Coworking with…Will Greene

Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Emerging Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

We are using technology to solve one of the most obvious problems in climate, which is that we must invest in sustainable infrastructure like wind, solar, and other clean energy technologies in order to meet net-zero goals, but the process today is archaic and time-consuming, resulting in a backlog of projects that need to be funded. Banyan accelerates the deployment of capital into sustainable infrastructure through purpose-built software that unlocks enormous efficiency in the project finance process, allowing investors and managers to do many more projects.

What emerging tech are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?

I’m keen on cultivated-meat replacements. The bluefin tuna, I’m ashamed to admit, is one of my favorite fish to eat, and it’s endangered, or at least at risk. I think there is tremendous opportunity for these alternative and replacement technologies, and it’s especially interesting merging the climate and planet impact potential. I’m the least optimistic about colonizing off-planet and space tech. I want to focus my efforts on making our beautiful planet habitable today and for our future generations.

What’s the best piece of tech-related media you’ve read/watched/listened to?

This one is great! It’s called the Climate Finance Tracker, and it maps the investment in climate based on sectors. I also read a lot of TechCrunch and VentureBeat, and I read Wired (and they even have great articles on climate and technology impacts toward climate recently), and I’ve always been a fan of PCMag.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile?

Everything! My first manager was Marc Benioff. And no, I didn’t keep up because who knew, right?

What do you think about when you’re not thinking about tech?

Building a tech startup does consume a lot of my free cycles, but when I’m not thinking about my job, which is the most amazing venture I’ve participated in my career, I have two kids who are 10 and 13. We spend a ton of time just playing, and our favorite things right now are parkour, climbing, hiking, anything that has water in its name or activity, which of course includes surfing every weekend. And in case I forgot, I love food. I think about food a lot.