5 Go-to-Market Lessons from Earthshot Labs’ Journey in Climate Tech
Most climate tech startups lead with carbon metrics and environmental impact. But in a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Troy Carter of Earthshot Labs shared deeper insights about building a successful company in this space. Here are the key go-to-market lessons from their journey:
- Find Your Technical Moat Through Sophisticated Problem-Solving
Earthshot differentiated itself by developing advanced ecosystem forecasting capabilities. Rather than just offering basic carbon accounting, they built two distinct technical approaches. As Troy explains, beyond traditional data analysis using “satellite imagery… ground truth data, measurements by hand of trees,” they developed sophisticated “process-based modeling” that creates “a mathematical model of the ecosystem itself, which is taking things like photosynthesis and evaporranspiration, and all the biochemical processes.”
This technical depth helps them stand out in a crowded market while solving real customer problems around project risk assessment.
- Build Infrastructure, Not Just Products
Instead of just selling carbon credits, Earthshot focused on building market infrastructure. Troy outlines their three-pillar approach: “a strong diligence process with a well understood quantitative risk framework,” followed by “an early stage project finance facility,” and finally creating investment vehicles so “investors don’t have to hold projects for 30 years, but actually can get liquidity.”
This infrastructure-first approach positions them to capture value across the entire market, not just individual transactions.
- Lead with Emotional Connection, Not Just Data
Troy’s personal experience watching coral reefs die in Hawaii shaped Earthshot’s go-to-market approach: “I remember crying into my mask, free diving. And that’s a mobilizing moment… because it’s something sort of visceral and right in front of you, intimate and sort of imminent that you really want to save.”
This insight led them to focus on helping customers connect emotionally with environmental impact, rather than just presenting carbon metrics.
- Rethink Traditional Growth Models
Contrary to typical startup wisdom, Troy suggests questioning the “speed and scale” mindset: “What if it was slowing down and becoming more sensitive to what we want to create?” This perspective shapes how they approach growth and customer acquisition, focusing on depth and quality over rapid scaling.
- Build Organizations That Embody Your Mission
Perhaps most importantly, Troy emphasizes building organizations differently: “Earthshot is one of the first companies that I’ve built that integrates what I consider sort of like a personal journey or a healing journey or a spiritual journey along with a business or a team.”
This alignment between organizational culture and mission helps attract both talent and customers who share their values.
The results speak for themselves. Earthshot is working toward enabling “the planting of more than a billion trees, more than 50 million hectares under conservation, and more than 100 million tons of CO2 drawn down from the atmosphere” by 2030.
For founders building in climate tech or other impact-focused sectors, these lessons suggest a different playbook. Rather than racing to scale with a minimum viable product, consider building deep technical capabilities, market infrastructure, and organizations that embody the change you seek to create.
This approach may take longer, but as Troy suggests, sometimes slowing down is exactly what’s needed to create lasting impact in complex markets.