It's All About The Numbers

In September, I announced the launch of HRV 20/20. Because, pandemic or no pandemic, our current times call for action. As a venture capitalist, supporting entrepreneurs on their journey to change the world—for the better—is how I act.

But why now? It’s all about the numbers. Not “30,000", the record threshold recently crossed by the Dow. Not “46”, Joe Biden’s presidential number, either. Though these are compelling numbers and cause for optimism, the numbers creating urgency for HRV are 413 and 10.

413 is the current amount, in parts per million, of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. If this is news to you, I’ll let you Google it to see the full context. But suffice to say, we are in uncharted territory. Science tells us that this level is the highest seen on earth in at least three million years. Scientists tell us that nothing short of drastic action will turn things around quickly enough to allow us to avoid climate catastrophe. The UN IPCC report in 2018 said that we had 12 years to take that drastic action. Now, in 2020, we have only 10. A decade.

That’s not a lot of time. Though you may go through 8–10 smartphones in that time, the average American will be driving the same car in 2030 that they are today (avg. age of vehicles on road today = ~12 years).

Unfortunately, the power sector is even slower to turn over. US coal-fired power generation in 2019 was at its lowest level since 1976, and total capacity dropped by 28% from 2010-2019. Good news for sure, but at that rate, we’ll still have over 150 GW of coal plants spewing CO2 into our atmosphere at the end of this decade. And of course, this is just in the US. I could go on, but you get the point.

Drastic changes are needed. Incremental solutions won’t be enough. That means new technologies and new solutions. New ideas brought forth by new companies. Companies led by entrepreneurs and supported by investors who think as boldly, and are ready to work as hard, as they do. That’s why I’ve launched HRV 20/20 now. That’s why waiting for a more convenient time is not an option.