Climate Pioneers

The first few hires in any team are key but what about scaling beyond that as you progress through funding rounds and possibly acquisitions and exit?  Dimple Patel is currently CEO at NatureMetrics and as a highly accomplished entrepreneur, she’s seen it all, from MVP to new markets and fundraising stages right through to exit. A strong team is what gets you there, to secure funding and drive growth, so she knows how vital it is to build a team of A players.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.1:31 - Dimple’s journey from banking to coffee to tech to biodiversity.5:35 - Why did you choose to join NatureMetrics?9:49 - What stage was NatureMetrics at when you joined and how have things changed since you joined a year ago?14:42 - What is the culture like at NatureMetrics and how does your mission feed into that?19:16 - How do you show up as a leader and how do you feed into the culture?24:27 - What challenges and lessons have you learnt across the variety of businesses you’ve worked in?27:29 - What are some ways to build trust between team members?32:47 - When you’re working in an early-stage industry, how does that impact finding the right talent?38:02 - Advice for leaders who are scaling their business and maybe the people who were in the business early-on aren’t right for the long-term.45:15 - Have mentors helped you understand team building?48:26 - How important do you think it is to be part of industry communities?53:07 - What key piece of advice would you offer for building a culture that will endure?

As any team starts to scale, it becomes more and more important to have sustainable and repeatable processes in place. But it’s also not uncommon for that to be overlooked in favour of things like sales and fundraising.  Sherry White is a consultant who works specifically with startups and scale-ups to tackle challenges, unblock and improve leadership, establish good foundations, face tough questions and get things moving fast!  She covers everything from culture and employment law, through to health and safety and commercial balance.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.  I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent.  So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.1:34 - Sherry’s journey from lab spaces to HR.3:34 - Are there any particular challenges that you see come up in STEM environments?6:28 - What are the main things you work with people on in early-stage businesses?7:47 - What parts of HR and People processes do you often see neglected?8:40 - What basics should people look at getting in place early?10:20 - Can startups write their own policies or do they need templates or a consultant?11:50 - How can startups offer good benefits on a tight budget?14:25 - Thoughts on equity as part of a compensation package.16:11 - What makes a good onboarding process?19:08 - Tips for scaling onboarding as the company grows.20:53 - Can video recorded onboarding work or should it always be in-person?22:05 - Is it a good motto to hire slow and fire fast?24:24- What are the legal requirements when letting someone go?26:19 - Being aware of disabilities in hiring and firing.32:57 - How early should you consult with an HR expert? Is it ever too early?34:53 - How often should you review your HR policies?36:36 - How to get in touch with Sherry.

Supporting and engaging neurodiverse talent is a vital part of team building. Parul Singh comes from a background in tech and recruitment and has first-hand experience of the challenges faced by neurodiverse people in the workplace, having been diagnosed in 2021 with autism and ADHD.  Prior to diagnosis, she had experienced burnout, self-destructive behaviour and had struggled in both education and workplace settings. Now with a better understanding of her own needs and divergence, she is the founder of Parallel Minds. She is dedicated to creating positive change for neurodivergent people in the workplace, and supports businesses with recruitment training, coaching for leaders and line managers, running neurodivergence awareness sessions and more.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.3:00 - What was your personal journey towards diagnosis and what made you seek that out?7:41 - Was there a sense of relief that came with being diagnosed?11:08 - What led you to leave the workplace and set up Parallel Minds?13:00 - Key definitions around neurodiversity.19:08 - Why is it important to talk about and understand neurodiversity in the workplace?21:56 - Why is there a lack of disclosure between employees and employers?25:22 - What can companies do to create a safe environment where people feel comfortable to have conversations about their neurodivergence?28:15 - Startups are very fast-moving and experience a lot of change. Autistic people often struggle with change, so how can you create an environment where everyone can thrive?31:47 - You can’t be everything to everyone, so at what point do you say ‘this is our company and it might not be for everyone’?35:33 - What could companies be doing better to tackle common challenges?46:36 - What coping mechanisms and toolkits do you use to help you?RESOURCES:Connect with Parul Neurodiversity resource bank Neurodiversity in tech report 2023 Research on the link between ADHD and burnout DARE report on adjustmentsCIPD neuro-inclusion at work report 2024Equal tech report 2023 

