Thursday Jan 05, 2023

If You Know Nothing About Venture Capital, listen to Amory Poulden

Amory Poulden wants to do Venture Capital differently. You’ll want to find out why.

What does it take to put everything on the line, to search out the next green start-up superstar?

Venture capital is not for the faint-hearted; your entire career rests on how well you can predict the future.

So, what happens when that future disappears before your eyes? What happens when climate changes everything?

Amory Poulden had a successful career as a Principal at Shell Ventures. Then his first child arrived, he woke up to climate, and asked himself: what will they think of my career when they grow up?

In VC-speak, this is an ‘inflection point’. We just call it a great story.

Amory quit Shell and founded D2, a new fund with a focus on tech – and climatetech in particular. Armed with a $20m and the conviction that solving environmental crises is the wealth-creating opportunity of the century, he is one of a new breed of climate conscious VCs – with a genuine desire to do things differently.

This is an insightful, critical, and refreshingly honest interview and what an outstanding guest to wrap up 2022!

"...So I think it's back to that point around product based businesses. So that's the sort of North Star that we won't deviate from. So again, we wouldn't be investing in a consulting business, we wouldn't be investing in a services based business. We're looking for those companies where there is a tech component, where there is that kind of core product, be it either a physical product or software products, that once you've gone through that initial build phase, the potential scalability is non-linear..."

REFERENCES:

https://www.d2.fund/

Links to the Startup Heroes podcast

https://open.spotify.com/show/234PxVBYzihWj9gPNgRamO

https://thecleantechchallenge.uk/

Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club.

It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs.

For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our youtube channel or follow us on twitter. We’d love to have you join us!

Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.

Throughout season 1, we talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We talk to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.

Season 1 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.

For more information visit: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/resources

Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.

If You Know Nothing About Venture Capital, listen to Amory Poulden

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