When scaling from Demo to FOAK, one of the biggest decisions is whether to hire an EPC company or manage the build yourself

How long does it take to get payback on a heat pump?

In 2020, I was scrambling to get chips for our battery modules . Lead times had jumped from 2-3 months to over 9 months . Chipmakers prioritized gaming consoles and automotive giants, leaving cleantech startups like ours at the back of the line. That experience taught me just how fragile and unpredictable supply chains can be —and how they can make or break a scale-up. I was reminded of this while listening to The Green Blueprint podcast episode, How Supply Chain Chaos Sank

Batteries have brought me to Korea once again. The last time I was here was just before the COVID lockdown, and now, I’m back—this time in Eumseong, the heartland of Korea’s battery industry —at the factory of JR Energy Solution . I’ve mentioned JR in my posts before, and there’s an hour-long interview with its founder and CEO, Duke Oh , on my podcast . JR is my client, and I’m thrilled to be helping them scale! Who is JR Energy Solution? Founded in 2022 , JR Energy Solution

In any type of off-take, price will be the central point of negotiations. There are many pricing options available - fixed, floating, pass-through, CAPEX-based, return-based, etc. But before we go into the nitty-gritty of price structuring, let’s get the basics right. Going into the pricing negotiations, your objective is to keep the FOAK project profitable! There are a few challenges to that. First, your FOAK is about building something solid, so you will be spending a lot

Your First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) project is where your climate tech startup is a startup no more. Investors, customers, and even your own team won’t fully believe in your technology until they see it in action at scale. So, how do you get it right? 𝟭. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 Murphy’s Law is real. FOAK projects never go as planned - delays, supplier failures, site issues, regulatory holdups. How do you prepare? • Use real-world data: Look at similar completed proj

Do acquisitions of climate tech startups by Big Oil help or hinder energy transition?

The 4-step Framework for Building a Demo Project: Your Critical Step Between Pilot and FOAK

A Pilot is your first real-world test—where you prove that your technology works outside the lab.

How selling experience and starting small lets you disrupt an industry.

A 3-step framework for scaling-up to FOAK

The 4-step framework for choosing climate tech scale-up business model

What Canoo failure can teach cleantech scaleups?

The best guide so far on scaling up climate tech from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst

Here is my 4-step framework to determine if your tech is a drop-in solution

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲?

2024 was a brutal year for hardtech climate startups.

Main FOAK risks

Why should you avoid Green Premium and look for 10x value?