Jim Gable was there at the beginning of Chevron Corp.’s (Nasdaq: CVX) formal venture program, and while he and the program took different paths over the past 25 years, he’s back to lead the energy giant’s investments as president of Chevron Technology Ventures.
To Gable, it’s never been a more exciting time to explore different technology applications across the industry. His role allows him to explore developments in technology, both in clean energy and energy transition as well as new advances that improve Chevron’s core oil and gas business.
“The biggest thing that’s changed in my view is that corporations have gotten used to an external research and development model,” Gable said.
According to the Greater Houston Partnership, corporate investment has played a larger part in funding Houston’s energy transition business compared to previous years. Gable acknowledged the trend and highlighted Chevron Technology Ventures’ role in the city’s startup ecosystem.
“[Houston] doesn't need to be Palo Alto, it doesn't need to be Cambridge — be Houston. It has tremendous advantages,” Gable said.
Although Chevron Corp. is based in San Ramon, California, it has thousands of employees in the Houston area, and Chevron Technology Ventures is a major tenant in the Ion in Midtown.
The Houston Business Journal sat down with Gable to discuss his observations of the startup scene in the energy industry.
What are some lessons Chevron has learned in working with smaller companies or startups, and how does that shape its partnerships?
You can't take the same attitudes to work every day. You've really got to understand that the smaller companies work at a different speed, a faster speed, and a larger company. You've got to play on those terms.
We spend a lot of time working with the ecosystem to help our network develop access to the best opportunities. And one example of that is Chevron Studio, which partners with the National Renewable Energy Labs to connect our external innovators who might be looking for their next entrepreneurial gig with IP that’s sitting on the shelf at universities or national labs. Twenty-four universities and four national labs are participating in this. That's one example of what we've learned over 25 years, is let’s not be the big self-serving bully on the block.
How does Chevron Technology Ventures identify technology areas of focus?
We have two funds that we use to invest. One is called Core Fund, and that has to do with improving our industrial operations and leveraging our current capabilities: digital and downhole and subsurface. And the other is Future Energy, and that deals with mobilization, decarbonization of industry, and circular economy. We invest across all technologies that impact Chevron, not just lower carbon.
We’re trying to improve our carbon efficiency on a per-barrel basis by 35% by 2028. How do you do that? Incremental technologies in the base business. We have a great technology where we helped our Gulf of Mexico unit coat sand screens with novel technology to allow them to have better erosive resistance properties, which reduces maintenance downtime.
What is the company’s point of view on Houston’s startup ecosystem?
Over the last five years, we’ve seen the extension of the innovation ecosystem, following our life sciences ecosystem. We’ve always had energy innovation inside bigger companies. But now we have the Cannon, the Ion, Greentown Labs, HX Venture Fund. Chevron’s funded it in a lot of ways. Our role three, four or five years ago was to help catalyze [that growing ecosystem]. Now, it's [figuring out] how do we sustain that and grow that. And that's a little bit of a different role. Now, we're getting to the fun part where you actually leverage your capabilities to help some of these entrepreneurs and venture capital investors succeed with some of these breakthrough ideas.
If I’m a founder, what should I do to catch Chevron’s attention?
Have a great management team and a clear focus on what you’re trying to solve. And have a sophisticated way of thinking about scaling. Many times, we see ideas coming our way. And they're neat ideas, but they just can't scale — there's no way to get from point A to point B. If you haven’t really thought beyond your Series A or Series B and how much capital it’s going to require, that probably indicates you need a little bit of deeper thought before you launch that company.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
