This Week in MCJ (10/31/20)
Stripe’s news, and a rallying cry to the MCJ community!
Hey everyone,
First, since I already overshared last week, I might as well give you a health update. My kids are through their quarantine, and made it out symptom-free. My wife and I still need to quarantine from each other and everyone else for two more weeks (even though we are both still negative) since we both had direct exposure, but we are hopefully going to skate past this unscathed.
Also new this week, as we mention below, 5% of every dollar generated from MCJ memberships now goes to funding negative emissions purchases, thanks to Stripe’s new climate initiative. This took us about 30 seconds to set up (and less than that to decide to do), and it feels really good to be living our values in this way.
This rollout from Stripe seems like a really big deal. One of the things I have heard repeatedly is that “we know what to do and just need to do it” and that “the physical stuff is the important stuff, and the digital stuff is fluff”. But here is an example of a fully digital solution from Stripe that could have a huge impact, in a fraction of the time that it takes to scale the thornier solutions. Now, I don’t think this is in any way a replacement for the hard stuff, which is absolutely critical and we need to do that work. My point is more that there is another category of solutions that we haven’t discovered yet, that can come from new blood with new skillsets and assets thinking creatively about how to help.
My gears are cranking on this, especially since we have a lot of non-traditional skillsets in the MCJ community that could have a big impact, if we find the right ways to apply ourselves!
Maybe we should do an MCJ climate hackathon, at some point? :)
Jason
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 128: Adam Browning, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Vote Solar
This week’s guest is Adam Browning, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Vote Solar. A 5013(c) public advocacy organization operating in 27 states in the U.S., Vote Solar advocates for state policies and programs needed to re-power our electric grid with clean energy. Before co-founding Vote Solar, Adam spent 8 years at the Environmental Protection Agency where he ran an award-winning pollution prevention program. Adam’s passion for affordable solar started when he worked on a ballot initiative in San Francisco to fund solar on city buildings. After the initiative passed with 74% of the vote, Adam was propelled into public advocacy.
We cover a lot in this episode from Adam’s beginnings to the future of solar in the U.S. We also dive into how solar works and the potential drawbacks of it. In addition, Adam talks in depth about policy advocacy on the local-levels, and how Prop B came to fruition.
📼Climate Tech Startup Series (CTSS)
CTSS is a series for members, where we feature founders of early-stage companies, sharing their startup’s business and mission. Members can check out our recent episode below and find an updated list here.
CTSS Episode 14: Camus Energy with Co-Founder & CEO, Astrid Atkinson
Camus Energy focuses on decarbonization through grid management and transformation. Existing energy grids are one-way; they are set up to get power from a set number of generator facilities to homes and businesses. Camus Energy is working towards a two-way grid, which can harness the power of local resources and flexible demand. To create a two-way grid, Camus Energy is putting into place a distribution system operator that actually works. Camus Energy's software works in three parts: situational awareness and monitoring, forecasting and control, and market services. The goal is to achieve a zero-carbon electric grid.
Camus Energy Co-Founder & CEO, Astrid Atkinson, chats with me about her background and her motivation for starting Camus Energy. I enjoyed our conversation, which covered grid management and the future of energy providers.
🌱Community Projects: Request for Proposals!
Some in the community have asked how we might replicate the level of collaboration and enthusiasm on full display earlier when MCJers came together to work on “Project Chamath.” Instead of waiting for another grand request for proposals from outside of the community, we’re experimenting with soliciting ideas from among members. If you have a project that you would be interested in collaborating on with fellow MCJers, you can submit it here, and we’ll share it with the rest of the community and invite those interested to organize around projects they wish to pursue.
👋 Welcome New MCJers!
Below are new members who joined the community and introduced themselves in the past week. You can learn more about them on #introductions, where you can welcome them to the community.
A warm welcome to the MCJ Community!
Tyler Steinhardt: Presently the Director of Marketing for the Premiere Lacrosse League, Tyler is looking to transition into the climate tech space and leverage his marketing and content experience.
Elizabeth Hart: A recent Dartmouth grad who has spent the past year and a half in management consulting, Elizabeth is interested in environmental justice. She’s looking forward to meeting other members in the community.
Egan Anderson: Currently a Project Manager for Galileo Financial Technologies in San Francisco, Egan is looking for ways to volunteer in exciting climate-focused projects.
Matt Mulrennan: Currently the CEO of EnVest, the world’s leading environmental investing event, Matt is looking forward to meeting more of the MCJ community!
Andrew Wehrley: The head of renewable energy investing at Cartesian Capital Group, Andrew is looking for new opportunities in climate tech specifically in storage and software.
