Perspective matters

As I write this, I’m lying next to my two-year-old as he falls asleep at the end of a long and energizing day. It’s a small, quiet moment, but one that somehow is connecting to something much bigger. Earth Day has a way of doing that, bringing things back into perspective.

The idea of perspective is powerful, shared in a conversation with a close friend just before I moved back to the States, and I’ve found myself returning to it often. It shifts how you see both the scale of what’s ahead and the progress already underway, as well as an appreciation for what really matters in the moment. It also changes how you think about time. Not just the past year, but the longer arc of what we are building: the collection of individual moments, memories, and actions; how they build on each other, and how that impacts the future our children will inherit.

What are we really building, and who is it for?

Day to day, I have a lot of energizing conversations with our community about climate and energy in practical terms: how much we need to build, how quickly emissions need to fall, what the models tell us. And those things, of course, really do matter.

We are talking about building real systems, including new power generation, storage, and infrastructure, plus new ways to manufacture our goods, move around the world, feed our population, and construct our built environment. In energy specifically, doing so at a scale measured in hundreds of gigawatts over the coming decade. In the U.S. alone, that means on the order of 800 gigawatts of additional capacity by 2035 to meet rising demand, while emissions must fall significantly this decade, consistent with leading global analysis.

These are big numbers, but they point to something simple: we are rebuilding the physical foundation of the next economy, and how we choose to do that will matter for the long term.

So, step back for just a moment. Up on the balcony, the question becomes simpler: what kind of world are we building, and who is it for?

In many ways, we already know a great deal. We understand the risks of emissions, the pressure on our environment, and the real impacts on people’s health that have come alongside progress: from air pollution to the growing impacts of climate change, and everyday exposure to pollution and chemicals that affect people’s health, and we know that addressing these quickly matters for the future of people and planet.

At the same time, we are seeing something equally important: technology, when applied with intention, is one of the most powerful forces of good we have for improving how the world works. It expands access, drives prosperity, and improves lives, and today, across energy, industry, and infrastructure, we are seeing that potential translate into real, tangible progress.

Fifteen years in, and something real is happening

At Greentown, I see our founders acting on these questions every day. Please, if you are not familiar, just double click on any one of our companies, and you will be amazed! Over the past 15 years in Boston, and now 5 years in Houston, our community has supported more than 700 planet-shifting startups, helping innovators mobilize over $12 billion in capital and create more than 16,000 jobs.

Of course, those wins sit with the teams themselves. But, I do think there is something worth recognizing in the broader ecosystem as well: the many people and partners who have, in ways both big and small, helped accelerate that progress.

What stands out most is not the numbers. It is the flow of progress. Companies that began as early ideas are now shaping industries. Form Energy is deploying multi-day storage at grid scale (such as a 300 MW / 30 GWh project with Google and Xcel Energy to support data center demand!). Fervo Energy is advancing geothermal into real infrastructure (backed by more than $400 million in project finance and now preparing for public markets!). Via Separations is scaling industrial technologies (with over $36 million in recent funding!) and growing deployment. Companies like Elementium Materials (novel energy storage) and Helix Earth Technologies (decarbonized HVAC) are raising capital (over $10 million each!) and moving quickly toward commercialization. More energy, fewer emissions, faster to scale! It is working…

These are not isolated successes. They are signals that something is shifting.

How did we get here?

It is important to ask how this progress happens, so WE can double down. It is not the result of a single breakthrough or a single organization. It comes from entrepreneurs willing to take on hard problems over long periods of time, without certainty. It comes from ecosystems mobilizing around them; clusters of talent, capital, partners, and infrastructure that make it more likely that those ideas succeed. And it comes from the community leaning in (us, you)! People coming together across sectors and disciplines to build something larger than any one effort.

This is also what we like to describe as “the power of and.” Energy and climate, innovation and deployment, speed and scale, growth and resilience. These are not trade-offs, but outcomes that reinforce one another when the system is working well.

It also happens in the micro moments: the introductions, the shared lessons, the early partnerships, the quiet persistence over time. These moments are adding up, friends! 

