The Growth Framework for Cleantech Leaders
The Story That Works in Every Room
For founders who need their story to land with investors, government stakeholders, and customers who don’t all agree on why the work matters.
KATE ISHAY
Marketing / Sales
Boston University Master of Global Marketing Management
August 20, 2026
11:30 AM MST/1:30 EST
What You’ll Learn
A story structure that works whether your audience believes in climate change or just wants the numbers to check out, one you can apply to your next investor or agency conversation
How to anchor your pitch in outcomes both audiences already value: cost, reliability, energy security, competitive advantage
What it actually takes to win investor and government attention when you’re not the only urgent cause asking to be funded
A plain-language way to explain your technology that builds trust with non-specialists without losing credibility with technical peers
How to identify which specific gap, being unclear, unproven, or unheard, is currently costing you funding or partnerships
Who This Is For
Cleantech, climate tech, and energy founders who are post-seed to Series B and preparing for their next raise
Leaders whose product is technically sound but whose story isn’t landing with the audiences who control funding decisions
Founders who’ve noticed their pitch works differently depending on who’s in the room and want one story that works everywhere
Teams competing for government contracts, grants, or attention alongside dozens of other categories asking for the same dollars
Anyone tired of feeling like they have to defend the premise of climate change before they can even talk about their company
If your technology is solid but your story keeps landing differently depending on the room, this session is built for you.
Pitch a climate-motivated investor one way, and a skeptical government official has already tuned out. Pitch the economics first, and the mission-driven partner wonders if you’ve lost the plot. Most cleantech founders end up defaulting to whichever version feels safest for the room they’re in, and neither one is as strong as it should be.
That gap gets more expensive every year. Cleantech companies aren’t just competing with other cleantech companies for capital and attention. They’re competing with every other category that also sounds urgent, also has smart people behind it, and is also asking for the same limited pool of investor and government dollars. Being right about the science isn’t enough. Being seen, trusted, and treated as the obvious authority in your category is what actually moves capital.
This session breaks down the Visibility, Credibility, and Authority framework and applies it specifically to the problems cleantech founders are navigating: building one narrative that resonates across a divided audience, and building enough market presence to compete for attention against causes with bigger budgets and louder microphones.