There’s a lot that goes on within a hiring process but what is it actually like from the perspective of founders and the C-suite, when trying to scale a business and build out that initial team? Sebastian Leape previously worked as a sustainability consultant at McKinsey and has now turned his attention to encouraging people to embed nature into business decision-making. He is CEO at Natcap, where they offer a simple and scalable platform to bring together the world's best science, data and technology to create actionable insights and empower organisations to measure, report and ultimately act on their nature-related risks and opportunities. During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.1:50 - Where was Natcap in the People journey when you joined and where are you today?5:22 - How have you stayed true to your scientific and academic roots, and progressed without alienating early employees?8:43 - What challenges have you faced over the last couple of years when it comes to building out the team?11:18 - How did you plan your benefits package and what did you decide to include, particularly in light of a tighter budget as a startup?13:38 - How much did you consult with the team about what to include in the benefits package?15:14 - Where did you not do onboarding so well and what have you learnt and changed during the process?19:43 - How did you ensure that managers were able to take over onboarding as the company grew?23:24 - As your strategy and headcount have changed, how have your company values had to evolve?30:01 - Did you have any external support when finalising your branding, values and mission?32:16 - How do your values feed into your recruitment process?34:34 - How intentional were you when it comes to gender diversity and were there challenges?39:03 - How have things changed from a People perspective now that you’re post-Series A?41:41 - Have the characteristics and experience of team members changed in light of Series A and has the team changed overall?43:28 - What have been your key learnings from the last couple of years and what advice would you give to early-stage founders for team building?48:26 - Would you advise starting to hire before closing a round, as you did with your Series A, and did that room to hire slower make it better?

Filling a role is about more than just sending a job ad out into the world. How do you attract the best people to apply? And once you have them, how do you keep them? This is where your employer brand can play a big part. Graham Quinn is a specialist in crafting irresistible employer brands and employee experiences. He has conducted employer brand audits, built communications strategies for entire culture and values refreshes, and has created engaging marketing to attract underrepresented groups in tech and improve diversity. He is also now a partner with Flexa, the company working to help people find truly flexible workplaces, where he contributes to thought leadership and works with Flexa-listed companies to improve their employer brand and attract top talent. During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.Open Org1:54 - Basics of employer brand and what it means4:56 - Is it ever too early to start thinking about employer brand?8:43 - Where do you see companies get things wrong, and how can people starting from scratch avoid the pitfall of internal experience not matching up to the front the company presents externally?11:58 - For smaller organisations does it make sense to bring someone in to achieve an unbiased view of your culture and brand?17:08 - Thinking about who you’re not for, is as important as knowing who you are for when it comes to employer brand and attracting talent.21:17 - How do you specify your culture and who would be a good fit for your team but also be inclusive and encourage diversity?23:28 - How can choice of language convey employer brand and culture? Is swearing okay?28:23 - What are some easy wins in employer brand that early-stage startup founders can act on to get started?32:00 - Where do personal brand and employer brand meet?38:58 - Do reviews on sites like Glassdoor really make a difference?46:15 - Should you ask about company culture in a 1:1?48:24 - As a company grows, who should own employer brand and how often should it be revisited?50:56 - Should this be continuously looked at as part of C-suite or broad meetings?53:06 - What one thing should early-stage founders do to get started with this?

Creating an inclusive workplace is vital, not just for employee wellbeing but also to increase innovation and creativity, which are key in the climate tech space.Ed Jervis is the CEO at Inclusion Crowd and the founder of the Inclusion Think Tank. He has worked with an array of businesses ranging from complex multinational organisations through to non-profit and startups.He works with leaders to coach them in creating company cultures that thrive and offer team members psychological safety. He also guides them to form internal staff groups, attract and retain diverse talent, and helps clients to foster meaningful connections with their stakeholders.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent.1:21 - Do we need to discuss inclusion more and not place all focus on diversity?5:19 - People are talking about DE&I but not always executing. Where is the disconnect?11:48 - Is it ever too early to start thinking about DE&I? e.g. when it’s just the founders.15:04 - A good place to start is telling your own story and experiences with DE&I and modelling what you want to see.18:07 - How do you create a psychologically safe environment?21:44 - Don’t forget to look at things through a commercial lens sometimes to create connections26:39 - Does AI have a place in increasing diversity in recruitment when it comes to vetting and screening?32:52 - How can people communicate better right from the start at the job ad?37:13 - How do you maintain DE&I as the team grows and make sure you don’t lose sight of it in the chaos of growth?41:55 - Are regular 1:1s or surveys worth it as a way to assess your culture and how people feel working in your company?47:40 - What resources would you recommend for people to learn more about DE&I? 50:35 - How do identify that there even is a problem? How can you expand your mindset to recognise the problem to start with?So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.

