About

The Green Light Distrikt (GLD) is a collection of experiences, insights, resources, and discussions on entrepreneurship in the clean technology industry from the young people on the front lines. My name is Chris Williams, I’m 23, I’ve been working in clean technology for 2 years. I’m from Maine, it’s an awesome state, but I live in Boston now.

The Clean Tech Generation is the first generation that will be able to start their careers in the clean technology industry. The Green Light Distrikt will follow this generation and the young people on the front lines.

What makes The Green Light Distrikt special?

1. I’m speaking from experience. I’m not a closet entrepreneur or environmentalist that likes to just talk about the subject. I’m on the front lines everyday, hitting the phones, bootstraping, growing companies, going to events, and connecting with people that are driving the industry.
2. It won’t be just be my perspective. There are tons of young people in the industry working on amazing projects that are eager to share their stories. Our Industry Insiders is a group of young people working in clean technology that will be writing on The Green Light Distrikt.
3. I’m not going to be reporting the news, there are tons of places to find that. I’m going to focus on bringing you stories from the front lines so you can get an idea of whats happening and who is driving the industry. With this information you’ll have a better idea of where your opportunity is.
4. Being young is great but I’ve always valued learning from more experience experts too. Having mentors that are older, wiser and more experienced has greatly helped me in my short career. The Green Light Distrikt will interview more experienced professionals to see what the gray hairs think.

I started the Green Light Distrikt in September of 2009 as a project to record my journey through the “green” movement and share the interesting information, amazing insights, resources, opportunities, and intimate discussions I have with industry experts along the way. More specifically, I want to reflect on my experience developing both personally and professionally, graduating into a bad recession, and being on the forefront of a new movement.

My goal is to not only keep a journal but to help others that are intereted in this industry through what I’ve learned. If you’re interested in clean technology and how entrepreneurship is driving the movement, this blog is for you. I hope to meet a lot of other like minded young (or old) people through the blog. If you want to get in touch with me for any reason, please feel free. Contact me here. If you’re interested in contributing to my blog, or want me to contribute to yours, or anything else, give me a shout.

In college in became apparent that the largest reshaping of the worlds economy since the industrial revolution was beginning. If you haven’t noticed it, you’re either living on another planet, or under a rock.

Green, sustainable, clean, it doesn’t matter what you call it, there is one common thread: decreasing human impact on the environment. This has created a lot of great business opportunities and I lot of amazing people are working on these problems.

These are the topics that I’m always exploring about clean technology

1. WHO is driving it…(what people, what companies, what are they like, what is their story)
2. What is currently happening…(on the front lines)
3. What are the market forces in play…
4. What is the future of…
5. What resources and insights are the most useful…
6. Where the opportunity to build a business or work is…

Who is Chris Williams?

• I like talking with people are working on cool things.
• I don’t own a car
• I think entrepreneurship can change the world.
• Maine is the greatest state in the union.
• I graduated from Babson College.
• I like lists, pictures, videos, and some writing.
• I’m learning to play the drums.
• I like taking pictures, but I’m definitely an amateur.
• I love to sail. A couple years ago my friends and I took a 3 day trip off the coast of Maine.

• I love to travel. Here I am hiking a volcano in southern Chile

• Here’s a couple things I’ve worked or been a part of:
  • Business Development @ HeatSpring Learning Institute
  • Part Time Consultant @ Urgent VC
  • Big Belly Solar
  • neXus Green Building Reource Center
  • Green Drinks
  • Net Impact

From an Interest to a Blog

During my junior year in college I took some time off from school, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I traveled through Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and the U.S.A. I went to Bermuda twice and on a sail training cruise. When I returned to school the business community was going crazy about “green”. Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ had come out while I was away and it had really caught peoples attention. Finally! I thought myself, it’s about time.

During college, one of my most useful assignments was to interview an entrepreneur. I noticed the amazing ability of interviews and discussions to transfer real world experience and convey a large amount of very useful and targeted information and passion in a short period of time. Interviews will be central to the content on GLD.

After graduating in 2008, I moved into Boston, a “green” hub, and began interviewing and having discussions with everyone and anyone that I met, read about, or could get in contact with that was working on something I found interesting.

I was learning a ton and having so much fun that my good friend Nick (@nikku for you twitter lovers) convinced me to blog about my discussions, and the Green Light Districk was born.

What am I passionate about?

I love to learn, share, meet and talking with people who are working on interesting and amazing projects. I like hearing things straight from the source. I am interested in:

• Renewable Energy: Coal is killing the atmosphere. Enough said.
• Resource Efficiency: The easiest (and most profitable) way to use less energy.
• Green Building: Buildings consume A LOT of energy and resources.
• Entrepreneurship: People who love change, embrace change and push change. We are the people that are driving the movement.
• Getting sh*t done: Talking is fun around a camp fire but for the rest of the time in the real world I prefer people who are actually doing things. I stole this saying from good friend Matt Boyton, he calls it “GSD”.
• Food (organic, local): I grew up in Maine around farms and love fresh food. If we want to save the word we can’t be fat and all have cancer. It starts with food.

What is my personal goal of the blog?

1. Keep a log of my personal and professional journey, it will be great to see it in 5 years! Its going to be exciting to see how it turns out
2. Give you great resources, information, insights that I come across and share with you what I have learned and will be learning
3. Share the great discussions I have with amazing people
4. Provide insights and reflections that will spark great conversations
5. Make it easy for me to connect with people and learn what they’re working on. Make it easy for you to connect with people too!
6. Make me a better writer and learn about blogging

If you have any other comments, questions, feedback, thoughts on what I write, I’d be glad to hear it.