We don’t need to rehash the trouble we’re in with regards to the climate, so we won’t. We’re here to do something about it, and to help others do so, too.
The climate crisis is a war too big for any one person, or even several thousand people, to fight alone. It is a war with myriad fronts: from the behind-closed-doors struggle to steer policy, to the lab bench where the next green chemistry breakthrough is about to happen, to the city streets where volunteers plant trees to alleviate heat islands. All these actions and many more are necessary if we are to save ourselves from destruction. Every person’s contribution, no matter how small, matters. But one thing all these efforts have in common is the need for resources.
Time. People. And money.
That money exists, some even in the hands of those who want to contribute to the fight. Often, only one question hamstrings its deployment: Where, on this sprawling battleground, will that money make the most difference? It takes deep knowledge and keen insight to answer.
That’s where PostLinear comes in.
We’re Anna Sorokina and Ariel Hyre. With combined backgrounds in science, engineering, climate investing, and public policy, together we’re collecting the knowledge and providing the insight to help investors like you decide where to deploy your capital most effectively.
Whether you’re just dipping your toes in angel investing or deep in the capital stack, PostLinear is here to level you up. We’ll explore topics ranging from chemistry fundamentals to the role of labor unions in the climate transition. Our goal is to help you be as effective as possible at putting your dollars to work.
What can you expect from us? Quarterly articles going deep into topics related to climate investing and the energy transition. You don’t need a Ph.D. or MBA to follow us – just curiosity and the time to read beyond the headlines. We’ll bring you lessons from the lived experience of seasoned operators, coupled with analysis and actionable take-aways for you as an investor. You won’t get content like this from ChatGPT!
“Whoever saves a single life, it is as though they have saved an entire world.”
That’s a tenet of Jewish philosophy that becomes ever more relevant in dire times. We – the extractive societies of the planet – have already lost the battle for 1.5 °C. We’ve failed to revector ourselves to avoid many of the terrible consequences of climate change. But all is not lost, yet. Every ton of emitted CO2 we can avoid is worth avoiding. The extinction of any species is worth preventing. There’s a poignant anthology titled All We Can Save that highlights this brilliantly. Go read a few essays in it and come back. We’ll wait.
As we all (should have) learned in kindergarten, no single person is the center of the universe. Every living human shares the same capacity for joy, sadness, and pain. Power may be distributed inequitably, but consciousness and inherent value are not. So when I donate to a food bank and help just one single mother feed her kid, that matters. When you console a friend who’s struggling, that matters. Every act that alleviates suffering and brings respite to another soul is worth doing. By mitigating climate change we avoid suffering and death caused by future storms and famine; thus, every act to protect our planet protects humanity, too.
But humans aren’t the only ones worthy of protection. I find it disingenuous to use the phrase “the natural world” to separate homo sapiens and our creations from beings like trees and frogs. There are reams of text out there that eloquently posit humanity’s place within our global ecosystem – not as divinely mandated owners, but as members of a community. I won’t rehash those arguments here, merely state that we at PostLinear agree with that view. However, we also recognize that humans have outsized influence on our environment. And as anyone who’s ever heard of Spiderman can tell you, “with great power comes great responsibility.” We are responsible for the damage we’re doing; thus we are responsible for repairing it as well. If we want to succeed, we need all of us, doing all the work, and doing it now. It’s time for each of us to find our niche and get started.
Individuals are of course limited in how much we can contribute, but being limited does not exempt us from trying. And some of us are less limited than others. An unhoused person doesn’t have the luxury of choosing to install an induction stove over a gas range, but someone with the means to build their dream home can make that choice. A parent working three jobs to support their family might not have a spare afternoon to pick up trash in the neighborhood, but a high school kid who’s finished with homework does. Now scale it up: a grad student surviving off cup noodles can’t drop a few million dollars to fund a startup (though they might found one!), but an independent investor with plenty of money to deploy could catalyze the next climate tech revolution.
Are you that investor?
While we’re very firmly mission-oriented, we’re pragmatic, too. Philanthropy isn’t our niche; an investor has to make money. That’s why at PostLinear, we pride ourselves on valuing not just impact potential, but the likelihood of financial success. After all, the bigger the business, the bigger the impact – and the returns. We believe doing well by doing good is achievable. We’re here to help you achieve it.
Our articles focus on impactful sectors, but our analyses center on the business cases within them. What are the key factors determining adoption? What technologies have organic demand, and which are facing headwinds? Most importantly, why? We’ll unravel the nitty-gritty and lift the fog so you can see what’s big, what’s little, what’s surprising, and where true opportunity lies. We aren’t selling you the fantasy of SaaS – we’re grounded in the realities of doing business. Our bread and butter is sharing cold hard truths about cold hard tech.
Will we touch on other topics? Yes. Stay tuned for pieces on trends in wealth advising and AI’s impact on industry. But all of our content is designed to give you, the investor, the tools you need to make sound financial decisions about where to put your capital. Together we’ll help you put ideas in context, see past the buzzwords, and ask the right questions in diligence.
This is PostLinear: a virtuous cycle of investment, impact, and return that drives more investment. Welcome aboard.
Do you have specialized expertise you want to share? A unique story to tell? Ideas for topics you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you! Send us a message, and we’ll get in touch.