We recently completed our eighth investors roundtable working with our friends at CTLR (Cleantech Leaders Roundtable). We had a great roster that included:

• Arash Nazhad, Moelis & Company
• Ryan Dalton, Warburg Pincus
• Jo Trahms, Raymond James

#Cleantechers - 

My most recent Scaling Clean guest has a compelling background. You might say he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. 

Russ Bates grew up in the southern Indiana coal fields, starting his career as a union electrician, then moving up the ladder to foreman, and eventually VP. At the 26-year mark, he moved into company ownership, and he's now the founder of the Cleveland-area NXTGEN Clean Energy Solutions. NXTGEN is a one-stop shop for solar, wind, battery storage, and EV charging station projects.

Lessons in Resilience and Leadership: Insights from Geraldine Gray, CEO of NDM

Overview

• The Importance of Resilience in Leadership
• Learning From Early Career Experiences (Appirio)
• Facing Personal Challenges: The Impact of Cancer
• Lessons in Managing Change and Challenges
• Key Mentors and Their Impact
• Differences in Leadership Across Sectors
• Aligning Marketing and Sales in B2B Companies
• Facing Doubts and Defining Success
• Strategic Leadership: What to Do and What Not to Do
• Hiring and Firing: Building the Right Team
• Maintaining CEO Performance
• Climate Optimism: Looking Toward the Future
• Final Thoughts

My most recent Scaling Clean guest has been at the helm of her company for 16 years. Geraldine Gray runs Endiem, a Salesforce practice based in Houston. Her company works to help companies drive commercial growth by aligning their strategic goals with their Salesforce options. She has served clients in a wide number of sectors, not just in cleantech.

Geraldine has also been very public about her successful battle with cancer, and I want to acknowledge her courage in sharing that story on LinkedIn. From several friends of mine, I've learned that overcoming such a challenge often brings an exceptional level of perspective and wisdom.

We recently completed our seventh investors roundtable working with our friends at CTLR (Cleantech Leaders Roundtable). We had a great roster that included:

Insights from Katie Mehnert on Leadership, Focus, and Optimism in the Energy Sector

Overview

• Introduction
• Katie Mehnert's Background and Career
• Influential Mentors and Inspirations
• The Turning Point: Hurricane Harvey
• Lessons in Leadership
• Navigating the Changing Workforce Landscape
• Personal Habits and Rituals for Success
• The Evolution of Ally Energy
• Climate Optimism in the Face of Challenges
• Conclusion

Building Strong Teams & Facing Challenges: Leadership Lessons from Scott Case

Overview

• Introduction
• Scott Case's Background and Entrepreneurial Journey
• Mentors and Learning Outcomes
• Leadership Philosophy and Evolution
• Advice for First-Time Founders
• Hiring Strategies and Challenges
• The Power of Physical Space and Shared Experiences
• Tips on Firing Employees
• Success Through Editing: Making Strategic Choices
• Maintaining High Performance & Importance of Sleep
• Climate Optimism for Leaders: Hope for the Future
• Conclusion
  

#Cleantechers - 

My recent Scaling Clean guest, Scott Case, is deeply experienced in starting successful ventures. He came to cleantech by way of Priceline, as that company’s founding Chief Technology Officer.

Among nearly 20 other different experiences, Scott now runs ZettaWatts, which has pioneered what it calls the “Additionality Rec Market” (AREC). It's offering fixed-price forward contracts to buy AREC from new projects under development. ZettaWatts is based in the National Capital Area, where I live and work, so it was good to have a neighbor on the show. 

Leadership Wisdom in Clean Energy: A Conversation with George Hershman

Overview

We recently completed our sixth investors roundtable working with our friends at CTLR (Cleantech Leaders Roundtable). We had a great roster that included:

#Cleantechers –

My most recent Scaling Clean guest is someone I’ve known for 20 years, Stephen Lacey, who has a perspective on clean economy like no other. 

He’s covered our sector as an editor and early podcaster at Renewable Energy World, then editor-in-chief for Greentech Media, and now he's the founder of a new media and research company, Latitude Media. Stephen's not only covered our CEO audience, he's joined their ranks as a founder.

