Charlotte Connell on solutions thinking 💡

G’day guys, I’m Simon Crerar, founder of Impact&ble 👋

I started writing this newsletter in the window of Cygnet’s Red Velvet Lounge yesterday, and finished it at my cottage in the heavenly Huon Valley this morning.

It’s an absolutely glorious day down here on melukerdee country. I’ve been working on Impact&ble’s product market fit this week. I had great calls with a bunch of folks from impact-focused organisations including Econome, Giant Leap and Paire – and have been firming up details for my inaugural IRL event on World Environment Day in June.

If you’d like a free call to help boost your impact, grab a slot here. And please, forward this email to anyone you think might find it interesting. Thanks so much

Last week I was on the lands of the Eora and Kulin nations for a busy series of events, meets and greets. It was great to chat to Goterra’s CEO Olympia Yarger at the SmartCompany Growth Summit, attend the packed launch of Abhi Maran’s book The Fundraising Blueprint, and catch-up with the indy news ecosystem at LINA. I’m back in Tassie through Easter until Blackbird’s Sunrise conference on April 30. 

This is issue #3 of this newsletter, welcome to new subscribers from publishing platform Medium,  climate-news website The Zero Planet and VC Virescent Ventures.

One Big Thing 1️⃣ – "Australia can be a global leader in climate action"

Last week I interviewed The Sustainability Collective founder Charlotte Connell, the dynamic energising force catalysing Australia’s climate tech community: Climate Tech Ambassador at Sydney's Greenhouse, Melbourne Climate Network builder and former Ecosystem Director at Climate Salad.

We talked about Charlotte’s inspiring professional journey, her motivations for addressing climate change, and her perspectives on March’s Climate Action Week in Sydney and Climate Investors Forum in Melbourne.

Key Takeaways from chat with Charlotte 🔑

→ On the climate tech ecosystem: "It always surprises me the amount of connections and collaborations that can spur on incredible actions and incredible impact. These tiny little meetings have huge ripple effects." 🤝 

→ On opportunities: "Australia absolutely can be a global leader when it comes to climate innovation as well. Just in our ag tech and food space, we've been producing food under the harshest of conditions... Similarly in energy. We have 55% of the world's lithium in our ground. We can be the world leader in battery storage." 🔋

→ On shifting investment focus: "While it is disappointing that [leadership in] the USA has taken its focus off climate tech and climate innovation investment, there is so much happening in Asia. So it's a good thing for climate technology across Australia." 🌏

→ On changing the narrative: "There is still this misconception that if it's good for the planet it costs us money. In my circles we understand that climate actually represents an opportunity. It represents economic growth if we invest in the solutions." 📈 

→ On finding hope in action: "We have all the solutions. What we need to do now is to help them scale. We need to buy from them, invest in them, connect them to a customer. And we all have the ability to do that." ✨

If that whets your appetitive, you can read the whole interview here!

World Changing Ideas – with Goterra’s Olympia Yarger 🐛 📦 💡

Goterra’s founder and CEO started farming insects as feed. Now her startup is converting waste for Australia’s most progressive companies, and looking to scale internationally. I caught up with her on the sidelines of the Growth Summit.

→ On customer-first messaging: "We use the phrase 'maggots in a box' to get people excited in a bit of a clickbaitey sort of way... but all we're really doing is converting your food waste into a high value product and it's going to cost you less to do so." 🐛📦

→ On climate tech investment reality: "It's a longer horizon because this is first of a kind stuff. You don't get to put forward a million dollars, stick three dudes in a WeWork and expect to get out a 10X return in five hours because the rate of return has to be commensurate with the speed of innovation." 💸

→ On expansion strategy: "Southeast Asia, particularly in the climate space, is so interesting because those guys are building their infrastructure today. For tomorrow. They're not trying to retrofit old infrastructure. It's exciting." 🌏

→ On proof through partnerships: "If you have brands that are multinationals and they're globally recognised, then your credibility extends past Australia's boundaries... their credibility carries ours, and it carries it outside the Australian context." 🤝 

For more insights from Olympia, read our full interview here.

Why You Need An Advisory Board  🧠 💭

I started April with a fantastically blowy walk along the Coogee Cliffs with my mate Paul, founder of Modern Equivalent, who was checking in on progress with Impact&ble.

He’s one of my awesome advisory board, which also features legends such as Encour’s Jessy Wu, Hype Man Media’s Dickie Currer and Good Citizens boss Nik Robinson.

Why should founders form an advisory board?

• Expert guidance

• Networking opportunities

• Credibility boost

• Performance improvement

• Skill gap filling

If you want to know how to recruit members, and the importance of a skills matrix when doing so, click here to download a free PDF! And give me a shout if you need help!

Over the Very Big Pond 🇺🇸 

I’ll be honest, this newsletter has been delayed several times in recent weeks by the global rollercoaster ride driven by that energetic 78-year-old fella in the White House.

Beyond the crazy gyrations of global stock markets, the Trump administration have in just a few weeks undone twenty years worth of efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

Via environmentalist, author and personal hero of mine Bill McKibben I found this remarkable, terrifying timeline produced by Bloomberg showing how Trump’s environmental directives are gutting basic protections for Americans and the agencies designed to deliver them: “nothing could have prepared us for the breadth or intensity of the assault on climate action that Trump has unleashed during his first months back in office” commented McKibben. What a time.

And Finally… 💬

Last weekend I attended the election campaign launch of Peter George, who is running as a community independent in our local electorate Franklin, currently held by Julie Collins MP, the federal minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

I’m doing what I can to help Peter’s campaign. He has a deep love for Tasmania and an inspiring drive to protect our unique waterways, beaches and forests. 

At Saturday's event we heard a series of powerful speeches. None more powerful than Richard Flanagan’s – as you might expect from a Booker Prize Foundation winning author – who gave a beautiful valedictory recalling his friendship with Gerard Castles, his neighbour and comrade in the fight against toxic salmon farms.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

“Never give up,” said Richard. “Keep fighting. Never stop believing you can have a future as wonderful and beautiful as our island.” 💚 

The speech is well worth reading if you’re into environmental action: it’s epic.

Thanks for reading!