#295 - The Climate Intelligence Era & The End of Puritanism | Mike D'Aurizio (Bridges)

Is the "green premium" trade officially dead? In this episode, Silas Mähner sits down with Mike D’Aurizio, Partner at Bridges Fund Management, to break down the shifting landscape of climate technology. Together, they explore what "climate tech" actually means in a post-CleanTech 1.0 world, why software and AI are taking center stage to solve second-order energy transition bottlenecks, and how founders should navigate positioning and pitching depending on who is in the room. 🚨 Enjoying the show? Upgrade to a paid subscription to support the podcast, unlock exclusive insights, and get full access to our deep dives: https://www.climatecowboys.co/ Key Takeaways & Select Quotes The Death of the Green Premium: "The green premium trade is kind of dead, at least in the United States... but the short answer is yes, actually the longer answer is no, because there’s so many different things within climate tech." — Mike D’Aurizio The End of Puritanism: "Puritanism is never going to get us anywhere... being a big, financially successful company is the path to impact." — Mike D’Aurizio Targeting Problems over Categories: "Ultimately you should be obsessed with a problem and a specific customer type that you want to serve... there is no market called climate tech." — Mike D’Aurizio Solving Second-Order Bottlenecks: "What we’re really talking about are all these second-order effects that come from adopting new infrastructure and new technologies." — Mike D’Aurizio In This Episode, We Cover: 00:00 – Intro & The Jersey City pizza review origin story. 03:41 – Is Climate Tech dead? The death of the "green premium" in North America. 07:09 – Blurring the boundaries: Why a wildfire insurance company is actually a climate tech startup. 12:40 – Techno-optimism: Why profit-driven entrepreneurs, not politicians, will save the planet. 15:53 – The Chameleon Founder: Tailoring your pitch to the specific economic pain points of your buyer. 19:26 – Dropping puritanism: Why massive financial success is the only true path to global impact. 25:05 – The Climate Intelligence Era: Managing the second-order effects of clean infrastructure. 29:28 – Portfolio deep dive: Electric Era (bypassing grid transformer bottlenecks) and Euclid Power (AI for renewable project permitting). Connect & Follow Subscribe to the Newsletter & Podcast: https://www.climatecowboys.co/ Watch on YouTube: Climate Cowboys YouTube Episode Sponsors Lehmann’s Terms: High-stakes media training for clean tech founders and executives. Prepare your message so it actually lands with investors and media. Learn more at ltmediatraining.com. Roosevelt Talent: The secret weapon for top CleanTech and frontier startups. Headhunting, candidate screening, and top-tier hires at half the price of traditional recruiters. Save time and build your all-star team. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.climatecowboys.co/subscribe