#220: Cyrus Wadia, CEO of Activate – $3.6B for PhD Scientists Founding 200 Startups. 1,000 Application for 50 Fellowships. Corporate and University Partnerships. Nike, Amazon, and the White House.
Activate helps scientists and engineers bring their transformative technologies to life. Through a two-year paid fellowship, these science entrepreneurs receive the support they need to turn their ideas into hard-tech startups. Fellows work on climate solutions, advanced manufacturing and robotics, new uses of chemistry and materials, reimagined food and agriculture, space innovations, and more. As a nonprofit organization, Activate partners with philanthropies, universities, government programs, the corporate sector, and VC investors to help fellows bridge the gap from lab to commercialization — all without taking any equity in their startups.Cyrus Wadia is the CEO of Activate. He was previously director of worldwide product sustainability at Amazon, vice president of sustainable business & innovation at Nike, and assistant director of clean energy and materials R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Cyrus was also a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, a senior program officer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the founding co-director of the Haas School of Business CleanTech to Market initiative. He holds a Ph.D. in energy and resources from UC Berkeley and an M.S. in chemical engineering from MIT.--✅ PODCAST TOPICS:Activate has supported 249 fellows, catalyzed $3.6 billion, and helped launch 197 startups. Fellows receive a salary and a $100,000 recoverable grant to develop deep-tech startups addressing societal challenges, especially in climate.Technical founders, particularly PhD scientists, face challenges shifting their mindset from research to business objectives. They must quickly learn skills like hiring, culture-building, fundraising, and balancing technical tasks with managing a business.Cyrus emphasizes stronger university collaborations to foster entrepreneurial thinking among scientists and clearer corporate guidance about market needs and significant industry challenges. This clarity would help Activate choose Fellows aligned with commercial demand.Activate currently receives around 1,000 high-quality fellowship applications each year but can only support 50 due to limited resources. Personally, Cyrus advises prioritizing mentorship early in one’s career. He maintains balance through cycling and clear work-life boundaries. He also recommends Rick Rubin’s book "The Creative Act: A Way of Being" to founders and innovators.--🙏 SHOUT OUTS:Please give Cyrus and Activate some love by sharing this podcast with your people on LinkedIn, Slack, or X.--🔗 PODCAST SHOW LINKS:Cyrus Wadia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyruswadiaActivate - https://www.activate.org--📈 JOIN EFI’S CLIMATE CEO PEER GROUP:Become an EFI Climate CEO Fellow — Join North America’s top private peer group community for growth-stage CEOs in climate tech and sustainability. We’re an invite-only community of 100 CEO Fellows and Mentors (investors and post-exit CEOs) representing over $40B of market value or financial assets for climate solutions. https://www.entrepreneursforimpact.com--📣 GET EFI'S NEWSLETTER:We share 4 insights in 4 minutes from working with 400 climate CEOs and investors. https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com--✍🏼 LEAVE A REVIEW:To help more people discover the climate tech CEOs and investors we interview, please take one minute to review or rate this podcast. Since we don’t take any sponsors for this podcast, our guests really appreciate your reviews!Here are instructions: https://ratethispodcast.com/guides/where-can-people-leave-podcast-reviews--🤔 PODCAST HOST:Dr. Chris Wedding is a CEO coach, investor, serial founder, board member, professor, and occasional monk. Daily LinkedIn posts on climate tech startups, CEOs, and finance here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherwedding
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