And it is just awesome to see, with a little perspective! 

This is a systems moment

What has become clearer to me over time is that there are really two interconnected systems at play. The first is the set of physical systems that power our world: energy, industry, infrastructure, and how we produce, move, and use resources. The second is the system around innovation itself: capital, policy, talent, education, and the ecosystems that determine how quickly new ideas move into the real world.

Progress depends on both, and increasingly, it depends on how well they—we—connect.

We are not short on technology. What matters now is how those technologies move: how quickly they go from idea to deployment, how systems adapt to integrate them, and how effectively we coordinate across sectors and geographies. In many ways, what we are building now are the bridges between these systems.

Where do we need to go from here?

If perspective helps us see the progress, it also sharpens what’s ahead. The scale of what needs to happen is significant, and the pace needs to increase. That will require stronger, more connected ecosystems, alignment across capital, customers, and policy, and a continued focus on reducing friction for the entrepreneurs doing the hardest work.

It will also require us to think in systems, not silos, and to recognize that no single organization or sector can do this alone. Increasingly, progress will come from how well we connect across regions, industries, and areas of expertise.

How we build matters as much as what we build

We are living through a moment of extraordinary acceleration. With AI and other technologies advancing quickly, the pace of change can feel both exciting and, at times, a little overwhelming. What once took years is now happening in months or even weeks, and entire categories of capability are emerging faster than our systems are designed to absorb them. Wow.

It becomes easier to move quickly than to move thoughtfully.

I do not think any of us navigate that perfectly. I certainly do not. But we must continue to embrace it and continue to learn, and that makes us better. It also reinforces something important: how we build matters just as much as what we build. Speed and scale, AND whether what we build serves people, strengthens communities, and reflects a sense of responsibility to something larger than ourselves.

Technology is a powerful tool, but it is still a tool. How we choose to use it matters.

We are the leaders this moment needs

Over the past year, I have been surrounded by phenomenal leaders across the Greentown community: founders navigating uncertainty, partners leaning in, and teams building systems that help others move faster.

At the same time, I heard a reflection recently that has stayed with me: that it feels like we are in a moment with a shortage of leadership. It is a humbling thought. And perhaps, more than anything, it invites reflection.

Of course, there are many people in leadership roles. And this isn’t a reflection on any one leader, but perhaps on how we ourselves should challenge ourselves to define leadership. We often look for a single voice or a single direction, when in reality this moment requires something different. Leadership now is more distributed, and often quieter. It happens in moments, and in the decision to step forward, to collaborate, to take responsibility, even when the path is unclear.

It also shows up in how we build. In whether we bring others along, in whether we act from fear or from possibility, in whether we choose division or connection. These choices may seem small, but they are in our control and, over time, they shape outcomes in powerful ways.

One idea that has stayed with me is simple, but not easy: we are the leaders we have been waiting for. And perhaps the real question is not whether leadership exists, but whether we each choose to step into it, and to recognize those moments when it matters most.

Holding perspective

So, as I lie here at the end of the day, I come back to perspective. And what a perspective (and phenomenal leadership moment!) astronaut Christina Koch offers. Reflecting on looking back at Earth from space, she shared:

“The thing that changed for me…was noticing not only the beauty of the Earth, but how much blackness there was around it, and how that made it even more special. It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive.”

It’s a powerful and humbling reminder of what we are building toward.

Friends: we have more clarity than we have ever had. We have the tools. We are seeing real momentum. We are in a defining decade. 

The question now is not what needs to be done. It is whether we choose to do it, together, and with the urgency and intention this moment demands.

Georgie

Mum to Penny, Jules & Benny + CEO, Greentown Labs

P.S. If this resonates with you, and you’re not already connected, I would love to invite you in. If you believe, as we do at Greentown, that we need more energy and fewer emissions, a stronger economy and a healthier planet, there are many ways to engage, including partnering with Greentown and our startups, joining our community, and supporting Greentown’s work. However you choose to lean in, it all adds up, because how we build what comes next is something we shape together.