Watt It Takes

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Tesla Co-Founder & Founding CEO Martin Eberhard Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

When it comes to climate tech companies, there's only one name that's known around the world: Tesla.

Tesla has arguably been the defining climate tech success story of the 21st century, driving demand for electric vehicles and becoming one of the world's most valuable companies.

When people think of the person behind Tesla, they think of Elon Musk. But Musk wasn't there from the very beginning — he was an early investor in the company, and didn't become CEO until five years after its founding.

Martin Eberhard was there from the start. And as co-founder and founding CEO, he'd already spent years building a new kind of electric car that people would actually want to drive.

Martin started Tesla with his co-founder Marc Tarpenning in 2003 during the dark ages of electric cars. Automakers had lobbied against policies promoting EVs in the 90s, and then killed their own battery-powered models. It took years of trial and error before Tesla hit the scene with the first Roadster.
Martin’s time as CEO came to an end in 2007, when he was unceremoniously kicked out of the position by Tesla’s board. But he left his mark on the EV world.

Emily Kirsch spoke with Martin about his long history as an entrepreneur, the origins of Tesla, cobbling together the parts for Tesla’s first EV prototype, and blowing up batteries in his yard.

Watt It Takes is brought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 — so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, in every hour of the day. Learn more.

Watt It Takes is also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

Powerhouse partners with leading corporations to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Powerhouse Ventures backs founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at powerhouse.fund.

To hear more stories of founders building our carbon-free future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Malta CEO Ramya Swaminathan Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

There's a race going on to build the next generation of energy storage technologies using gravity, chemicals, or heat to store clean electricity for long periods of time.

And that's where our guest, Ramya Swaminathan, comes in.

Ramya is the CEO of a company called Malta. Malta is building an electro-chemical battery that converts renewable electricity into heat. It's like a giant version of the heat pump in your air conditioner, using commercially-available, off-the-shelf parts.

Malta's heat-pump battery could provide energy to the grid for half a day -- and potentially, multiple days.

In 2018, Malta was spun out of X, the moonshot factory established by Google's parent company. Since then, Malta has raised more than $76 million to commercialize its storage system. Investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a firm started by Bill Gates; Dustin Moskowitz, a Facebook founder; and Alfa Laval, a Swedish company that makes heating and cooling equipment for heavy industry.

Malta aims to have power-plant sized facilities serving the grid by 2024.

Emily Kirsch talked with Ramya about how her background in investment banking and hydropower development prepared her for scaling an energy storage business.

Watt It Takes isbrought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 -- so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, in every hour of the day. Learn more.

Watt It Takes is also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

To hear more stories of founders building our carbon-free future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Powerhouse Founder & CEO Emily Kirsch Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

Over the past four years, we’ve interviewed 40 incredible founders and CEOs on Watt It Takes.

Our guests have inspired emerging and established leaders across the industry. And each one of these conversations has helped Emily on her own founder journey.

With that in mind, in this episode of Watt It Takes, we’re turning the mic around to tell Emily’s story and the story of Powerhouse.

Today, Powerhouse is an innovation firm and venture fund — working with the world’s leading companies to help connect them to hundreds of climate tech startups every year, and investing directly in software-focused clean energy and mobility startups through Powerhouse Ventures. Emily’s path to start Powerhouse was anything but conventional.

We’re brought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 -- so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, in every hour of the day. Learn more.

We’re also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

‘Clean Energy Yoda’ Andy Karsner Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

Andy Karsner is a highly influential entrepreneur, investor, diplomat, and strategist working to transform the world’s energy systems.

In June, he was voted onto ExxonMobil’s board by activist shareholders as a way to hold the oil giant accountable on climate change.

Back in the 90s, Andy was developing large gas and diesel power plants. But then he found the wind business. Andy started a company called Enercorp, which developed some of the earliest large-scale wind farms around the world.

In 2005, Andy was chosen by President George W. Bush to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. That meant directing R&D and deployment efforts across wind solar, fuel cells, biofuels and other up-and-coming technologies.

Today, he’s a Senior Strategist and Space Cowboy X, the innovation lab run by Google's parent company Alphabet. He also co-founded a non-profit investment group called Elemental Excelerator, which has invested $43 million into climate tech startups.

Emily sat down with Andy at the 2021 MIT Energy Conference earlier this year, just after the Texas blackouts. They talked about his early days in renewables, the massive tech and market changes he oversaw in government, and the new challenges for entrepreneurs in today's maturing industry.

We’re also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at powerhouse.fund

SHYFT Co-Founder Ugwem Eneyo May 18, 2021

Show notes

Africa is becoming a dynamic market for clean, distributed energy. All across the continent, solar, batteries, generators, and microgrids are giving people energy cheaply — and providing greater reliability in a region where many central grids remain unreliable.

