“Cleantech” is a term used to describe technology innovations that shift the global economy from fossil fuels to more environmentally friendly and sustainable sources of energy and material. Cleantech enterprises typically focus on one or more of the following: renewable energy, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and mitigation of the environmental impacts of industry.

Cleantech enterprises invent and perfect things like wind turbines, solar grid-tie inverters, energy-efficient building materials, smart grid software. And we hope they do it sustainably. Any company – consumer products, healthcare, cleantech, etc., may operate in a sustainable manner, but that doesn’t make them a cleantech enterprise. Just like a cleantech enterprise doesn’t necessarily operate sustainably.

More importantly, promoting a cleantech (or greentech) enterprise or offering is not the same thing as using positioning, marketing, or advertising to make a company appear “green.” This practice, commonly called “greenwashing,” is misleading at best, and nefarious at worst. It is not what we do.

Instead, we work with cleantech innovators—those companies whose products are designed to create a more sustainable, livable world for everybody on the planet. Cleantech innovators can be bootstrap startups or established research and commercialization facilities. They may be led by intrepid graduate students or experienced CEOs. They may be financed by friends and family, established venture capital firms or public markets.  But wherever they come from, we’re here to help them move forward.

If I can make a rash generalization, I hear two types of people at the booths. Both groups share one strong quality, which is a passion for their innovation. When they’re good storytellers, the passion and energy are contagious and you walk away and say, “Wow, he’s definitely jazzed about that!”

It’s the differences that really separate the two groups. There are storytellers who ask the right questions to understand their audience and talk in terms of the business of their technology, and there are those who are just so proud of their innovation in terms of the technology that no matter how they try, they can’t talk in terms that a layman, investor or the general public can understand.

I have a very limited knowledge of induction lighting and am far more familiar with LEDs, but after spending a few minutes at one booth, I not only understood what the company does, I learned about their successful trials in three places around the country, and walked away with a very solid understanding of the business. Not once in the course of the conversation did the person take me down the long, winding road of deep detail on the technology. It was a great business conversation.

Just down the lane from him was a company that provides an energy management solution at both the commercial and residential levels. I am very familiar with these technologies. Five minutes into this CTO’s pitch, I was still not sure what exactly his company did. I interrupted him at one point, mentioned several companies and their technologies, hoping to hear a comparison to something I did understand. Instead, he continued down his path of deep detail of the technology. He then proceeded to boast that he was the former CTO of a reputable firm and has over 20 years of developing software for the likes of X, Y and Z. It was a frustrating monologue on his technology.

What separated the two: knowing their audience, speaking in terms of the business value of their technology, and their storytelling abilities. When telling your story, whether in front of investors, at a conference, on your website, in your collateral or anywhere else, ask yourself these questions: Are you the business person in the firm, or the scientist? What do you want to convey? In most cleantech startups, you need to play both roles. But make sure you take off that lab coat when you’re talking about your company, jump into that business owner mindset, and tell the great story of your business, so that you leave your audience emotionally charged and interested in knowing more.

Curious? Download the PDF here:  Posit Partners Green Tech Meetup Presentation.

This has been attributed to everyone from Samuel Johnson to Abe Lincoln to Mark Twain. And if you’ve ever tried to write a one-page (or one-paragraph) brief on your technology, you probably understand exactly what it means. If you’ve ever tried to read a 20-page brief on a new technology, you probably also understand exactly what it means.

One of the most challenging things for technology-based companies, particularly in the cleantech space, is to explain what they do and why it matters in a concise, clear manner. And it’s not because the folks writing don’t know what they’re talking about – quite the opposite, in fact. Writing a “short letter” is a matter of distilling vast amounts of information. Here are three simple pieces of advice:

Know your audience. Who are you talking to? Investors? Great! Keep it short and sweet, and show off your knowledge when they ask you questions. Potential customers? Consider what they really care about, and address those points.

Keep it simple. Complicated is not the same as sophisticated. And simplicity is anything but simple. You want your audience to understand what you’re telling them…fast, and on the first try. So make sure you’re not overloading on technical terms and complex explanations when common terms and simple metaphors can suffice.

Do the Smart Journalist test. Especially when it comes to outward-facing materials like Websites, make sure you’re not putting undue pressure on your reader. The last thing you want is to make them work too hard at understanding what you do. So ask yourself: would a smart journalist understand what I’m saying here? Without having to consult Wikipedia?

Simple is tough. Clear is tough. Concise can be even tougher. So don’t be shy about asking us how we can help. After all, that’s what we’re here for.

While it is important to announce your existence to the world (not to mention your target market) a lot of new companies make strategic errors when doing so. They’ve earmarked all kinds of money for Web development and brochure printing, but they’ve neglected something far more important: a sound competitive positioning strategy and a coherent and cohesive core message.

A Website or a brochure without sound positioning and messaging can expose a lack of knowledge about your target market and your competition. You don’t want to give that impression, and you certainly don’t want to waste anyone’s time: not yours, and certainly not that of potential investors, customers, or partners.

So how should you proceed? First things first.

1. Gather information about your target market, your audience, and your competitors. If you’ve received funding, chances are that you did this exercise as part of your pitch to investors. If not, the easiest place to start is, of course, the Internet. Take a look at local, regional, national, and international competitors. What do they offer that you don’t? What makes you different, and better? What kinds of companies make up your target market? How much are they growing? How much are they spending? What kinds of people work at them? Scientists? Technologists? MBAs?
2. Decide how to position your company in the market. Where does your company stand in the market now, and where do you aspire to be tomorrow? A strong position is a strategic stance—in the context of the competitive marketplace—that prepares you to meet your business objectives.
3. Create a solid value proposition that your entire team can rally around. A great value proposition is your company declaration; it defines what you do, who your customers are, what benefits your product or service provides, and how you’re different from the competition.
4. Develop your brand identity. And that means much more than creating a logo – it also means determining what your brand personality is – how you say what you say, and how your company is visually portrayed.
5. Make your message count. The right messaging starts with your position, your value proposition, and your brand voice. The right messaging ends with a document that can be used as the basis for all marketing activities – from Web sites to pitch decks.

Of course, if your staff is stretched too thin, this can seem like a mountain of work. Which is where we come in. Posit Partners specializes in positioning and messaging for companies like yours. And we’d love to talk to you.