Electrified — Insights from the Energy Transition

Today's guest is Sue Yang. Sue is a Vice President at Orion Energy Partners - one of the largest debt funds in energy.Prior to joining Orion, Sue worked at Macquarie Infrastructure where she was involved in the firm’s power and transportation investment practice, and at McKinsey where she worked in the Middle East on infrastructure projects.Our conversation with Sue was a wide-ranging one. We discussed alternative capital structures for companies in the energy transition, the most overhyped technologies, and diversity within the sector where Sue is playing a large role in shaping the future of our industry.I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed having Sue on the show.For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd.

This week's guest is Leo Polovets. Leo is a  co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures, where he focuses on enterprise software; developer tools and technical products; and logistics and supply chain. Leo led Susa's investments in Outlier, Pex, Scalyr, and Stedi. Having been a software engineer for 10+ years, Leo approaches challenges with an engineering mindset and supports portfolio companies in vetting and hiring technical talent. Prior to Susa, Leo was the second engineering hire at Linkedin where he worked on the first versions of products like LinkedIn Jobs and LinkedIn Groups. Leo then worked on payment fraud detection algorithms at Google and was also an early engineer at Factual, where he built data processing software. Leo and Susa are known for investing in industries that traditionally lag behind when it comes to software adoption, so we asked him what lessons founders could apply across industries and what the new wave of interest in cleantech from venture capital means for the industry.For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd.

Our guest today is Russell Frisby. Russell is a Partner at Stinson, a premier law firm in energy and Intelis Capital advisor.Russell's career is fascinating, to say the least. Previously, he served as chair of the Maryland Public Service Commission and as a board member at Pepco when it was acquired by Exelon for $6B in 2016.In addition to his energy expertise, Russell was responsible for the regulatory work surrounding Uber's entry into Maryland and has represented cases before the US Supreme Court.This epsiode covers everything from policy creation, the goal of regulation, and the potential inequalities being caused by the energy transition.We hope you enjoy this conversation with Russell as much as we did.For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd.

Our guest today is Patricia Schouker. Patricia leads business development for King and Union, a cybersecurity firm focused on the energy sector. She's also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Science Diplomacy Center at Tufts University, and was recently selected as one of the top 40 most influential individuals in the energy sector by Right Relevance.In this conversation, we cover the cross-section of energy as it relates to cybersecurity and geopolitics. We also dive into the likelihood of a cyberattack on the US power grid in the near future.We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd.Show Notes:1:06 - 3:16 Patricia's background4:14 - 8:12 Critical cybersecurity issues today8:13 - 11:28 Importance of collaboration11:29 - 16:39 Insurance mindset and under-spending16:40 - 23:09 Consequences and likelihood of a cyberattack on the US electric grid 23:10 - 27:48 Smart meters aren't "smart" unless they're secure27:49 - 32:47 Compliance is not security32:48 - 38:59 Adapting cybersecurity for industry, not the inverse39:00 - 45:16 Changing technology landscape alters resource geopolitics 45:17 - 51:32 Climate as a mechanism for diplomacy51:33 - 56:40 Which energy companies do a good job at cybersecurity?56:41 - 1:00:01 Rapid change requires radical collaboration; tech should adapt to us not the inverse

Our guest today is Shayle Kann, Managing Director at Energy Impact Partners. He is also a member of the NYSERDA Investor Advisory Board and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy. Previously, Shayle built and ran GTM Research, the market intelligence arm of Greentech Media, where he led a 30-person team tracking and forecasting the evolution of the electricity sectorFor more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd.Show Notes:01:23 - About Shayle and Energy Impact Partners05:15 - Shayle's research style for uncovering the most pressing issues in energy08:00 - How generalist VCs and energy-focused VCs are similar and different09:30 - What lessons were learned in cleantech 1.0?  How do we carry over the right ones?12:12 - Can carbon removal be the primary value prop for a company?18:01 - The role of hardware in the energy transition and the need for infrastructure investments24:30 - Shayle's background in psychology and how that shapes his views on B2C energy startups32:00 - The climate-tech hype cycle42:21 - Adding realism and pragmatism with newfound optimism in climate tech

