Matthew Nordan
I'm a managing partner at MNL Partners, where we develop energy and environmental projects in global markets, with a focus on China. I also serve on the boards of five audacious tech start-up companies. Finally, I'm co-founder and chairman of the investment committee at PRIME Coalition, a pioneering 501c3 nonprofit that's bringing philanthropic capital to energy innovation. In past lives I made venture capital investments at Venrock, co-founded and led Lux Research, 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: Energy efficiency
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
Installing a Nest, Investing in Nest
tl;dr: Nest Labs performs magic – making energy efficiency awesome, even for the nontechnical and non-green. We’re delighted to invest in the company. Back in February I acquired a Nest Learning Thermostat, famously designed by Apple’s original iPhone team. Looks … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Energy efficiency, Smart grid
4 Comments
Nest Installation Photo Log
tl;dr: Mrs. Nordan vs. Nest thermostat! Will it take an afternoon to install? Will we ruin our house in the process? No on both counts! In June we installed a Nest Learning Thermostat in chez Nordan; I helmed the camera … Continue reading
Posted in Consumers, Energy efficiency, Smart grid
2 Comments
Bright Future for the Marginal Megawatt
tl;dr: Life is about to get a lot better for demand response and energy efficiency companies. One of the challenges of venture capital is that you invest in companies now based on what you know now, but the world may … Continue reading
Posted in Demand response, Energy efficiency
9 Comments
