#248 Without Federal Funding, How are Cities Deploying Curbside Charging? | Tiya Gordon (It's Electric)

Is the "green premium" trade officially dead? In this episode, Silas Mähner sits down with Mike D’Aurizio, Partner at Bridges Fund Management, to break down the shifting landscape of climate technology. Together, they explore what "climate tech" actually means in a post-CleanTech 1.0 world, why software and AI are taking center stage to solve second-order energy transition bottlenecks, and how founders should navigate positioning and pitching depending on who is in the room. 🚨 Enjoying the show? Upgrade to a paid subscription to support the podcast, unlock exclusive insights, and get full access to our deep dives: https://www.climatecowboys.co/ Key Takeaways & Select Quotes The Death of the Green Premium: "The green premium trade is kind of dead, at least in the United States... but the short answer is yes, actually the longer answer is no, because there’s so many different things within climate tech." — Mike D’Aurizio The End of Puritanism: "Puritanism is never going to get us anywhere... being a big, financially successful company is the path to impact." — Mike D’Aurizio Targeting Problems over Categories: "Ultimately you should be obsessed with a problem and a specific customer type that you want to serve... there is no market called climate tech." — Mike D’Aurizio Solving Second-Order Bottlenecks: "What we’re really talking about are all these second-order effects that come from adopting new infrastructure and new technologies." — Mike D’Aurizio In This Episode, We Cover: 00:00 – Intro & The Jersey City pizza review origin story. 03:41 – Is Climate Tech dead? The death of the "green premium" in North America. 07:09 – Blurring the boundaries: Why a wildfire insurance company is actually a climate tech startup. 12:40 – Techno-optimism: Why profit-driven entrepreneurs, not politicians, will save the planet. 15:53 – The Chameleon Founder: Tailoring your pitch to the specific economic pain points of your buyer. 19:26 – Dropping puritanism: Why massive financial success is the only true path to global impact. 25:05 – The Climate Intelligence Era: Managing the second-order effects of clean infrastructure. 29:28 – Portfolio deep dive: Electric Era (bypassing grid transformer bottlenecks) and Euclid Power (AI for renewable project permitting). Connect & Follow Subscribe to the Newsletter & Podcast: https://www.climatecowboys.co/ Watch on YouTube: Climate Cowboys YouTube Episode Sponsors Lehmann’s Terms: High-stakes media training for clean tech founders and executives. Prepare your message so it actually lands with investors and media. Learn more at ltmediatraining.com. Roosevelt Talent: The secret weapon for top CleanTech and frontier startups. Headhunting, candidate screening, and top-tier hires at half the price of traditional recruiters. Save time and build your all-star team.

Mining isn't the bottleneck for critical minerals—refining is. Traditional metal refining takes months and relies on toxic chemical processes, driving the supply chain straight to China. In this episode, Nikhil Gupta (Founder & CEO of Determinant Materials) reveals how his team uses advanced fluid dynamics to replace months of acid leaching with microparticle refining in mere minutes, slashing costs by 50% and bringing critical supply chains back home. 🔥 Enjoying Climate Cowboys? Join our community of founders, investors, and builders reindustrializing the world. Become a paid subscriber to the Climate Cowboys Substack to unlock full founder breakdowns, deep-dive writeups, and exclusive content. In This Episode, We Cover: The Hidden Bottleneck: Why critical mineral security isn't about mining—it’s about processing. Months to Minutes: How Determinant Materials uses microparticle refining to separate metals at a macro scale. Geopolitics & National Security: China’s tungsten export bans, supply chain dominance, and why U.S. economic sovereignty depends on modular onshore refining. Reindustrializing America: Dropping modular refining units directly onto mine sites and defense primes. Key Episode Quotes: "Typical metal refining breaks materials down to the atom layer... We have a microparticle technology where we’re separating things at a bigger macro scale." "China banned the export of tungsten and the price went 10x overnight. China holds all that market power... To have real sovereignty, we need to have this processing here in the United States." Episode Sponsors & Partners: Lehmann’s Terms: Prepare for high-stakes media appearances, investor pitches, and TV spots with elite communications training. Learn more at ltmediatraining.com. Roosevelt Talent: Headhunting and candidate screening built specifically for energy tech, clean chemistry, and frontier tech startups. Save 50% on recruiter fees and build your all-star team. Connect with Roosevelt Talent. 📲 Stay Connected & Support the Show: 📩 Subscribe to the Newsletter: Climate Cowboys Substack

