#31: What is your weapon of choice to drive change? - Jacqueline van den Ende
‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ sounds like a fulfilling life motto. But how do you put it into practice? How do you leave a positive mark in the world and enjoy the ride along the way? Ultimately, we all have just one life to experiment with.
Jacqueline van den Ende aims to unlock 1 billion dollars of capital to help power climate solutions. That’s a big dent in the world to make! Jacqueline is a founder turned investor turned founder, twice over. A true adventurer, she moved to the Philippines to launch a startup, then ran a team of 500 as a CEO. Now, she is building Carbon Equity, the world’s first impact investing platform.
The courage to get started
Jacqueline, who grew up internationally, had always a deep passion for entrepreneurship. She had numerous ideas swirling around in her mind, but it took her some time to realize that sharing these ideas was crucial in order to connect with individuals who could provide support and bring her ideas forward with her.
Along her journey, Jacqueline encountered numerous other founders, and it was challenging for her to truly believe that she had equal competence and capability as they did. After all, they had taken the bold step to become founders themselves. Jacqueline possessed all the necessary qualities to embark on her own entrepreneurial journey; the only missing piece of the puzzle was… courage. Listen to the episode and discover the source of Jacqueline’s courage.
‘Impact is about helping move from situation A to situation B with your money’
Jacqueline is explaining a unique aspect of Carbon Equity - it offers a lower minimum investment threshold for private investors who want to support climate solutions. As a result, individuals who would not otherwise be able to invest can now put their savings towards the climate solutions they believe in.
When individuals invest in the stock market, they generally don't have a tangible influence on the overall economy or the development of specific companies. However, when they invest in startups that prioritize climate-focused initiatives, they have the potential to directly contribute to the growth and progress of those startups.
“Our thesis is when people invest, they become invested in, they become actual shareholders of the net zero economy.”
How each person can make an impact
Jacqueline proposes three key questions that can help individuals determine how they can make an impact:
Your career background. What experience puts you in a position to uniquely contribute? For Jacqueline, her financial background was instrumental in enabling her to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
Where you are uniquely good at. Jacqueline describes herself as a person who generates ideas and takes people with her from zero to one.
What you believe in. For Jacqueline, a deep conviction that money can shape the future drives her work.
“ I want to spend the next 30 years of my career, building companies that help solve climate change with the weapon of finance”
After listening to this episode, can you answer these questions for yourself and determine how you want to spend the next 30 years of your career?
About this episode:
We recorded this episode at the Impact Shakers Summit in Brussels, in May 2023, the first European startup event focusing on inclusive entrepreneurship and impact. Impact Shakers is an impact entrepreneurship ecosystem tackling complex societal challenges through inclusive entrepreneurship.
About Jacqueline van den Ende:
Jacqueline van den Ende is co-founder of Amsterdam-based climate fintech company Carbon Equity. Carbon Equity is a climate venture capital and private equity fund investing fintech platform. Carbon Equity was founded with the mission to unlock retail capital at scale to power breakthrough climate technologies whilst enabling more equitable ownership.
Jacqueline brings a unique perspective as a founder turned investor turned founder, twice over. She worked at HAL Investments and at Peak Capital. The other half of her career she spent building and leading companies, including De Kleine Consultant, online real estate marketplace Lamudi (backed by Rocket Internet) and fintech scale-up TrueMoney (backed by Ant Financial).
