Positive Energy

Yesterday I spent all day interviewing with Positive Energy, a startup software company that helps residential energy users consume less electricity, natural gas, and other forms of energy. It's one of the few opportunities I've found that would really marry my passions for addressing the global energy challenge and innovating game-changing software.

Before the interviews even started, I had a good omen: The major tenant of the building where PE is located is Sparta, Inc., where my father spent much of his professional career designing LASER-based optical guidance systems. I haven't thought about Sparta in a long time and seeing its familiar logo (slightly adapted from when he worked there in the 80s) warmed my heart.

The interviews themselves went well. I had discussions with the CEO, VP of Product (to whom I would report), program/process manager, product managers for different products, and lead software engineer. The software engineer had his chocolate lab with him and he joined us for the interview, which I considered to be another great omen. Furthermore, PE's offices are within walking distance of the original Red Hot & Blue, one of my favorite BBQ joints of all time, even though now it's been overcommercialized and franchised around the country. The VP of Product took me out to lunch there, which further fostered the "good" feeling I have about this company.

The questions that came my way were very diverse: experiential, design thought exercises, brain teasers, and other funky, "out there" conversation catalysts. My impression after a very full day is that A. the company is really trying to hit it out of the park and significantly affect energy demand, B. the team is smart/high-end, and C. it seems like a good fit where my participation could create value for both the company and for myself.

Hopefully they will see things the same way. Even if they don't, however, I'm glad to know that such companies exist. As I've blogged before, I think the "solution" to the global energy challenge has to be one that also makes good business sense, otherwise it just won't be sustainable.

And speaking of the global energy challenge, Gore et al have already offered up a public "challenge" to the Obama administration: US carbon neutrality in 10 years! I love it! Nearly impossible, worthwhile challenges have always inspired me and I view the energy challenge as very synonymous with the space race of the 60s. "Why reduce energy consumption, streamline transmission, and produce energy from renewable sources? . . . Why does Rice play Texas? . . . We choose to achieve a carbon-neutral energy infrastructure within a decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard!" The stakes are higher in this challenge and I am committed to doing what I can to help ensure victory.

Final ICP Presentation

Today we woke up early, hopped on a train to Zurich, and delivered our final presentation to our ICP client. Despite having only one week to prepare (due to scheduling constraints), the presentation went well and the client seemed exceedingly pleased. They took us out for a nice, long lunch on a hilltop overlooking Zurich and the atmosphere was very pleasant. One of our client stakeholders is a member of their Board of Directors and may invite us to make the presentation to their entire Board in December.

This project was, for lack of an eloquent descriptor, awesome. Four students from four different continents helped a global chemical manufacturer optimize its supply chain. Despite none of us having chemical industry experience or supply chain experience, we were able to identify and help realize over CHF 200m of value.

The best part of the project was that it soon became evident that the client's challenges weren't specific to supply chain; their real problem was change management. Our "solutions," helping them implement corporate initiatives in a globally decentralized organization with greater success, aren't particular to supply chain or the chemical manufacturing industry. The learning we took from this project can be applied across industries and functions and I'm sure it will be very valuable throughout each of our careers. Real world, real learning.

Similarly, I appreciated the opportunity to work with a small, very diverse group for an extended, multi-phase project with several deliverables. It was critically important to use each person's skillset in the most appropriate way, manage different individual priorities, and address both intra- and inter-group dynamics. I won't claim that we did everything perfectly but I do believe that we learned a great deal and improved a lot throughout the project. Again: real world, real learning.

Now, with the ICP behind me (sort of--there are still several wrap-up to-do items), I'm flying to Washington DC tomorrow for a final interview with Positive Energy. I'm excited to arrive just about the time that presidential election returns start rolling in. Go Obama, go Skelly, and no on Prop 8!

The Career Search Progresses

It was another productive week for my career search. My plans with GE Energy were solidified and I will fly to Florence tomorrow evening for interviews on Monday. I'm not really sure which position(s) they have in mind; I think it's more of a "let's get to know you and then, if we like you, we'll see where we have a good fit for your skills, experience, and interests." My network has been helpful with GE Energy: a Rice alum in their Houston office helped me understand their product/solution offering, one of my interviewers is an IMD alum, and two of my current classmates have worked at GE and helped me prepare for questions I am likely to receive.

I had my third (if you include my first "fit" interview with a recruiter) phone interview with Google this week and it went well. This one was less about my experience and more about how I think. I had to design another product and work through a few brain teasers. On Thursday I received the news that I had "passed" and an invitation to interview onsite at their Zurich office. According to one of my contacts in Google (whom I know through the Rice alumni network) the economic slowdown has raised the "hiring bar" and making it to the onsite interview is even harder than it used to be so I am particularly honored to have made it this far. The interview should be next week.

The founder/CEO of Poken (IMD alum) and I met again and I remain very enthusiastic about the company. They have big, world changing ideas, cool opportunities for a product manager/COO, and a fun corporate culture. The CEO is becoming overstretched between product management, business development, investor relations, etc. and is looking for someone to share the load. Given that my background is in managing innovative teams of software engineers and working with the marketing and strategy interfaces to ensure that the product vision is headed in the right direction, the role would be a great fit.

I also had a first interview yesterday with Positive Energy, a Washington DC-based startup that builds software to help residential power customers consume less energy. They just closed a major funding round, already have some customers, and have a smart team in place. The VP of Product has a marketing background and is looking for someone to manage the more technical side of their software product. Even though the company is only 20 people strong right now they have a couple of TJ alumni on board so, once again, this really drives home the importance of the network.

This last opportunity came may way through CleanTechies, a cool new site for techies looking to help the environment. I'm doing some side blogging there about how technology can be used to help address the global energy challenge.

So, things are moving along with a few very appealing opportunities and I'm continuing to add more to the pipeline. I'm long overdue for a Board update so will write one soon and post it here.