In cleantech, a successful pilot is only half the equation. The other half? Convincing stakeholders—investors, policymakers, grant reviewers, and commercial buyers—that your solution is trustworthy and scalable. Unfortunately, facts alone rarely close that gap. For that, you need a different kind of evidence. You need social proof. Social proof is what makes people comfortable saying “yes” in uncertain situations. It’s why Amazon reviews influence buying behavior , why political endorsements shape public opinion , and why a Yelp rating can make or break a restaurant . The same principle applies to clean technology and energy innovation. In a world where buyers are overwhelmed by complexity and investors face asymmetric risk, social proof acts as a shortcut to trust. What Is Social Proof, Really? Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people follow the actions of others in an attempt to reflect “correct” behavior in a given situation. It was first formalized in the 1980s by psychologist Robert Cialdini and has since become a cornerstone of behavioral science. In practice, it can look like: • A recognizable institution using your technology • A respected investor backing your Series A • Testimonials from municipal or industrial partners • User counts (“500+ installs across 18 states”) • Third-party certifications These are more than marketing lines. They are trust signals. In cleantech, where purchase decisions often involve complex risk assessments and high capital commitments, social proof can push hesitant buyers or funders toward action. Your Lab Results Are Proof—But Only to You You may have solid field data and elegant results. But if those results are unknown or untrusted, they won’t move people. Investors are especially wary. Early-stage cleantech funding gaps often come down to information asymmetry, where investors can’t verify your claims or assess technical risk. According to a 2022 report on environmental performance indicators, early-stage investors want credible signals of value, especially when public capital or grants are involved. It’s not enough to have the data—you need others to vouch for it. Why Early Backers Have Outsized Influence Trust builds momentum, and momentum often begins with a few early believers. This dynamic is evident in platforms like Dealmaker, which enable early investors to signal confidence publicly. When clean energy startup EnergyX raised funding through retail investment tools, they were able to tout 7,000+ individual backers, turning ordinary investors into brand validators. That’s not a gimmick—it’s psychology at work. If 7,000 people said “yes,” others feel safer doing the same. What Doesn’t Work (and Why) You can’t just tack on a quote and expect to convert hesitant stakeholders. A 2023 field experiment tested two types of social proof messaging—personal testimonials vs. anonymous “many people have used this service” prompts—on consumers evaluating home energy services. Neither significantly increased conversion rates. The lesson? Social proof must be: • Relevant (from a peer or respected expert) • Specific (real numbers or names, not vague claims) • Contextualized (aligned with audience concerns) Telling a utility buyer that 4,000 homeowners adopted your technology isn’t persuasive. Telling them that another utility in a similar market did is. When Social Proof Works Best Social proof succeeds when it reflects credible action by a relatable entity. That’s why endorsements from professional associations, peer organizations, or adjacent cities matter so much. A recent study from Yale on residential energy savings campaigns found that participants were more likely to take action when the message came from a local, familiar entity (e.g., “Join others in [your town] who’ve switched to energy-efficient appliances”) rather than a generic or distant group. This shows the value of “localized” or “networked” social proof. People don't just want to know others have acted—they want to know people like them have acted. ________________________________________ Government Endorsements as Strategic Proof In cleantech, government involvement—whether through funding, pilots, or public-private partnerships—can serve as a strong validator. Many public procurement processes are cautious by design, so any inclusion in public programming reflects diligence and vetting. Consider programs like the U.S. Department of Energy’s LPO (Loan Programs Office), which has supported cleantech startups like Tesla, Plug Power, and Monolith with billions in loans. These loan approvals signal credibility that private investors can follow. Being part of a DOE program doesn’t just give you capital. It gives you a stamp of legitimacy others can trust. ________________________________________ Third-Party Metrics: The Foundation of Scalable Proof If you're scaling tech, people want more than a story. They want auditable metrics—like impact per deployment, savings over time, or emissions avoided. Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs) serve this function. When defined clearly and verified independently, EPIs allow institutional and commercial buyers to see how your lab results translate to field impact. Without EPIs, your tech is just a theory. With them, it's measurable progress. Transparency adds another layer. By making your EPIs publicly visible and updated regularly, you enable others to cite them—amplifying their reach and increasing downstream trust. ________________________________________ Social Trust Enables Social Proof There’s another layer here: regional or institutional trust plays a huge role in how social proof is received. A 2021 study on green innovation found that regions with higher levels of interpersonal and institutional trust also had more cleantech development. When people expect fair play and shared norms, they’re more likely to collaborate, co-invest, and promote peer technologies. Social proof isn’t magic—it rests on a foundation of trust. If you’re entering a new market or sector, it’s worth building local credibility before you ask for big bets. Five Ways to Turn Lab Results into Scalable Proof Here’s how you can leverage social proof to move from technical promise to market momentum: 1. Secure a recognizable anchor partner – A pilot with a city or energy utility means more than one with an anonymous user group. 2. Publish and standardize your EPIs – Share impact metrics in a way others can easily cite and validate. 3. Stack endorsements – Highlight testimonials from government officials, industry engineers, and peer organizations. 4. Show user behavior at scale – Share metrics like “X thousand hours of runtime” or “Y MW installed” to demonstrate traction. 5. Use investor participation as a signal – Especially if they’re repeat investors or respected names. Final Thoughts: Don’t Sell in Isolation Your technology might be great. Your science might be sound. But in a crowded, cautious market, no one wants to be first—they want to know someone else already said yes. Social proof provides the confidence that your lab data cannot. It adds credibility without complexity. It shortcuts long due diligence cycles and gets you from promising to proven. In cleantech, facts matter—but trust scales. Make sure your lab results don’t stand alone.

