In an Emerging Market, When Is The Right Time For Your Startup to Take the Lead?
Dec 29th
One of the things I’ve always loved about startups in emerging markets is the ability to go from zero to sixty almost immediately. When you get that feeling of the pavement rolling underneath your feet, the temptation to take the early market lead can be very compelling. But is it always a good idea?
Back when I was running Carbonetworks, it was an interesting time. Global carbon trading was just taking shape and there was little debate around climate change; the whole world seemed headed towards a new and very large global market. The company, at least in it’s very early days, was intended for companies to monetize carbon emissions via trading and later, energy savings. It was an interesting time; companies didn’t know much about carbon but knew they needed to do something about their CO2 emissions. Similarly, investors in Silicon Valley also knew they needed to do something about it as well. At the time there was only two or three carbon management vendors in the world, and Carbonetworks was one of them.
So we embarked on an education of our market, our potential clients, and investors. But in doing so, we also educated our competitors. Of course we More >
How Japan’s Pending Nuclear Disaster Could Threaten Clean Energy in the US
Mar 14th
This is an excerpt from my longer post on VentureBeat. You can view the full article here.
The current situation in Japan’s three damaged nuclear reactors is an environmental, financial, and humanitarian disaster, but it also has far-reaching implications for energy policy here in the US and abroad. Like it or not (I don’t), nuclear is a viable option for our rising energy needs. There are many reasons we can’t seem to get off fossil fuels, including unfair subsidies for oil & gas, uncertain efficiencies and costs, and even the age-old NIMBY problem. And then there’s the anti-science/education/elite political agenda, which is a whole different issue entirely though, as many have pointed out, we’ve been here many times before. So the science of why nuclear energy has a seat at the clean energy table isn’t really what’s being debated here, it’s more about what’s about to happen to that seat given the recent events in Japan.
Countries are now re-examining their approach to nuclear as a result of the horrific situation in Japan’s reactors. The US is also re-evaluating it’s energy policy. But the larger risk here is that both sides of the climate change debate will weigh in on why we More >
The Epiphany Moment
Mar 10th
Today I had one of those rare, elusive epiphany moments you’re probably familiar with – one of those moments that help you create new ideas with the kind of clarity that only happens once in a long, long while. It got me thinking about why they happen and how, especially in an entrepreneurial sense.
Most people think about an epiphany moment as a light bulb coming on, illuminating a single, simple idea in a new way. But this is much rarer than you may think – even the light bulb wasn’t invented in a single stroke of genius by Edison, it was invented over decades, with of prototypes and the contribution of several inventors. The interesting thing is that these moments creep up on you, through process of learning, iteration, and perspective. It’s not the light-bulb-over-the-head moments that are the game changers – most great ideas aren’t so much hatched as cultivated from a history of other, smaller ideas and the confluence of three factors.
First there’s the question of focus. The conditions have to be right for you to be able to see the end game, not just the set of problems at hand. This More >
An Unlikely Portage
Mar 9th
While we in the US are mired in the distraction of climate change politics, including carbon markets, climate denial, and the disruptive machinations of the extreme right, the world has changed under our feet. In Saskatchewan Canada, 2010 was the wettest year ever, and the rainfall was so heavy that global wheat production suffered heavy losses, leading to higher commodity prices. Russia had record-breaking fires. Like Pakistan, the US heartland is threatened by historic levels of flooding. The financial costs of climate change has started to become a visible issue, but while pundits in DC continue to debate over the cause the effects are undeniable – instability.
Nowhere is this more evident than the current events in the world’s dictatorships. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said, “the big question about uprisings against corrupt and oppressive regimes in the Middle East isn’t so much why they’re happening as why they’re happening now” – a prudent observation. Some blame climate change, others blame Wall Street. Of course the Tea Party blames Obama. But the real answer is all of the above. Our penchant for making things simple has prevented us from seeing the forest for the trees.
So what can we do? Markets More >
What California’s New Carbon Market Means for Cleantech and the Economy
Dec 18th
It’s been an big week for California’s cleantech market. The state has approved it’s ninth large solar installation in four months, the state’s governor has targeted climate change as his focus after politics, and the state has now approved a new regulated carbon market. While there’s a lot going for California here, it’s important to look at these events in the context of cleantech in general to understand how things are about to change. Make no mistake: California’s new carbon market is good for cleantech and the economy.
Every efficient market works on a combination of carrots and sticks, where carrots are incentives for business to participate, and sticks often represent regulation or other “top-down” forces that promote corporate involvement through compliance. Cleantech has always grown on carrots – energy savings, cost reductions, enhanced brand, reduced risk, etc have been significant drivers in the cleantech market. But now, for the first time in the US (I’ll get to the CCX and RGGI later), cleantech now it has a big stick.
Let’s talk about what carbon trading is, what it isn’t. This stick shouldn’t be seen as a burden on the economy – carbon markets aren’t designed to punish utilities or the average citizen, More >
Five Steps Toward Better Business Performance Through Energy Management
Dec 13th
This post originally appeared as one of my contributions to Greentechmedia.com. It has been reposted here with permission.
