How can product leaders fight climate change with climate tech products and communities? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In her debut episode of Product Talk, our host, Silicon Valley Bank Director of Product Maggie Wong, will be interviewing Thalo Labs Director of Product and Climate Tech Cities Co-Founder Alec Turnbull to discuss his transition to Climate Tech. Alec speaks on his growth journey as a start-up founder and product leader, as well as the climate tech communities he has built across the US and beyond.
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Show Notes
- Thalo Labs is a startup focused on decarbonization.
- Alec Turnbull shared his background and journey into climate tech.
- This journey involved online communities, fellowship programs, and an online Stanford class on energy.
- Thalo Labs focuses on continuous emissions monitoring devices for buildings.
- Scope two is a software platform for buying high-quality renewable energy.
- It emphasizes additionality and liquidity in the renewable energy market.
- The current process of buying renewable energy is complex and time-consuming. This is especially challenging for companies with multiple locations.
- Ever.Green and Ren.Inc are pioneering aggregate PPAs for decarbonizing supply chains.
- Thalo Labs is building hardware to directly reduce emissions in buildings.
- They collect real-time data through their devices.
- Alec believes building new technology is a significant opportunity in tackling climate change.
- Certain industries like real estate, transportation, and energy are not fully touched by the software revolution.
- There’s a messaging gap to bridge in these sectors.
- Working with climate tech products requires humility and knowledge to decarbonize existing industries.
- Alec Turnbull started a climate tech community in May 2021.
- It began with 8 people from an online Slack group and now has a newsletter with weekly events listings.
- Local communities play a crucial role in addressing climate change.
- The Climate Film Festival, launching in 2024, aims to change the climate narrative through artistic storytelling.
About the speaker
Alec Turnbull is a climate tech community builder, executive, and entrepreneur based in New York. He currently works on carbon removal and the built environment as Director of Product at Thalo Labs, and he is co-founder of Climate Tech Cities, the largest place-based climate tech community in the US. Before switching to climate, Alec was VP of Product and Engineering for growth at Dotdash Meredith, where he transformed an aging media company into the world’s largest digital and print publisher.
About the host
Maggie Wong is an accomplished product management and capital markets leader with over 15 years of experience in driving product strategy, delivering global products, fundraising & capital allocation, and leading cross-functional teams. Outside of her role at Silicon Valley Bank to support New York / East Coast based climate tech companies and investors, she is also experienced in increasing program impact, growing community reach and implementing DEI initiatives at travel and fintech non-profits. Maggie is passionate about making a social impact for the next generation, tackling climate change and traveling. She is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese and a beginner in Spanish.