Matt Cheng Zedler
ANGEL INVESTOR, NET ZERO ANGELS
MATT CHENG ZEDLER SPENT the early part of his career working in traditional fossil generation and back-end pollution control. After reading MIT studies on the future of the energy system, his interest turned to energy storage and non-lithium batteries.
Cheng Zedler now serves as an executive advisor alongside fellow former and current Google employees investing in climate-focused startups. “There’s an acknowledgement of the impact of climate change, and especially on how it’s going to affect the next generation,” he said. “There’s a big push from the corporate space in particular: Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta are all pushing for carbon-free energy.”
Although he has seen many great technical solutions coming from startups, that tech doesn’t always get its time in the sun. Cheng Zedler shared that other variables—policy, economics, and timing—have a significant impact, and a great technical solution doesn’t always succeed at the end of the day.
“Use a systems engineering lens when looking at whatever industry you’re working in,” he said. “Particularly in energy, the electricity network is focused on selling a low-price commodity.”
“Even if you have a great technical solution, it ultimately comes down to the cost at the end of the day.”
Matt Cheng Zedler
Dealing with uncertainty is a natural part of the startup environment. Cheng Zedler shared that in 2018, he worked for a startup that failed to raise their next round of venture capital. The company let go of 90 percent of the staff on the same day—himself included. What helped him get back on his feet was the network he had built of former direct reports, co-workers, and collaborators. He was able to land a job at Lockheed Martin within two months, leading product and applications engineering for the flow battery team.
“People you interact with come back in different ways further down the path,” Cheng Zedler said, adding that those connections are still supporting him as he does his own consulting in the climate tech space.
His advice to aspiring engineers is to take smart risks early on—that’s when you have the most freedom and flexibility. “It’s a good time to live abroad, work for a startup, or even launch your own,” Cheng Zedler said.
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