How a climate tech CEO grows his inner circle, including Larry Summers [Video]

Nearly fifteen years into founding climate tech company Palmetto, Chris Kemper has seen plenty of changes across the clean energy industry, from early solar companies that are now public to Series A startups founded following the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Ensuring that the company continues to evolve in what Kemper calls “a complicated space” has been critical, especially with its goal of having a significant impact on mitigating climate change. 

But meeting that lofty challenge is increasingly not just a function of Kemper’s gained expertise in renewables and clean technology from stints at the UN and financing clean energy projects in developing countries before founding Palmetto, he told us recently. “You’ve got to deal with all sorts of stuff,” he said, rattling off several topics from international and domestic policies to the evolution of AI and building towards potentially becoming a public company. 

Building the proper sounding board is critical for …