Matthew Nordan
I'm Managing Director of Prime Impact Fund, where we fund breakthrough start-ups that could have a big impact on climate. I also serve on the boards of five audacious tech start-up companies and two supporting organizations. In past lives I learned venture capital at Venrock, co-founded and led Lux Research, developed energy and environmental projects in China at MNL Partners, and forecasted technology futures at Forrester.
I really do live and breathe this stuff.
I'm also chromosomally incapable of keeping quiet. This blog hosts opinions (mine alone) on energy, venture capital, human behavior, start-ups, societal collapse, hope for the future, and everything in between: hopefully useful, usually numerate, and occasionally long-winded.
Monthly Archives: September 2011
The Smart Grid Debacle and What to Do about It
tl;dr: Use less electricity, win valuable prizes. Look at the picture above. Stare long and hard. First of all, this is the least-cool protest I’ve ever seen. Second, is this what the smart grid has bought us? With north of … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Smart grid
3 Comments
What It Takes to Build a Cleantech Winner
(A version of this post also appeared at Fortune.com. Thanks Dan!) tl;dr: It’s the team. I entered the venture capital business two years ago, focusing on seed/Series A cleantech start-ups. It’s kind of like picking a future NBA draft by … Continue reading
Posted in Numbers, Venture capital
7 Comments
Solyndra Observations
tl;dr: There’s a reason they call it risk capital. As you’re doubtless aware, Solyndra announced yesterday that it’s shutting down. The CIGS-on-tubes solar module maker raised nearly $2 billion in capital, including more than $1 billion from venture investors and … Continue reading
Posted in Current events, Solar
1 Comment
Secret Formula 