Overview

• Scott Kubly’s Background and Early Life
• Reasons for Working in Government
• Tenure with Lime
• Important Mentor: Dan Tangherlini
• Important Mentor: Gabe Klein
• The Pragmatic and the Leadership Aspects
• Three Biggest Lessons from Starting and Shutting Cabana Down
• Time is the Most Valuable Asset
• Challenges with Finding the Right Leader
• Comparing Kubly’s Early Management Style to Current Approaches
• What is the Role of an Effective CEO
• Important Lessons Learned About Making Hires
• Guidance on Letting Employees Go
• What Do You Do at Work or in Your Personal Life to be a High Performance CEO?
• Wrapping Up

We recently completed our fifth investors roundtable working with our friends at CTLR (Cleantech Leaders Roundtable). We had a great roster that included:

Overview

• Introducing Robin Laine: From Environmental Consultant to CEO
• The Genesis of Transect: Bridging Technology with Environmental Consulting
• Learning and Growing in People Management
• From Zookeeper to Clean Economy Innovator
• The Unique Collaborative Spirit of the Clean Economy
• Navigating the CEO Role: From Startup to Growth Phase
• Mastering a Craft and Building Professional Relationships
• The Importance of Personal Interaction in Hiring
• Optimizing Performance and Early Morning Productivity
• Hope and Optimism in the Climate Battle

On Scaling Clean, we have the pleasure of interviewing people with a variety of backgrounds. One less-represented experience on our podcast are PhD-ers turned CEOs.

That’s why I’m excited to talk to Mahesh Konduru, who is the former CEO and now board chair of ProSep, a global energy services company focused on water treatment and chemical efficiency.

Leadership Insights with Sean Kelly, CEO of Amperon

Overview

• Introduction: Setting the Stage for Clean Energy Insights
• The Making of a Clean Energy CEO
• Learning from Mentors: The Backbone of Success
• Evolution of Leadership in Clean Energy
• The Clean Economy Transition: A Personal Journey
• Networking: A Catalyst for Clean Energy Leadership
• The Blueprint of an Effective Clean Energy CEO
• First-time CEO? Here's What You Need to Know
• The Art and Science of Hiring in a Remote World
• Personal Growth and Leadership Balance
• Strategic Focus: The Key to Success in Clean Energy

We recently completed our fourth investors roundtable working with our friends at CTLR (Cleantech Leaders Roundtable). We had a great roster that included:

Overview

• Nikhil Vadhavkar’s Background
• First Exposure to Entrepreneurship
• Growing as a Leader and Manager
• Three Most Important Mentors and What Did You Learn from Each
• What Attracted You to Clean Economy?
• What Makes a CEO Effective?
• Advice to Future CEOs
• Lessons Learned About Making New Hires
• Defining Hands-On Components
• Be Upfront About the Hiring Process
• What is Your Go-To Interview Question?
• Guidance on Letting Employees Go?
• How Long Have You Been with Raptor Maps?
• Is Business Success Based More on What You Did or on What You Didn’t Do?
• Tangible Example of the Importance of Disciplined Focus
• Tasks You Do at Work and Home to Maintain Your Performance as CEO
• Has Work Made You a Climate Optimist or a Climate Pessimist and Why?
• Wrapping Up

Following a string of successes over the last few years, the clean energy landscape looks extremely bright. Last December in Paris, 196 countries, working with major corporations, agreed to a historic deal to address the challenges of climate disruption by limiting carbon pollution to 2 degrees C or less.

Congress also recently passed a five-year extension of both the wind Production Tax Credit and the solar Investment Tax Credit, which will create a reliable and predictable market environment that encourages growth and investment.

This article was updated in October 2023 to reflect the most recent industry developments.

We had the pleasure to go on the Growth Secrets Podcast with host Reade Milner. Reade runs an intriguing marketing consulting practice in Atlanta that helps a range of businesses market better.

#Cleantechers —

In a tight labor market, how should clean economy companies acquire talent? I recently interviewed Paige Carratturo, the San Francisco-based co-founder of “talent venture” company Sea-Change. Paige’s firm provides broad talent acquisition services to investors, their portfolio companies, and several Fortune 500 companies.  

#Cleantechers-

In our most recent Scaling Clean episode, we talk with Hala Ballouz, who has spent the last 15 years growing Electric Power Engineers – EPE, as it’s known among developers – from a consultancy of 10 staff to a national presence of over 200 grid connection experts.

