Derek Handley: Opposing Tension, Difficult Founder-VC Conversations & Sustainability Investing Fundamentals - E183

Derek Handley is a futurist, entrepreneur and an aspiring civilian astronaut signed up to visit space with Virgin Galactic.

He created the Aera Foundation in 2014 as a charitable studio catalysing social innovations to reframe the status quo for a sustainable future. Global venture fund Aera VC followed and has been backing global radical climate solutions and frontier breakthroughs for humanity since 2017.

Prior to establishing Aera, Derek alongside Sir Richard Branson, was the Founding CEO of The B Team, a non-profit alliance of global business leaders acting as a catalyst for bold dialogue, courageous leadership and brave action toward a fairer, greener and more human economy.

Prior to The B Team, Derek spent 10 years founding and growing an early mobile-phone tech company The Hyperfactory, which he built to be a global success and later exited to Meredith Corporation/Time Inc.

Returning to New Zealand with his wife and family, Derek founded Wiser Conversations, an online conversation and podcast series helping people ask better questions to develop self-knowledge and purpose in their lives. Wiser programs run at AUT University in Auckland where he is an Adjunct Professor; through workshops for family offices and elite athletes around the world.

Derek is currently studying towards a Masters in Religion at Harvard. Previously he studied at MIT, Singularity University and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Show notes at: https://www.jeremyau.com/blog/derek-handley