Cleantech companies are in the business of solving real problems—energy access, emissions, grid resilience. So when it comes to social media, it’s fair to ask: do platforms built for likes and trends really help you reach the people who matter? Take Instagram. It’s fast-moving, eye-catching, and massively popular. But popularity doesn’t always equal effectiveness. For cleantech, the question isn’t just “Should we be on Instagram?” The real question is: Does Instagram reach the audience you need to influence? Let’s unpack that. 1. Who’s on Instagram—and Is It Your Audience? Understanding Instagram’s demographics is step one. You need to know who you’re talking to before deciding if it’s worth talking there at all. As of January 2024, 62.4% of Instagram users are aged 18 to 34 . Of those, the largest cohort is 18 to 24, making up over 30% of the platform’s global user base. If your sustainable product is consumer-facing—e-bikes, reusable containers, EVs, energy-efficient electronics, or thrifted apparel—this is a receptive audience. But for deep tech firms, that’s a red flag. If your targets are city energy planners, commercial real estate developers, or utilities, they likely aren’t scrolling Reels between meetings. LinkedIn, by contrast, is the platform of choice for professionals and executives, especially in industries like energy, engineering, and infrastructure. According to LinkedIn’s own marketing solutions data , 4 out of 5 members drive business decisions, and over 58 million companies are represented. Instagram might help shape brand awareness—but it’s LinkedIn that wins when you're selling to decision-makers. 2. Instagram Is Visual. That’s Not Always an Advantage. There’s no doubt: Instagram is a visual-first platform. But being visual doesn’t automatically mean it’s a good fit for cleantech. To succeed on Instagram, your content needs to stop the scroll. That means clear, engaging visuals, preferably video. And right now, the most effective format by far is Reels , which generate over 200 billion plays per day. But Reels favor: • Personal stories • Fast cuts • Relatable or entertaining content That makes them ideal for a solar company with choreographed installers set to music. But not so ideal for a grid-tech startup explaining load balancing or smart inverters. Even the average time users spend watching Reels supports this. According to a Q1 2025 Meta report, the average watch time on Reels dropped to 5.2 seconds per clip. There are goldfish with longer attention spans than Gen Z. If you can’t boil down your bite-sized how to’s tips or “Did You Know?” message into 15 to 30 seconds of visuals—without losing technical accuracy—Instagram will not carry your message effectively. 3. B2B Buyers Want Aesthetics + Depth Most cleantech businesses sell to sophisticated buyers: developers, facility managers, compliance officers, procurement professionals, municipalities. As we’ve written repeatedly, B2B buyers are also persuaded by dopamine hits to the limbic brain that light up with visuals and stories. However, that’s just the beginning of the buyer’s journey. Once they enter your sales funnel, they need: • Technical specs • Case studies • Regulatory alignment • Cost-benefit breakdowns That doesn’t fit on a Reel. According to Demand Gen Report’s 2024 Content Preferences Study , 71% of B2B buyers read between three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. And those pieces are overwhelmingly whitepapers, in-depth articles, and product comparison guides. Instagram doesn’t support that kind of content—not in structure, not in length, and not in mindset. Use Instagram to humanize your brand, but don’t expect it to build a buying case. 4. YouTube and LinkedIn Deliver More Value Per Dollar If your content is visual and educational, YouTube is far more valuable than Instagram. YouTube reaches more U.S. adults each day than any other social platform , and it’s the second most-used search engine after Google itself. Cleantech companies that invest in high-quality explainer videos, site walkthroughs, or animated tech breakdowns see returns not just in views—but in actual conversions from engaged prospects. LinkedIn, meanwhile, lets you connect with: • Policy stakeholders • Investors • Industry associations • Fortune 1000 buyers And their lead conversion rates are 3X higher than other platforms , per LinkedIn Marketing Solutions. Your Instagram post may get 500 likes. But your LinkedIn whitepaper might land you a 7-figure pilot deal. 5. Instagram Is Not Pointless—But It’s Not Primary All that said, Instagram isn’t useless. It plays a role in your brand stack—just not the lead role. Use it to: • Showcase your team and company culture • Recruit younger talent • Celebrate funding milestones or