No Time Like the Present
Inspired by the idea that there’s no such thing as a New Year’s Resolution, only habits you either keep or don't, I’m feeling the urge to make writing part of my weekly routine again. There's no time like the present. I'm
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5 Lessons from Orlando Bravo
It’s hard to argue with the results of Thoma Bravo over the last decade. They’ve become one of the largest private equity firms in the world, they’ve won some of the biggest deals in recent years, and they’ve returned capital to their limited partners (or customers,
The Green Premium Is Dead—It Always Was
I’ve always believed that solving climate problems requires economic benefits, not just social ones. As much as we might wish otherwise, social benefits alone rarely create enduring success. This conviction stems from starting my career in renewables in 2007—right as the fracking boom took off—and then watching
Energize is Hiring…A Lot
The market requires a specialist. You'll hear these words uttered around the Energize office frequently these days. We've built a firm laser-focused on solving big challenges alongside executives who've spent their careers building exceptional companies in critical industries that impact our daily lives. Those
Power Prices Rise…Again
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on four trends we can count on in energy over the next decade. Two of the trends that I thought would be certain were higher prices and the need to get more out of existing infrastructure. In an event only energy nerds
Playing Offense in Energy: Four Trends to Count On
“Great leaders get back on their front foot faster.” - Coach K I think about this quote a lot, usually in the context of bouncing back from rejection. After all, if you’re attempting anything hard, failure is the default state. You get knocked down, you get back up, you
A Tale of Two Sentiments
I've been around the power and renewables industries for over 15 years now. In that time, I've seen its popularity boom and bust. From 2008-2012, it was around the promise of solar and other alternative energy technologies. After that, the hype went away and funding dried
The Platform Play in Demand Response
Demand response continues to be a hot topic in the energy world. Yesterday, I saw a graph floating around on Twitter from Energize portfolio company Grid Status highlighting the drop in CAISO's system load due to a demand response event triggered by Tesla Energy. I don't
Electricity, Electricity, Electricity
If real estate is all about location. Data centers are all about power.
People First Investing
Alpine Investors has one of the most unique models in private equity. Instead of backing existing executive teams or founders, they purposely seek out businesses where the CEO needs or wants to be replaced. They've pursued this strategy since the Great Financial Crisis, when founder Graham Weaver realized
Inflation is Coming Down…Except for Electricity
Americans are getting relief from inflation everywhere - except on their energy bills. The chart below from the Wall Street Journal caught my eye this weekend. After a stagnant decade, power prices have steadily climbed as a result of elevated natural gas prices and the growing demand from AI and
A Battle is Brewing Between Systems of Record and AI Agents
I come from a family of linemen. Both my grandpa and my dad climbed the poles that hold our grid together and did so in the middle of fierce Texas thunderstorms and blistering summers. My dad traded the backbreaking work for the comfort of an office chair long ago and
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You Need More Than a Great Solution
Make it about the customer.
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Problems Well Handled
I've posted a lot about the collision of the same idea from two different, unrelated sources. When that happens, we should pay close attention - here's one on problems and goals. Around this time each year, I re-read Essentialism and Atomic Habits to remind myself of
climate
Kilowatts and Capital 11.23.2024 - ServiceTitan Files for IPO
Northvolt received all the coverage, but this one is just as important.
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Kilowatts and Capital 11.16.2024 - Energy Twitter Heads to BlueSky
Echo Chambers and Energy The social media platform BlueSky gained 1 million users in the last 10 days. At the same time, X reportedly lost a similarly large number. Energy Twitter definitely accounted for a share of these numbers and I understand why (including new terms and conditions). At its
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Kilowatts and Capital 11.09.2024 - Interest Rates or Policy: What's More Important to the Future of the Energy Transition?
New format alert! Over the last few weeks, I’ve taken a step back from writing as regularly to think about what I want to share here and how I want to do it. Inspired by some of my favorite writers and newsletters, I’ve settled on a new format
climate
The Promise and the Payback
If you never make big promises, very few people will care about what you’re doing. But the other side of the coin, big paybacks, without those, you die. The very best industries, companies, and builders exude this balance. They walk the line between big promises and big payoffs. They
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Lessons from Rockefeller’s Letters to His Son
Over the last few months, I’ve slowly but surely tackled The House of Morgan and Titan by Ron Chernow. While I initially started reading the books to learn more about the time period and history of finance and energy in America, a different theme immediately surfaced – fatherhood. Despite having
investing
Don’t Get Too Cute
David Rubenstein recently interviewed Phillip Laffont, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Coatue, at a Bloomberg wealth conference. The video made its rounds on X over the last week and is well worth the 30-minute watch. One line at the end of the interview struck me in the context of the
energy
The Next Big Bottleneck
A shortage of skilled labor threatens the speed of renewable asset deployment.
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Solar Supply and Demand
The forces of supply and demand always apply.
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Repetition Doesn’t Spoil the Prayer
We can’t repeat our core values too much.
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Too Much of a Good Thing
This is a blog about sustainable investing and leadership strategies often applied to the energy transition. To receive Sustainable Returns in your inbox, subscribe here: Subscribe now "Well, we followed the process." We've all heard this line after a failed attempt. We didn't get