#151 Winning Grants w/ AI, The Palo Alto Effect, Expanding Your TAM, & More w/ Helena Merk (Streamline Climate)

There are a plethora of national and local grants available to help companies solving the climate problem, but landing one is a herculean effort. Writing them takes months and can result in absolutely nothing. Half of the battle is picking the right grant to apply for. Well, Helena Merk and her team at Streamline Climate are solving that.(Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you) Their AI powered tech helps companies identify which grants to apply for and then helps them land them by ensuring every t is cross and i dotted. Aside from telling us what they are doing, we also got to hear the story of how Helena met her co-founder Douglas Qian and how growing up in Palo Alto impacted her career decisions, among other things. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎---🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  ---🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube 🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey 📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox | https://cleantechies.substack.com/podcast🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel Topics: **3:03 Crash Course on Grants**5:57 Streamlining the Grant Process**12:37 Choosing the Right Grants**19:55 More TAM**25:33 Finding a Co-Founder**26:51 GTM Strategies**42:25 Fundraising Journey**41:27 VC Funding and Grant Writing**44:40 Inbound Processes and VC Decision-makingLinks: **Helena Merk | Streamline Climate**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X Support the showIf you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.70+ Placements5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)90-day placement guaranteeIt's really hard to say no to that. Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company. We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank. Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]