Episodes

  • #194 Distilling the Water Industry, Water Policy, Cracking Distribution, Hybrid Financing, & More w/ Ravi Kurani (Liquid Assets Podcast)
    Jul 25 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Today we speak with Ravi Kurani, CEO and Founder of Sutro (water IoT device company -- exited to Sani Marc). Aaand the creator and host of Liquid Assets, a Podcast interviewing the leading voices in WaterTech.

    Between Ravi's background as a founder in the water, his familiarity with the water ecosystem, and now his opportunity to interview the leaders in the water space, he's a great person to have on regarding all things water.

    We feel that we got a hell of a deal here. We get to have one conversation that is worth thousands.

    Enjoy today's conversation about all things water, tech, policy, circularity, financing, and more.

    Oh, and if you are not already, go check out Liquid Assets wherever you get your podcasts (or just go to LiquidAssets.cc)

    Topics:
    **2:28 Intro
    **4:10 Learnings from Liquid Assets Podcast
    **8:09 The Categories of Water
    **11:20 Where Innovation Is
    **13:27 Energy x Water (Policy)
    **16:26 Upgrade to Paid Ad
    **18:01 GTM in Water
    **21:55 Power Dynamics and Wastewater
    **24:04 Telecom Parallel
    **24:52 Circularity x Water x Infrastructure
    **26:33 Owning Wastewater
    **28:45 Geo-Specific Challenges
    **31:04 Water Isn't Priced Right
    **32:20 KPIs for Success in Water
    **34:13 Global Water Hubs
    **35:35 Why Water is Close Knit
    **36:49 Startup Ideas
    **37:59 Water Needs New Financing Arm

    Links:
    **Connect with Ravi Kurani | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuraniravi/
    **Follow Liquid Assets | https://www.liquidassets.cc/
    **Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

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    41 mins
  • #193 100k Jobs by 2030, Future of Work in Climate, Power of Bootstrapping, Beating MBB, & More w/ Matthias Muehlbauer (OnePointFive)
    Jul 23 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Today, we are talking to Matthias Muehlbauer of OnePointFive.

    We have the pleasure of covering one of our good friends, Matthias Muehlbauer at the powerhouse firm OnePointFive. Matthias is a Founding Partner at the firm, where their activities range across two operations:

    **They provide diligence and climate advisory services
    **They train sustainability professionals

    They’re bringing a level of success and professionalism that is beating MBB (top 3 consulting firms) at the sustainability game.

    From operating such a dynamic business from day 1, Matthias has picked up a lot of great knowledge about the space:

    **The Future of Work in climate
    **Where sustainability is headed
    **The power of bootstrapping
    **What you need to know to be successful in getting a job in climate

    Convinced that you should know more about this? Well, you’re in luck. Tune in to todays episode to learn more…🎧💡
    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---

    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel

    -----
    Topics:
    **
    03:12 About OPF
    **12:22 Differentiating Ed in the Market
    **13:49 From Expert Network to Education
    **15:45 Workforce Transition
    **18:43 Mid-Career Pivoters
    **27:16 Bootstrapping & Being Nimble
    **31:02 Embedded Sustainability in the Workforce
    **40:14 Clean Energy and the Future of Fossil Fuels

    -----
    Links:
    **Matthias Muehlbauer | OnePointFive
    **Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X

    This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

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    53 mins
  • #192 Catalytic Capital, Hiring a CFO, Inclusive Financing, Grant Funding Gaps, & More w/ Dimitry Gershenson (Enduring Planet)
    Jul 18 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Dimitry Gershenson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enduring Planet. A fractional CFO and Non-Dilutive Funding service for ClimateTech Entrepreneurs. As for funding, they provide working capital for founders who have landed grants or who have government contracts.

    It's great to see more Climate-Specific service providers to help continue supporting the ecosystem.

    Today, Dimitry shares his story, and we discuss:
    **The importance of and when to hire a fractional CFO
    **Funding underrepresented founders
    **The importance of Catalytic Capital
    **The Grant Funding Gap and Solving it

    And much more.

    Enjoy the episode!

