Jupiter's Journal #2
It's almost Halloween can you believe it? 🎃 Proptech, ClimateTech and Future Cities news for your inbox! If you like what you have read why not share the love.
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Are we over building MVP’s?
By now you have most likely heard of MVP’s (minimum viable products). This strategy was popularised by Steve Blank and Eric Ries, as well as the business model canvas and the lean startup. These are really famous in the startup world.
I would argue it’s very well established as one of the main systems of testing, learning about and iterating on startup ideas, no matter what industry you are working in. Certainly SaaS b2b products need to build and learn from MVPs so I was intrigued to dive into this thread I stumbled upon on Twitter.
I disagree that the MVP approach is flawed, I think in fact it is very proven.
Whilst I agree with the MGP approach, I believe it’s already included in the MVP approach because you must iterate the minimum viable products (MVPs) based on research and market testing and iterations very much from day one.
In our world MGP could and most likely should include multiple MVP iterations.
Nevertheless, one very important point is often missed in the standard MVP strategy discussions which I think is TK’s main point: are you building your MVP on market feedback and co-creating it with initial clients paying for it in the market that will get you to scale or are you building out what you think your market wants to be based on your Team/Founder or initial clients that do not relate to a larger market need?
This is the difference between initial traction and real product market fit. A lot of companies can fall into what they “think” is product market fit and still fall into the valley of death if they are venture funded.
We certainly went through those pain points at District.
I will write about what type of companies should or shouldn’t be looking for venture funding at some point as there are a lot of learnings we made over the last 5 years.
So even though I believe it not changing something that isn’t broken, I think this MGP approach is what needs to be tackled to get to your 10x growth faster and without falling into the valley of deaths on your growth journey.
Find out more about our MVP (which includes the MGP strategy) packages at Authentic Technologies.
Looking up
If you are lucky enough to own a telescope you can currently see the Crab Nebula which is the blown-out guts of a massive star whose supernova was seen from Earth in the year A.D. 1054. Nestled within the nebula now lies a pulsar, a fast-rotating neutron star whose radio “blips” we receive here on Earth at regular intervals. I personally find this very cool. If you own a very fancy telescope it might look like this:
ClimateTech & Future Cities
Top climate tech deals net nearly $4B in Q3, outpacing other industries - TechCrunch
For those of you not paying for Techcrunch here is a quick summary:
Whilst the rest of the market is cooling down ClimateTech is heating up
Just five years from now, PitchBook estimates the climate tech market will near $1.4 trillion, representing a compound annual growth rate of 8.8%.
However, this was pushed by a few huge rounds for
TeraWatt Infrastructure with that $1 billion Series A led by Vision Ridge Partners, the largest Series A of the quarter for any sector
The top deal last quarter was a $1.1 billion convertible note issued by Northvolt, the Swedish battery manufacturer on top of their already $4.35 debt rounds which may seem huge but supposedly “they’re in line with what’s required to prop up a giga-scale battery manufacturing company”.
Bill Gates’ nuclear startup TerraPower with a $750 million later-stage round led by Gates himself and SK Group
lithium extraction startup EnergyX raised $450 million from Global Emerging Markets in a private equity growth round
ESG-centric commodity exchange platform Xpansiv raised $400 million from Blackstone
Alternative meat company Meati Foods raised $150 million in a round led by Revolution Growth
Enhanced geothermal startup Fervo Energy raised $138 million in a round led by DCVC
Insect-protein company InnovaFeed, with a $250 million equity-and-debt Series D led by Qatar Investment Authority
fusion company TAE Technologies, with a $250 million Series G led by Chevron and Google
Low-carbon power generator startup Mainspring Energy, which raised a $140 million Series E led by Lightrock
I find this space fascinating and the next 10-20 years will be increasingly so I am sure. I am particularly interested in the intersection of climatetech and proptech and how that will shape the future cities we will live and work in.
To fund this growing scene there are loads of new ClimateTech VCs popping up everywhere, here are some recent new ones that I found interesting:
Hy24 raised $2B for its Clean H2 Infra Fund, aiming to invest exclusively in hydrogen value chain projects.
Lightrock raised $834m for its Climate Tech Fund, focused on investing in startups specializing in sustainable agriculture, clean energy, and decarbonization, among others.
Capital Dynamics raised $506m for its Capital Dynamics Clean Energy Infrastructure IX fund, aimed to invest in renewable projects across Europe.
Future Cities Dinner
We are re-launching our Future Cities Dinner in London - if you can make it, our first one will be held on the 23rd of November at Vinoteca City.
Would love to see you there! Click the button below for tickets.
Proptech & Future of Work
UKPA Proptech Awards
I am delighted to be asked to judge the UKPA 2022 Proptech Awards, check out the entry options here.
The S in ESG ?!?
I often did not understand why there is an “S” of ESG — which includes some of society’s toughest problems, like economic opportunity and racial inequity.
According to this podcast: RE investors are, more and more, pursuing socially-minded ESG investments. And this pivot has huge implications for real estate, as investors are now ready and willing to lend capital to real estate companies that are pursuing projects with real social and racial impact.
which if true would be brilliant for our industries future 💜
I like this season of City of the Future, and the season finale explores ways developers can begin to figure out what this “S” piece of ESG means. And if they can, it’s not just real estate that will benefit — our cities will, too. Hear from Green Generation, Sidewalk Labs, Farpoint and others:
Upcoming events you can catch me at
London Tech Week: Black History Month - this week
Climate Tech Show London - this week
London Startup Conference - FREE in-person event in London - 20th October
If your not in London that day: The Upside of Downturns - Startupgrind FREE virtual conference - 20th October
Free webinar: How to close like a boss - virtual 20th October
Stay Creative new season Launch party - Friday October 21st free drinks in Shoreditch, London (not quite tech related but a fun one to swing by)
Websummit Lisbon - November 1-4 (I will be in Lisbon until the 16th)
Slush Helsinki - 17-18th November
and my very own Future Cities Dinner London - 23rd Nov