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.
Author Archives: Matthew Nordan
Melting Glaciers and Motivation
tl;dr: Depressing? Motivating? Both. Team Nordan spent the last couple weeks of summer in three national parks – Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton. Weather and wildfires cooperated to deliver spectacular views and lots of wildlife. I came across the gal … Continue reading
Posted in Personal rumination
3 Comments
PRIME Coalition: A New Funding Model for Radical Energy Innovation
tl;dr: PRIME launches today, bringing a new source of funding – philanthropic capital – to clean energy tech. How will we scale the world for 10 billion 11 billion people? How will we double the size of the consuming class … Continue reading
Posted in Philanthropy, Venture capital
1 Comment
Square Pegs, Round Holes, and Innovation
I spoke a couple of weeks ago at the NextWave Greentech Investing conference (organized by my friend Rob Day at Black Coral Capital). My aim was to describe the past, present, and future of investment in energy and environmental innovation … Continue reading
Posted in Numbers, Venture capital
1 Comment
Energy, Human Evolution, and Neuroscience
There’s a dividing line down the center of energy and environmental community. On one side are Amory Lovins types who say that we should focus exclusively on deploying the technologies we already have, because no breakthroughs are needed to scale … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Energy efficiency, Leprechauns
4 Comments
Five Lessons Learned From Bringing Cleantech to China
tl;dr: Experienced cleantech CEOs leverage China instead of fearing it – enlisting self-interested partners to defend IP and manage risk. This post was co-written with George Miller, an MIT MBA student who conducted this research while interning with me. A … Continue reading
Posted in China, Unsolicited advice
3 Comments
Secret Formula 