Hampus Jakobsson is a common companion at Pale Blue Dot, a climate-focused VC agency headquartered in Malmö, Sweden. Right here Jakobssen explains why the agency made the selection to rent a head of analysis. This oped first appeared within the Maintain e-newsletter, our weekly roundup of the largest information in local weather tech — subscribe right here.

Figuring out the influence of local weather interventions isn’t as easy as merely measuring the tonnes of carbon saved, particularly if you’re speaking about very early-stage startups. How do you set a quantity on an concept that would assist us put together for the brand new world that’s coming for us? 

Reasonably than making an attempt to measure tonnes of carbon or put a price on the influence, we wish to actually perceive the science behind local weather tech improvements. So we invested in analysis.

Our analysis focuses on two key areas. The primary is “live-deal” initiatives. That’s after we’ve discovered a startup, we wish to know extra, and we want this info rapidly. We wish to know what the potential for influence is, each constructive and damaging. This sometimes entails wanting into the science behind the innovation to find out if that is actually one of the best method to the issue. 

The second is “thesis initiatives”: bigger initiatives that take a broad take a look at a specific space. It’s not at all times that we’re in search of investments in that house: it could be a subject that we really feel we have to perceive higher with a purpose to make extra knowledgeable choices basically. 

In looking for somebody to guide the cost on our analysis efforts, we got down to discover somebody who was a “written communicator” at coronary heart. An skilled on the science of local weather change, and in taking that info and presenting it with each brevity and depth in order that we as buyers could make assured and knowledgeable choices. It was equally essential to search out somebody who actually cared concerning the points at hand, and noticed hope for a greater future. 

We discovered that in Lindsey Higgins, who joined the crew in August final yr. Lindsey definitely has the educational know-how; she has a PhD in bodily geography from Stockholm College, the place her analysis centered on local weather change and freshwater points.

So, for those who determine to make your personal funding in this type of analysis, the place do you have to begin? Lindsey says: “I feel geographers like myself are actually well-positioned to ship the type of insights that may assist drive decision-making. We’re educated to search for connections between individuals and the setting and have a reasonably big selection of instruments at our disposal. Many geographers even have sub-disciplines in local weather change, water science, biology, economics, and extra.”

Listed below are a couple of extra suggestions to assist discover the best match to your head of analysis:

Make it clear that it is a non-investing function.

Your researcher ought to ideally have an informing function, not a voting function, so make that clear from the start. This place is about saying how doable an answer is or how massive the local weather downside is, not deciding which founders will win and the way markets will develop.

Search for somebody who has labored with science communication.

The best candidate ought to be capable of take a multitude of difficult knowledge and analysis and translate that into clear and concise insights. This work has no worth if the tip product just isn’t learn and understood.

Familiarity with the startup world is a significant plus.

We all know that life on this house typically strikes on the velocity of sunshine, and the best candidate will perceive that as nicely. Possibly they labored at a startup themselves, with one other VC, and even at an incubator. They need to be accustomed to the startup ecosystem and know the right way to work together with (and possibly even discover!) founders.

And eventually: prioritise curiosity.

Search for somebody who likes to study, and to share these learnings.

Freya Pratty is a reporter at Sifted. She tweets from @FPratty and writes our sustainability-focused e-newsletter Maintain, which this interview first appeared in — you may enroll right here.