Climate Week MEGAPOST
What we're doing, what we're thinking, and what's on our playlist
It’s here — Climate Week NYC. We’re 90%…
10%…
If you’re in NYC, reach out. If you’re not, we’ll post later in the week with what we’re learning! Let’s get into it:
What we’re doing
There are 600+ events at NYC Climate Week; at least 27 will be on park benches.
Park Bench Pitch
Park Bench Pitch was just an idea a few weeks ago; now it's the most important thing Lydia and I will do all week — 27 conversations with clever people on everything from storage startups to family office investing in NOAK (Nth Of A Kind) projects!
But that’s not all; we’re running around like most other folks. Two mentions and a note on how we’re getting around:
Canary Media
Canary Media does “clean energy journalism for a cooler tomorrow.” They get out and report from the ground on what’s really happening in the transition. I dig how they work, and I’m excited to be at a couple of their events.
Newlab
Newlab is “is a climate and deep tech venture platform with a place-based approach.” Like Canary, they value being on the ground. I’m excited about what they’ve got planned for the week.
NYC by ebike
September in New Orleans is hot. September in New York is not. Lydia and I want to be outside as much we can. I’m bringing my JackRabbit. Trackers on the bike will help PBP folks find us. It will be fun. And easier than other forms of transport during UN General Assembly.
New swag
We’re dropping a new version of the Electrify Giggle Repeat shirt. Boom.
What we’re thinking
How to be New Orleanians at Climate Week NYC
I spent a good chunk of the last 2 weeks on something called Community Lighthouse. We’re putting solar and batteries on churches, synagogues and mosques so they can serve their neighbors when the grid goes down.
As weird as it feels getting on a plane to New York to talk climate, the least we can do while we’re here is tell stories of real people on the gulf and what climatetech means to them. In this case, it’s citizens coming together to launch one of the biggest micro-grid networks in the US.
Our investment thesis
Prepping for 27 conversations with (mostly) strangers demands clarity. Here’s where The Batteries Included Fund thesis is headed:
TRL 9 3/4 - The Technology Readiness Level scale (from 1-9) is what many investors use to define the lane they’re in. Most TRL scales go to 9; ours goes to 9 3/4. Like in Harry Potter.
When a founder can make it happen, we see huge potential for re-using certain technologies. A good example: B2U. This is a company that’s creating a productive second-life for used electric vehicle battery packs — with tech someone else already took to TRL 9.
Interconnectable now - Crazy stat alert: There’s more electricity generation waiting in the interconnection queue today than what’s already on the US grid. This is one of the biggest puzzles in the clean energy transition, and it’s way above our pay grade. So we’re investing in founders who skip that line and plug in now. Like Copper. They’re building an induction stove with a battery that can charge when you’re not cooking. That means it can plug into an existing 110V outlet instead the 240V line an electrician has to pull. Different connection queue, same powerful concept.
Optionality for humans - One of the first lightbulb moments I had converting old gasoline bikes to electric was when I really got fuel optionality. Vehicle batteries don’t care where the electrons you feed them come from. Solar, wind, geothermal, natural gas, hydro, nuclear? All good. Gas bikes only burn gas molecules. This idea really comes to life at Community Lighthouses. Big batteries create a powerful new option for these communities — saving lives.
What we’re listening to
Podcasts
I’ve got three podcasts in rotation this week.
Dwarkesh with Daniel Yergin on 20th Century and Oil —Dwarkesh is one of my favorite new listens. You’re already reading Yergin if you’re in this work, right?
Catalyst with Shayle Kann on The better mousetrap fallacy. Our fund is biased towards building and scaling now, not moonshots. We respect those taking big shots, but we think most money should be spent to get lots more of the traps we already have out there.
NYT Book Review on 50 years since The Power Broker. What a great reminder on how hard Robert and Ina Caro worked to tell the Robert Moses story. Required reading for anyone in this work.
Tunes
Thank you Lydia for co-piloting this week. I say we queue up a buddy movie tune and do this thing.
Please stay in touch with us this week — whether you’rehere or just curious! We’re eager to make the most of our time here, so let the suggestions rip.
Thanks, Matt! Revisiting this post to get some good updates and good energy.