    Resources Mentioned:
    **Climate Curious
    **Streamline Climate
    **Pacific Northwest Climate Week

    Email Dimitry: dimitry@enduringplanet.com

    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---

    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel

    -----
    Topics:
    **2:3 Introduction and Overview of Enduring Planet's Services
    **4:10 The Importance of Supporting Climate Entrepreneurs
    **8:47 The Gap in the Ecosystem for Finance Expertise in Climate Tech
    **10:23 The Need for Early Financial Planning and Analysis
    **12:31 The Importance of Getting Finance in Order Early
    **14:51 Timeline for Bringing in Fractional CFO and Hiring Full-Time Finance Talent
    **17:22 Navigating Finance Challenges in Hardware Climate Tech
    **18:18 Introduction and Pricing
    **19:18 Lending and Transparency
    **46:17 Building Local Climate Communities
    **50:47 Addressing Capital Gaps in the Climate Ecosystem

    -----
    Links:
    **Dimitry Gershenson | https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgershenson/
    **Enduring Planet | https://enduringplanet.com/
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

    Show more Show less
    54 mins
  • #191 Wood Supply Chains, Creating a Brand, Fragmented Industries, Securing Consistent Offtake & More w/ Ben Christensen (Cambium)
    Jul 15 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    In our third installment of sustainable building materials, we’re taking another look at lumber.

    We’ve already called reclaimed lumber “the superpower building material you’ve never heard of”.

    As a refresher, lumber, processed wood from trees, is a versatile and widely used building material known for its strength, durability, and workability.

    So why isn’t there more of it in our buildings? Well, as great as lumber is, usable lumber from our buildings only comes from a few places — in the USA, it comes mainly from the Northwest and Southeast. For this reason, lumber is an expensive building material.

    But all hope is not lost. Last week, we covered Urban Machine, a company turning waste wood reusable by removing objects from it.

    This week, we’re covering Cambium - a hot 🔥 startup pioneering regenerative, local supply chains for wood by converting waste wood into reusable assets for the lumber industry. Not only do they have their own white-labeled wood called Carbon Smart Wood, but they have an innovative SaaS platform that can function as the source of truth for the entire supply chain.

    Convinced that you should know more about this? Well, you’re in luck. Tune in to todays episode to learn more…🎧💡
    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our Substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---

    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel
    -----

    Topics:
    **02:10 Introduction
    **06:24 Challenges in the Lumber Supply Chain
    **14:04 Deciding on the Founder Venture-Fact Operating Model
    **16:26 Guaranteeing Offtake and Ensuring Supply
    **19:03 The Value of Waste Wood
    **29:03 Competing with Incumbents
    **34:09 Scaling the Local Approach
    **45:32 Advice for Founders
    -----
    Links:
    **Ben Christensen | Cambium
    **Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X
    **This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

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    49 mins
  • #190 Climate Robotics, Reusing Lumber, the Economics of Construction, Inventory Prediction, & More w/ Eric Law (Urban Machine)
    Jul 11 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Reclaimed lumber is the superpower building material you’ve never heard of (because we’re all up to date on our Rolodex of sustainable building materials, right?).

    Lumber, processed wood from trees, is a versatile and widely used building material known for its strength, durability, and workability.

    So why isn’t there more of it in our buildings? Well, as great as lumber is, usable lumber from our buildings only comes from a few places — in the USA, it comes mainly from the Northwest and Southeast. That makes lumber an expensive building material.

    But all hope is not lost. In comes Urban Machine. By creating reusable lumber from waste sites, they are increasing the supply of usable lumber, making it not only more available but more local.

    Convinced that you should know more about this? Well, you’re in luck. Tune in to todays episode to learn more…🎧💡

    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our Substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---

    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel
    -----

    Topics:
    **03:14 Building Robots for Lumber
    **08:22 Removing Metal
    **18:30 Predicting Inventory
    **26:27 Challenges of Building a Hardware Company
    **28:47 The Economics of Construction
    **36:26 The Future of Urban Machine
    **40:35 Keys to Success in the Construction Tech Industry
    -----

    Links:
    **Eric Law | Urban Machine
    **Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X
    **This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

    Show more Show less
    43 mins
  • #189 Sustainable Building Materials, Mycelium, Scaling Production, Navigating Market Acceptance & More w/ Ilya Gindin (COMU Labs)
    Jul 9 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Mycelium is an emerging decarbonized building material due to its sustainability, biodegradability, and strength. It is cultivated by growing fungal networks, also known as mushrooms. Mycelium-based products can be used for insulation, bricks, and packaging.