As promised, we have a Part II with the brilliant Tom Starrs. Tom’s interview was so rich in information on cleantech government affairs and communications that we split this episode into two parts. 

#Cleantechers –

Ever started a book that was so interesting, you couldn't put it down? There are people like that, too. And a delightfully large number of them work in a clean economy.

Tom Starrs is one of those.

On Scaling Clean, we typically interview CEOs, investors, and external advisors to companies. Today we're interviewing somebody who has not only been a CEO, he’s also advised other CEOs on marketing and public affairs. This is something he continues to do at his present employer, EDP Renewables.

As we mark the one-year milestone of the Inflation Reduction Act, resistance to the clean energy shift is arising, significantly propelled by a gas industry uninterested in us taking its market share. 

Among the nine big barriers to the clean energy transition, many see permitting as a first among equals.

I saw this as an ideal moment to talk to a long-time ally and fellow traveler, Dahvi Wilson.

#Cleantechers working in community engagement for projects – If you’d like to see how big-budget, mature corporations run their local public affairs, please check out our conversation with someone who’s spent over a decade running grasstops campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. We think there are portable lessons to learn, despite the significant differences in budget levels. 

If you want a boring guest, you should skip this episode. My guest has worked in over 10 countries on three continents – in the private sector, non-profits and in government across multiple cleantech sectors. After all of that, you might expect David Arfin would be picked to star in the next round of Dos Equis commercials as “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”

By Melissa Baldwin and Mike Casey

Most clean economy businesses need to build profiles for both their company and individual members of their executive teams. Their reasons vary, often by where the company is in the business life cycle. We find a lot of our clients’ profile building needs clusters at these points: 

Over the last 17 years, Nick Cohen has held leadership positions in five companies, with four of them in clean energy. He's now the president and CEO of Doral Renewables USA, which is developing the appropriately named Mammoth solar project at 1.3 gigawatts. It will be America's largest utility scale solar farm. I've wanted Nick on the show since I first talked with him last year.

We recently completed our third investors roundtable working with our friends at CTLR (@Cleantech Leaders Roundtable). We had a great roster that included:

South America's Largest Solar Project

Quite the contrast this week.

While Yahoo News reported, "The head of the International Energy Agency issued a stark warning to long-term investors, arguing against investing in international oil and gas companies because of mounting reputational risks and concerns that fossil fuel investments will soon become stranded assets"...

Two Tigercomm clients opened the biggest #solar project on the South American continent.

We're glad to be part of the rising tide, driven by the likes of Daniel Shugar of Nextracker Inc. and Carlos (Ucho) Barrera and Atlas Renewable Energy.

Muito bom!

#Cleantechers, we hosted our 9th Quarterly Cleantech Editors and Reporters Roundtable in April. It’s hard to believe we’ve run these for over two years, but they continue to be the one of the highlights in Tigercomm's quarterly content stream.

These convenings are a rare opportunity to hear how our sectors show up to the people who cover us, and to ask THEM questions. With our accelerating progress, these insights are more and more important for cleantech communicators to have and utilize.

We had the honor to moderate a discussion with:
- Jennifer Dlouhy of Bloomberg News
- John Engel of Renewable Energy World
- Nichola Groom of Thomson Reuters
- Zachary Shahan of CleanTechnica

Episode 19: Unveiling Leadership Wisdom from Jeff Wolfe’s Cleantech Journey

Jeff Wolfe is an "OC" – an “original cleantecher.” This entrepreneur has three companies under his leadership belt, including two that he founded. Jeff’s work has spanned solar installation, EV fast charging and investment considerations for Shell New Ventures. His current company is Veloce Energy, which offers easy-to-install EV fast charging infrastructure that's designed to speed the electrification of America's vehicle fleet.

Strap in for some well-earned wisdom on building and running successful companies. 

Episode 18: Cleantech Economy Investments and Leadership with Jennifer Von Bismarck

Most of our guests to date have led companies that develop renewable energy plants, sell cleantech equipment, or provide energy services. But today our guest is a pure play. She's a career-long investor who served in leadership positions at sequential investment funds, and she now serves as the co-founder and CEO of the DC-based Galway Sustainable Capital. Jennifer Von Bismarck's shop invests in companies, projects and assets that drive environmental and social resilience at the local level. I wanted to learn from Jennifer how a career in investment shaped her views on running a successful company.

