#155 Supporting Underrepresented Founders, Hardware MVP & Scaling, Partnering w/ Corporates, & More w/ Ryan Jeffery (Gener8tor)

Silas speaks with Ryan Jeffery, Sr. Managing Director of the Sustainability Accelerators at Gener8tor, a collection of Accelerators that serve the rest of the country outside of SF, NYC, and Boston, where the majority of VC dollars go. (Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you)Ryan started as a founder. Later, he became a VC and eventually ended up in Gener8tor running the sustainability-focused accelerators because of his desire to be closer to the founders and more involved. He shared a lot of great data on where funding goes, his story, why investing in underserved founders is, beyond being the right thing to do, also leads to better returns. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎-----🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  -----🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨-----📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel-----Topics:**4:00 Joining Gener8tor**7:40 Biz Model, Challenges, & Financing an Accelerator**8:56 Partnering w/ Corps**11:35 Focus on Underserved Areas**13:54 The Role of Non-Silicon Valley States in Climate Transition**22:00 Value Add of an Accelerator**34:13 Collab in Non-Tech Hub Areas**40:27 Gap for These Founders**42:03 Role of AI in Solving Climate Change**49:40 Milestones for Hard Tech Companies**57:46 Hiring & Building a Team**59:57 Raising Tips**1:06:44 Advice to Investors**1:08:19 Getting into VC-----Links:**Ryan Jeffery | Gener8tor**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]