Matt Horton talks about his 20 plus year long history in the cleantech economy and the various challenges he faced at Propel, ProTerra, and RIVIAN, and the things he learned over the years to successfully bring change and new approaches into century-old industries like transportation, agriculture, energy and beyond

1. Open Office:
Real Global Change Takes:
Patience

2. WHAT IS
NEW ENERGY NEXUS?
New Energy Nexus is an international organization that
supports clean energy entrepreneurs with funds,
accelerators and networks.
Since 2004, New Energy Nexus has mobilized $1.5B in
investment, invested in over 150 clean energy enterprises,
and launched industry leading centers for solution
collaboration.
Our network includes more than 100 incubators and
accelerators, funders and development organizations
from 29 countries around the world. We started in
California and have expanded operations into China, India,
Southeast Asia, and East Africa.
LAUNCH | FUND | ACCELERATE | SCALE

3. We support diverse entrepreneurs to drive
innovation and build equity into the global
clean energy economy.
MISSION
New Energy Nexus strives towards an
abundant world with a 100% clean energy
economy for 100% of the population in the
shortest time possible.
VISION
WE HELP CLEAN ENERGY
ENTREPRENUERS SUCCEED

4. • Open Office is a program of the New Energy Nexus. These are bespoke one-on-one coaching and
mentoring sessions from top clean economy executives.
• We are also developing a complete archive of digital training materials and educational modules to
improve company performance and increase success of the clean energy solutions that we seek.
• Through these Open Office coaching sessions, we have seen significant improvements in CEO decision
making, commercial traction and emotional demeanor which increases the organization's success
rate in achieving their goals.
• Themes typically discussed during these sessions are capital fuel, cash flow and runway; strategic
relationships and networking; leadership, positive culture building and human capital.
• We will be offering additional resources and exposure to other leaders with other tips and tricks at our
Slack community, New Energy Nexus Network.
To sign up, please email: jessica.hulstrom@newenergynexus.com
https://bit.ly/OPEN-OFFICE
Open Office

5. About Speakers
Jon Bonanno
Host
CXO, New Energy Nexus & California Clean Energy Fund
jon.bonanno@newenergynexus.com
Matt Horton
Expert
Executive Vice President, RIVIAN
www.linkedin.com/in/matthewrhorton/

6. Get Involved
Open Office: jessica.hulstrom@newenergynexus.com
https://bit.ly/OPEN-OFFICE
www.newenergynexus.com

7. Perl Of Wisdom
I started my career in New Energy
more than 20 years ago, and the
one thing I wish I’d known then is…

8. Perl Of Wisdom
• …changing the world requires patience.
Many of the largest industries in the world (Energy,
Agriculture, Government, Automotive, Transportation,
Infrastructure, Construction, Water, etc.) have one thing in
common:
Long Sales Cycles

9. It’s Challenging But Well Worth It
• Massive markets – Trillion, with a “T”
• Larger checks (eventually)
• Repeat business – feels SaaS-like
• Be prepared with capital to go the distance
• Barriers to entry – your enemy will become your ally
• Incumbency and endowment

10. How To Succeed With Long Sales Cycles
Know the rules of the road
• Procurement rules can be very rigid and define competitive dynamics
• Major consequences to violating procurement rules/norms
• Sole source vs. competitive procurement
• Long sales cycles require prudent financial planning
Learn who the key decision-makers are
• Often not who you think – and not always in the same organization
• Treat everyone with respect
Understand motivations and readiness
• Innovation = risk = danger – solve for ways to minimize risk
• Go big by going small – paid pilots/trials
Make your champions look like stars
• Do their homework for them – provide value-add content
• Media attention is powerful
Relationships, relationships, relationships
• Play the long game – develop the right mindset
• Enable constant touchpoints – automate outreach and content creation
• Push the flywheel

11. Thank You