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The Gist
The Gist is the monthly newsletter of The Ad Hoc Group that covers everything at the intersection of climate tech and policy. Subscribe at the link here to have The Gist mailed to your inbox each month.
The Ad Hoc Gist: Defending the Grid From Wildfires
While the Trump team has frozen federal climate spending and is purging federal employees working on climate policy, calling it “wasteful,” we expect that they will likely come to terms with reality on at least some key issues — even if they use different language to describe it.
That’s because the electric grid is undeniably under attack from wildfires and other forms of extreme weather. Yes, some companies and investors are backtracking from their climate commitments. But when it comes to climate risk and resilience, utilities and their rating agencies are not.
In this month’s Gist, AHG partner Julia Hamm shares how a new class of startups is emerging to help utilities prevent wildfires from taking down the grid. Without a reliable and resilient grid, the Trumpian goals of energy dominance and winning the AI race will prove out of reach.
The Ad Hoc Gist: The Inauguration is Over. Now What? Predictions for 2025
2025 is off to quite a start. LA is on fire. Homes, schools, and entire neighborhoods have vanished. The loss is profound for so many. We all know someone affected.
Last week, the Biden administration doled out its final climate billions before exiting stage left. On Monday, the Trump administration released a flurry of executive orders launching an all-out assault on Biden’s climate legacy.
In this month’s Gist, we turn to allies to share their predictions for the year. From resilience to AI to carbon removal, there’s a lot on the docket. One thing is certain: 2025 will not be dull.
The Ad Hoc Gist: The Big Energy Surprises of 2024
As the holiday season begins, our trusted senior advisors reflect on the biggest energy surprises of 2024 and why they matter for the climate and the energy transition. From artificial intelligence’s unquenchable thirst for energy to the existential demands of an increasingly vulnerable electric grid, a lot has changed this year.
Blog
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People as Moat – Ad Hoc Expands into Search
In climate tech, we talk a lot about, well, technology. But talk with most CEOs and they’ll share that the hardest part of their job is figuring out how to hire and retain the right people. In my experience, a company’s ability to hire and effectively onboard the right people is what differentiates successful businesses from those that falter. Because, as a CEO, you can have a great vision, but if you don’t have the right people, you can’t execute it.
Press
Know thyself: Advice for climate tech founders
Building a climate tech company is not for the faint-of-heart.
No part of the process is easy; the tech is difficult, customers can be decidedly old-school, and regulation is often complex, for instance. And too often, the innate challenge for founders is compounded by the weight of high valuations, enormous growth targets, and limited exit options.
We don’t have all the answers for navigating what is an increasingly complicated market, but we do have some advice.
We need to rethink climate investing
For climate tech to scale, the collaboration between climate tech founders and capital providers will need to change. It will need to be a durable — and dare we say, sustainable? — relationship, and one designed for deep partnership.Â
To get a sense of what this might look like, it is worth looking backward: to the very first days of Silicon Valley venture capital and the case of Intel. The company was founded by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore with an innovative capital model proposed by Arthur Rock. Intel was given a $2.5 million pre-money valuation in 1968 — the equivalent of $21 million today — and Rock invested $2.5 million.
Is winter coming for climate tech?
We’re worried about climate tech.
We lived through cleantech 1.0 (b. 2007, d. 2011), and we see signs of similar mistakes unfolding this time around. And the problems are not restricted to a single group. Both founders and venture capitalists need to re-think their approach to the market.
On the one hand, founders need to deeply assess the business they’re building, and create a capital plan that fits their model — not every company is built to be a unicorn. On the other, VCs need to re-assess how they partner with startups, and consider paths that involve more ownership and increased operational expertise. For both sides, it’s time to focus on putting points on the board.
Podcast
Hear more from our leadership on My Climate Journey and Technopolis.