Often starting as experiments in the lab or software, climate tech needs to scale, be adopted by industry and become financially sustainable to succeed. Domain Expert Felix Rossknecht provides one-to-one support for our ventures, helping them turn innovation into a business proposition. He helps teams step back from the technology to understand business structures, opportunities, customers and long-term growth. As a former founder and commercial leader in the health-tech space, Felix has now coached over 50 companies on commercial strategy. His understanding of how to turn a technical innovation with a positive purpose into something customers are willing to pay for is invaluable to Carbon13 teams. Read the full interview below to learn about Felix’s experience as a Domain Expert.
Would you briefly introduce yourself and highlight what kind of expertise and support the teams can expect from you?
I’m a commercial strategy adviser with 15+ years’ experience helping startups and global brands through major commercial transitions and growth sprints. My focus is on sharper decision making and more scalable execution frameworks. I’ve worked with more than 50 companies internationally. Teams can expect me to challenge assumptions, clarify difficult trade-offs, align people around priorities and turn commercial uncertainty into focused tests.
What made you join Carbon13’s mission to fight the climate emergency by supporting climate tech projects?
The climate tech space, alongside health tech, offers by far the largest potential space for entrepreneurs to meaningfully improve our world and lives. They are also increasingly my own focus areas, for that same reason and because despite the technical challenges it’s crucial to get the commercial strategy right for faster adoption. Carbon13 has consistently been impressive in attracting and guiding very effective teams.
What is the difference when it comes to supporting and working with climate tech founders, compared to other founders?
The fundamentals of commercial strategy are mostly the same across sectors. But working with climate tech founders is different in two main ways. First, they often lead with deep technical or scientific knowledge, and might not always be just as drawn to diving into the weeds of the commercial strategy details. Secondly, in a space that can give a deep sense of mission and positive impact, it’s important to preserve that motivation while pushing to prioritise commercial success without which the mission is going to fail.
Carbon13 is about building sustainable startups and also about building strong teams who can support each other throughout the challenging journey. Are there any examples of teams whose treatment of each other has impressed you and that others could learn from?
I’ve been fortunate to mentor several of your teams that showed very strong awareness of people’s individual strengths and how they can best be combined for a successful company outcome. It takes some humility to step back at times to let a co-founder take over the narrative for an area where they might have a deeper insight, whilst still maintaining alignment.
Building a start-up is a rollercoaster ride with many ups and downs. What tips do you have for founders to cope with this?
The founders that have most impressed me are those who maintain high impact with a stable mind. They usually do really well in two areas: One, they maintain close relationships with their team, advisors or peers, as well as the most important people in their life. Two, they preserve a sense of perspective that their business is not their entire world – it’s less about having lots of hobbies than keeping a peace of mind which takes active practice every day.
Why do you think that Carbon13 is a good place to start a successful climatetech venture?
It seems a very collaborative community with people from varied backgrounds but a shared mission. It also seems to treat its participants less like students than as a group of partners.
What do you think participants need to bring in order to be successful?
In my experience, the best entrepreneurs combine three core strengths in a way that’s very rare: Exceptional judgment, strong emotional intelligence, and exceptional system building ability. These can be trained but also require some innate ability and openness.
Who would you like to work with in the future?
Teams willing to question their assumptions or biases, and centre their progress around sharp decisions and effective execution.
Apply now to Cohort 12
The Carbon13 programme brings together a strong network of domain experts, including Marcus, who have years of experience in venture building and investing. Their expertise helps founders refine their ideas, validate their approach, and build high impact climate ventures with confidence.
Ready to build your venture with us and benefit from this level of support? Applications for our Cambridge cohort are now open. Click the button below to apply, and be sure to submit your application by 31 July.