Chicago, IL
Joined September 2020
- Tweets86
- Following165
- Followers180
- Likes831
Coming out of Twitter hibernation for the best reason possible - @BuoyantVentures is publicly launched with a chest full of climate-focused funds! Thrilled to be a (small) part in @AmyFrancetic and @myersalli’s vision and so ready to step on the (fully electric) gas pedal!
So excited to finally publicly unveil our strategy, investors, and portfolio. Here's the founding story of @BuoyantVentures as told by @myersalli @GleasonGoes @LauraMDyer @AmyFrancetic
Setting Sail with Buoyant Ventures by Buoyant Ventures link.medium.com/z5bbWBu55wb
Jazzed to support a fellow @KelloggSchool alumni! Go @join_beni!
Buoyant is thrilled to announce our lead investment in @join_beni's Seed funding round. Beni is an amazing women-led business reducing the friction of purchasing second hand apparel through an innovative browser extension. Read more about the company here: techcrunch.com/2022/12/13/be…
ClimateTech is wild because one minute you’re talking EV infrastructure APIs and the next you’re talking unit economics of soil sampling
In April I read @packyM’s deep dive on @tryramp and I reached out to @eglyman because managing business expenses stinks. Starting in November, I’m starting an internship at Ramp to help build the future of financial services. Also, Ramp just launched billpay.com. 🚀
2
20
Keep coming back to this over the past few days and love it. Story telling can be complicated because it requires a receptive audience - world building draws the listener in, amplifies curiosity, and personalizes the narrative. Good world builders are the best story tellers.
“Everyone’s job is sales” is good advice, and we can even update it: “Everyone’s job is world building.”
It’s not enough to tell a compelling story; you have to build a world that other people can explore and build without you needing to even be there.
alexdanco.com/2021/04/10/wor…
1
There is something funny about using “Wind” as the element most closely related to Client Services
Alkami files their S-1, aiming for an initial market cap at $1.95B if it prices in the middle of their IPO offering.
$51M net loss off $112M in revenue for 2020 but more importantly, the S-1 describes their culture as fire, water, wind, and earth.
sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/…
1
Really impressive compilation of thoughts across an amazingly wide range of topics (with reference links!) noahpinion.substack.com/p/in…
1
Dr. Cooper is a superstar and this is a huge boost to Chicago’s sustainability-focused startup community. Go @RheaplyInc Go!
So excited to announce @RheaplyInc’s Series A fundraise!
The working world needs to scale #reuse & #circulareconomy solutions to fight #climatechange. With this funding, Rheaply’s tech will reduce the 60M+ tons of waste headed to landfill this year!
businesswire.com/news/home/2…
Florida’s insurer of last resort saw a 23% increase in policies last year and expects to grow another ~30% this year. The cost of climate change is very real in some parts of America. reuters.com/article/us-usa-i…
2
Against a backdrop of political distrust in climate science and a global health crisis, investment in the energy transition reached $500B in 2020 led by ~30% growth in electric vehicle and associated infrastructure investments. @BloombergNEF
2
On one ✋🏼 - Good! More (cheap!!) debt capital to finance “sustainability”
On the other ✋🏼- How far are we from “Anything BUT general corporate purposes” debt
1
3
@chicago_blend is building something really special to bridge the massive gap in capital allocation equitability for founders and funders within Chicago. Can’t wait to get involved.
1
“The WilderHill Clean Energy Index has gained another 19% to start the year following a 203% increase in 2020. But investors may be overzealous.”
Alternative energy analysts are warning stock valuations may be too rich trib.al/Ww8ubzO
Recognizing the many nuances of saffron, there will be an article like this for every crop if we don’t invest now phys.org/news/2020-12-climat…
I’ve struggled to describe my old role as Chief of Staff, but this thread does a great job of detailing what I ultimately landed on - A Swiss Army knife “gap filler” in the context of the team’s need at any given point. A no ego manager of problems and personalities.
In startup land, the "Chief of Staff" title can mean many different things. As we start the new year and many are assessing their next moves (and asking me for advice 😳), I thought I'd share my thoughts on the role, what's hard about it, & how to make the most of it.
THREAD 👇🏻
2
As a newly minted VC Intern®, this is one of the trends that I can’t stop thinking about - No code tools offer so much flexibility for emerging managers that lack scale to build in house tech and need more than Google Sheets. Feels like a game changer.
We've had someone at @earnestcapital part-time in the role of "in-house no-coder" and i cannot recommend it highly enough.
Basically same specs you give a full-stack dev, but only using tools like @airtable @zapier @memberspace @webflow @makerpad @integromat etc.
1
To my 7 followers, this can be translated as me having almost no idea about no code but playing with @airtable and watching YouTube videos which convinced me that it must be the future
2
Great thread on clearing the chasm of first adoption and user (dis)engagement
(cont) Takeaway:
Sometimes you have to handhold people throughout a process.
A "conversion" may seem so simple "go to MB . com and sign up" but is actually too much to ask when no one knows who you are.
No one cared what we were doing. So we forced them to care.
P33, in partnership with @ChicagoNEXT & Mayor Lightfoot, is excited to announce Chicago as the top U.S. city for exit value fueled by venture capital investment. @PitchBook
View press release: prn.to/2JQPbBm
View report: bit.ly/3gvsheM
Just started listening to @TILclimate and honestly can’t get enough. A quick and modular view on the basics of climate change through the lens of academics, but boiled down to a simple and easy to consume form. Highly recommend! Thanks @lehhf for your awesome work!