Zig Zagging from Software Back to Climate
This blog has been quiet for a few years, as I took on a full time role as CPO at StreamSets Inc. in 2019. It has been an amazing ride, from being an advisor in the early days to leading the product, growth and marketing teams the last few years to being acquired by Software AG. It is now time for me to retire from the data integration sector and move on from StreamSets.
I am taking the remainder of the summer off to spend time with family and recharge. In the fall, I will be re-engaging in the cleantech/climatetech/renewable energy sector, where I worked in the years prior to joining StreamSets.
Why the zig zag back into energy and climate?
As climate change accelerates, I am determined to take a more active role in finding and scaling sustainable solutions. It is not only a cause worthy of my time and effort– it is a way to combat the climate despair I have been feeling in the past few years. The media gets eyeballs and ad revenue by focusing on the most extreme and the most negative news. If you follow left-leaning mainstream media, it’s easy to feel like there’s no hope. If you follow right-leaning media, then you may believe there is not a problem, or at least not one humans can solve. Either way leads to inaction.
As I’ve started re-immersing myself in the topics of climate, cleantech and renewable energy, I have found something precious: renewed hope. There are so many people, organizations and companies innovating not only new technologies but also new business and market models to combat climate change. Some of these solutions have already achieved full commercial scale in the market (e.g. solar and wind energy.)
Other ideas and solutions have transformative potential, but still need to be proven out and nurtured. For example, through Cleantech Open, I have the privilege to be mentoring a wonderful startup Tycho Solutions. Tycho provides a geospatial data and analytics service empowering energy developers to quickly and easily evaluate potential sites for solar, wind and hydrogen projects. This is a much-needed solution to accelerate the onlining of additional clean energy generation, and I am energized to work with Tycho’s leaders Felipe Gonzalez Rosas and Laura Gómez Bustamante as they pursue their mission.
If you’re not in the climate space, it is easy to forget the success stories and practical solutions out there because they are seldom covered by the general media (of either political bent). Nevertheless, they are real and they are what give me hope.
"When you have peace in yourself and accept, then you are calm enough to do something, but if you are carried by despair, there is no hope."-- Thich Nhat Hanh