Donald Kendall from New Climate Ventures

Donald Kendall from New Climate Ventures

Author: collide. March 31, 2026 Duration: 54:56

Venture capital in the energy transition is getting more complicated, but Donald R. Kendall Jr., General Partner at New Climate Ventures, says the multi-trillion dollar opportunity isn't going anywhere. We get into how they find picks and shovels plays in crowded markets, what $100 oil means for climate startups, why management teams matter more than technology, and what it actually takes to get a first-of-a-kind project financed.

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0:00 New Climate Ventures and Investment Thesis
8:00 Data Centers, Cooling, and Energy Independence
10:00 $100 Oil and What It Means for the Energy Transition
14:00 SAF, Carbon Alternatives, and Portfolio Companies
21:00 Don's Background in Project Finance and Early Renewables
26:00 SolarCity, Financial Engineering, and Residential Solar
32:00 What Makes a Fundable Team
38:00 The State of Venture Capital for Climate
42:00 Why Invest in Climate Over AI
43:00 Houston's Role in the Energy Transition
49:00 Most Exciting Technologies Right Now
51:00 Wildlife Conservation and Closing

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They say everything's bigger in Texas, including the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change. That's precisely why Houston has become a surprising epicenter for the global energy transition. In H-Town, the fourth largest city in the United States, a new wave of entrepreneurs is converging, partnering with established industry titans to forge the technologies that will slash emissions and power a low-carbon future. This is the landscape explored in Energytech Startups, a podcast from collide. that goes straight to the source. Hosts Nada Ahmed and Jason Ethier sit down with the very people driving this change-the founders, investors, and innovators who are building companies at the intersection of energy and technology. Each conversation digs into the real work: the engineering breakthroughs, the complex business models, and the hard-won lessons from the front lines of a sector undergoing massive transformation. It’s a direct line to the strategies and stories shaping the future of energy, making this podcast an essential listen for anyone curious about the business and investment dynamics behind building a sustainable world. You’ll hear frank discussions about funding, scaling, and the practical realities of bringing a transformative idea to market, all set against the backdrop of a city historically known for oil and gas now betting big on its own reinvention.
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