awards • Promote sustainability stories that are emotional and human This kind of content builds trust and familiarity, which can influence how your brand is perceived elsewhere. But if your internal team is spending hours trying to squeeze an inverter spec sheet into a swipe carousel? You’re wasting time. 6. Use This Framework to Decide Use Instagram if: • Your product is visual, simple, and emotionally resonant • Your buyer is under 35 and likely to discover you via mobile • You have the in-house design or video chops to post high-quality content 2–3x a week • You can afford for it to be top-of-funnel only (awareness, not lead gen) Avoid Instagram if: • Your product is complex or regulatory-heavy • You sell primarily to other businesses or government • You’re trying to push thought leadership or in-depth content • Your team doesn’t have the bandwidth to regularly post original content This isn’t about shunning a platform—it’s about being selective. 7. The Real Cost of Chasing the Wrong Channel Every hour your team spends filming a time-lapse or tweaking a caption is time not spent writing a technical blog, creating an RFP response, or following up with a lead. Instagram is seductive. It’s fast and makes you feel busy. But likes don’t pay the bills. What does? Being where your buyer is. And more often than not in cleantech, that’s LinkedIn, Google Search, conferences, or directly in their inbox. Final Thoughts Instagram may be one of the biggest platforms on the planet, but that doesn’t make it right for everyone—especially in cleantech. If your audience is young, visual, and looking to be inspired, Instagram can build brand equity and tell powerful stories. But if your goal is to move complex, infrastructure-grade technology into the hands of cities, businesses, and builders, you need to go where attention is deeper, not just faster. The smartest brands don’t chase platforms. They chase attention. And the right kind of attention lives in the right kind of place.

When promoting a clean technology product or service, it’s tempting to lead with the impressive technical specs. Efficiency ratings, proprietary materials, patent-pending algorithms—these features might be what make your solution cutting-edge. But if you're trying to win over customers, investors, or partners, you need to understand one truth: benefits are what sell. While features describe what your product is, benefits explain why someone should care. And when it comes to messaging in cleantech, where many companies still default to jargon-heavy technical descriptions, the brands that prioritize benefits are the ones that break through. This blog explains why benefits should be the core of your marketing and sales communications, and how they can help translate your innovative technology into clear, compelling value. Features vs. Benefits: What’s the Difference? Before we go any further, let’s define the terms: • Features are characteristics or technical specifications of a product or service. These might include solar panel efficiency percentages, battery storage capacity, or the use of carbon-negative materials. • Benefits are the positive outcomes those features create for the customer. These might include lower utility bills, reduced carbon footprint, or improved compliance with new environmental regulations. As Indeed explains in their breakdown of this concept, “ Features highlight what a product can do. Benefits show what it does for the user .” When you shift your messaging from features to benefits, you’re shifting the focus from you to your customer. And that makes all the difference. Why Features Don’t Motivate Clean Technology Buyers Most clean technology buyers—whether homeowners, businesses, or governments—aren’t engineers. They don’t care about the technical nuances of how your product works. They care about outcomes. 1. Features assume technical fluency Let’s say you lead with a statement like “Our turbines operate at 92% thermal efficiency.” That might be a big deal to your engineers or your R&D team. But to a non-technical buyer, this statement is meaningless unless you also explain what that efficiency does for them. Does it reduce their operating costs? Help them meet state clean energy goals? Allow them to outpace their competitors? If you don’t connect the dots, they won’t. 2. Features lack emotional relevance Emotion drives most buying decisions. A benefit like “You’ll cut your energy costs by 30% in the first year” connects far more than “This unit uses a high-performance inverter with MPPT tracking.” One of these makes people feel excited about the result. The other makes them feel like they’re reading a spec sheet. As OnRampFunds explains: “Features build credibility, but it’s benefits that inspire action.” Benefits Help You Stand Out in a Crowded Market In cleantech, differentiation is key. More companies are entering the space every day, and many of them are offering similar tools and services. If your messaging is focused only on specs, you’re just another technical solution in a sea of technical solutions. Benefits, on the other hand, are where your unique customer value becomes visible. 