But that dynamism can come at a cost. Systems are often complex. They lack standards. And it’s often difficult for buildings and businesses to manage and integrate them in concert with an incomplete grid.

And that's where our guest, Ugwem Eneyo, comes in.

Ugwem is the Co-Founder and CEO of a company called SHYFT Power Solutions. SHYFT has built a platform that makes it simple to optimize distributed energy resources and integrate them with centralized power grids in Sub-Saharan Africa.

SHYFT has raised nearly $4 million in seed funding to expand its platform across Nigeria—a country where the majority of citizens still don't have a reliable grid connection.

SHYFT has won the MIT Clean Energy Prize, the California Climate Cup, and a host of other recognitions. Ugwem also landed herself on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Energy.

Emily spoke with Ugwem about how she took an unexpected turn from academia to entrepreneurship, how she raised money for a concept that is not well understood by investors, and how she's scaling the company.

We’re also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

Executive Producer Stephen Lacey Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

This episode was first aired on February 25, 2021.

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Stephen Lacey, the founder of Post Script Audio.

Stephen has been the creative force behind many of the top podcasts about climate change and clean energy. And, he also happens to be our executive producer. He’s been making podcasts about the energy transition since 2006. This was the dawn of on-demand audio and the modern clean energy industry—and he had a front-row seat to both.

The conversation was recorded in front of a live, remote audience in December 2020.

This podcast is brought to you by DLA Piper, a full-service global law firm that works with leading technology companies and their investors to meet all their legal needs.

It’s also brought to you by AES, a fortune-500 company helping organizations transition to new, smarter and cleaner solutions. AES is working toward a world that is 100% carbon-free.

OhmConnect Co-Founder Matt Duesterberg Feb 25, 2021

Show notes

Power plants are massive, complicated pieces of machinery. Gears. Pipes. Boilers. Generators. Instruments.

But a new kind of model is taking shape: one that combines smartphones, software, and smart devices in homes. It’s called a virtual power plant. And it’s what our guest, Matt Duesterberg, is working to build every day.

Matt is the co-founder of a company called Ohmconnect. It was founded in 2014 to make it easy for individuals to help clean up the grid.

In December 2020, OhmConnect picked up a $100 million investment from Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners. The money will help the company build a 550-megawatt virtual power plant made up of hundreds of thousands of households across California -- the largest project of its kind.

In 2013, Matt joined a Powerhouse hackathon to start working on the idea. It’s come a long way since then. So, we invited him to a live conversation to hear about the sacrifices, close calls, and conflicts that he’s dealt with while building OhmConnect.

We’re also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is advancing the connected power plant of the future across five continents.

BlocPower Founder Donnel Baird Jan 14, 2021

Show notes

This episode was originally released on January 15, 2021.

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Donnel Baird, the founder and CEO of BlocPower.

BlocPower is a Brooklyn, New York startup electrifying and weatherizing buildings in underserved communities — slashing pollution and saving money. This includes housing units, churches, community centers.

BlocPower was founded in 2012. It has raised venture capital from Kapor Capital and Andreesen Horowitz. But that process was not easy for a company with a mostly Black leadership team. As a black founder, Donnel was turned down 200 times before any venture firms were willing to back his vision.

The mission for Donnel isn’t about just about hitting milestones for investors. It’s about changing the fabric of underserved communities that are plagued by pollution and energy poverty. That’s because Donnel has lived it himself.

The conversation was recorded in front of a live, remote audience at the end of 2020.

We’re brought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 — so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, every hour of the day. Learn more.

EVgo CEO Cathy Zoi Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

This episode was originally published on December 2, 2020.

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Cathy Zoi, the CEO of EVgo — one of the country’s largest electric vehicle charging networks.

Cathy has seen it all. She’s studied and worked in oil, gas and clean energy since the Reagan Era. Now at the helm of EVgo, she’s convinced the future of mobility is coming fast.

Cathy was on the team that developed the original Energy Star rating when she worked at the Environmental Protection Agency. She was chief of staff in the White House Office on Environmental Policy in the Clinton-Gore Administration.

The conversation was recorded in front of a live, remote audience at the end of 2020.

This podcast is brought to you by DLA Piper, a full-service global law firm that works with leading technology companies and their investors to meet all their legal needs.

It’s also brought to you by AES, a fortune-500 company helping organizations transition to new, smarter and cleaner solutions. AES is working toward a world that is 100% carbon-free.

Solstice CEO Steph Speirs Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

This episode was originally released on October 23, 2020.

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Steph Speirs, the CEO of Solstice.

Solstice is a community-solar company with a mission to bring clean electricity to underserved communities.

Steph Speirs grew up as one of three kids, a first generation immigrant, in Hawaii. She knows what poverty can feel like, or how a poor credit score can sink a human being.

Steph wanted to use her seat at the table to make room for others. Solstice’s motto is “Solar for every American.”

This conversation was recorded in front of a remote, live audience in the fall of 2020.

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