Irina Fedorenko, award-winning activist and serial greentech entrepreneur
From launching an award-winning environmental movement to co-founding a startup for tree-planting drones, Irina Fedorenko is a serial entrepreneur with the ability to inspire others to participate in galvanising change.
As a student of marketing in Vladivostock, Russia, Irina poured her time and energy into creating an environmental movement, Greenlight: "The timing was just so right, the city was going through a lot of transformation, and we could influence urban planning decisions and policies. We rolled out a huge environmental education campaign for students and teenagers. There was this huge window of opportunity."
Greenlight impacted around 5,000 people and in 2010, won a WHO award for being the Best Youth Environmental Education Project in Europe.
Irina was awarded an Oxford scholarship, and she soon joined forces with a team of co-founders and a former NASA scientist to launch Biocarbon, a startup that uses drones to plant trees and grass.
After six years with Biocarbon, she's gone on to build two greentech startups: Beta Earth, an innovative venture studio for new greentech solutions and Earthbanc, a green digital bank with high yield accounts for eco-investment.
Fedorenko has built quality networks of considerable sizes across a range of countries and continents. A strong network is one of the most valuable assets for any enterprise, but many people don't place enough emphasis on building networks with the right approach and focus.
Here are Fedorenko's five tips on how to advance your greentech business by building the best network.
Think about people as your future friends
Don't think about your network as a network. Think about people you meet as your future friends and start building relationships based on trust and mutual interests. After all, if you don't like someone, have no common interests or points for discussion, they wouldn't be your friend, and they'd also be useless as part of your network. I believe only genuine connections, even if they are brief, matter and can lead to future partnerships.
Cast a wide net
If there is trust between people, their interests align, and they're willing to put in a lot of work to build a project, a good partnership will undoubtedly happen. It's about casting the net wide enough and then pursuing leads to see if there's enough interest and enthusiasm for building collaboration. Don't be afraid to ask for help. You'll be surprised to see how many people will be willing to help you with advice and connections.
Cold-call to pitch your idea – but look for people who want to meet you halfway
As entrepreneurs, we all learn to study market needs and respond to demand. I prefer working with governments and municipalities who want to meet us halfway or who reach out to us first. You can and should cold-call governmental offices and pitch your idea or innovative solution, but if they are not interested at all, you will only lose time pursuing someone who doesn't care.
Trust is everything
It's not just about being open and honest with your team, but also being open and communicating with investors and partners because that's how you build trust. Without trust, you won't get investment, you can't implement projects, especially if you're talking about bringing something new to very different environments. You need real trust from local authorities, communities, NGOs, and partners.
Your team is everything
Take care of your team. It's a misplaced narrative that there's this Steve Jobs-like superhero who's going to save the world. There's not going to be one person, or one organisation, or one company, that's going to save the world. It's going to be the effort of networks, many people, and many communities, and the faster we understand that, the better. So if you want to succeed its team, communication, trust.
