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.
Category Archives: Current events
Who Wins ARPA-E Grants?
tl;dr: You can’t cheat your way to an ARPA-E grant by gaming the system. The program appears to be run in a remarkably unbiased fashion. Most folks in energy start-up land know that ARPA-E – the U.S. government agency launched … Continue reading
Posted in Current events, Numbers
6 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
Chinese Electric Bus Fire
tl;dr: Scary pics. Looks like an EV bus caught on fire in Shanghai yesterday – specifically, a hybrid ultracapacitor/Li-ion bus. Thankfully no one appears to be hurt, but doubtless this is going to call into question the safety of the … Continue reading
Posted in Current events
1 Comment
Secret Formula 