Living in a Prius

This post is not really about a car.

But it is about what that car has taught us. I'm sure you know about the Toyota Prius, the most popular hybrid vehicle on the road. Why is it so popular? Obviously not for it's appearance - let's be honest, that's one ugly car! But have you ever driven one or ridden in one? If so, you get it. It's not just that the Prius get's great gas mileage. It's that the Prius' dashboard screen gives the driver real-time feedback on how his or her actions affect the car's efficiency. Yes, it's wonderful and important for the auto manufacturers to create cars that are significantly more energy efficient. But it's equally important to get the drivers engaged in enhancing that efficiency through their actions.

At Tendril, we're trying to do for your home what the dashboard monitor does for the Prius. We're using wireless networking technology, in home devices and software on the Web to help you understand in real time what sort of "mileage" you're getting out of your home. The energy that you use in your home affects the environment and your wallet every bit as much as the energy you use in your car. Yet people seem to be less sensitive to this impact... why? Well, chiefly because they don't get any feedback on how much energy they use in their home until 30-45 days after they've used it - when the bill arrives. We think that our creative solution can solve this feedback gap by giving people that real-time information and the tools to react to it.

So soon living in you house will be like driving a Prius - but not quite as ugly!

Welcome to The Fifth Fuel

Friends:

Welcome to my newest blog and parking lot for what's on my mind. Unlike previous blogging forays in which I've mused about topics such as family, living and working abroad and college football - this effort will be about my professional life, energy management, Software as a Service and entrepreneurship. Sound serious? Well, yeah, important topics all - but still expect lame jokes and sarcasm.

So at this point you are asking yourself, "Kent..." - which, unless your name is Kent, is a silly thing the ask yourself - "... what's with the goofy name for this blog? The Fifth Fuel? Pretty obscure and esoteric, don't you think?"

Although I've often considered myself an as yet undiscovered marketing whiz, I must admit that I did not come up with this provocative phrase. I in fact stole it from the marketing geniuses at my current company, Tendril Networks. Please read all about The Fifth Fuel at Tendril's Web site.

In case you actually made it this far without clicking on the above link and reading all about the The Fifth Fuel, let me cut to the chase and tell you that it's all about Energy Efficiency. With climate change well underway and carbon based fuel (fuel #1) prices reaching stratospheric levels folks of every stripe are now laser focused on creating solutions to the energy crisis. That's good, very good. And as a result, some very promising work is being done towards alternative forms of producing power - namely nuclear, wind and solar (fuels #2, 3 & 4). We must make progress on all of these fronts, and fast. However, the story does not end there. You see, solving the production end of the equation is only half the problem. The other half is all about reducing consumption via energy efficiency (fuel #5).

So that's what Tendril is all about. We want to help consumers to be informed and engaged in how and when they consume energy. We're building infrastructure, devices and software to enable just that. It's exciting and important. It's also fun.

I promise not to turn this blog into a Tendril marketing tool - it seems my peers have all of the tools they need. But I will talk about related topics and and the adventures of living the start-up dream. I hope some of you will come along for the ride.

Cheers,
Kent