It’s Time to Build: The Climate Edition

Famed software pioneer and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is out with a new piece, called “It’s time to build,” that is making the rounds among the thinkfluencer crowd. It’s part call-to-arms and part flogging over America’s inability to build. “Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, what are you building? What are you building directly, or helping other people to build, or teaching other people to build, or taking care of people who are building?” writes Andreessen. Andreesen is a partner at the VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz. He is considered one of the more important people in software. He co-founded Netscape and wrote a manifesto in 2011 called “Why software is eating the world” that has been a guiding light for many venture investors and people starting companies. Now he has a new focus on building physical things. His new article sparked a surprising number of counter-reactions in the press, from think tanks, and from YouTubers. And it got us thinking about how to apply the thesis to the low-carbon economy. Read Shayle Kann’s climate-focused response to Andreessen’s call to action, which forms the basis of our discussion. Want to join the conversation? Form your own list of climate-focused stuff we should be building, and tweet it at @InterchangeShow. The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility. We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.