The FOAK Strategy Checklist

This week started with a review of five pitch decks — from sustainable fishing to fashion, fuels, energy trading and carbon reporting: different industries, different stages, different teams.

So, who actually has a chance to survive long enough to build a FOAK?

I run them through my 4—step FOAK strategy assessment framework. It’s a process to force clarity on climate impact, market fit, FOAK delivery, and team readiness. It helps to turn scattered assumptions into an actual long-term strategy.

Strategy is a living document. Revisit it while you build, challenge your old assumptions, and notice what you actually got right.

Here’s the short FOAK strategy checklist I use:

1. Climate impact: Can you eliminate ≥500 Mt CO₂e/year at scale? Are there any rebound risks that your tech would actually do more harm than good?

2. Market: Is there a real market today, not in 10 years? What’s your value beyond CO₂ reduction?

3. FOAK delivery: Manufacturing feasibility, supply chain readiness, cash flow, financing and timeline. And what will you do post-FOAK?

4. Team: Founder–FOAK fit, leadership gaps, and a talent map for who you must hire to run FOAK.

The exercise gives you two things every founder needs:

- A clear view of your real position in the climate tech system — your impact, risks and capabilities.

- A map for FOAK and beyond — milestones, bottlenecks, and the “known unknowns” you’ll meet while putting out fires on the way to your first plant.

Once you know your limitations and your path, you can finally plan how to execute, finance and operate your FOAK, and don’t lose the forest for the trees.

If you want to pressure-test your own FOAK strategy, I'd be happy to take a look!