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Emin Askerov
Cleantech FOAK Advisor
My insights and blog
Dive into my latest thoughts on Greentech trends, startup strategies, and investment insights. Stay ahead in the green revolution.
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Long-Term Energy Storage is Getting Crowded
What does it mean for scaleups? With lithium-ion batteries locking down short-term storage, investors are now flooding the long-duration...
Emin Askerov
Sep 9, 20241 min read


💡 Is Nuclear Better Than Renewables for Decarbonization? That’s the Wrong Question 🌍
Is Nuclear Better Than Renewables for Decarbonization? That’s the Wrong Question. Here is why.
Emin Askerov
Sep 7, 20241 min read


A Near 100% Renewable Grid Use Case ⚡🌍
Australia can now run its grid on close to 100% renewables. What are the takeaways for cleantech scaleups?
Emin Askerov
Sep 5, 20243 min read


What do VCs get wrong in Cleantech?
🎙️ Reflecting on the Latest Climate Insiders Podcast with Nadav Steinmitz 🌍
Emin Askerov
Sep 4, 20241 min read


Pitfalls of FOAK Capital Stack
Why do some scaleups sink while others sail smoothly? 🌊 Three main pitfalls can capsize your venture if you’re not careful.
Emin Askerov
Sep 2, 20243 min read


Why Are Batteries Trailing Behind Renewables? 🔋🌞
Why Are Batteries Trailing Behind Renewables? 🔋🌞
Emin Askerov
Aug 29, 20241 min read


Which Battery Tech Will Take the Crown? 🏆🔋
🏁The race is on! Gigafactory capacity is already big enough to meet all Net Zero targets—and there's more on the way. We’re seeing some...
Emin Askerov
Aug 29, 20241 min read


The Battery Boom
The Battery Boom (no, not THAT one!): VC Funding Surges as Renewables Demand Grows
Emin Askerov
Aug 26, 20241 min read


Hydrogen Zombies and Unicorns
CTVC is claiming that the hydrogen bubble is deflating, if not bursting. The reason - slowing investment growth and some startups going...
Emin Askerov
Aug 23, 20241 min read


The Right Scale
How to determine the right scale for your FOAK manufacturing plant? Here is a step-by-step guide.
Emin Askerov
Aug 22, 20243 min read


Navigating the Capital Stack: From Lab to NOAK
Who do you go to for the money and when? When you're scaling up from Lab to Nth-of-a-Kind (NOAK), understanding the capital stack is...
Emin Askerov
Aug 20, 20241 min read


Slow and Steady Morrow’s March
Good news at last. But progress still slow. Morrow Batteries, founded in 2014, has finally opened its first 1 GWh factory after ten...
Emin Askerov
Aug 19, 20241 min read


The Nuclear FOAK Lessons
What you can learn from First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) projects in nuclear? A lot, it appears.
Emin Askerov
Aug 16, 20242 min read


Choosing a Road Beyond FOAK
Licensing, Buy-out or Project Finance?
Emin Askerov
Aug 15, 20242 min read


The 1% Question
What is the first question you need to ask a greentech scaleup?
Emin Askerov
Aug 14, 20241 min read


Universal Hydrogen: A 20 Min Or $100M Lesson
22 minutes on YouTube could have saved investors $100M. That’s the harsh lesson from the rise and fall of Universal Hydrogen.
Emin Askerov
Aug 10, 20243 min read


Missing Skills
Investors think that hard tech climate scaleups lack generalist and financial expertise. While Founders agree only with the latter. Why?...
Emin Askerov
Aug 7, 20242 min read


Dealing With Giants
Strategic investors can be a double-edged sword for greentech scaleups. Here’s what to look out for. ⌛️Never before there was such a...
Emin Askerov
Aug 5, 20242 min read


The Art of Downtime
How much time do you need to rest? Two weeks? A day? A blink of an eye?
Emin Askerov
Aug 4, 20241 min read


Arrival: What Happened?
We all love success stories, but the truth is, we learn best from failures.
Emin Askerov
Aug 3, 20241 min read
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