New York Climate Week is just around the corner, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how much has changed in the last year for the climate tech sector (hint: a lot). At the core, the industry has shifted from exuberance to resilience. Resilience is all about playing the long game, which also applies to our communications strategies.
In climate tech media, headlines are transitioning from the early funding rounds and pilot projects of the early 2020s to off-take agreements and customer deployments in 2025. Entrepreneurs know that promoting these moments is essential in building stakeholder confidence in a company and technology. For the investor audience, they’re saying, “This company is bankable!”. Prospective customers and employees also want to see a company making progress against its goals. These moments are critically important to highlight, but only scratch the surface in building long-term confidence.
In an environment defined by urgency, scrutiny and the long timelines required for deep tech impact, we need to focus on strategic messaging and storytelling that inspires trust and conviction over the long haul. This means not just promoting what happened but shaping narratives that connect and reinforce the dots between vision and execution.
Here are a few tips to shape long-game messaging that supports the stakeholder audiences who need to believe in the company’s potential, resilience and importance.
1. Show the Roadmap, Not Just the Milestone
Stakeholders want to understand where a company is going and why it matters. Messaging should consistently reinforce the long-term vision: what the company is building, the problem it exists to solve and how each achievement supports that broader mission. This communications strategy isn’t unique to climate tech, but it is perhaps more of an imperative given the timelines between R&D and commercialization.
Beyond celebrating the milestone, highlight:
- How each phase of growth (technology, team, commercial traction) ladders up to systemic impact
- The market transformation the company is enabling, not just what it’s selling
- How this progress de-risks the technology and the company
This kind of storytelling connects tactical wins to strategic purpose—building belief and buy-in. It needs to be part of the CEO’s pitch and reinforced through external communications.
2. Communicate Commercial Maturity, Not Just Innovation
While breakthrough tech is exciting, it’s not enough. Stakeholders also want to see that a company can deliver at scale and at cost, ultimately creating real value. This is hard for early-stage companies, but it’s important to look for opportunities to demonstrate tangible (if not steel-in-the-ground) wins.
Build credibility with:
- Customer traction, including contracts and use cases
- Movement from pilot programs to revenue-generating growth
- Strategic partnerships and ecosystem support
- Executive hires who’ve “done this before”
The goal is to show the company is more than a future possibility, that it’s actively building the solution now.
3. Elevate the Team as a Signal of Strength
How often have you heard a VC say they invest in a team, not a technology? People are investing in people. Whether you’re looking to attract talent, customers or capital (or all of the above), your team is an asset to leverage through your communications channels.
Entrepreneurs should build the company’s credibility through the voices of its extended team:
- Showcase expertise and operational strength beyond the CEO by expanding the spokesperson bench.
- Highlight technical leaders, commercial builders, and culture shapers
- Consider your investors, board and other third-party champions as part of the extended team
- Use thought leadership, media interviews and speaking engagements to demonstrate the experience and expertise that the company has attracted.
A credible, visible team builds confidence across the board.
4. Be Transparent About Tradeoffs and Timing
The climate tech journey is long, complex and rarely linear. Stakeholders don’t expect perfection, but they do expect honesty. The company will likely pivot at least once along the way, so it’s wise to be honest and humble.
CEOs and their communications teams should be transparent about:
- The challenges ahead, and how you’re navigating them
- Adjustments to strategy or timelines, with rationale
- How progress is being measured and reported
Transparency isn’t a risk; it’s a credibility builder – so keep it real.
5. Keep the Narrative Alive Between Big Moments
If you only communicate during major launches or funding events, you miss opportunities to reinforce your progress.
Make sure to fill the in-between moments with:
- Thought leadership: insights into industry trends, regulatory updates, market shifts
- Smaller technical and operational wins
- Employee stories and company culture
Ongoing, thoughtful communication keeps stakeholders engaged and confident in your trajectory.
6. Think Beyond the Press Release
Not every milestone will make news headlines – many of them won’t. But you have many other effective channels to keep stakeholders informed and engaged throughout your journey.
Apply these messaging and storytelling strategies across:
- LinkedIn: Share company stories through the corporate channel, but don’t forget about your personal handle and network. Encourage the team to do the same.
- YouTube: If you have videos of lab work, construction of a pilot facility or customer interviews, start the channel now to support your visual storytelling capabilities.
- Trade publications: Contribute a thoughtful (non-promotional) article offering insights within your industry. Promote the published piece through LinkedIn and on your website.
- Newsletter: If you don’t have a newsletter to keep interested parties informed, this is a great way to capture contact information and log interest from prospective investors, partners and customers.
The path to impact in climate tech is long. Strategic storytelling is essential to earning and sustaining the belief of those who matter most. By crafting narratives grounded in vision, transparency, and commercial proof, you can build the trust and resilience needed to go the distance.