James Gull: Currently the CEO of Talyn Air, a company reinventing flying, James is eager to meet more MCJers and looking to connect with anyone interested in Talyn Air.
Linhang Nong: CEO and Founder of Nimbus, a company dedicated to making lightweight electronic vehicles, Linhang is interested in meeting more MCJers interested in the urban transportation space.
Josh Ockenden: Currently a Principal at True and based in London, Josh is working to build talent strategy and senior leadership to support scale. He’s interested in building a clean tech accelerator in the UK and looks forward to connecting with those who’ve founded accelerators previously.
🙌 New MCJ Slack Groups
🌴🌵Calling All Angelenos and Houstonians!
There is now a #los-angeles and a #houston channel in Slack! If you are based in either of those cities or are interested in opportunities there, feel free to check them out and connect with local MCJers. Also, if anyone is interested in being a regional leader, please DM Sarah and Thai for more information!
💧Discuss all things #water sustainability
MCJer Sam Ian Rosen (a.k.a. “Captain Planet”) leads the #water Slack group and invites those interested in water-related sustainability and opportunities to check out the channel. Having founded Tap, a company whose mission is to eliminate single-use plastic water bottles, Sam is looking to share his passion for water-sustainability with others in the community.
💼Climate Jobs
Here are some jobs shared by members of the MCJ community that we think might be of interest to you. Many of these opportunities and the MCJers who shared them can be found in #climatejobs in the MCJ Slack.
Various at Wunder Capital (Boulder, Denver or Remote) (careers page)
VP of Finance at OhmConnect (Remote, US) (job posting)
Director of Sales and various Engineering positions at Raptor Maps (Remote or Boston, MA)
Marketing Strategist and Operations & People Manager at C16 Biosciences (New York, NY)
Senior Engineer in Vehicle Autonomy and Systems at Talyn (job posting)
Agronomic Product Development Manager at Indigo (job posting)
Various at Voltus (careers page)
Terra.do is hosting a virtual climate jobs fair on November 18th, 2020
🙌 Memberships now fund negative emissions
This week, Stripe Climate was announced! This new offering enables companies, that use the payments processor, to apportion a share of their revenue toward purchasing negative emissions. MCJ loves to see companies taking steps to decarbonize the world and has decided to commit 5% of our membership revenue toward this effort.
In addition, Substack is matching our contribution so, in effect, 10% of each member’s dues are going toward carbon removal!
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
The Instigator: “Actions Speak Louder Than Words: How Business Leaders Can Help Us Get the Climate Policy They Say We Need” (Check out this newsletter fellow MCJer and former CEO of the Nature Conservatory, Mark Tercek)
Vox: “Geothermal energy is poised for a big breakout” & Vinod Kholsa’s Tweet
The New York Times: “As Climate Disasters Pile Up, a Radical Proposal Gains Traction”
The Wall Street Journal: “Auto Makers Shift Their Hydrogen Focus to Big Rigs” (PDF)
The Economist: “Climate-conscious Venture Capitalists are Back”
Bloomberg: “On the Rocky Road to Zero Emissions, Make Room for the Hummer EV” (written by MCJer Andrew Salzberg!)
🎟Climate Events
As a reminder, we have a MCJ Events Calendar, where you can view and post events for the rest of the MCJ community to attend. When posting an event, please refer to this checklist.
*We’re highlighting a few upcoming events below; please refer to the events calendar for a complete list.*
Upcoming
#NYC General Meetup (Virtual) (Thursday, November 5th, 5:30pm ET)
Come meet/hang out with some of the MCJ #nyc crew! Maybe they'll talk election; maybe they won't. Check out the MCJ Events Calendar for Zoom details.
MCJ Ideas Jam and My Climate Journey (Wednesday, November 11th, 8-9pm ET)
Join MCJ Ideas Jam to pitch your climate startup idea, provide your feedback on the ideas pitched, and/or spark your own ideas in the process. The guest experts will be first to give you feedback and helpful direction, and space will be opened for the general MCJ community to provide their feedback and collaborative ideas, both during the event and after. Join to pitch or watch! RSVP here.
Terra.do Presents: World's First Online Climate Jobs Fair (Wednesday, November 18th)
Terra.do is excited to invite you to the world’s first virtual climate jobs fair on Nov 18th! Terra.do is bringing together hundreds of mission-driven individuals and dozens of climate organizations under the same “virtual” roof so that they can find each other. As an individual, you will be able to expand your job search universe. Meet hiring managers from dozens of top climate organizations that have diverse roles to offer in a speed-dating format (learn more here). As a climate organization, connect with hundreds of individuals from across the world who are passionate about moving into climate work. If you would like to join as an employer, submit your information here (or contact saurabh@terra.do).
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