54. How to make ESG work in venture capital with Andrew Noble of Par Equity

ESG is an area that is work in progress at the moment. Andrew Noble is a partner at Par Equity, but is also on the Steering Committee of the ESG_VC initiative, which is trying to pull together a standard framework for venture capital. We cover a wider range of areas in our discussion. Andrew talks about ESG generally and gives a framework for how he thinks about different types of ESG. We discuss how the market looks at these things and outline some of the challenges. We dig into how ESG works in venture capital in particular. We talk about the challenge of setting goals in companies that have limited resources and how to think about when companies should look at these things. Referencing the ESG_VC report, we talk about how companies set priorities and how breaking down the data gives insight into when companies are progressing in different areas. Finally we talk about how these issues are presented in the market and how to avoid greenwashing. Par Equity website: https://www.parequity.com/ (https://www.parequity.com/) ESG_VC website: https://www.esgvc.co.uk/ (https://www.esgvc.co.uk/) ESG_VC report: https://www.esgvc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ESG_VC_Report_2022.pdf (https://www.esgvc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ESG_VC_Report_2022.pdf) After our recording, Andrew also suggested the following podcast episode for further perspective on ESG: https://thisweekinstartups.com/proof-of-impact-ceo-fleur-heyns-on-meaningful-metrics-for-measuring-environmental-impact-this-week-in-climate-startups-e1466/ (https://thisweekinstartups.com/proof-of-impact-ceo-fleur-heyns-on-meaningful-metrics-for-measuring-environmental-impact-this-week-in-climate-startups-e1466/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hard+thing+about+hard+things+ben+horowitz&qid=1655993402&sprefix=hard+thin%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-1 (The Hard Thing about Hard Things) by Ben Horowitz Bio Andrew Noble Partner, Par Equity Andrew is a member of Par Equity's Investmen