1. Benefits highlight relevance By focusing on how your clean technology improves lives or business outcomes, you become more relatable. Instead of saying, “We offer data-rich environmental sensors,” say, “We help cities detect and reduce air pollution before it affects public health.” Both may be true—but only one puts the focus where it belongs: on the buyer’s world. 2. Benefits drive your brand story Marketing isn’t just about stating facts; it’s about storytelling. Benefits help tell a story of transformation—whether that’s a company reducing emissions, a building cutting energy costs, or a municipality meeting federal clean air standards. As Competitive Intelligence Alliance puts it: “Features are about the product. Benefits are about the customer experience.” Why Benefits Are Especially Powerful in the Cleantech Sector Clean technology is often mission-driven. But mission alone doesn’t close sales. Buyers still need to justify the cost, assess the risk, and see how your product will make their lives easier or better. That’s where benefits come in. 1. Clean tech often comes with higher upfront costs Many clean technologies offer long-term savings but require more investment up front. To justify that cost, buyers need to clearly understand what they’re getting—not in technical terms, but in tangible outcomes. By focusing on benefits like lifetime energy savings, tax incentives, or simplified maintenance, you help buyers see the return on investment more clearly. 2. Environmental impact is a benefit—not a feature Some cleantech companies treat sustainability as a feature. But for many buyers, especially municipalities and enterprises, reduced emissions or ESG compliance are core benefits. They solve a business problem, meet legal requirements, or appeal to values-driven customers. Frame it that way. Don't just say “Our process is low-emission.” Say, “Our process helps your company meet net-zero goals without disrupting operations.” How to Translate Features Into Benefits Turning a feature into a benefit isn’t hard—but it does require practice. The trick is to ask yourself: “So what?” Here are some examples tailored to the cleantech space: Feature: Solar panel with 21.5% efficiency. So What?: That’s higher than the industry average. Benefit: Generates more power in less space—ideal for rooftops with limited square footage Feature: Air filtration system removes 99.8% of particles. So What?: That’s a high-performance filter. Benefit: Helps schools and offices protect occupants from pollution and allergens Feature: Smart grid software with AI-powered load balancing. So What?: Sounds complex. Benefit: Reduces blackout risk and improves grid reliability during peak usage Feature: Carbon capture unit uses proprietary sorbent. So What?: Nice technical detail. Benefit: Cuts your emissions profile and helps meet regulatory benchmarks faster When in doubt, use the phrase “which means…” to bridge features and benefits. For example: “Our battery has a 12-year lifespan, which means you’ll avoid expensive replacements and keep maintenance costs low.” This technique keeps your messaging grounded in results that matter. Benefits Also Work Better in Sales Conversations Your marketing isn’t the only place where benefits matter. Sales conversations—especially in high-consideration B2B clean tech—rely on the same principles. If your reps are talking about volts, algorithms, and feed-in tariffs without translating those into value, they’re leaving deals on the table. Benefits help create urgency, solve problems, and overcome objections. And as Vunela explains using the classic analogy: “People don’t buy a drill. They buy the hole.” Final Thoughts Clean technology is vital to the future—but that doesn’t mean people will buy it just because it’s innovative or sustainable. To break through, your message needs to focus on what your product does for the people who buy it. Features validate. Benefits persuade. Leading with benefits helps your company: • Connect with customers emotionally and practically • Translate technical innovation into real-world value • Differentiate in a crowded marketplace • Build a story that people actually want to hear Whether you’re writing a web page, preparing a sales deck, or pitching to an investor, make sure benefits are front and center. Then support those benefits with features—not the other way around.

