Lessons from Cohort 2023: Navigating and Growing from Unexpected Pivots

Celebrating the Activate New York Community’s graduating Cohort 2023 and one fellow’s non-linear journey

Looking back, recently graduated Cohort 2023 fellow Gus Marquez says the Activate Fellowship was “nothing like” what he expected.

He had entered the fellowship confident in his plan to build a carbon sequestration technology for climate impact. But the fellowship prompted him to dig deep into customer needs. After exploring multiple problem areas, he ultimately landed on mining wastewater and critical minerals: a problem he says has “massive environmental impact, clear customer demand, and real urgency.”

Marquez says that the fellowship allowed him to “try on” multiple startups until he found the right fit—and with the support of the Activate community, weather the ups and downs that come with making a major pivot. Moreover, he says his non-linear journey helped him become a better entrepreneur.

Read more about Marquez’ inspiring path and lessons learned as an Activate Fellow.

Gus Marquez during Activate’s 2023 New York Climate Week Tech Showcase

What’s been the toughest challenge in your entrepreneurial journey so far and how did you navigate it?

The toughest challenges of the entrepreneurial journey so far have been the emotional ups and downs of being a founder. You can be pragmatic, methodical, calculated, and otherwise prepared to ride the waves of building a company from an idea—but I learned through experience that the most precious resource is emotional energy.

In the face of a barrage of startup challenges, the Activate community was an incredible resource. No matter what issue I faced, emotional or practical, I could lean on the other fellows for support and momentum. I also leaned hard into the educational course component (we call them FLIPs, or Founder Learning in Pods) to learn how to make better decisions more quickly, how to utilize coaches and advisors, and how to conduct customer discovery interviews. Additionally, I built my own Activate founder network by organizing dinners and office hours where we could all share experiences and resources.

Activate New York Community, including Gus Marquez (middle, far right), during the Activate 2025 Reunion

Your company has made a major pivot since you started your fellowship. What drove that decision, and what did you learn from the experience?

I went through some pivots that required both introspection and big decisions, but it all contributed to my growth as an entrepreneur. Ultimately, those pivots were driven by wanting to make the most successful startup I could—one that would get customer traction and would solve important customer pain points. And it started with questioning assumptions. 

I started out trying to build a CO2 sequestration technology for climate impact. But I had assumed that carbon emissions were a pain point for my mining customers and they’d be excited to make revenue from carbon credits. They were not. So I pivoted into geotechnical monitoring and dam management—a critical need. But I quickly learned that complex market and sales dynamics are a tough business model for a startup. I kept going deeper into mining industry problems, listening harder to what customers really needed, and ultimately landed on mining wastewater and critical minerals: a problem with massive environmental impact, clear customer demand, and real urgency. And with life, I also got lucky: I found a great technology with motivated researchers that wanted to support me in solving a critical mining pain point. I’ve been hustling to build Stalagmite ever since.

What did you learn from this experience?

The through-line of my fellowship was a process of learning to question my assumptions,  finding the right problem for customers, learning what problem spaces really motivate me, and failing (and getting back up) fast!

“The through-line of my fellowship was a process of learning to question my assumptions, finding the right problem for customers, learning what problem spaces really motivate me, and failing (and getting back up) fast!”

How did your experience in the fellowship differ from what you were expecting when you applied?

My experience was nothing like what I expected. Initially, I thought the Activate Fellowship would be linear: design the product, build it, pilot, and customers would come. Instead, my two-year fellowship was a wild ride of ups and downs. And I got to do it with a team of the best supporters (Activate staff and other fellows), all invested in my success. Rather than leaving Activate with the company I applied with, I got to explore multiple problem spaces and try on a few different startups. Through it, I’ve become a more thoughtful entrepreneur.

““Rather than leaving Activate with the company I applied with, I got to explore multiple problem spaces and try on a few different startups. Through it, I’ve become a more thoughtful entrepreneur.””

I expected Activate would be all about execution. Instead, I spent a lot of time reflecting. Was I addressing a pain point, was this the best technology, what did my customers really want? And I learned what it feels like to be in a pivot—sometimes without realizing it at first.

Through Activate, I got to deepen my understanding of the mining industry (even though I had already considered myself an insider), and I learned how to harness my enthusiasm and emotional energy as a driving force rather than something that could trip me up. As I leave the fellowship, on paper I’ve tried on carbon sequestration, geotech monitoring, and now water treatment. But deep down I feel more confident about myself and my abilities as a founder. Leaving Activate, I’m surrounded by an incredible support network of founder peers and a deep internal motivation to commercialize Stalagmite’s game-changing technology: transforming the wastewater we throw away today into the U.S. critical minerals of tomorrow.

Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future—both for your company and the broader innovation ecosystem Activate is helping to build?

Looking ahead, I’m excited about building the next generation of hard-tech companies. Right now, that means scaling Stalagmite to tackle mining wastewater and critical minerals recovery, helping make global mining more resilient and efficient, and building a U.S. domestic supply chain for critical minerals. More broadly, I’m excited to keep supporting and building with the Activate community. Whether it’s companies like mine today, or technologies we haven’t even dreamed of yet, I’m pumped to be part of a network that is iterating on science and startups to make the world better—and I get to be part of that for years to come.