customers, pilots, impact to date, plus one example of what changed for a customer.
8. What’s the one decision that changed everything for the company? Hint: A pivot, a new segment, a pricing change, a key hire.
Capital and Investor Reality 9. What do investors most often misunderstand about your business or sector?
Founder Playbook 10. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to other climate founders? Founder Wisdom Hint: The thing you wish someone had told you on day one.
Rapid-Fire 11. In one line each, give us your mantra or a quote you love, a daily ritual that keeps you grounded, and what gives you hope about the climate right now.
12. What’s one book you’d recommend to other climate founders, and why? Book Club Hint: A line or two on what it taught you. We may quote you on the Founder Book Club shelf.
Future Vision 13. If you could teleport yourself into the future and be anywhere, doing anything, where would you be and why?
The Ask 14. What are you raising, and what will it unlock? Hint: Round size, timing, and the milestones it gets you to. Leave blank if you’re not raising.
15. How can readers help? Hint: Introductions, pilots, hires, investment. Be specific.
Feel free to be candid – the more specific your answers (especially with numbers, lessons, and mistakes), the stronger the feature.
02 · Pitch Me: the investor questionnaireThanks for taking part. Answers may be quoted directly, so write the way you’d talk. Aim for 50–200 words each.
The Snapshot 1. In one sentence: what does your firm invest in, and what are you trying to make happen in the world?
The Origin 2. What moment brought you into climate investing? Hint: The career turn, the conversation, the frustration. Whatever made it personal.
3. Tell us about a deal you passed on or got wrong. What did it teach you? Hint: Honest lessons make the strongest stories.
The Thesis 4. What’s your investment thesis, in plain words? Hint: Which problems, which stages, and why now.
5. Which climate sector or trend excites you most right now, and why?
The Proof 6. Which portfolio companies best show your thesis in action? What did you see early that others missed?
Pitch Me 7. If a founder had 60 seconds to pitch you, what should they say?
8. What makes you lean in during a first meeting, and what are your instant red flags?
9. What do founders most often misunderstand about how investors actually make decisions?
Founder Playbook 10. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to climate founders raising right now? Founder Wisdom Hint: The thing you wish every founder knew before they walked in.
Rapid-Fire 11. In one line each, give us your mantra or a favourite quote, a daily ritual, and what gives you hope about the climate right now.
12. What’s one book you’d recommend to climate founders, and why? Book Club Hint: A line or two on what it taught you. We may quote you on the Founder Book Club shelf.
Future Vision 13. Teleport 10+ years into the future. What does climate investing look like, and what’s the impact you’d be proudest of having made?
The Ask 14. What are you actively looking for right now? Hint: Sectors, stages, geographies, cheque size, and the kind of founder you want to meet.
15. What’s the best way for founders to get on your radar? Hint: Warm intro, application form, LinkedIn, events. Be specific.
Feel free to be candid – the more specific your answers (especially with examples, lessons, and what you look for), the stronger the feature.
