One of the biggest challenges I face is trying to keep up with all the great books my guests recommend as part of the show. One that I absolutely loved and found incredibly useful was The Grid: The fraying wires between Americans and our energy future. After the recent black outs in Texas I thought it a great time to speak with the author Gretchen Bakke, and ask why that happened, what needs to change, and what opportunities that creates for cleantech start-ups, scale-ups and VCs. I’m delighted that Gretchen accepted my request and joins me on the podcast this week.About Gretchen Bakke: Gretchen is interested in what people do when the systems they rely upon stop working. Whether speaking of the end of political systems like communism, infrastructural systems like the electric grid, economic systems like whaling, energetic systems like fossil fuels, or cultural systems like the contemporary university what unites my work is an abiding concern for both the inventive creativity and the normative impulses that systemic collapse begets. What is the nature of renewal, she asks, and what do people, diversely, make of things when all that is solid fades unexpectedly into air. About Grid- The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future:“A remarkable achievement. Bakke deftly shows us how a system most of us are happy to ignore–the electrical grid–is both inseparable from everything we think of as civilization and on the verge of complete failure.” Paul Roberts, author of The End Of Oil and The Impulse Society. “This book, about our aging electrical grid, fits in one of my favorite genres: ‘Books About Mundane Stuff That Are Actually Fascinating.’ … even if you have never given a moment’s thought to how electricity reaches your outlets, I think this book would convince you that the electrical grid is one of the greatest engineering wonders of the modern world. I think you would also come to see why modernizing the grid is so complex and so critical for building our clean-energy future.” - Bill Gates, “My Favorite Books of 2016Social links: Gretchen Bakke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-bakke-485067135/ Gretchen Bakke Website: http://bakkeconsolidated.org/about.php About Hyperion Executive Search:Hyperion are a specialist executive search firm working with some of the most innovative cleantech companies in the world, helping to find extraordinary talent to enable their growth and success. Partnering with leading cleantech

About Hyperion Search:

At Hyperion Search, we specialize in building world-class teams for the cleantech and energy transition sectors. We focus on leadership roles but also recruit strategically critical individual contributors who drive business growth. Whether you’re a founder scaling a startup, a board member guiding a scaleup, a VC/PE investor, or a corporation committed to energy and mobility transitions, we find the talent that will deliver impactful, sustainable results.

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