Raising Smarter: How Cleantech Startups Are Adapting in 2026: "And a growing portion of my work is as a fractional VP of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships for cleantech startups. And mission-driven companies."

Viral Topic: The New Reality of Fundraising in 2026
Quote: "investors are moving more slowly, doing deeper diligence, and they're really prioritizing real clear, tangible, visible traction over just a great idea."

Surviving the New Fundraising Landscape: "And founders really need a resilience mindset if you're going to raise money in 2026. You need to, you know, be aware that you might be asked for more information, it might take longer, you might hear no more often than a similar idea would have heard in the past. And all of that is just part of the new ecosystem that we're in. It's not personal."

Viral Topic: The Importance of Experience and Teamwork in Fundraising
Quote: "Fundraising is oftentimes more of a team sport. Leaving it to one person to just kind of say, okay, you go raise the money and we're gonna work on product over here, we're gonna go work on marketing over here, that is not the best way to do it unless you have an incredibly connected leader who's raised, you know, very successfully in the past, but that's a pretty small proportion of total founders out there."

Viral Topic: Why Early Revenue Matters
"The next strategy that encouraging people to pay attention to is to think about revenue earlier than you have in the past, and that can be true even if it's messy. So pilots and early customers matter more than they used to. Any revenue coming in is the market saying we're willing to invest in this, this is something we're excited about."

Early Revenue Matters: "That early revenue for pilots might not be 100% or even the majority of what you need to float the company, but the fact that it's there and you're planning for it in your funding plan earlier than would have been true in the past is increasingly important, and I highly recommend it."

The Power of Strategic Partnerships for Early-Stage Startups: "By finding important partners in the ecosystem of where you're playing as a startup, that's going to help you get more traction. It's a force multiplier."

Viral Partnerships for Innovation: "Really look at how you can go beyond to people in your sector traditionally partner with and bring in innovation through partners who've been trusted in your ecosystem, whether that's your region or your state or your country."

Ecosystem vs. Lone Wolf Fundraising: "That ecosystem thinking beats, you know, being the lone wolf, being a solo, you know, leader. It's becoming much harder to be that lone wolf and raise successfully, whereas people who are embedded in an ecosystem and leaning into their ecosystem partners as they're going out and raising, seeing them get much, much more success."

Let Your Values Guide Your Business: "Until next time, I want to thank you for working for positive impact, and please keep letting your values guide your business."