We are killing CleanTechies

We are killing CleanTechies.

The podcast name is changing, the brand is changing, and we are drawing a line in the sand… or perhaps we should say dirt.

Why? Because “CleanTech” as we know it is dead. We’ve been discussing this for some time. Most don’t want to admit it, but we all know it deep down that something is different. It’s evolved and moved on. We just didn’t really know what to call it.

Truthfully, CleanTech and ClimateTech aren’t the best ways to describe what we are even doing.

Both names miss the point.

The best companies in this space aren’t focused on reversing climate change only. The biggest winners are primarily motivated by pushing the frontier of human capability further out. We are seeing mind-boggling scientific breakthroughs: microbes that mine copper, new ways of capturing carbon, material science breakthroughs, and heavy hardware innovations.

It’s the technical frontier, not a new vertical.

The physical frontier of the map has been conquered. The digital frontier (internet) has been conquered and populated. Now, it is time to conquer and understand the last frontier: nature.

I’m just a kid from Wisconsin who grew up in the middle of nowhere in the woods. I didn’t go to college. But when I discovered all of the innovation happening in this space, I fell in love with it.

Frontier technology is inspiring. What human being doesn’t long to work at a company that literally reshapes physical reality? It’s the kind of work that inspires young people to pursue engineering and hard science—not for a paycheck, but because it’s the unknown. Someone has to explore it – why not them? …why not you?

Unfortunately, the mainstream Climate movement turned into a negative pursuit.

It turned away from excitement about innovation into ‘How to not die’ or ‘How to prevent disaster’ manual. The narrative turned into restriction and fear.

That’s the problem.

Fear doesn’t inspire people. It makes them recoil. It makes them turn inward, and when people turn inward, they begin to die spiritually. Their desire to go out, achieve, and conquer gets buried away under a mountain of anxiety.

Pursuing a frontier is a positive pursuit. And that’s exactly why we are changing the name of this show to Climate Cowboys.

Consider the role of Cowboys historically. They pushed the physical frontier further and further out. Venturing into the unknown, they discovered it, tamed it, and built the foundations so every day people could live in it. Those original frontiersmen are why we have the infrastructure, the creature comforts, and the air conditioning we enjoy today.

We need that same spirit right now. We need technology cowboys to go out into the next frontier—nature—and tame it for the next generation.

Building technology for the sake of technology is useless. The entire point of technology is to help humans thrive.

Growing up in the woods, I’ve always cared about taking care of the land. Additionally, my Catholic faith deeply informs how I view this. In Genesis, we are told to steward the Earth, but also to subdue it. To conquer the challenges of the physical world while recognizing that the world isn’t ours—it’s a gift we are called to take care of, cultivate, and improve.

That is why the word Climate stays in our name. Stewardship is essential. But it has to be a positive pursuit, not one driven by panic.

The modern climate movement has reached a point where it literally discourages people from having children because of fear.

That is broken.

True stewardship means thinking generationally. We understand and tame the frontier precisely so we can prepare it to serve our children, and for them in turn to understand the sacrifice required to get there. So that they may continue that tradition of stewardship.

I’ve run this podcast solo again for some time now, while running my recruitment firm to pay the bills. Today, I am officially bringing them together under one roof.

The podcast is aligning directly with my executive recruitment firm, which we have officially rebranded to Roosevelt Talent.

Teddy Roosevelt

[THE ORIGINAL CLIMATE COWBOY]

Explorer • Frontiersman • Conservationist • Unifier

We named the firm after Teddy Roosevelt because he was the original Climate Cowboy. He was an explorer and a gritty frontiersman, but he was also a fierce conservationist who preserved American land to ensure it was left better than he found it.

He was a man who inspired a nation, and importantly for our current times, he was a leader who brought the left and the right together to build real things.

Check out our Launch Video

Is our content going to fundamentally change?

No.

You are still going to get incredible conversations with the top Climate Cowboys (and Cowgirls) of our time. Those individuals answering the call to tame the frontier.

In fact, we just got back from San Francisco where we recorded four incredible, in-person interviews with some of the most badass operators on the hard-tech frontier today.

But there will be a few key shifts in our coverage:

• Unapologetically American: I love this country. One of the main reasons I fight so hard for these physical technologies to be built is because I believe it is how we reindustrialize America. It’s how we bring back real manufacturing jobs to rural places—like the town I grew up in—where a factory or a mill is what keeps families fed. More efficient tech is the only way that we will be able to compete with China.

• Behind-the-Scenes Hiring Logic: Because we are staffing the frontier, we will also be sprinkling in tactical hiring advice, market insights, and the lessons from the scars we’ve picked up along the way so you can build your own crews better, as you tame your corner of the frontier.

To every single one of you who has been with us since we launched this platform back in February of 2021—thank you. It has been an incredible ride, but the truth is, we are just getting started. So saddle up for the next leg of the journey. We’re just getting started.

The time of the digital playground is over. It’s time to ride out into the frontier.

Welcome to Climate Cowboys. Join the crew.

Staff the Frontier w/ Roosevelt Talent