Navigating the Currents of Change: Insights from RE+ and Blueprint Conferences

During my time at the RE+ and Blueprint Conferences, I witnessed firsthand the breathtaking pace of growth in energy and electrification... a juxtaposition of awe-inspiring successes, some sobering startup setbacks, and a monumental amount of capital waiting to be channeled into groundbreaking projects.

Experience from Startup Interactions: A Guiding Beacon

Personal Insights from Cory Hewett

This sector is enormous (probably because I'm anchoring against the food service space I spent the last 9 years in). I'm seeing how navigating the opportunities in electrification requires a deep understanding of both business fundamentals and the underlying technology. The fervor ignited by "wiz kid" founders is undeniable. Yet, often, there’s a glaring blind spot: a failure to appreciate the base business proposition without perpetually leaning on government incentives or the naive belief that consumers will pay more solely for the 'green' tag.

I'm thinking about multi-family housing and EV charging. It's still an unsolved problem where I see piles of losses and no apparent dominant player breaking through.

The potency of these insights became evident through my networking experiences at the conferences. The combined emphasis on patience to navigate long sales cycles and the need to fine-tune pilot projects formed a recurring theme in several discussions, particularly in conversations with industry experts, like Brendan Wallace from Fifth Wall.

Overview: Observations and Trends from RE+ and Blueprint

The landscape of electrification is one that is flush with capital (approx $2 Trillion was present just at these shows!!!), ready to be invested into shaping the future. Wallace emphasized the pressing need to digitize physical spaces and address "tech exhaustion" to pave a sustainable path forward.

Themes Connecting to Electrification

Climate Tech and the Circular Economy

Ahmad Ghahreman of Cyclic Materials articulated the imperative for a circular economy within climate tech, highlighting its symbiotic relationship with electrification initiatives.

Electric Vehicle (EV) Progress

My personal engagement with EVs found fresh perspectives at the conference. Peter Gajdo? noted the transformative role of EVs in reshaping urban mobility.

Startups and Innovation: Pillars of Electrification’s Future

Lessen

Witnessing Lessen's metamorphosis from seed to unicorn status has been nothing short of a revelation. Fred Tuomi, a board member at Lessen, discussed their resolve to address tangible issues, signaling a bright future in the electrification space.

Symbium

Leila Banijamali, representing Symbium, portrayed a vision for streamlined government-citizen interactions, which could catalyze efficient policy implementations, fostering the electrification agenda.

My "Messy" Reflections and Forward Path

The ability to just “pop over” to someone’s booth, engage in a flurry of introductions, and “speed date” various entrepreneurs and SMEs is unmatched – it condenses what might usually span 2-3 weeks into half a day, not to mention the unmatched serendipity that arises from spontaneous encounters. (I'm an introvert, shows are draining to me, and I have to constantly remind myself their utility)

There were 40k+ people here between both conferences.? Even outside the conference, no matter where I went for food, drinks, snacks, working out, I was interacting and overhearing relevant conversations. I really appreciate meeting fellow founders Ben Margolit of Rentgrata, Jenny Song familiar with the art of the pivot, and Troy Daley who knows first-hand the challenge of bringing whole cohorts from zero to one.

I’m reminded how helpful it is to have a “friend” make warm intros — thank you Eric Sharpe for all the intros!

I continue to be amazed by startups that go audacious with their ambitions, make progress against the odds, and win big.? I’m also amazed when startups pick specific, almost “small” wins — and crush it completely within that space becoming unicorns.

I mentioned already that I see scores of losses and no clear winner seems to be around charging and multi-family housing.

Where I do see a significant but elusive (maybe intractable?) opportunity is in distributed energy for co-op and municipal utilities. Many professionals in utility, energy storage, engineering, and finance are finding it a challenging area to navigate. Thank you Bernard (Bernie) Pastorik, MBA, P.E. and Laura Millichap for your direct feedback.

In the coming days back in Atlanta, I plan to review the wealth of information I gathered at the conferences and cross-reference it to my 10s of pages of research and brainstorming notes, in considering where to go next.