Charging Together (props to peeps)
2021 was a water shed year. Society at large has awoken to the climate crisis siren, mostly and sadly caused by dramatic, extreme and abnormal weather conditions which have resulted in human suffering and loss of life. In parallel, the world is figuring out how to live with a global pandemic — understanding that vaccinations give the body a fighting chance of not ending up in an ICU or grave — but not make you immune. We now see that working together and with the highest urgency humanity has the ability to solve even the most lethal threats. OK, then let’s move at the same pace on climate solutions w/ access, equity, inclusion and diversity NOW — it’s just will power.
During the year, John Doerr, a climate solutions superhero in my mind, released a book outlining the areas of critical importance and Objectives + Key Results (OKRs) of solving and/or mitigating the worst of the “Environmental Armageddon” humanity is facing (Speed & Scale: https://speedandscale.com/). Caused by manmade fossil fuel emission and accelerated by increasing temperatures melting permafrost and glaciers, his areas of focuses and solution set align with my daily work and inspires me to do more. Being of service to many clean economy CEOs as Senior Advisor and being from the “School of Kennedy” (Danny Kennedy ;-)), a fossil-free transformation is tragically flawed without including everyone, looking like the societies we wish to serve and giving everyone a fair shot to benefit from improved decarbonized products and services.
Saul Griffith (“Electrify”: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/electrify) and Bill Nussey (“Freeing Energy: https://www.freeingenergy.com/about-the-book/) also recently released very good books on the subject of climate crisis solutions and the process to save humanity.
Since I began this part of my professional journey 20 years ago, I have been a successful and unsuccessful investor in the clean economy. I have also been a successful and unsuccessful operator/senior executive in the clean economy. Net net, I’m ahead on both fronts, which, in this sector is something to talk about. For the past 3 years, I have tuned my practice as a Senior Advisor. Encompassing a wide spectrum of activity with CEOs in a regular cadence around emotional awareness & development as the core, leading to improved decision making, establishing durable and current Vision/Mission/Values, culture building, hiring/firing, Board guidance, capital formation and business development. I am inspired by these people and want to share.
As per Doerr’s excellent outline, measurements and OKRs, these are the priority areas of focus for decarbonizing swiftly and at scale to meet the challenge.
It would be impossible for one person to cover all of these areas, or cover them well, but here is my 2021 Shout Out and Joyful Cheer for a great start to 2022 to these amazing CEOs.
Energy Storage:
Michael Burz, Co-Founder + President, Enzinc: an advanced zinc metal micro-sponge material platform for energy storage, pairing with carbon/air, nickel and manganese. (www.enzinc.com)
Chris Graves, Founder + CEO, Noon Energy: an earth abundant long duration Carbon Battery. (www.noon.energy)
Steven Chung, Co-Founder, CEO, ReJoule: bringing life to Second Life EV batteries. (www.rejouleenergy.com)
Mobility:
Tosh Dutt, Co-Founder + CEO, ChargeNet Stations: transforming Quick Service Restaurants into renewable power islands and high speed charging centers. “Want a Beyond Beef burrito with that 100 miles of charge?” (www.chargenetstations.com)
Andrew Krulewitz, Founder + CEO, Flux Auto: a high velocity fintech platform using financial innovation and a vastly improved user experience to capture the $600B annual auto sales away from ICEs. (www.DriveWithFlux.com)
Built Environment:
Dover Janis, Founder + CEO, IVY Solar: SaaS enabling real estate owners to become onsite solar energy “hosts” by offering intelligent clean energy billing to its tenants and generate a new income per unit while guaranteeing monthly savings to tenants. (www.ivy-energy.com)
Greg Sellers, Founder + CEO, Stable Solar: offering homeowners long term service plans for their solar and solar + storage assets to ensure performance. The “Solar Werks Plan” makes sure that solar works for the homeowner. (www.stablesolar.com)
Rob Morton, Founder + CEO, Stasis Energy Group: using situational intelligence and advanced biodegradable phase change materials, Stasis solution cuts 70% capacity charges and reduces energy usage by 20% on a standard 5 ton commercial HVAC. (www.stasisenergygroup.com)
Eli Goldstien, Founder + CEO, SkyCool Systems: refrigeration offsetting RF technology, capturing the cold of outer space and bringing to to the chiller/refrigerator in the grocery or retail. (www.SkyCoolSystems.com)
Modern, Resilient, Balanced Grid Related:
Kaitlyn Albertoli, Co-Founder + CEO, Buzz Solutions: precision computer vision + AI platform analyzing images and video for transmission and distribution faults at extremely high speed and accuracy. (www.buzzsolutions.co)
John Powers, Founder + CEO, Extensible Energy: SaaS and hardware solution for commercial building owners to reduce energy costs and participate in demand-side monetization marketplaces. (www.extensibleenergy.com)
Matt Golden, Founder + CEO, RECURVE: vast Big Data platform focused on identifying and valuing demand side assets for the maximum benefit to all stakeholders. (www.recurve.com)
Gregg Dixon, Founder + CEO, Voltus: an energy marketplace which enables demand side assets to sell demand response, resource adequacy and capacity. (www.voltus.co)
Money:
Eric White, Founder + CEO, Dividend: lending over $1B/annually to homeowners for sustainable home improvements, including solar + storage. (www.dividendfinance.com)
Media:
Nico Johnson, Founder, Suncast Media Network: now on Episode 430, this podcast is masterfully narrated, edited and produced. The content is insightful, educational and fun to listen to. (www.mysuncast.com)
Jigar, Katherine, Stephen: Founders, Energy Gang (thanks and goodbye): always a blast but less controversial/flamboyant now that Jigar works in the government.
Matt Meyers, Climate Cocktails: (www.climatetechcocktails.com)
Mike Casey (TigerCom): mixing community with politics to get the clean economy deployed.
Food/Ag:
Kim Le: Co-Founder + CEO, Prime Roots: delicious koji based meat replacements — carbon negative “meat”. (www.primeroots.com)
Naveen Sikka: Co-Founder + CEO, TerViva: pongamia for cooking oil and protein produces for humans and animals — carbon negative. (www.terviva.com)
