On today's episode of the Climate Insiders podcast, we’re sitting down with Anna Alex, Co-founder of Nala Earth. Nala Earth is a nature management platform that measures, improves and reports your company’s impact on nature & biodiversity.
Anna is a serial entrepreneur from Berlin, dedicating her life to nature and the planet. Prior to Nala Earth she founded Planetly and Outfittery. As an angel investor, Anna focuses on the big challenges of the world in climate and nature.
Anna founded Planetly in 2019, the worldwide pioneer in Carbon Accounting SaaS. In only 3 years Anna scaled Planetly to 250 employees and over 350 customers leading the technical innovation in this space. In 2021 she sold Planetly to a US Software Company.
This episode delves into:
- Investor expectations and the pressures post-funding.
- The reality of building multiple startups in the climate industry.
- The shift towards sustainable and environmentally friendly businesses worldwide.
- How to manage burnout as an entrepreneur and delegation.
- The importance of building a strong culture and hiring top talent.
- The role of venture capital in scaling climate tech solutions.
- How to create real KPIs that make a difference like biodiversity in climate tech
- How to have a larger impact on climate by focusing on biodiversity and nature conservation.
- Integrating nature and biodiversity into business models through ventures like Nala Earth.
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(00:00) Intro
(00:47) Anna Alex's purpose
(01:03) Avoiding burnout as an entrepreneur
(04:17) Hiring A players vs B players
(06:41) Building culture by hiring senior talent first
(09:41) Bootstrapping vs raising capital
(12:26) Being a "founding angel"
(17:11) Structuring ownership as a founding angel
(20:31) Lessons from Selling Planetly
(26:14) How climate tech exits enabling more investment
(30:30) Focusing on nature with Nala Earth
(33:31) Making nature measurable for businesses
(35:14) Nala's five nature indicators
(40:57) Increasing public awareness of biodiversity
(43:32) Nature's local risks and implications
(45:03) Helping companies measure and manage nature
(49:36) Reframing our relationship with nature
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