During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.  I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent.With fundraising being so crucial to any startup, it’s important to understand how VCs see talent and assess it not only when making their investment but also beyond, when things start to scale.   We’re starting this series with Heidi Lindvall, a general partner and investor at Pale Blue Dot. Over her career, she has herself built SaaS and B2B companies, and has run two accelerators helping founders to scale. Now the other side of the table, she focuses on pre-seed and seed startup investments.  Pale Blue Dot is a seed-stage climate tech VC that backs visionary founders, building future-shaping businesses.2:06 - Heidi’s experience of building teams as a previous founder.4:40 - Were there any advisors or resources you used to learn how to pull a team together?10:55 - How to handle realising you’ve made the wrong hire.14:46 - Would you advise working with a business coach or advisors when first starting out?18:16 - Why did you move into accelerators?22:18 - What stage did you take people into the accelerators?23:11 - What were the common themes that you saw companies struggle with from a team and hiring perspective?25:00 - How can founders assess whether someone is a good fit for a startup?29:02 - Competing on salary at early-stage companies.31:58 - What would your advice be around offering equity at early stages?33:36 - From a VC perspective, how important is the team when assessing an investment?37:28 - How important is the advisory board and can that offset gaps in a founding team when you’re assessing an investment?41:24 - Where have you seen team building and hiring done well in your portfolio at Pale Blue Dot?44:49 - Should you always be recruiting and building a talent pipeline?47:16 - How involved do you get in hiring with your portfolio companies?48:49 - Do you see hiring challenges differ between locations or are they fairly universal?50:08 - What is one final key piece of advice you would give founders when it comes to hiring?

For the final episode of series six, was joined by Pippa Gawley, Founding Partner at Zero Carbon. They are investors in early-stage companies that are on a mission to fix climate change through deep science innovation. They look for hard-tech solutions that have the potential to make half gigaton-level reductions of CO2e at scale; and have vision-aligned, ambitious teams to go with them.Across this series we will be discussing the challenges around scaling deep tech solutions within climate. I’ll be speaking to Investors, Founders, Venture Builders and other key ecosystem players all focused on scaling and commercialising groundbreaking, deep tech innovations.We will explore how to prepare for the challenges that deep tech companies often face around fundraising, scaling, team building and commercialisation; and we’ll hear from stories of those who have successfully scaled to Series A and beyond.2:04 - How did you come to investing from engineering?7:48 - What was the state of the ecosystem in climate tech and investment in the UK when you started out?10:47 - What differences have you noticed between the US and the UK. Given that you’ve lived in both places?13:04 - What is your investment thesis and has it changed over time?14:29 - How do you assess a startup’s potential impact when they are still so early-stage?18:04 - Is there a timescale that you expect companies to be able to prove their impact?19:36 - What common threads do you see across your portfolio companies that made them a good investment proposition and made them successful?22:41 - Do you support companies with building out their team to ensure they have the skillset needed to progress?24:41 - What key challenges do you see deep tech companies face?27:55 - Do you feel the needed infrastructure is there to take these companies beyond seed-stage?30:29 - Is there more that corporates could or should be doing to engage at early-stage?31:55 - What do you think prohibits corporates from getting involved?36:37 - What solutions within deep tech climate are most exciting to you and where do you see big potential?39:18 - How to contact Pippa and Zero Carbon Capital.

For the penultimate episode of series six, I was joined by Katya Constant, the Head of The Climate Brick. The Climate Brick is an initiative set up by EQT Ventures and Contrarian Ventures to accelerate the at-scale deployment of climate tech by introducing the "missing manual" (a playbook for scaling and funding seven different climate tech archetypes based on data from over 3,000 companies) and uniting the ecosystem through building the largest cross-stakeholder community. Across this series we will be discussing the challenges around scaling deep tech solutions within climate. I’ll be speaking to Investors, Founders, Venture Builders and other key ecosystem players all focused on scaling and commercialising groundbreaking, deep tech innovations.We will explore how to prepare for the challenges that deep tech companies often face around fundraising, scaling, team building and commercialisation; and we’ll hear from stories of those who have successfully scaled to Series A and beyond.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.https://climatebrick.com/ 1:48 - Katya’s journey from investment banking through to climate and career coaching 9:51 - What themes have you seen across the successful businesses you’ve been involved with, that has separated them from those that haven’t survived?15:01 - What was important to you from an investor perspective when you were at Systemiq?19:02 - What do you see as being the key financial challenges that deep tech companies face?23:19 - What advice would you offer to founders in the early stages, to help them de-risk things and show it to investors.25:49 - When do you think a startup should think about having a CFO in place either permanently or fractionally?28:37 - What is the Climate Brick?33:47 - What were your key learnings from doing research for the Climate Brick?35:42 - Do you find that corporates are as keen to collaborate as the rest of the investment community?37:19 - Are there certain industries or locations where communication across the capital stack is better and climate could learn from?38:28 - What led you to move into coaching founders and where do you add value?42:08 - Do you work with individuals or with founding teams?43:17 - What common challenges do you see founders face when you’re coaching, are there recurring themes?47:08 - What advice would you give early-stage founders around what to start thinking about and practising now, that will help them face those challenges in the future?