You might have seen this Washington Post story, “The Underbelly of Electric Vehicles,” which takes a critical view of EV production’s impact on people and the planet. It’s worth unpacking because it reflects several under-appreciated realities of generating attention from national media outlets.

At Tigercomm, we’re often approached by people seeking PR help, wanting us to pitch national stories. Effective corporate communications blends traditional news story generation with content marketing – a combination of both “owned” content and “earned” media.

As a lot of you know, we convene quarterly roundtables for podcasters, journalists, and investors in the cleantech space. Today, I get the privilege of talking to Tim Montague, who has achieved some serious milestones in his cleantech coverage.

This article was originally published on CleanTechnica.

#Cleantechers, Scaling Clean listeners know that we seek out clean economy CEOs for their lessons on building teams and running companies. All our guests to date have developed their leadership abilities by ascending a career ladder, and they’ve done that across several companies.

Today’s guest has instead learned his leadership lessons on the job, so to speak. Jesse Grossman founded Soltage LLC 17 years ago, and he’s led since then as Chairman and CEO. Soltage is a New Jersey-based utility-scale solar IPP company that was founded on the belief that capital cost shouldn’t stop the spread of solar.

Miranda Ballentine, head of Clean Energy Buyers Association

In Miranda Ballentine, we have a CEO with “.com,” “.org” and “.gov” experience. Most know her as the head of the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA). But Miranda’s experience runs a gamut that includes stints as a sustainability director of Walmart, a consultant through David Gardner Associates, and as Air Force Assistant Secretary managing energy budgets for 170 military installations. She also was CEO of Toronto-based Constant Power that develops distributed energy projects.

You can listen to the full interview on Cleantech Leaders Roundtable's website or on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and iHeart Radio.

How to Run a Renewable Energy Public Relations (PR) Campaign

In mid-2022, almost 60% of Fortune 500 CEOs said their company had a plan to reach net-zero by 2050. Renewable energy companies can expect to see a significant surge in demand from corporations looking to decarbonize. Because of this, renewable energy companies are also going to face a lot of competition. A strategic renewable energy public relations campaign is no longer a “nice to have” – it’s a must. In this blog post, we will explore key strategies and best practices to put you at the front of the crowd. 

Episode 15: Servant Leadership with Lightsource bp CEO Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith, CEO of Lightsource bp, is one of the few people in cleantech who's led two major solar companies. Kevin’s a great interview in part because of the depth of his background: fossil fuels and renewables, Europe and the US, and experience in two different types of solar. Throughout it all, he's proven to be an impressive company builder who draws consistent praise from the people that work for him.

#Cleantechers, Tigercomm hosts/moderates three quarterly convenings of cleantech players. These groups of journalists, podcasters and investors bring fascinating perspectives that help us stay current on trends within clean energy. This series was inspired by Tigercomm's 16 quarterly convenings of cleantech editors, reporters, and podcasters, including from the main stage at last year's RE+ trade show in Anaheim. 
 
We like to say that our editors give us a breadth of view, while our podcasters give us a depth of view. But the investors you’ll hear from have perhaps the deepest expertise of any group we assemble. They see our sectors through the lens of our financial aspirations, expressed through the hundreds of pitches they hear and evaluate.
 
A special thanks to my friend, Andrea Luecke, the Executive Director of the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable – or “CTLR,” for short. CTLR is the official sponsor of this convening, and as the “First Member” of CTLR, it’s a particular honor for her to ask me to moderate this series. I know co-founders Jigar Shah and Jacob Susman are proud of this milestone as well.

These folks are very smart and worth the time to hear. Thanks to our panelists Amy Francetic, Matt Cheney, Nancy Floyd and Dave Kirkpatrick. It was fun to talk with you.

#Cleantechers, The New York Times’ David Wallace Wells is out with a fascinating piece, “Clean Energy Is Suddenly Less Polarizing Than You Think.” The headline writer should have swapped in “Surprisingly” for “Suddenly,” to better reflect the writer's views. But I quibble.

