Nunzio Digiacomo ’11Journal 1
It has been just over a week since I started my internship at Quantitative Alternatives in New York City. My team and I are involved in launching a new venture in the renewable energy field. Although renewable energy is a hot topic, politically and economically, there is not yet a lot of transparency in terms of information about investment costs, maintenance, and operative performance. As a result of that, we aim to collect, analyze, and distribute data related to the economics of the main renewable technologies. Our objective is to make the industry more transparent, thereby lowering the cost of financing and enabling the diffusion of zero emission technologies. At the same time, we aim to make money. This is the double bottom line business approach I learned about in my classes, and now I am applying what I learned.
The business model is not totally defined yet, so I am spending a significant amount of my time in problem solving sessions with the team and with potential investors and partners. Fortunately, a couple of the classes I took through Columbia Business School — Finance and Sustainability, New Developments in Energy Markets — have considerably helped me in understanding this industry and contributing to the team.
The team is led by the two founders: Professor Bruce Usher, co-director of the Social Enterprise Program at Columbia Business School, who asked me to join the venture, and a successful entrepreneur whose company went public a few years ago. Besides the two founders, there are four analysts working in the venture, all of whom are Columbia Business School graduates or students, all with the same common passion: clean technology energy. As in all the well-respected start-ups, we have no defined hierarchy or job descriptions, and we can spend much of our time thinking creatively about a new idea and new solutions for the business. We work closely with the founders, and so far I already have some idea of what it means to be a social entrepreneur in the business world
Journal 2
Our venture is based inside the New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy (NYC-ACRE). The accelerator hosts a significant number of clean energy entrepreneurs and aims to help emerging companies grow, create good jobs, and move from idea to impact.
The space, situated on Varick Street in SoHo, was created in July 2009 as a partnership between the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and the City of New York.
The incubator helps the hosted companies gain access to markets and customers through its close relationship with several organizations in New York City such as the New York City Investment Fund. These relationships allow them to access many forms of growth equity and non-traditional sources of funding, and the most up-to-date R&D resources through the many NYU-Poly research centers and institutes.
To date, NYC ACRE tenants have created more than 100 full- and part-time jobs, and raised more than eight million dollars in external investment capital. ThinkEco is one of the companies that has impressed me most: it has developed a new appliance to eliminate wasteful standby power (plugged-in appliances are the fastest growing energy drain in homes and offices).
The vibrant start-up culture and the continuous interaction with more than 40 start-ups in the same industry are fostering our creativity and significantly helping the process of defining our business model. In the last few days, we have changed the direction of our venture to what we believe will be the best mix of innovation, profitability, and social impact. This week will be crucial, as we will meet our lawyer (to understand the viability of this idea) and some potential investors.
Journal 3
Today is my last day at Quantitative Alternatives. Next week I will return to Italy and I will soon start working for McKinsey in Milan.
I feel this experience has contributed greatly to my professional development. I learned even more than I expected about solar panels, wind farms, energy efficiencies, and clean technology in general. I gained an understanding of the economics of these alternative energies and the importance they will have in the future to ensure global sustainability. Moreover, I had the chance to meet and discuss our business idea with banks, venture capitalists, lawyers, and rating agencies. The opportunity to meet these senior people, with different backgrounds and knowledge, has enriched my experience at Quantitative Alternatives.
I think there is great interest in renewable energy in the financial and investing communities, and I am sure this will contribute to lowering the cost of capital and accelerating the adoption of these new technologies worldwide.
Finally, working for a double bottom line business — making profits and at the same time making a positive impact on society — was one of my objectives as young professional, and I am sure that this experience will help me a lot in the future.