Your clean technology startup may have entered the arena to combat climate change—and that’s noble. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: your company’s mission isn’t solving climate change. Not directly. Not today. That’s not a criticism. It’s a strategy. When your startup declares “solving climate change” as its mission, you risk sounding indistinct. A mission should be a clear, specific promise to a defined audience . Vague idealism doesn’t win grants, convert customers, or help you raise your next round. What does? A focused value proposition tied to a real-world problem and the people who need it solved. 1. BHAGs Sound Great. But Missions Should Be Actionable. There’s a difference between a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) and a mission. A BHAG is visionary—it's meant to be provocative, bold, and inspiring. But a mission is your compass—it’s what guides day-to-day decisions . For instance, saying, “We’re on a mission to decarbonize the planet” is noble but unclear. Compare that to: “We help data centers reduce cooling-related energy use by 40%.” Now you’re talking. Your BHAG might be decarbonization. But your mission must explain how, for whom, and when. That’s the actionable promise. 2. Specificity Signals Maturity to Investors and Partners Clean energy is full of ambitious claims. What cuts through the noise are specifics. A clearly defined mission tells investors you’ve identified your beachhead market and understand their pain . Let’s say you’re working on a solar efficiency breakthrough. “Solving climate change” doesn’t help an investor understand who your customer is. “Increasing solar panel ROI for commercial property managers” does. Funders aren’t looking for a savior. They’re looking for a company with a real, measurable plan to improve something specific—profitably. 3. You Can’t Market to “The Planet” Startups often fall into the trap of framing their solution for “everyone.” But marketing to everyone is marketing to no one . The truth is, the only people who will buy your product, fund your startup, or advocate for your technology are those whose lives are directly improved by it. If your mission doesn’t name that audience, your message will never connect. Forget trying to save the planet in every pitch deck. Focus on solving your customer’s problem. That’s what earns trust and traction. 4. Grounding Your Mission Builds Organizational Clarity A mission isn’t just external—it’s internal. It’s what aligns your product team, your marketing team, and your fundraisers. Without a grounded mission, your messaging becomes inconsistent and your priorities scatter . When everyone in your company can say, “We help [target customer] solve [specific problem],” it becomes easier to prioritize features, develop outreach strategies, and identify partners. It becomes easier to grow. 5. You’re Not In This Alone You’re not the only company fighting climate change. You don’t have to be. That’s what makes collaboration, investment, and public-private partnerships possible. Trying to own the entire fight against climate change is not only inaccurate—it’s alienating . But showing where your clean technology fits into the broader solution? That’s smart positioning. It communicates humility, partnership, and practicality—qualities that matter more than rhetoric. 6. Climate Impact Is the Result—Not the Mission Let’s reframe the entire conversation: Your mission is the action. Climate impact is the consequence. You’re helping someone reduce waste. Increase efficiency. Replace a polluting input. That’s the job. The climate wins because your technology succeeds in a real-world application. If you do that at scale, you’ll create massive climate impact. But you can’t scale if no one knows what problem you’re solving. Start with clarity. Scale with purpose. Final Thoughts Ambition is the lifeblood of cleantech. We need it. But ambition without focus can undermine your ability to make the very impact you care about. Instead of promising to solve climate change, promise to solve the problem your customer faces today. Instead of trying to save the planet, save someone’s budget, time, compliance burden, or operational headache. Because that’s how you scale. That’s how you earn investment. And that’s how you actually contribute to solving climate change—by doing your part, with precision. When your mission is grounded, your growth becomes inevitable. And your BHAG? It’s not just inspiring—it’s achievable.

