Poetry & Plumbing
I was recently listening to a favorite Hidden Brain podcast episode with Stanford’s Huggy Rao, who expands on an idea from his late colleague James G. March:
Leadership is equal parts poetry and plumbing.
In climate tech, this balance isn’t optional - it’s existential.
Poetry is the big, audacious why: the mission, the momentum, the story that pulls people in and keeps them there.
Plumbing is the how: the systems, processes, data, execution, and not-so-glamorous but absolutely essential mechanics that keep things from, well… leaking.
And here’s the truth most founders eventually bump into:
Too much poetry and nothing ships.
Too much plumbing and nothing inspires.
Get the balance wrong, and you end up with a very expensive, very soggy mess.
Climate tech founders in particular live at this intersection. You’re solving real-world problems with real-world constraints while trying to convince investors, partners, and entire markets to believe in a future that doesn’t exist yet.
You need to make the dream compelling, and make it work.
That’s where we come in.
Capital Energy specializes in translating complex technology into stories that resonate and systems that scale.
We help you align the why and the how - so your poetry connects and your plumbing holds.
Call it strategic storytelling. Call it operational clarity. Or call it what it is:
the art of being a poetic practitioner in your craft.
*Poetic full moon photo taken on the backstreets near Greentown Labs, Somerville.
