Orthogonal Vectors

When I decided to leave Tesla last October, I didn’t know what I was going to do next, and I had very little time to figure it out. I had committed to myself to make my exit as smooth as possible for the benefit of the company and there was a lot of work to be done, leaving no time for planning next steps.

I did know a few things though: for starters, I was quitting a good job in perhaps the worst job market since I graduated college.

But such is life. You can’t always pick the circumstances that you find yourself in, but you always have the choice of how to handle them and ultimately one’s character is defined by the decisions they make when confronted with tough choices.

It is this philosophy that led to my leaving Tesla, but more interesting is how this philosophy led to what I am doing now.

When I left my previous job as CMO at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company to join Tesla, I knew that the risk associated with such a move would be hedged by the fact that the experience alone would be extremely valuable, regardless of the outcome. I felt this way for two reasons:

First, it was clear that cleantech was going to be the next important sector for innovation and industrial growth. I had missed out on the last “big thing” in Silicon Valley (for better or for worse) and felt that living in the Bay Area but working at a large financial services company was somehow incongruous. I felt the tug toward participating in what makes Silicon Valley extraordinary.

Second, I believe that one’s growth, both personal and professional, is maximized when you pursue orthogonal vectors. There are incremental gains to be had by continuing to try to advance in the same direction. The gains are exponential when you strike out in an entirely new direction.

Which brings me back to what I am doing now. I’ve been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. Aside from starting a short-lived record label (don’t ask), I’ve never been an entrepreneur. While I have always done well working within someone else’s system, I have a strong predisposition to independence and originality. The idea of having a much more direct path between my effort and the outcome is very compelling.

Once again, my timing is impeccable. As a first time entrepreneur, it isn’t the most opportune time to raise funds to start a new venture. This is why I concluded that I would need to try an innovative approach to starting this company. It was a tough choice to pursue this route rather than the comfort or safety of taking another job at an established company, but I believe it is the right choice.

The announcement that went over the wire today that I am joining Peppercom as their senior analyst in cleantech is a part of the story. I am going to do my best to help build Peppercom into a leading player in cleantech communications and at the same time will be launching my startup, with Peppercom’s support, while working out of their offices in downtown San Francisco.

Peppercom is a great partner for several reasons. My startup is a software service aimed at journalists, media relations professionals, and CEOs, so working closely with a leading communications firm will help me build a better company. My background in cleantech communications and branding will be a great addition to Peppercom’s already strong capabilities in that area. Also, Peppercom believes that the best way to provide value in the business of communications is to have a deep understanding of the clients’ business. I believe this is especially true in the cleantech business, and Peppercom definitely lives up to this promise. In fact, when I concocted the idea of developing my startup company out of a communications firm, the first and only firm I spoke to seriously was Peppercom.

I think this certainly qualifies as an orthogonal vector, no? I’m looking forward to the next few years of growth. May they be as valuable as the last few have been!