Hello #cleantechers! 
 
If you like our quarterly roundtables with cleantech editors, reporters, and podcasters, then check out our second quarterly CTLR Investors Roundtable.

Tomorrow (Wednesday, February 1) 2-3 PM EST, we’re convening these investors for an hour of valuable insights. 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. 

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:

Hello #cleantechers! Listeners of Scaling Clean know our show is designed to bring you management and leadership wisdom from experienced company leaders in the clean technology industry. Today, we are bringing you perspective from Jing Tian, who co-founded her own company early in her career and also led the U.S. presence for three different international cleantech firms. And Jing Tian is also Dr. Tian, who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Drexel University and served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department at Princeton University. 

Hello #cleantechers. On today’s Scaling Clean, a discussion with Silvia Ortin Rios. She has worked in the power sector her entire career. Silvia started as a contract trading analyst for TXU Energy in the late 1990s. Over a quarter century later, she is the CEO of RWE Renewables Onshore Wind and PV division. Silvia is the first woman to hold the position.

Our goal on Scaling Clean is to aggregate insights from CEOs, investors and advisors on building and running winning teams at clean economy companies. I am really excited to share this interview with our listeners because Silvia has experience as a key part of #cleantech teams in four countries on both sides of the Atlantic. She is a rich source of culturally-portable management lessons invaluable on the global stage.

Timestamps:
1:08 — As a female professional, the importance of having exposure to strong female role models who can show that women’s business voices deserve to be heard.  

8:45 — Working in cleantech is “almost a lifestyle,” differing from other sectors because employees are passionate. That passion makes running a cleantech company easier, because employees see they’re working towards something bigger than themselves.

12:59 — Diverse teams have a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing their company. 

20:15 — Hiring is difficult because decisions often must be made with a limited amount of interaction with a job candidate. Trust your instincts and have another interviewer in the room for additional perspective.  

23:39 — Firing is the hardest part of the job. Be prepared and thoughtful, and have specific examples of what triggered the dismissal. 

24:46 — Being a CEO can be a lonely position. Learn to enjoy the role. It makes making tough decisions easier. Surround yourself with people you trust, but who also challenge you and make you better.

Find out more about Tigercomm’s work at the center of the cleantech industry at www.tigercomm.us.

Hello, #cleantechers. Ever heard the joke about the engineer who walked into a podcast interview and turned out to be a fountain of wisdom and soundbites? Well, our guest today is just that… except he’s no joke.   

We closed our cleantech journalists panel at RE+ with a question we often like to ask our Scaling Clean podcast guests: Are you a climate optimist or pessimist – and why? Our panelists gave thoughtful answers, a mix of optimism and realism about the aggression of energy industry incumbents (read the fossil fuel lobby). We’d like to share their answers here.

In the U.S., the field of companies developing renewable energy farms is quickly expanding. There are a large number of new additions coming from developing countries, where project development faces a very different set of problem. Some would argue they are much harder to solve. But the question is, does developing renewable energy in developing countries equip a company to succeed in a market like the U.S.

In our podcast, Scaling Clean, we seek usable insights on building and running successful companies from the cleantech CEOs, investors and the people who advise them. Our RE+ interview with EDPR’s Tom Weirich didn’t fit our usual format (only 15 mins), but it sure was fun. Tom’s written what I’m confident is the first history of cleantech history. “We Took the Risk” profiles “OCs,” (“Original Cleantechers”), men and women who were real pioneers whose shoulders we’re all standing on in our work today. For us, though, the book’s subtitle is key: “The stories behind the early risk takers in the U.S. Renewable energy industry and the leadership traits that made them a success.” [Emphasis added]. 
 
Here are the qualities Tom noticed these OCs shared:
 
- Be the First
- Audacity
- Curiosity
- Connector
- Adventurous
- Foresight
- Adaptable
- Grit
- Enterprising
- Social entrepreneurship
- Servant leadership
- Innovation
- Persistence