Real Conversations about the Challenges, Insecurities, and Joys of Building a ClimateTech Startup w/ Alina Liu (Disco)

Today we had a really fun, but also impactful, and very transparent conversation, one that is slightly different than a lot of the guests we've had on. Someone who is a lot earlier in her journey of building her company. I wanted to have her on as an opportunity to showcase the life of someone deep in the grind of building their startup with the hope to one day make a massive impact on climate change. There are so many startup founders out there in the midst of building their projects. And certainly, there can be moments of doubt and uncertainty. We wanted to have today's episode to show you that you're not alone - you're not the only one with those feelings of uncertainty and insecurity. Hopefully, it's a bit of encouragement and grounding to reality so you remember that nothing is perfect - and everyone is out there figuring it out. Today's episode is with Alina Liu who is the founder of Disco, a Chrome extension that shows a re-sale option for the product you're currently looking at. I encourage you to reach out to Alina and connect with her. To any founders listening, it's important that you all support each other so we can help solve climate change together. Enjoy the Episode! 🌎📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube.📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter. Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel. https://cleantechies.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-pd2drz6d-N~9nURU5JlyMXv2ZiO5bAQ#/shared-invite/email----- Topics: **1:42 Intro and backstory**3:10 Going from big-ish tech to founding a climate startup**13:40 Building the company and getting started**18:12 Advice to others starting out**22:05 Starting Disco**27:00 How to Maintain Mental Energy**29:10 Raising from Friends and Family**35:24 Experience as a solo female-founder**38:49 Future, Excitement, and Closing Thoughts----- Links: **Connect with Alina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinacliu/ **Get Disco: https://www.usedisco.io/**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners: https://www.next-wavepartners.com/**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clean-techies/**HMU on Twitter: @silasmahner----- Other episodes you might enjoy:**#23 ClimateTech VC Investing w/ Heidi Lindvall (Pale Blue Dot)**#74 Utilizing Carbon in Everyday Products w/ Aaron Fitzgerald of Mars Materials**#83 From 30% to 90% Li Recovery, Founding a ClimateTech Co, & Talent Moat w/ Teague Egan (EnergyX)**#2 Reimagining Carbon as a Useful Product w/ Apoorv Sinha (Carbon Upcycling Technologies) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cleantechies.substack.com/subscribe