The "climate" label might be under pushback, but the demand for energy, critical minerals, and resource security is skyrocketing. In this episode, Chad Rickaby from ClimateDoor breaks down how successful climate tech companies are reframing their value proposition around national security, capital efficiency, and supply chain resilience to close multi-million dollar deals. Chad unpacks ClimateDoor’s acquisition of Standard Demand Partners, why AI investors are pivoting to energy, and how to build custom "company brains" to transform B2B sales—ditching cold email spam in favor of high-value human relationships. 🎧 Highlights Climate as National Security: Why baseload power, data center energy needs, and critical minerals are driving the next wave of VC. The "Show Me" Environment: What investors and enterprise buyers demand today (LOIs, traction, and unit economics over eco-narratives). AI-Powered Sales: How to use custom LLM workflows to research markets and uncover "warm paths" without automated email spam. Dual-Use & Sovereign Capital: Leveraging capital at the intersection of defense, energy security, and frontier tech. ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 — Winning in a market where the "climate" label is under attack 04:00 — ClimateDoor's Standard Demand Partners acquisition 09:19 — The Canadian advantage: Government funding & raw resources 12:52 — The shift from "tell me" to "show me" for VC investors 18:12 — Resource security as the new national security 25:16 — European supply chain vulnerabilities & waste-to-value 29:03 — The winning formula: Clear value props & capital efficiency 37:49 — Dual-use defense capital & Arctic sovereignty 45:54 — AI in B2B sales: Replacing email spam with a "Company Brain" 58:33 — Why Canadian founders lead in pragmatic innovation 🔗 Links & Sponsors Guest: Chad Rickaby | ClimateDoor Host & Show: Silas | Climate Cowboys Lehmann’s Terms: Executive media and pitch training for high-stakes investor moments. ltmediatraining.com Roosevelt Talent: Executive search built specifically for energy tech and frontier startups. Save 50% on recruiter fees at Roosevelt Talent. Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.

In this episode of Climate Cowboys, host Silas Mahner sits down with Sampriti Bhattacharyya, founder and CEO of Navier, at their headquarters in Alameda, California. While traditional maritime manufacturing remains antiquated and reliant on brute force, Navier is taking a fundamentally different approach: building all-electric hydrofoiling vessels that literally "fly" above the water—reducing drag by 90% and slashing operational costs by 15x. Sampriti breaks down her journey from MIT roboticist to building a generational American maritime company, her vision for a "generalized marine vessel platform" (the Nvidia chip of the sea), and why she chose conviction over hype when VC investors doubted her timeline. ⚡ SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE MOVEMENT: Become a Paid Subscriber: Unlock exclusive deep dives, founder insights at Climate Cowboys Substack. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro & What is Navier? Building the Generalized Marine Vessel Platform 02:47 – Why maritime innovation stalled and how efficiency unlocks economies 07:54 – Computing, manufacturing, and robotics: Enabling hydrofoiling tech 11:45 – Sampriti’s origin story: High-energy physics to MIT underwater drones 16:54 – Go-To-Market Strategy: Gathering real-world data with recreational boaters 20:59 – The "Nvidia Chip" of the sea: Separating the base layer from the payload 27:07 – Overcoming VC skepticism and ignoring funding hype 35:03 – 3 Guiding Principles: Scale, Range, and Reliability 46:07 – The Video Game Analogy: Choosing to play on "level seven" 55:54 – Rebuilding American maritime and the frontier builder spirit 01:03:50 – Expanding the frontier with optimism over "hall monitor" energy 🤝 SPONSORS: Lehmann’s Terms: Master your message for high-stakes media, investor pitches, and stage appearances. Learn more at ltmediatraining.com. Climate Finance Solutions (CFS): Secured over $1.6B in grant funding with a 90%+ success rate. Discover grant opportunities at ClimateFinanceSolutions.com. Roosevelt Talent: Headhunting and talent acquisition for frontier and CleanTech startups at half the price. Find your next hire with Roosevelt Talent. 🔗 CONNECT & FOLLOW: Connect with Silas Mahner on LinkedIn Follow Climate Cowboys on LinkedIn

Silas Mahner previews NY Climate Week’s most exclusive event: the Climate Capital Summit by Equal Ventures. Gathering over $1.3 trillion in climate capital and federal funding, this invite-only summit on September 24th features legends like Sophie Purdom, Leticia Webster, Jonathan Silver, and Jim Coulter. Space is strictly capped at 400 people. Listen to this for the full scoop and discover how to request an invite.