    Today, we have a ClimateTech Entrepreneur making waves with Mycelium. Ilya is CEO & Co-Founder of COMU Labs, bridging the gap between sustainability and affordability in furniture materials. They utilize fungi to transform agricultural waste into robust, machinable and fire-retardant material that looks and behaves like plywood.

    Some of what we chatted about:

    **How Mycelium can be pressed into high-density boards
    **Why their material is substrate agnostic (and what the heck that means 🤔)
    **Challenges that still exist with market acceptance
    **Building a sustainable and healthy company culture

    & more. 🍄
    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---
    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel

    -----

    Topics:
    **01:31 Intro
    **02:49 Discovering Mycelium
    **09:09 Advantages of Mycelium as a Building Material
    **11:43 Common Misconceptions about Mycelium
    **20:31 Scouting New Talent
    **24:58 Challenges Ahead for Comu Labs

    -----
    Links:
    **Ilya Gindin | COMU Labs
    **Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X
    **This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

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    29 mins
  • #188 Decarbonizing Steam, Drop-In Replacement, Building in Stealth, & More w/ Ashwin Salvi (AtmosZero)
    Jul 4 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Ashwin Salvi is the Co-Founder and COO of AtmosZero. They create electrified boilers to replace traditional fossil-fuel-burning boilers in industrial settings.

    Steam touches a huge amount of products that we, as consumers, use every day, and AtmosZero is helping decarbonize that.

    Today, Ashwin shares his story, and we discuss:

    • How they solved the cost issue by making a drop-in replacement
    • How they built their pilot at the same scale as their commercial unit
    • The tradeoffs of building in stealth
    • How they are building to win even without subsidies

    And much more.

    Enjoy the episode!

    Resources Mentioned
    Book Recommendation: Empires of Light by Jill Jonne
    Podcast Recommendations: Founders Podcast by David Senra AND How to Take Over the World by Ben Wilson
    Connect with Ashwin Salvi: Email: ashwin@atmoszero.energy

    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---

    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel

    -----

    Topics:
    **01:58 Introduction and Background
    **10:03 Creating a Standardized Solution for Decarbonization
    **24:03 Return on Investment and Future Plans
    **25:42 De-risking and Mass Manufacturing
    **29:23 Challenges and Objections
    **39:32 First Commercial Deployment
    **48:48 Opportunities in Electrical Availability and Funding
    **51: 38 Takeaways

    -----
    Links:
    **Ashwin Salvi | AtmosZero
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn:
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

    Show more Show less
    58 mins
  • #187 Energy Transparency, Selling to Utilities, Electricity Markets, Exiting TWICE & More w/ Toby Ferenczi (Granular Energy)
    Jun 29 2024

    Forget Fan Mail, Fan Text Us! 💬

    Today, we are talking to Toby Ferenczi from Granular Energy.

    In this electrifying (ha!) episode, we finally tracked down the elusive Toby Ferenczi, a man who juggles startups like they're hot potatoes. ⚡️

    Toby educates us about the world of electricity transparency and trading.

    Did you know you can trade electricity like stocks? Neither did we! And it doesn’t exactly work like that…but it got your interest, didn’t it?? 🤔

    From his days at Cambridge to co-founding Granular Energy, Toby has journeyed in solar starting with solar panel materials with this PhDs, working at GE, and later through startup exits.

    He even founded a nonprofit for timestamped energy certificates—because, why not?

    If you've ever wondered where your electricity comes from or how to make a clean energy choice, this episode is a shocker in the best way possible. 💥
    ---
    🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.
    ---

    🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies
    📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube
    🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey
    📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox
    🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel

    -----
    Topics:
    **02:42 Introduction
    **05:00 Enabling Customers to Choose Clean Energy
    **08:20 The Role of Electricity Markets
    **10:43 Journey as an Entrepreneur
    **14:46 Transparency in the Energy Industry
    **20:50 Understanding the Utility Business Model
    **25:28 Opportunities to Bypass Utilities
    **30:49 Fundraising
    **33:50 The Future of the Solar Industry
    **43:24 Opportunities in the Market

    -----
    Links:
    **Toby Ferenczi | Granular Energy
    **Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
    **@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X

    Support the Show.

    Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

    Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the
    law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

    Show more Show less
    47 mins