

Lunch and Learn: Escape the Pilot Trap
It's 2025 - and too many climate tech companies are still stuck in the Pilot Trap.
They’ve identified a real problem, built a solution that works, and lined up pilots that attract paying customers.
And yet—the pilots never scale. Instead come endless pivots, until runway runs out or the solution gets acquired, shelved, and forgotten.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. The Pilot Trap has claimed many promising climate technologies—but it doesn’t have to.
Join Tarun Kapoor for a conversation about how to break free from the Pilot Trap and scale to real-world impact: what separates pilots that scale from those that stall, and how founders, investors, and partners can work together to accelerate beyond pilots and achieve measurable impact.
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