Your technology is perfected in a laboratory environment, but your impact is created outside of it. You can have the most rigorously engineered solution in your field, but if your audience only sees numbers, they’ll tune out. Data alone won’t attract investment, talent, or first customers . To break through, you need to show what your innovation actually does in the real world. The stories are what breathe life into the charts and validation into the data. 1. People Connect with Stories, Not Specs Your technical breakthrough are impressive—but your audience first needs to know why it matters. Investors, media, and customers see your solution through a meta story lens that eminates from the limbic brain. That’s the grabber. The technical specs that require due diligence come later. Instead of sharing capture rates or efficiency thresholds, tell how your oil spill adsorbent saved a local fishing industry that goes back generations and sustains a local economy while protecting endangered sealife and birds. 2. Storytelling Builds Trust and Action Numbers can inform—but stories inspire. According to Mindy Grossman at WEF, storytelling isn’t just a marketing tactic—it’s a leadership strategy that triggers trust and motivates action. Stories release oxytocin and spark neural coupling—your brain syncing with your audience’s brain . That means a well told story makes people feel part of your mission—not just observers of it. 3. Translate Complexity into Emotional Clarity Your breakthrough might depend on advanced algorithms, rare earth chemistry, or nano scale engineering—but you don’t need to lead with that. Storytelling in cleantech means translating technical breakthroughs into relatable outcomes that explain what it does for them . Compare these: • Technical: “Our system optimizes load shifting across distributed DER assets using predictive analytics.” • Story-based: “Local ratepayers already suffering from high inflation were spared a spike in their utility bills because the utility could meet electricity demand instead of spending billions on a new power plant. One feels like a white paper. The other feels like a hero’s journey—with your tech as the hero. 4. Share Stories Where They Happen Great storytelling isn’t confined to scripted videos or PDFs—it lives in blogs, podcasts, speaking panels, media interviews, or even your company newsletter. As noted by Crunchbase News, storytelling can be the chain reaction that catapults investment, team growth, media attention, and community support . The outcomes of your clean technology matter more to your audience than your inputs, impressive as they may be. Capture those real narratives. That’s the raw material investors, customers, and your team love. Final Thoughts Your company wasn’t founded to collect data. It was founded to create change. And change is felt—not measured. If your story stays on a spreadsheet, your message stays behind closed doors. But when you bring that innovation into real-world context—how it impacts people, communities, and industries—it stops being just technology. It becomes a catalyst. Get out of the lab. Go tell your story. Because impact is only as good as the audience it reaches.

Cleantech founders don’t start companies just to follow trends—they start them to solve problems. You’re on a mission to decarbonize, electrify, conserve, or revolutionize. But when capital gets scarce, even the most principled team can’t avoid the hard question: Should you pivot your mission to follow the money—or hold the line until the money finds you? We’re living through a moment of retrenchment. Private cleantech investment dropped 40% year-over-year as of Q1 2024 . Public support is increasingly politicized and inconsistent . And venture investors are demanding faster paths to profitability across all sectors . So how should founders respond? Should you chase whatever gets funded—AI, hydrogen, grid software—even if that means moving away from your original value proposition? Let’s break this down with three practical steps. 1. Get Real About Market Fit In a capital-constrained environment, clarity is your best weapon. Investors aren’t backing broad climate impact—they’re backing specific, fundable use cases . That means you don’t need to throw out your mission—but you do need to tighten your positioning. Start by asking: • Are you solving an urgent problem? • Is that problem clearly felt by a well-defined customer segment? • Can you show near-term traction or revenue within that segment? If the answer to any of these is “not yet,” consider shifting your messaging and GTM strategy before you consider shifting the mission. You may not need to change what you build—just how you package and deliver it. Example: A company building grid-resilience technology for utilities may struggle to close early contracts. But that same product reframed for large corporate campuses, municipalities, or commercial developers might find faster traction with buyers who don’t have multi-year procurement cycles. 2. Translate Impact Into ROI Mission-driven founders often default to language about “carbon,” “sustainability,” and “climate impact.” But funders are under pressure to produce returns—not just results (). Your pitch needs to connect your impact to economic value—because your audience still operates on a spreadsheet. That means making your ROI case early and clearly: • How does your tech save money? • What regulatory pressure does it solve? • How does it reduce risk, time, labor, or compliance overhead? If you can’t connect your mission to measurable business outcomes, no pivot will help. But when you can tie your climate value prop to real-world economics, you’ll unlock strategic investors—even in a tight funding climate. Pro tip: Replace “we reduce emissions” with “we reduce energy costs by 22% and avoid $5M in annual downtime.” Same mission, better funding odds. 3. Stop Pitching—Start Partnering In today’s climate market, relationships matter more than ever . Cold pitch decks are yielding diminishing returns. But warm introductions, pilot partnerships, and local engagement are proving critical to early-stage survival. Here’s how to lean in: • Politicians: Position your project as a win they can run on—clean jobs, energy independence, or local investment. • Anchor Customers: Land a lighthouse deployment with a recognizable buyer—even at cost—to signal traction. • Economic Development Offices: They have local incentives, tax credits, and federal ties that can support you when venture capital won’t. This kind of ecosystem building isn’t chasing the money—it’s laying the foundation so money has a reason to chase you. 4. Know When to Pivot—and When Not To Sometimes, changing your messaging, customer segment, or value prop isn’t enough. You might realize that your current business model just isn’t fundable right now—even if the mission is sound. In that case, you’re not selling out by adapting. You’re ensuring your tech gets to market where it can actually make a difference. But know this: chasing trends without conviction will show. If you’re not an AI company, don’t slap “AI” on your deck. If your tech doesn’t solve a hydrogen production problem, don’t pitch into that space. Funders can tell when you’re bluffing. Instead, find the adjacent markets where your tech already has a right to win—and bring your mission with you. 5. Stair Step Cleantech companies have big dreams and long timelines, but it may not be possible to achieve your end goal before your funding runs out. In that case, prove your technology in smaller markets that won’t have global impact in the short term, but generate revenue to keep the doors open. For example, companies creating anodes, cathodes, cells, and materials for EV batteries are extremely capital intensive. Rather than jump into the deep end of the battery pool, it might make more sense to start by selling those advances to companies that make wearables as a way to generate revenue while keeping the larger goal in mind. Final Thoughts It’s tempting to shift focus when funding gets tight. But the best cleantech companies don’t abandon their mission—they reframe it, refocus it, and repackage it to meet the moment. Don’t follow the funding headlines—follow the customers, use cases, and relationships that create momentum . The money will follow. Because at the end of the day, your mission doesn’t have to chase the money—as long as it’s grounded in outcomes that markets (and funders) value.