I think Mr. Wallace-Wells is correctly spotting the trend line, but I fear he sees it as longer than it really is. We're still a long way from pulling clean energy back from the culture wars into apolitical, mainstream business. Then again, 10 years of working on this frustrating problem might have infected me with too much skepticism. Only time will tell. 

Mixing both insights from the piece and some personal observations, here’s what seems certain in the home stretch of Q1 ’23: 

1.) The party-line vote on the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was not heavily weaponized in the 2022 election cycle.

2.) Much of the IRA’s spending is in the form of tax credits, designed to resist unwinding by hostile, headline-seeking politicians carrying water for the fossil fuel lobby.

3.) Despite some early chest pounding by now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, House conservatives have not gone after the IRA via the DOE Loan Guarantee Program – at least not yet.

4.) #Renewableenergy factories and power plants are being largely built in politically conservative, “red” areas. People in those communities heavily associate clean energy with President Biden, whom they despise.

5.) Building #wind and #solar farms is increasingly difficult.

6.) A handful of anti-clean energy operatives are working to stoke local opposition. They're a significant but supplemental factor. Each has past and/or present ties to the fossil fuel lobby.

7.) Clean energy has spent the last 10 years under-investing in its public case making, particularly in rural communities.

There’s a growing recognition that we have to change that last point. Speed and scale will go a long way in determining our collective fate.

The good news is that more and more, it’s our hands on the steering wheel. Let’s drive forward, and fast.

https://lnkd.in/eD7ngWyV

#Cleantechers, one of the best things about my job is getting a close look at technologies with world-changing potential. Rondo Energy's "Heat Battery" is one of them.

The Heat Battery is the brainchild of past and current client, John O'Donnell. For a decade, this brilliant inventor has patiently evangelized that the world can store #renewableenergy-generated heat much more cost effectively than electricity from wind and solar.

By using basic bricks to store heat, Rondo's opened a path to rapidly decarbonizing heavy industries that traditionally require lots of heat, steam and power – creating a massive carbon pollution footprint.

As John told David R. Baker of Bloomberg in this story: "If you want to get to scale fast, it had better be boring — you’d better not have material science to prove.... We’ve combined stuff the world knows how to make at scale.”

Let's roll.

#Cleantechers - Few electrons in the universe will move differently because I'm named as a finalist with honorable mention for the Cleanies' "Trailblazer" award.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I got that far. My mom will be thrilled. My kids might nod their heads (Ashlyn Casey). Maybe my wife will say "good job" this weekend before telling me to clean out the dog run.

But I think there's bigger significance here that's worth pointing out. I remember when clean economy was so nascent that an awards program would have been laughable.

We know times have changed because:
1.) This award program actually exists.
2.) There's enough momentum and growth in our sectors that companies and people apply/submit others for consideration. Lots of them.
3.) People actively compete to win.

It's super gratifying to see clean economy continue to expand. Bigger trade shows, increased association budgets and award programs are all leading indicators. That is what's worth celebrating.

Congrats to winners Marion Hill, Chris Perron, Michael Eckhart and co-honorable mention Janani Ramkumar.

Also, John Engel and Julia Pyper for winning their respective categories.

Episode 1: The Journey from Garage to Nasdaq: A Discussion with Brad Mattson

Just before the holidays, we hosted a year-end episode of the Cleantech Podcasters Roundtable. Our lineup changed a bit, with the happy addition of John Belizaire.

Here are our “B3Ps,” or Big 3 Points from that episode. You can read the full transcript below.
 
1. At the risk of sounding like a broken record: The Cleantech sector needs to invest more time and resources into messaging. Fossil fuel front groups are still working the mainstream media refs, spreading misinformation about the Inflation Reduction Act, painting ESG investing as “woke capitalism,” and the messaging that next-generation nuclear fission will be our climate savior. We have the tools to accelerate the energy transition, and our industry conversations should reflect that confidence I our public communications.

2. Expect grid resiliency, distributed energy resources, retrofitting, and workforce employment to be big topics for the new year — and more stories about people leaving “dirty” jobs for clean ones.
 
3. Let’s celebrate the people and organizations that helped prevent a pro-fossil fuel wave in the recent elections. Our participants gave laurels to: the Environmental Voter Project, Governor Kathy Hochul, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the California Public Utilities Commission.

Listen to the full episode on the SunCast Podcast: