matt candler
I’m into how people learn.
- I founded 4.0, a community of 1,500 founders serving more than 9 Million US learners.
- I’m an All-Star Mentor for EnergyTech founders at TechStars.
I’m into EVs.
- I build electric vehicles; my motorcycles have been on TV and books.
- Right now I’m jamming an electric sportbike drivetrain into a 1969 Fiat 500.
I’m into where the two meet.
- I’m an active angel investor in electrification - investment memo.
- I helped start a big micro-grid project, New Orleans’ Community Lighthouse.
- I’m building an EV, a robot, & helping rookie EV drivers thrive.
- I’m building a 1-client-at-a-time innovation lab to help 1 curious client dramatically increase their EV adoption rates.
- MBA, Northwestern University/Kellogg: Decision Sciences, Education Mgmt
- BA, Duke University: math, Spanish Language
- Racial Equity Institute, Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Fuller Moto Welding Essentials, Center for Restorative Approaches, On Deck Climate Tech Fellowship
Biz New Orleans on My Next Electric
The Vintagent on Converting Bikes
A short on what NASA can teach us about schools
Forbes on Rooted School
Tom Vander Ark Pod on 4.0 and The Future of School
Leadership for Educational Equity Pod on Lessons at 4.0
The 74 on investing in entrepreneurs
Pecha Kucha Talk on motorcycles
More Writing/Video
- 5 Climate Tech Startups in 10 weeks
- I ♥ My Electrician: 4 Hunches about our electrified lives in 2040
- The Big EC: New Orleans, Electric City
- The Trillion Dollar South: What If We Electrify First?
- Studio/Shop Tour
- On 8 years at 4.0
- On both kinds of equity
- What's next for me?
- 4.0 2019 Report
- Rethinking expertise
- NASA and the future of school
- Lessons on 100+ schools, startups
- Pecha Kucha on building bikes
- On the #Futureofschool with Tom Vander Ark
- B2U Energy Storage Solutions: B2U runs the largest 2nd-life EV battery power plant in the US.
- Flux Hybrids: Led by Micah Ulrich, Flux adds electric drivetrains to lightweight trucks.
- Edge Energy: Greg York’s team is keeping EVs near the edge of the grid charged.
- Accelerate Wind: Erika Boeing’s pairing existing roof-top solar with wind power captured at the edge of the roof.
- NeoCharge: Spencer Harrison’s built a smart 240V splitter and software to help EV drivers save money charging at home.
- Channing Copper: Charlie is the first ever energy storage equipped induction range.
- Aptera Motors: Aptera is a Solar Electric Vehicle that requires no charging for most daily use.
Matt Candler has been scaling companies and coaching people who lead them for 25 years. In 2010, he launched an organization called 4.0 to help entrepreneurs build better learning spaces and tools. More than 1,500 4.0 alumni now serve millions of families across the US.
Matt’s been into electrification for 17 years. He started building electric motorcycles in 2006, mostly as a scheme to justify buying new tools; his bikes have been on TV shows like Ride with Norman Reedus and in books on the future of transport like The Current. In 2019, he began serving as an an advisor to B2U Storage Solutions, operator of the largest second-life electric car battery power plant in the USA. In 2021, he helped start one of the largest micro-grid projects in the US, Together New Orleans’ Community Lighthouse, where 85 houses of faith and non-profits will be equipped with solar and energy storage. Matt helps people switch to electric vehicles and appliances at My Next Electric.
Why focus on fun?
In the first season of his off-season travel show, The Ride, Walking Dead star Norman Reedus took a ride on one of my electric motorcycles. He said:
It's the trippiest thing you've ever felt. It's kind of like a magic carpet ride. You just get on it and it floats.
Yes, electrifying will be complicated, painful and messy. But we've got to find a new way to fuel our world, and I think we can have fun doing it.