Why No One Opens Your Newsletter So, your open rates are tanking, and your click-throughs are even worse. You’ve tested sending at different times of day and days of the week, A/B tested call to action buttons, and still—crickets. The issue might not be your content or timing. Your entire approach to email may be outdated. The word “newsletter” has become digital clutter. It evokes something impersonal, infrequent, and ultimately irrelevant. In a world where decision-makers are flooded with content, your email has to feel like a one-to-one conversation, not a corporate announcement. Let’s unpack the three biggest reasons your email isn’t getting read—and how to fix it. 1. Stop Calling It a Newsletter The word “newsletter” sets you up for failure. It sounds long, slow, and not immediately valuable. Instead, treat every email like a headline. The most important real estate is your subject line—not the CTA, not the header image. Subject lines determine whether your email even gets opened. Subject lines are your introduction—it needs to catch the recipient's attention immediately . If you wouldn’t click on it, your audience won’t either. Avoid corporate speak, vague intros like “Company Update,” and overused clickbait. Instead, focus on clarity + value + urgency. Example: • Bad: June Newsletter from GreenTech Solutions • Good: The $5,000 Mistake You’re Making with Energy Credits Also, personalize when appropriate—open rates increase when readers feel like the message was written for them, not blasted to everyone. 2. It’s Too Long. Cut It Down. Overly long emails are less likely to be read in their entirety . And the data backs it up. The ideal length of an email? Around 200 words or fewer. Emails longer than that experience significantly lower click-through and engagement rates. Best newsletter length = 200 words or ~20 lines for optimal click-through rates . That means it should take no more than 30 seconds to read aloud. If it takes longer, you’ve already lost them. People scan. They don’t read. Especially in industries like cleantech where your audience might be investors, engineers, or regulators juggling dozens of priorities. If they see a wall of text, they skip it. If they see one bold point and a clear action to take, they might click. Want proof? In a study on digital communication, shorter messages showed a measurable lift in response rate , and the most effective communications were trimmed by 10–20% from the original length. Make your message visually scannable: • Use bold subheadings • Break up text into bullets • Include one clear call-to-action (not five) And yes—don’t bury the CTA in paragraph five. Put it right after the reader understands what’s in it for them. 3. You’re Talking About the “What,” Not the “Why” A long list of updates won’t move the needle. Too many cleantech companies treat their emails like a press release: • “We got funding.” • “We launched our pilot program.” • “We’re speaking at a conference.” So what? The average reader—whether a potential investor, partner, or policymaker—doesn’t care what you did. They care what it means for them. Why should they be excited, alarmed, or intrigued? Emails should answer WIFM (What’s in it for me?), why it matters, and why now. If you do mention the “what,” it must be paired with a reason to care. Instead of: “We received a $1.2M grant from ARPA-E.” Say: “ARPA-E just backed our carbon capture tech—and here's how it could reduce 70% of industrial emissions.” Relevance drives action. Not accomplishments. Readers respond best to emails built around a clear benefit and purpose (~200 words in length). Stop writing to prove you’re busy. Start writing to show them why your work matters. Final Thoughts The death of the newsletter isn’t about format—it’s about mindset. If your audience isn’t opening your email, it’s not because email doesn’t work. It’s because your email doesn’t respect their time or attention. Here’s your checklist: • Don’t call it a newsletter. • Treat your subject line like a headline. • Get to the point—fast. • Make it about the why, not just the what. • Give one action they can take right now. Remember, your cleantech company isn’t trying to fill inboxes. You’re trying to change behavior, raise money, and move markets. That starts with writing emails people want to open.