Our guest today is Tom Matzzie, founder and CEO of Cleanchoice Energy, the largest 100% renewable retail energy provider in the US.  Prior to launching Cleanchoice, Tom was a senior Democratic strategist focusing on technology and media. This conversation with Tom focuses heavily on customer acquisition, retention, and engagement - 3 traditionally difficult aspects of consumer energy.  If you are a startup focused on B2C energy, you can't miss this episode.For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd.Show Notes01:45 - Tom's background in politics and how he found his way into energy05:15 - Customer acquisition as the only thing that matters in consumer energy09:30 - Why retail energy missed consumer data as a competitive advantage14:00 - Branding as a means of attracting talent to a boring industry15:30 - Building customer trust without owning the relationship20:30 - Finding the right legos for your brand22:15 - The difference in finding customers vs. finding transactions28:00 - Does digital marketing work in retail energy?30:45 - The evolution of the utilities' incumbency advantage37:20 - Educating consumers in a complex market39:20 - The future of retail energy42:00 - Unlocking smart meter data to create a flexible grid46:10 - The advancement of clean energy through deregulation 51:30 - What will Tom do next?

Our guest today is Emily Kirsch founder and CEO of Powerhouse and Managing Partner of Powerhouse Ventures. Emily is a well-respected leader in energy, serving on the investment advisory board for NYSERDA, and in 2019 she was selected as a World Economic Forum global leader, we've had the pleasure of knowing Emily and her team for some time now and her co-investors in two companies Amperon and Ensemble Energy. This was a great conversation, covering topics including the history of cleantech, how this year's election might impact the industry moving forward, and lessons from partnering with some of the largest energy companies in the world. We hope you enjoy this episode. For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd. 

Matthew Nordan is co-founder and Managing Director of Prime Impact Fund. He co-founded Prime Coalition, Prime Impact Fund’s 501(c)(3) parent organization, and serves on its board of directors. Matthew launched Prime Impact Fund after serving as co-founder and Managing Partner at MNL Partners, a developer of energy and environmental projects in China. He learned venture capital at Venrock, one of the world’s oldest and most successful VC firms, where he and colleagues drove the firm’s investment in Nest Labs among other investments. For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowd. 

Alex Trembath is the Deputy Director at Breakthrough, a global research center that identifies and promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges.He is the lead or co-author of several Breakthrough publications, including Coal Killer, Beyond Boom and Bust, and Our High-Energy Planet.  His work has been featured in the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine.Alex joined us to talk about pragmatism in fighting climate change, and why one solution won't get us to the outcomes we desire.You can learn more about the Breakthrough Institute here or follow Alex on Twitter.For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowdShow Notes01:30 - Alex shares his background and how he found the Breakthrough Institute03:40 - The mission of the Breakthrough Institue and how ecomodernism differs from other philosophies on fighting climate change08:30 - Do we have all the technologies we need to solve climate change?11:45 - The little known story behind the fracking revolution19:20 - What phase of energy technology are we in?24:00 - Why we need specialization to solve climate change28:10 - Strategies for creating a productive conversation around climate change and sustainability33:00 - Society's ability to focus on multiple large scale problems35:45 - NIMBY-ism and real climate action46:00 - What does sci-fi say about the current social and economic landscape? 49:00 - Remembering climate change is a global opportunity

Our guest today is Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America.Earlier this year, Greentown Labs announced its expansion to Houston, TX.  We talk with Emily about that announcement and the similarities between Boston and Houston.  Emily shares her background with us and discusses how her background working with large corporations has shaped Greentown’s role in the climatetech ecosystem.We hope you enjoy our conversation with Emily.For more information on Greentown Labs, you can visit their website here: https://greentownlabs.comGreentown Labs Houston Location: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/greentown-labs-announces-location-of-new-incubator-in-houstons-innovation-district-301135695.html?tc=eml_cleartimeFor more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowdShow Notes01:30 - Emily shares her background05:00 - The change from incremental improvement to working on breakthrough06:45 - Emily and  Greentown Labs, a match made for climate impact12:25 - Greentown Labs’ mission-oriented culture and how it benefits founders14:30 - Scaling a community without sacrificing connectivity16:55 - Working with large corporates partners to create an atmosphere of collaboration 19:00 - Why corporates are part of the solution, not the problem 21:05 - Balancing optimism and skepticism when big oil and gas enter the energy transition24:00 - Greentown expands to the energy capital of North America 30:30 - The similarities between Houston and Boston 35:30 - Jobs are the unifying message of the energy transition 38:00 - Investors flocking to the energy transition for economic reasons40:30 - The importance and success of Greentown Launch49:00 - The breadth of opportunities in the energy transition 

