CleanTechies Podcast

What it Takes to be a Good VC w/ Shawn Xu (Lowercarbon Captal)

March 14, 2023 Silas Mähner - Renewables, ClimateTech, & ESG Headhunter Season 1 Episode 88
CleanTechies Podcast
What it Takes to be a Good VC w/ Shawn Xu (Lowercarbon Captal)
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Show Notes

Super excited to share this with you. We've got someone who went to the same high school where Steve Jobs and Woz did back in the day. He then worked at Square on international expansion, went on to work with VC Legend Mike Maples, and eventually ended up as the Chief of Staff at Chris Sacca's, Lowercarbon Capital. 

We are talking about Shawn Xu. 

Shawn talked us through his journey to climate, what it takes to be a good VC, what they look for, the areas he's bullish on, and what he's working on now. 

I quite enjoyed this conversation (I say that a lot but I do mean it). 

Enjoy today's episode! 

Topics: 

  • 4:29 Intro to Shawn, his career journey, going to high school where Steve Jobs went and getting into VC
  • 11:37 Creating access and equity to the Silicon Valley mentality
  • 15:59 His climate journey
  • 24:38 The inside scoop on VCs - what skills do you need to develop
    • Finding 26:44
    • Picking 27:54
    • Winning 28:58
    • Supporting 29:31
  • 31:54 Lowercarbon's Thesis
  • 34:29 The founders they look for
  • 36:49 Advice to Founders
  • 42:20 Areas he's bullish on
  • 44:42  His role at Lowercarbon 

Links: 

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