I’m re-booting my newsletter

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It's been three years since I sent an email to my newsletter list.

When I started at Tesla, I stopped sending my weekly email of climate and tech events in the bay area. 

Now that I've left Tesla, I thought it was fine time to restart. 

What will this newsletter be now? I’m going back to my roots, where this weekly email was some news about energy and tech, then a list of events. Going forward, I start with energy and tech news and resources, then include something more ‘lifestyle’. For example, I have an off grid property in OR and I’m a foodie.

Please forward this email to anyone who could find it interesting and share whatever you like on social media. 

To get started:
3 things from cleantech

1. Aurora solar raises $250M Series C and is now a unicorn? They just raised a round in November. Congrats to the team! Yet, does someone on this list have some insight into what the story is with this? 
2. Another cleantech fund goes live: Resilient Earth. The more the merrier :D
3. What’s the difference between the last cleantech wave and now? Andrew Beebe says it’s because there is so much more money in it now, and money going to the right places. Short history lesson: much of Silicon Valley lost money in cleantech in the 2000s, investing in hardware that required fundamental R&D for success. Peter Thiel wrote about it in his book Zero to One. Today’s cleantech wave is all software and operations. There is still some money investing in fundamental R&D, however the Valley’s money is focused on scalable solutions. It’s great to see. 

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To give a broader update: Much has changed.

Let's see... the past 3 yrs...

• Bought a high-end condo in Jack London Square
• Camped for the first time
• Scaled Model 3 delivery in North America, ran Tesla's war room 
• Elon told me "good job"
• Scaled vehicle deliveries in Europe, living in Amsterdam
• My husband sexually assaulted me and I divorced him
• Went to Burning Man

And then...

• Finalized the terms of my divorce
• Sold the condo in Jack London Square
• Managed material flow development for the Shanghai factory
• Bought a convertible Mazda Miata and drove it along the coast
• Launched inventory control software in California and Shanghai
• Bought 1.6 acres near Groveland, near Yosemite

And then...

• Spent the first 2 months of covid in a van on property near Joshua Tree
• Built tiny houses near Joshua Tree (draft website here)
• Was furloughed
• Joined the B2B energy operations team
• Grandma died, alone, with covid, however she died of old age. Went back to Detroit for a memorial service in July
• My partner had hand surgery in LA
• Shared my story about my ex-husband
• Went on leave

Priorities changed, so I...

• Moved out of the Bay - put all my stuff in a shipping container near Joshua Tree
• Stayed in Phoenix for 2 months
• Got engaged to a wonderful person
• My dog hurt her knees and needed surgery
• Bought a 100+ acre off-grid property, with a house and garage, on a mountain in southern Oregon. 
• Advised social entrepreneurs
• Bought a Ford F-250 to haul building materials and so we could get up our "driveway" during the winter (dirt road climbing 1000ft with 20% inclines)
• Finally feel financially secure  
• I got married
• I quit Tesla

With the new year:

• I made my first angel investment
• Bought a 46’ catamaran in Florida
• Many things on the boat broke, so we’re getting it fixed in St. Pete, FL. 
• Writing a cookbook one recipe at a time.

As I said, things are little different. 

I'm figuring out what's next, but my goal is relaxation and focusing on what matters. With all the change in the world, I’m sharing my story in case it can help anyone. 


What the email used to be:
When I moved to the Bay Area, I didn't know many people so I went to interesting events to meet interesting people. I've been sending out an aggregated list of events in the Bay Area related to clean energy and technology for three years now. It's something I do in my "free time" so sometimes the formatting and notes are quite casual. Hope you enjoy it! 
 Below is my last post from April 12th, 2018:
"I joined Tesla's Leadership Development Program this week. It's a two year rotational program where I'll work on 6-month projects, eventually landing in a role where I can make the most impact to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.  

  
Me outside Tesla's Fremont factory on my second day at Tesla, in 2018. 

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