“How do I break into cleantech?”

As the sector heats up, far more people than I can possibly help are approaching me with this consistent question.  And while it’s a bit frustrating not to be able to help out as much as I would like, it’s certainly encouraging for the sector to see so much smart business talent seeking to get involved.

Almost 3 years ago now I wrote up a post on breaking into the sector, and most of it still applies well.  One major difference is that there are a lot more opportunities to get involved, given the sheer number of additional business efforts underway now.  So take heart, job seekers!

But also take to heart that the single most important thing to remember is that it’s probably best to look to take what you already have been doing and figure out how to translate that into a cleantech context.  If you’re a sales and marketing professional, what industries have you been selling into, and what are their energy, water and materials needs?  If you’re an operations professional, what clean technologies require similar manufacturing approaches?  Etc.  Too often the individual job-seekers or entrepreneurs seem to be wanting to simultaneously change markets, skillsets, etc., in order to go after the “hot” market segments.  But the great thing about cleantech for investors and job-seekers alike is how broad and varied clean technologies and cleantech markets are—and how much they tend to resemble other, more traditional sectors one way or another.

So find the place where you fit and are needed, don’t just go after the sectors getting the headlines.

Other ways to get involved:  The California Clean Tech Open is soliciting entrants, but the deadline is TODAY, so sharpen your pencils and get to work on that business plan…  And in a lighter-touch vein, REBN is working with The Economist on their Corporate Sustainability Debate, join in and have fun with it.

Deals from the past week:

• Congrats to Joel:  Greener World Media has raised a $1mm Series A round from the K Group.

• Eco2 Plastics raised a $6.5mm PIPE led by Trident Capital and Thompson Hutton, LLC.  Over $6mm in notes and interest also converted as part of the round.

• Chrome replacement company Helios Coatings announced a $4mm round of financing led by Hopewell Ventures.

• Algae-to-biodiesel startup Aurora Biofuels announced an insider $20mm Series B, led by existing investor Oak Investment Partners.  Previous investors Gabriel Venture Partners and Noventi also participated.

• Cleantech Invest AG announced an investment in Sinosol, a German-Chinese photovoltaics company.  Sinosol also announced plans for an IPO.

• Cleantech investors in the news:  Jim Matheson of Flagship Ventures has been writing up his experiences touring around the UK discussing cleantech—check out his adventures here, here and here.

• Cleantech cluster-building:  A report by the New England Clean Energy Council says that cleantech could bring in $1B in local investment by 2012…  Also, here’s a nice write-up on the Council’s newly-formed fellowship program.

Other news and notes:  Cleantech patent activity has been pretty flat over the last couple of years—with some of the hotter sectors seeing some curious declines…  Toyota puts PHEVs on a path for 2010 commercialization...  More and more, the consensus seems to be that water is the next big thing…  Finally, Earth2Tech did a nice FAQ on Obama’s energy policy proposals.