Companies have always been keen on measuring organizational performance as a means of tracking progress toward strategic goals and managing business more efficiently. Usually measured through key performance indicators (KPIs), quantifiable metrics are created that reflect the organization’s goals. Historically, companies have used KPIs to extract the highest possible efficiency from major operational costs such as headcount, process control, or critical activities like customer satisfaction. But companies are finding that energy is becoming one of their fastest-growing operational costs and this is changing the way they think about energy use, so the familiar approach of KPIs is now being applied to energy use and reduction.
Companies that manage energy and sustainability like a business generate better returns, both in terms of profitability and shareholder value. In fact, companies that align sustainable business practices with organizational performance consistently out-perform in the market. A study from Innovest found that companies that managed environmental and social aspects of their business consistently outperformed the market by over 7 percent. Goldman Sachs found that companies that led in environmental and social issues outperformed the market in terms More >
Does America’s Energy Future Lie in the East? The International Reaction to the US Political Pendulum
Nov 16th
On the evening of November 2 I sat in the historic lounge the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC , watching the results of the US Mid-Term elections roll in. The Shoreham is a grand hotel built at the beginning of the great depression, and stands today as America is again facing significant changes in it’s role in the world economy. Emblematic of America’s steady rise through the decades, it has been the site of every presidential inaugural ball since Roosevelt and where countless decisions on US and world policy have been made over the decades. So I could think of no better place to witness a sea-change (yes, pun intended) in US energy and climate policy than over a pint of Dogfish Head Pale Ale with friends in the Shoreham’s slightly stodgy wood-paneled lounge.
As we sat watching CNN’s US Election Map steadily turn from blue to red as the Republicans swept through the House elections, one of my friends – a staunch Republican for years – leaned over and said, “America’s energy future lies in the East…” You see, while a Republican, this individual was not really pleased with what he was seeing. He’s a successful businessman in the energy More >
Uncertainty in US Energy Policy is Cleantech’s Real Challenge
Nov 1st
This article originally appeared as a guest post for VentureBeat. You can read the original article here.
Californians will be voting tomorrow on Proposition 23, which would suspend AB32, California’s global warming law introduced in 2006 to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. AB32 is considered a pioneering piece of legislation that could lead the US into a clean energy economy, and startups and venture firms that back them have been drawn to California by the proposed law.
While the outlook for Prop 23 is growing dim, the damage to California’s cleantech sector may have already been done. Prop 23 isn’t dangerous because it might pass; it’s dangerous because it’s part of a growing trend of uncertainty in US regulation that is bad for cleantech.
Through the years, cleantech has ebbed and flowed with this uncertainty through the prospect of regulation, but not always in the way you’d expect. It’s not just regulation that is important, it’s certainty around regulation – whether it happens or not – that makes the wheels move. When it looked like Obama’s US climate bill was all but dead, the cleantech industry actually saw increased traction: more deals, and more investment. While this may seem counterintuitive More >
Why Corporations are Tying Executive Pay To Sustainability Performance
Oct 27th
This post originally appeared as one of my contributions to Forbes. It has been reposted here with permission.
Now that it’s simpler to track corporate sustainability progress, more companies are tying compensation to it.In corporations across the globe from Intel to Xcel Energy, a new trend has emerged in binding executive compensation to progress made on corporate sustainability goals, including reductions made in energy costs and consumption. The changing legislative and financial landscape in the U.S. and elsewhere underscores the potential impact of this trend on every executive in America.
Managing executives based on performance to goals is nothing new. Management by objectives is a mainstay of most executive compensation plans to ensure pay and strategic growth are closely aligned. Most options packages include a vesting period to maximize the contribution of employees associated with organizational goals. Key performance indicators have been the benchmark system of HR departments for years. Performance-based pay is a common method of compensation.
But a new indicator of organizational performance has emerged that has potentially far-reaching implications: the achievement of sustainability goals. Sustainability has slowly moved into the realm of finance and corporate oversight as energy, carbon emissions, water, and waste have become financial assets More >
Why Energy Management Matters To CIOs
Oct 19th
This post originally appeared as one of my contributions to Forbes. It has been reposted here with permission.
With the right moves, energy can even become a profit center.In many organizations, the role of the chief information officer is becoming more strategic. Traditionally it has been restricted to IT strategy under the direction of a wider corporate mandate, a functional “manager of IT managers” position. But today’s CIO is a corporate leader and change agent focused on enhancing the return on investment of information technology, expanding the business impact of IT, and acquiring and managing innovation. This focus on innovation is leading CIOs to more closely manage energy and carbon in the enterprise.
Companies have been managing their energy consumption for years, but only recently has it become a corporate priority. Traditionally energy and its associated business risks, such as carbon emissions, have been an environmental problem, a cost of doing business with a hard link to compliance and regulation, and managed at the facility or site level. But innovative corporations today are starting to look at energy and carbon in a different way, focusing instead on how energy management can help their business and moving the energy discussion from More >
Michael Meehan is a 3x cleantech entrepreneur and advisor in Silicon Valley. He is CEO of 