Clean energy companies tend to think in terms of site permits, interconnection queues, and megawatts delivered. But there’s another dimension just as critical: the community’s willingness to host your project. Without it, even the most technically sound projects face delays, lawsuits, and public backlash. This is especially true for projects in rural areas or small towns, where changes to the landscape—wind farms, battery storage, transmission—are deeply personal. If residents feel ignored, misled, or excluded from the process, they’ll fight back. Studies show that 775 counties in the contiguous United States have restrictions in place targeting renewable energy. That’s 25% of all counties! These restrictions cut across the political continuum. That’s why early and genuine community engagement is not just good practice. It’s risk mitigation. Here are three ways to build the kind of trust that moves projects forward. 1. Do Outreach Before You Announce the Project Outreach is often treated as a final checkbox—something to do after site control and funding are secured. But if your first public communication is a glossy press release or a mailed notice of construction, you’ve already missed the opportunity to shape perception. Early engagement helps community members feel seen, heard, and included. You should begin outreach well before a project is finalized—ideally before your location is even selected . This might mean informal meetings with community stakeholders, farmers, and local business owners. It can also mean hosting town hall-style listening sessions or being present at civic events—not to pitch your idea, but to listen and learn. People are more likely to support a project they helped shape. They’re also less likely to trust one that was dropped on them overnight. 2. Use Focus Groups and Quantitative Surveys Together Not all opposition is about the technology itself. Sometimes it’s rooted in past experiences, economic fears, or a general distrust of outside developers. To uncover these nuanced concerns, you need both qualitative and quantitative data. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory emphasizes that a mix of focus groups and structured surveys gives you a 360-degree view of local priorities and potential roadblocks . • Focus groups allow for deep, open-ended discussion. You’ll learn not only what people think but why they think it. This helps surface emotional and cultural drivers. • Surveys, on the other hand, validate whether those themes are widespread. They quantify how many people share those concerns—and which ones matter most. For example, your focus group might reveal that residents are anxious about noise from wind turbines. A follow-up survey might show that while this is a top concern for 15% of the community, 65% are actually more worried about economic displacement. Without both methods, you risk acting on a skewed view—or worse, ignoring deeply held concerns. As the Resources for the Future (RFF) study notes, relying on top-down data or generalized assumptions often overlooks key equity and trust-building factors . 3. Bring Local Politicians In Early—and Give Them a Win Community support doesn’t exist in a vacuum. In nearly every project, elected officials—mayors, commissioners, state legislators—can be champions or roadblocks. Engaging them early not only smooths the permitting process, it builds credibility. As research from Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) and DNV shows, projects with early political involvement are more likely to gain local trust and move forward without delay . But it’s not enough to ask for their signature. Make them part of the solution. Give them something to tout to their constituents—something tangible, like: • “We brought 20 new local jobs through this solar array.” • “This project will cut the town’s energy bill by 40%.” • “This battery installation will reduce storm outages by 60%.” If you give a politician a win they can mention on a debate stage or campaign flier, they’re more likely to fight for you when public sentiment waivers. Bonus: How to Maintain Support Over Time Securing support is only the beginning. You’ll also need to maintain it over the life of the project. Here are a few practices that help: • Create an open-door policy. Make it easy for residents to share concerns and ask questions—through a hotline, website, or regular office hours. • Invest locally. Sponsor events, fund scholarships, or create community benefit agreements (CBAs) that give back directly. • Report transparently. Share progress, setbacks, and outcomes regularly. Keep promises and document impact. • Hire local where possible. Contractors, security, maintenance—all of it matters. Trust erodes quickly if people feel forgotten once ground breaks. Final Thoughts In the cleantech world, we often focus on engineering, policy, and capital—but community trust may be the most underappreciated form of infrastructure. By listening before you speak, using data to understand, and inviting local leaders into your process, you build a coalition that not only allows your project to move forward—but wants it to. Because at the end of the day, no amount of megawatts can power a community that doesn’t want to be part of your future.