Climate founders are building some of the hardest companies there are. Long hardware timelines, sceptical investors, and a problem that doesn’t take weekends off. So in every interview, we ask a simple question: what keeps you going?
I expected answers about productivity. What came back instead was dogs, bike rides, park benches and, in one case, a cat who goes for walks. Here’s what the people building the transition actually do to stay well enough to keep building it.
1. Move your body
By far the most common answer. Not as a hobby, but as something close to a non-negotiable.
“If I don’t focus on challenging myself physically once a day at least, than over a span of 2-3 days, everything else gets worse, I’m more edgy. I don’t listen as well.”
Josh Domingues, Founder & CEO, Flashfood
Yaky Yanay, CEO of Pluri, is a runner: “it keeps me balanced and strong.” Samantha Anderson of DePoly runs, picked up outdoor sport climbing after moving to Switzerland, and skis when the snow allows. Todd Mathes, CEO of Denali, protects one thing every single day: “time out for myself to get in an afternoon workout every day.” And Andres Anijalg of Roofit.Solar names his daily habit as “prioritising my wellbeing – making daily time for exercise, fresh air and family.”
Some go further. Iris ten Have at Visionaries Tomorrow starts with sport early in the morning, while her partner Sebastian Pollok, whose mornings belong to his son, tries “to mix in sports and a cold plunge as often as possible.” Ole Poppinga of XPRESS Ventures swears by a cold shower: “it’s energising and helps me to stay focused and motivated throughout the day.”
2. Get outside
“Time outdoors — it gives me space to reflect on why we started.”
Babajide Oluwase, EcoTutu
Nature comes up again and again, which makes sense for people who work on the climate every day. It’s a reminder of what the work is for.
“Yoga has been very transformational for me – I did my teacher training a few years ago, so now I do yoga or a park walk most days. These daily rituals are the antidote to a fast-paced, tech lifestyle – they are ‘non-negotiables’ for me.”
Isobel Wilson, Amazon Sustainability Accelerator
Ciara Doyle of Going Green Media has a favourite bench in the park near home: “At the end of a really long day, even if we have a million things that we have to do, we take 15 minutes to go outside… we’ll go back to the bench, just breathe a little bit and then come back to it.” Jerome Cochet, co-founder of Goodcarbon, walks to work because “it gives me time to reset.”
And then there’s Ash Stott, co-founder of Rhizo, whose daily ritual is “an evening walk with my wife and cat (Yes I walk my cat. No she’s not on a leash).”
Dogs feature heavily too. Annie Chun of Gimme Seaweed says hers “makes me run around and throw balls on her walk,” and while she walks she reminds herself: “I’m good in this moment.”
3. Quiet the mind
Every morning at 5 a.m., Jop Blom of CleantechHUB starts his day with reflection and gratitude. Yaky Yanay begins with a morning prayer: “I am thankful for the good things I have in life.” Moby Ahmed of Ambercycle likes “to meditate, do special stretches, and read 5-10 pages of a book in the morning prior to the first sip of coffee.”
“Meditation and exercise. These are very, very important to me on a daily basis. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to push forward.”
Anas da Kassas, Founder & CEO, INOVUES
Earthbanc’s founder starts the same way, with “meditation, fair trade organic coffee and food, music and dance to get the body moving.” Ecosia founder Christian Kroll meditates and cycles. And Glanris CEO Bryan Eagle takes what he calls “a good reflexive walk – visual walking, seeing, listening to what’s going on around you. That helps to relieve stress and think through the problems of the day and turn off – I try to do that several times a day.”
4. Play
Some of my favourite answers had nothing to do with optimisation at all.
“Sketching, painting, karaoke, and lately attempting stand-up comedy. Mixed results so far.”
Mitchell Possada, Partner, High Impact Capital Partners
Giancarlo Savini of Honeywell goes kitesurfing: “you can feel the wind, at the same time you’re in the water.” Filippo Varini “never miss[es] an opportunity to surf.” Abijit Aji of Gradiant used to unwind with swimming and scuba diving; “these days it’s more reading or chess.” Anthony Agnew unwinds by playing with his four-year-old son and having people round for supper: “I’m a massive feeder.” Tinia’s Radu Puchiu tends his plants and garden, and admits his two cats “can never keep you grounded – they’re my favourite distraction.”
5. Or keep it really simple
Not everyone has a perfect routine, and I love that people were honest about it.
“Roll out of bed, coffee, and then get going.”
Shay Sethi, Co-founder, Ambercycle
“I would love to say that I wake up at 4.30 a.m. and meditate, but I don’t.”
Founder, Homaio
What keeps him going instead is the work itself: “that feeling that I’m working on something that’s extremely hard and exciting and unique.” Marco Möller, CEO of Pionix, protects his energy a different way: “Automate what can be automated. It gives me the headspace to focus on what really matters.” And Ansie van Dyk of Vida Nova describes her ritual as a habit of thought: “Stripping out complexity. Every day, finding the clearest version of the problem I’m solving.”
What I take from this
None of these founders have more hours in the day than you do. What they have is something they protect: a run, a walk, a bench, a cold shower, a song. Small, repeatable things that keep them well enough to stay in the game for the long haul.
If you take one thing from this, pick one ritual and protect it this week, the same way you’d protect an investor meeting.
Every Green Techpreneur interview ends with the same few questions: what keeps you going, how you switch off, and the line you come back to when it gets hard. Building in climate? Tell us your story, and your answer could help the next founder through a hard week.
