I’m Michael Brylawski, co-founder of Mado Dynamic, and I want to personally thank you for considering our automated, solar-powered window shades.
For three decades, I’ve worked in energy efficiency and sustainability—leading large-scale initiatives at places like Rocky Mountain Institute under Amory Lovins and have founded companies to accelerate clean technology adoption. A big thesis I’ve always had is that the best way to save energy and carbon is to make incredible, superior products and services that people love, that also help them save money. A great example of this are LED flat screen TVs. They save over 90% of the energy of a traditional tube TV—but do you know anyone who’s ever bought a flat screen TV to save energy? Same with electric vehicles: they are more efficient than internal combustion, but a lot of people buy them due to their great acceleration, quiet operation, and low maintenance costs.
Technology that delights the consumer, and just so happens to save energy will continue to attract consumers and dynamic window shading is poised to be that next category. Automated shades like the ones we’re offering from Mado Dynamic are really cool, super easy to install, are super energy efficient, and most importantly are affordable. There was a whole episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in Season Nine where Larry David spends the episode extolling the virtues of his new automated curtains, showing visitors the magic of opening and closing them with a remote. But for me, the magic is in these shades’ efficiency. Dynamic shades can save 20% or more of your home’s heating and cooling energy. I think most people will buy Mado Dynamic shades because they are cool and beautiful. But the energy savings is real, and at scale can add up: if dynamic shades were deployed in every building, we could address over 5% of global carbon emissions.
That’s why when my longtime friend and inventor extraordinaire Andrew Einaudi cracked the code—creating a shade that’s affordable, beautiful, solar powered, simple to install, and even fun—I knew we had something game-changing. Mado Dynamic makes automated shading accessible, and it’s one of the most impactful things a homeowner can do to reduce energy use, right up there with driving an EV or installing solar. More importantly, it’s the easiest and most economical option as Andrew has taken the “friction” away from buying and purchasing a shade. Watching his young daughter install a Mado shade, or seeing Andrew install five of them in eight minutes (the latter in this video) shows just how easy Mado shades are to deploy across a home and more importantly their potential to really scale and achieve global carbon savings.
Beyond sustainability, this mission is deeply personal. A year ago, I stepped away from the company as my daughter fought a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. That experience deeply reshaped my priorities and recent news that cancer research institutions may be at risk for funding have made me more motivated than ever—to create a product that makes a real difference. As part of our Mado Dynamic campaign, we will partner with the Glimmer Foundation, a private organization supporting pediatric cancer research. Akin to Patagonia’s “1% for the planet,” we are donating 1% of our sales to Glimmer. So when you back Mado you’ll not only be backing a sustainable product, but also helping to fund a life-saving mission. Change isn’t just about energy savings—it’s about making people’s lives better.
On behalf of Andrew and the entire Mado team, thank you for being part of this journey.
With gratitude,
Michael Brylawski
Co-founder, Mado Dynamic
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