🏙️ Lessons from Elon for local climatetech

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One book I’d recommend folks in the tech community to read is Elon Musk’s biography by Ashlee Vance. It tells the story of pre-Twitter Elon, bringing you back to his humble days of working on Canadian lumber mills and sleeping on the floors of his first company, PayPal. But, some of the parts that stand out to me the most—as someone interested in Elon’s ability to scale multiple billion-dollar-businesses across many sectors, and also as someone interested in the tech needed to combat climate change—are around how Tesla took off.

In short, Tesla started off with their Roadster: a beautiful sportscar as the apex of early consumer electric vehicle (EV) technology, and went direct to retail at a suggested price hovering around USD $100K. Thanks to this expensive, attractive, and scarce product, they grew the funds to scale and largely capture the EV market. And not just financially, but also culturally—now, everyone wants a Tesla to do their part in solving climate change. But a Tesla can’t do this alone, so should we capture the same philosophy to scale the other tech we desperately need to adapt to a warming world?

Yesterday I attended the First Nations Clean Energy Summit, which affirmed some thoughts in the space that have been ruminating in my head for the past little while. The things we need to solve climate change aren’t necessarily as beautiful as a Tesla, but have the potential to unlock a new climate economy. These are technologies deep in our supply chain like hydrogen fuel to power trucks or weaning cargo ships off of fossil fuels. There are also direct-to-consumer solutions, but they just aren’t as appealing as an electric sportscar, such as heat pumps and electric stoves.

If we want these technologies to capture cultural clout as Elon has with Tesla, this past week’s gas stove fiasco on Twitter probably isn’t best place to start. Maybe one place we can start is some made-in-BC pride, since all of the technologies I outlined are shaped by innovators and leaders in B.C.

Next month I’m moderating an event where we’ll dig into how these technologies will combat the climate crisis, thanks to a panel of speakers including investors, founders, and ecosystem-builders. Super early bird tickets are available now, and I’d love to see you there.

Now, onto your daily briefing.

Editor’s pick:

CubicFarms-partnered project receives $1.2M from CFIN

The local agtech firm linked up with a Winnipeg-based company to put beef on the blockchain. Start reading »

🤝 Funding and deals:

• Switchboard PR, the Vancouver-based tech-focused PR firm, was acquired by national public affairs agency Earnscliffe Strategies. Start reading »

• Sustainable Development Technology Canada announced its list of successful Seed Fund recipients for Fall 2022, including Vancouver-based UVX. Learn more »

• Jelly Academy partnered with the Professional Sales Academy to introduce a new B2B sales specialist program. Learn more »

🗞️ In other news:

• A couple “‘minted’ their wedding vows, marriage license and key photographs from the occasion as nonfungible tokens on the Flow blockchain," writes Robbie Spencer. The New York Times »

• Satellites from EarthDaily Agro, a subsidiary of Earthdaily Analytics, predict the upcoming Argentine soy crop to be at its lowest since 2018. Bloomberg »

• See the 13-page slide deck that landed food and wellness venture Blume an oversubscribed funding round of USD $1.8 M in five weeks. Business Insider »

💡 Ideas and insights:

• Scott Dickens, director of business development at FORM and two-time Olympian, speaks to Global News about how to reach your fitness goals this new year.

• Chris Neumann, general partner at Panache Ventures, reflects on his journey to becoming an investor and gives insight on what the work entails to Seattle-based VC firm Ascend.

• Alisha McFetridge, CEO and co-founder of Rainstick, talks about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and offers some advice to founders.

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Until tomorrow!