Episode 44: John Belizaire CEO of Soluna Computing

Cleantechers –

My latest Scaling Clean episode is with a familiar guest: data center developer and CEO John Belizaire, the CEO of Soluna Computing.

Because we’ve already talked to John about hiring and firing, I had more time to explore a topic near and dear to my heart: generating attention.  

A committed pro himself, Belizaire's advice on how to build a profile was excellent. He made three points I wholeheartedly agree with (time stamp: 34:20), and I’m paraphrasing them below. 

• Just do it. If you are just getting started, you've got to put in the time. In John’s words, “The more you do it, the more fruitful it becomes. So I think the first piece of advice is if you're not doing it, start doing it.” Say yes to opportunities—panels, podcasts, anything— so you can hone your interview and stage presentation skills. (I’ll add to that: even experienced public speakers know that each new audience is another opportunity to test material and tweak your stump speech.)
• You need a voice. You have to have a unique point of view. One way (not the only way) is to play contrarian: flip the script. The media love controversy and outlier narratives. Can you offer something different than what everyone else is saying?  
• Tell a story. Practice not just talking about it, but telling a story around it. In Belizaire’s words, “What will be true if what you're saying is true? What will change, and how will that affect different communities? What role will you play to make that happen?” 

I also asked John about the importance of merging computing with renewable energy. If we pair energy-hungry tech like AI with wasted renewable power, we can unlock huge benefits without straining the grid — but only if we do it in a way that helps communities instead of taking from them (time stamp: 2:24).

Thanks again, John, for being a repeat guest and for sharing your wisdom with the cleantech community. And congrats to Soluna on their first solar-powered data center — Project Annie,  a 75 MW site co-located with a 114 MW solar farm in Texas! 

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