The Intersection of Bits and Atoms: Unlocking Solutions to Age-Old Physical Industry Problems
Eclipse welcomes Charly Mwangi to the team as Partner
Throughout my career, I have found myself at the confluence of emerging technology and the often limiting parameters of our physical world. This intersection of bits and atoms is where the magic happens. Through this convergence, we are able to successfully unlock innovative solutions to age-old and highly complex physical industry problems. I experienced this first-hand at Tesla when I joined as the company began production of the Model S and lived through the formative production ramps of Model X and Model 3. The unprecedented need to quickly scale manufacturing capacity forced Tesla to rethink manufacturing from a fundamentals perspective, with the goal of identifying the most leveraged levers that enable fast and efficient scaling of manufacturing. Exploring these levers is what set Tesla’s manufacturing capacity on such an exponential growth trajectory. It boiled down to applying technology, informed by fundamentals-based insights, to age old manufacturing problems.
The application of technology and fundamentals based insights to transform physical industries serve as the guiding principles for everything the Eclipse Ventures Team does, which is the reason I’m energized to join this extraordinary group of investors as a Partner. As a Partner at Eclipse, I can amplify my impact in tackling the most pressing issues — like climate change and manufacturing reshoring — facing our world by working with driven Founders and a world class team.
Opportunities for Innovation
Opportunities abound when it comes to transforming physical industries. Take the electrification of transportation, which is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, for example. In 2021, of the 66.7 million cars sold globally, only around 10% were electric vehicles (EV). At the same time, multiple jurisdictions around the world — from California to the European Union — are bringing in legislation to ban the sales of new non-electric vehicles by 2035. This means that within the next decade, EVs’ unique supply chain and infrastructure need to grow by at least 10x. This growth mandate demands innovative solutions to enable fast, sustainable, and productive growth of the EV supply chain and infrastructure.
Additionally, reshoring of manufacturing will also create demand for innovative solutions. As production becomes less concentrated in China, there will be a rush for infrastructure and capacity building worldwide. However, this capacity has to be developed responsibly. The world doesn’t need more of the same factories that we’ve been building to date. Therefore, I see multiple opportunities for innovative solutions to enable productivity in manufacturing and sustainable capacity building.
Let’s Build!
For years now I have used a simple framework, passed on by a mentor, to guide my career choices:
- Passion – Am I passionate about the mission? Am I passionate about my role?
- Valued – Will I be valued as a function of the skills and experience I bring?
- Value – Will I be working on meaningful problems? Will my work have far reaching positive impact?
- Learning – Will I be stretched? Will I learn?
Having known and interacted with the Eclipse team for the last four years, my response to each of the four questions was a resounding and heart-felt ‘Yes.’ I’m thrilled to be here and eager to get to work.
Let’s build!
