Scaling Clean: Jacob Susman on How to Successfully Sell a Clean Energy Company
In this episode of Scaling Clean, I sat down with Jacob Susman, Senior Vice President of Development at Electric Hydrogen and founder of Ambient Fuels, recently acquired by Electric Hydrogen. With more than 25 years in clean energy, Jacob shares hard-won lessons on leadership, perseverance, and the importance of community in advancing the clean economy.
Clean energy CEOs are under growing pressure to scale faster, fund smarter, and lead teams through unpredictable market cycles. Jacob Susman has done all three… multiple times.
Here are his big three points:
Forming a community early is vital
Jacob emphasizes that success in the clean energy sector is built through relationships and shared purpose. From early board service to co-founding the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable with Jigar Shah, he highlights the power of trusted networks to provide guidance, partnerships, and emotional support. “If you're a C-level leader building a growth company in our sector, you need friends, you need community, you need people who can bring you ideas and hear your frustrations and help bring you to the solution,” he says.
Great leaders communicate with clarity and empathy
Reflecting on difficult leadership moments, Jacob says that direct, transparent communication is the best approach. When challenges arise, you need to communicate clearly and quickly… and keep the human aspect in mind. Leadership is defined as much by how you treat people during challenges as by how you celebrate success.
Know when to say no
One of Jacob’s most valuable lessons came from a 10 MW wind project early in his career. His company pushed the project through to completion, but it consumed years of effort and exhausted the team. The experience taught him that founders need to guard their team’s time and energy as fiercely as their capital. Sometimes you have to stop and say, “This isn’t the right project for us.” Reallocate the people, reallocate the dollars, and focus on what truly advances the strategy.
Why This Conversation Matters
- For me, this episode reveals three key insights:
Leadership that lasts starts with community and credibility. Relationships are the real infrastructure of clean energy. - Discipline, not momentum, determines which companies scale. In clean energy, the hardest part isn’t getting started; it’s knowing when to stop. As excitement grows, only companies that prioritize the right projects, and execute with clarity and speed, will survive.
- Breakthroughs shaping our future will come from integrating finance, execution, and technology, not just advancing one.
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