Marcus
Hale
Building
companies
at
the
edge
of
climate
and
commerce
.
I
'
m
a
serial
entrepreneur
based
in
Boulder
,
Colorado
.
Over
the
past
decade
I
'
ve
founded
and
scaled
two
companies
in
logistics
and
sustainable
materials
,
raised
$
28
M
in
venture
funding
,
and
helped
teams
grow
from
two
people
to
two
hundred
.
Today
I
'
m
leading
Northwall
,
where
we
'
re
rethinking
how
homes
stay
warm
without
warming
the
planet
.
Active
Since
2014
Companies
Founded
2
Capital
Raised
$
28
M
Exits
1
Acquisition
Focus
Climate
Tech
·
SaaS
·
D
2
C
1 / 4
S T O R Y
From
a
garage
in
Fort
Collins
to
boardrooms
in
San
Francisco
.
I
started
my
first
company
the
month
after
graduating
from
CU
Boulder
.
It
was
2014,
and
e
-
commerce
returns
were
a
nightmare
for
small
brands
.
RelayShip
began
as
a
spreadsheet
and
a
Twilio
account
;
three
years
later
it
was
processing
reverse
logistics
for
400+
retailers
.
We
sold
the
business
in
2020
to
a
global
freight
platform
,
and
I
learned
that
the
best
products
are
built
by
operators
who
have
felt
the
pain
themselves
.
After
a
year
of
advising
early
-
stage
founders
,
I
became
obsessed
with
a
different
pain
point
:
the
carbon
cost
of
home
heating
.
I
co
-
founded
Northwall
in
2021
to
develop
plant
-
based
insulation
that
performs
like
fiberglass
without
the
embodied
carbon
.
We
now
supply
materials
to
homebuilders
across
Colorado
and
Utah
,
and
we
'
re
just
getting
started
.
"
Operator
-
led
,
capital
-
efficient
,
and
deeply
skeptical
of
trends
that
don
'
t
bend
the
cost
curve
."
—
My
operating
thesis
,
written
in
2019
and
unchanged
since
.
2 / 4
VE N T U R E S
Companies
I
'
ve
built
C UR R ENT
Northwall
Co
-
founder
&
CEO
· 2021–
Present
Sustainable
building
materials
startup
developing
hemp
-
based
insulation
and
carbon
-
negative
wall
systems
for
residential
construction
.
Climate
Tech
Manufacturing
B
2
B
AC QUIR ED
2020
RelayShip
Founder
&
CEO
· 2014–2020
End
-
to
-
end
returns
management
platform
for
e
-
commerce
brands
.
Automated
label
generation
,
warehouse
routing
,
and
customer
communications
.
SaaS
Logistics
Exit
P R I N C I P L E S
How
I
work
01
Founder
-
Market
Fit
First
I
only
start
companies
where
I
have
an
unfair
advantage
—
either
deep
sector
knowledge
or
a
lived
problem
.
If
I
wouldn
'
t
use
it
weekly
,
I
won
'
t
build
it
.
02
Capital
as
a
Tool
,
Not
a
Crutch
RelayShip
was
bootstrapped
for
three
years
.
Northwall
raised
strategically
.
I
believe
in
proving
unit
economics
before
pouring
fuel
on
the
fire
.
03
Hire
for
Trajectory
,
Not
Résumé
The
best
people
I
'
ve
worked
with
had
non
-
traditional
backgrounds
.
I
look
for
scrappiness
,
intellectual
honesty
,
and
the
ability
to
learn
faster
than
the
market
moves
.
Raised
$
12
M
Series
A
led
by
Congruent
Ventures
Product
installed
in
2,400+
homes
across
Mountain
West
Team
of
47
across
R
&
D
,
sales
,
and
manufacturing
Bootstrapped
to
$
4
M
ARR
before
raising
a
$
6
M
Series
A
Served
400+
retailers
including
Outerknown
and
Allbirds
Acquired
by
GoGlobal
Logistics
in
Q
2 2020
3 / 4
R E C O G N I T I O N
Select
Press
&
Awards
FORBES
30
Under
30 —
Manufacturing
&
Industry
2019
BOULDER
DAILY
CAMERA
Entrepreneur
of
the
Year
Finalist
2022
T ECHCRUN CH
The
Next
Unicorns
:
Climate
Tech
Startups
to
Watch
2023
COLORADO
IN N O
50
Movers
and
Shakers
in
Denver
Tech
2024
Let
'
s
build
something
that
lasts
.
marcus
@
northwall
.
com
LinkedIn
·
in
/
marcushale
Twitter
· @
marcushale
Substack
·
marcus
.
substack
.
com
(303) 555-0198
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