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
The State of Cleantech Venture Capital, Part 2: The Investors
(A version of this post also appeared at GigaOM.) tl;dr: There’s a widespread perception that cleantech venture capital must be tanking compared with VC overall. That perception is wrong. In yesterday’s post, we looked at the amount of capital that’s … Continue reading
The State of Cleantech Venture Capital, Part 1: The Money
(A version of this post also appeared at GigaOM.) tl;dr: Plenty of late-stage financing will be available for cleantech start-ups over the next few years, but seed/Series A money is another matter. There’s been a pile of negative news about … Continue reading
Questionable Numbers in Rick Perry’s Energy Plan
tl;dr: Yay for an energy injection into the 2012 primary. Boo for numbers that don’t add up. In a previous post, I wrote about how we were unlikely to hear substantial discussion about energy in the 2012 Presidential contest unless … Continue reading
Posted in Oil and gas, Policy
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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
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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
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Secret Formula 