VSC Ventures

“The 2024 election turned on the price of eggs. The 2026 midterms might turn on the price of electricity.” This assertion from Varun Sivaram of @EmeraldAi_ was the most provocative claim I heard in a panel on AI and the power demand data centers today. And it’s stuck with me these first few days into Climate Week. The clash between AI’s energy demand and our grid’s limits isn’t an abstract problem. It’s already driving up household bills in places like New Orleans, Virginia and Ohio. If we don’t solve this, the politics of AI will turn toxic fast (or… even more toxic) At @VSCVentures, @vijaychattha and I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. Our energy investments span generation, reliability, and utilization: Gritt Robotics, Panthalassa, Sesame Solar, and Condoit who are all positioned the center of this coming storm. I’d argue this is the single most important sub-segment of climate tech today, maybe tech broadly. If energy ravaging data centers and the overtaxed American grid can’t find common ground, every other initiative in the sector, from new solar and wind to storage and microgrids, becomes irrelevant.w One contrarian view from the panel which included execs from Oracle and CoreWeave was that acquiescence to hyperscalers might actually lower energy bill, not raise them, IF… and that’s a big IF they accept modest flexibility. Trim 25% of demand for 2% of the year, and the whole system gets cheaper for everyone. As Varun said, that flips data centers from being villain to the hero in the communities they live in. Hmm… I think that idea deserves more exploration. Do you buy that? Or are we all destined for higher electricity bills? Should the AI economy start bracing for political blowback?

We're just TWO WEEKS AWAY from VSC Ventures' first-ever Dirty Jobs summit, and our team is simply giddy with excitement! Over our day together, 50 founders and 50 VCs and strategics in attendance will 'talk dirty' about the most pressing and relevant topics for startups building, selling, hiring, and fundraising in our oft-overlooked but much beloved dirty, dusty, and dangerous industries. Roundtable topics include: — Where's the downstream funding for robotics startups? — What are the most effective storytelling tactics in legacy industries? — What do strategics & CVCs *actually* need to partner & invest? — From PMF to GTM: How to build a revenue/GTM engine in Dirty Jobs? You'll meet and hear from the @VSCPR & @VSCVentures teams including myself, @vijaychattha, @maggieOphilbin, Vidush Jaipuria, and @abbyjae_ as well as experienced founders, including several from the VSC Ventures portfolio such as: — @NHegeman (PaintJet) — Claire Burke (Homemade) — Rebecca Hu & Areeb Malik (Glacier) — Alex Hall (concrete.ai) — @bobs (@goodcallanswers) — Nishant Jain (@getpresso) And many more. Can't wait to Talk Dirty with all of you in two short weeks. See you on June 4th!

If all you focus on is the end goal, you're going to realize how hollow success feels, even when you're standing on the top step of the podium. It's been nearly 3 years since I first got to interview @ApoloOhno on @thegameplanshow about the lessons from his unrivaled Olympic career that he carries with him into the business world today. I'll be honest, not a week goes by that I don't quote his advice to a friend. In fact, his advice on breaking down a big audacious goal into lots of little goals and lots of little wins is *exactly* what helped @vijaychattha and me to raise @VSCVentures Fund I When @_baukunst co-founder Kate McAndrew and I sat down for this episode of CLIMB to share with each other how we discover and support founders as they build category-defining companies, Apolo's advice about "finding joy in the journey" and reverse-engineering success was top of my mind as well. Enjoy this clip and please check out the whole episode for more great lessons:

Your startup is likely missing the low-hanging fruit 🍎 on marketing. Wanna know how I know this? My partner @vijaychattha has advised over 750 startups over his two decades(!) in PR and storytelling at @VSCPR. We chatted on our 50th episode of CLIMB about how more companies can take advantage of these opportunities to build trust with their customers and massively accelerate growth. Our experience is the backbone of @VSCVentures, supporting driven, ambitious founders building soon-to-be category-defining businesses. Come and join us! spoti.fi/3qe8hXq

Big Milestone Alert: We just released our 50th(!) episode of CLIMB If you've never heard or watched an entire episode of our weekly show on building & scaling climate innovation, THIS is a great one to start with. Enjoy a teaser below, then follow the link (spoti.fi/3qe8hXq) to hear my co-host @vijaychattha and I chop it up on lessons from our last 49 eps: 🍊 Low-hanging fruit that startup founders miss 🇺🇸 Role of US government in scaling climate tech 📚 How to become a better storyteller 🛠 Why @vscventures is all-in on climate tech and industrial automation Shout-out to every guest who joined us on our way to 50 and our amazing @VSCPR co-hosts @maggieOphilbin @RickLiebling and more!