Aren’t you ashamed working for BP?
I joined the energy industry 20 years ago because I wanted to play a part in a system that is fundamental to human progress and I have worked in innovation and new business creation within BP ever since. I helped to found Launchpad in 2019 because I see the opportunity to harness the increasing pace of innovation around the world, along with BP’s reach, to make new businesses part of the solution to some of the world’s most pressing issues: climate, waste, fair access to energy and urbanisation.
The energy sector today is under pressure and being disrupted — by activists who want a more sustainable system, by new energy sources and systems, and through increasing demand fuelled by population growth, urbanisation and digitisation. But if you’re motivated by human progress and making a difference, it’s one of the best places to work. Providing the world with energy without harmful emissions is one of the toughest challenges we face.
My son recently asked me “Aren’t you ashamed working for BP?” No, I said, because like many people in the company, I believe I can make a positive difference by using the scale and skill of BP alongside the best innovators in the world. I want to leave the world in better shape than I arrived and I want to help more people get access to the things I have been lucky enough to be able to take for granted.
Technology is a big part of the answer, along with many policy and behavioural changes. Ideas and innovation are everywhere and the world is not short of capital. What’s missing is a platform to turn those brilliant ideas through amazing teams into infrastructure, systems, other platforms, that deliver cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy, so everyone benefits.
That’s why I had the idea for Launchpad. With my colleague and co-founder David Gilmour, we saw that the world’s problem in scaling disruptive new entrepreneurial ideas, in the face of huge incumbent national and global energy systems, was in microcosm what was happening in BP. Lots of ideas and pilots but never enough traction to cross the chasm beyond a few early adopters.
So, with David, I made the case to BP’s executive team, that we build Launchpad — a factory for growing new energy businesses (both home-grown technology companies like Lytt and STRYDE and external investments like Fotech and Onyx) and to grow them really fast.
We have started fairly close to our core businesses, to build and test our capability quickly — but 2020 will see more of our portfolio extend into adjacent sectors, still in energy, like circular economy, hydrogen, advanced mobility and digital.
In 2005, I was part of the team who set up BP’s Alternative Energy Business. Until Launchpad that felt like my most important professional contribution, helping set up solar, wind, biofuels and hydrogen businesses. Some survived, most did not. But fifteen years on, Launchpad feels different — the world is changing quickly and we have set Launchpad up to learn from our Alternative Energy businesses and other corporate forays into start-up territory, not least our own. And that learning continues every day we engage with Founders, with talent we’ve hired from outside and with people in BP.
You may be a sceptic about oil and gas companies’ ability to change. But at Launchpad, we have been given a mandate and access to hundreds of millions of dollars (as well as a commitment to consider much more) to help build a new future. We have been given considerable freedom to help us go fast, and we are actively unlocking BP’s unique advantages for our Launchpad founders and their companies.
This is a new model; it’s neither accelerator nor incubator, VC or private equity. Very few organisations have been able to achieve what we’re trying to do. We will doubtless fail in some areas; some of our companies will not succeed. But we have such a strong sense of purpose, where we connect deeply with Founders who share our mission to change the future of energy and build a low carbon future for everyone.
I passionately believe in inclusivity and the power of diversity — and for me this extends to how we must solve the world’s energy problems: we need everyone working on it without judgement or exclusion, whatever their background or history. It’s the only way we can succeed.
Jot down your thoughts here or find me on LinkedIn.