Our guest today is Brad Hunstable, the co-founder and CEO of Linear Labs. Linear Labs develops fully modular electric motors and generators for use cases that include micro-mobility, HVAC systems, and automobiles. Brad is a successful entrepreneur and sold Ustream to IBM for $150M before starting Linear Labs. We first learned of Brad and Linear Labs when Jonathan helped organize the inaugural Venture Dallas event.  Since then, Brad has gone on to raise from prominent venture capital firms like Lowercarbon Capital, Science Ventures, and Ryan Graves' Saltwater Capital. Brad and the Linear Labs team also pioneered a public-private partnership with the city of Fort Worth, Texas which you'll hear more about in this episode.Recently, Brad's family was struck by an unspeakable tragedy which he discusses with us and details how it re-defined his mission at Linear Labs.We hope you enjoy this insightful and emotional episode with Brad.LinearLabs: https://linearlabsinc.com/Hayden's Corner: https://www.haydenscorner.org/For more content on climate change and the energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter.Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowdShow Notes(01:45) - Brad describes his background and the origin story of Linear Labs(09:15) - Building a go-to-market strategy for a company that has a new technology in a traditional industry(10:30) - Pain and velocity in product-market fit(15:05) - Learning from experience in entrepreneurship, business building as a process(17:45) - How Brad learned about making the transition from software entrepreneur to hardware founder in an industrial sector(23:30) - The importance of a "why not?" and a culture focused on curiosity(27:30) - Sustaining excellence in a company at scale(30:50) - Brad and the city of Fort Worth, TX create a new form of public-private partnership(38:25) - Brad's experience with personal tragedy and how it shaped his mission moving forward

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Electrified with Intelis Capital. Our guest this week is Julia Pyper, contributing editor at Greentech Media and co-host of Political Climate, a bi-partisan, climate-focused podcast. We chose Julia as the first guest for Electrified because we admire her work and ability to reach across boundaries in the name of creating awareness for climate change. Her message of nuance and optimism in climate-related public discourse is on full display in this episode, a take that deeply resonated with us and is a part of our mission with Electrified.In this episode, we discuss how to build collations for the energy transition and fight against climate change and how Julia’s travels have shaped her world views as they pertain to energy. We also consider big oil’s inclusion in the energy transition, and how they might position themselves moving forward.You can find Julia on Twitter @JMPyper or search for the Political Climate podcast on all major podcast platforms.For more content on climate change and energy transition subscribe to the Electrified Newsletter. Follow us on Twitter @kevindstevens and @jm_crowdShow Notes(03:20) - Julia discusses her energy-focused travels to China, Haiti, and the UAE(05:27) - What is the future of big oil?(10:35) - Climate collation building(12:45) - The foundations of Political Climate, Julia’s podcast(15:45) - What’s changing in the public debate around climate change?(18:20) - Big oil’s PR choice(19:00) - Storytelling and engagement without leaving behind nuance when discussing climate and energy(27:15) - Building markets that work for utilities and renewables(31:00) - Balancing nuance and accessibility for new clean energy entrants(35:00) - How today’s innovations are different from cleantech 1.0(36:15) - China’s massive lead on the US in clean energy(40:00) - Clean energy jobs as the most important political unifying force(45:30) - The importance of energy access in the energy transition

Welcome to the Electrified podcast, where we talk about the electrification of industry and moving toward a more decarbonized, resilient energy ecosystem. As former startup operators in this industry and now venture capital investors, our mission is to leverage that business experience in conversations with leading thinkers across technology, policy, and media to tease out insights that help accelerate the energy transition.