The Importance of Breakthrough Energy

This episode is part of our new Capital Series hosted by Jason Jacobs. This series explores a diverse range of capital sources and the individuals who drive them. From family offices and institutional LPs to private equity, government funding, and more, we take a deep dive into the world of capital and its critical role in driving innovation and progress. 

Jonah Goldman was a longtime managing director at Bill Gates' firm, Breakthrough Energy. Breakthrough Energy is dedicated to helping humanity avoid a climate disaster through investment vehicles, philanthropic programs, policy advocacy, and other activities. They're committed to scaling the technologies that we need to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Jonah helped establish the firm in 2015 and served as primary architect for all of the programs and funds. 

Currently, Jonah serves as the founder and Principal at North Cascades Strategies where he works with clients and partners to creatively commercialize critical climate technologies.  He also serves as a Senior Advisor for Public Affairs at Generate Capital and a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group. 

We have a great discussion in this episode about the origin of Breakthrough, how Jonah found himself doing this climate work to begin with, how Breakthrough is set up, the different areas in which they operate, how they've evolved over time, and how that fits into the broader problem of climate change and the broader solution set. We then cover the nature of the problem of climate change, the best ways to address it, and some of the biggest opportunities and challenges with accelerating the transition.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [03:28]: Jonah's background
• [04:50]: The focus on traditional climate solutions at the 2015 Paris COP
• [06:56]: Breakthrough Energy’s inception as a bridge between public research and private capital
• [08:34]: Bill Gates' commitment to real capital and the challenge to the public sector
• [09:49]: Factors that contributed to people saying "yes" to Breakthrough Energy
• [11:56]: Bill Gates' leadership and the global commitment to addressing climate change
• [13:12]: Differences between Breakthrough Energy One and traditional venture capital
• [14:12]: Need for purpose-built investment vehicles for climate technologies
• [16:04]: The firm's goal of creating a commercial environment for hard technologies
• [17:56]: Distinguishing climate-focused investments from general investments
• [19:19]: Integrating climate considerations into all sectors
• [22:10]: Perfecting purpose-built vehicles for climate investments
• [23:52]: Aligning financial incentives and solving challenges to drive investments
• [30:08] The need for existing players willing to take new models
• [36:52] Government’s role in the clean energy transition
• [41:24] Need for a multifaceted approach to solving climate
• [45:15] BEV's focus on investing in hard tech
• [47:41] Jonah's thoughts on company climate commitments
• [52:34] His feelings about carbon markets
• [55:55] The role of behavior change
• [1:00:17] Jonah's current projects and who he wants to hear from

Get connected: 
Jonah Goldman X / LinkedIn
Jason Jacobs X / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

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Episode recorded on Aug 4, 2023 (aired on Aug 30, 2023) 

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant