Scaling Clean: The Podcast

In this episode of Scaling Clean, we talk with Jeff Wolfe, an ‘original cleantecher’ whose career spans solar installation, EV fast charging, and work with Shell New Ventures. Now leading Veloce Energy, Jeff shares hard‑earned insights on building and scaling companies in the clean energy sector. About Tigercomm Tigercomm is top U.S.  marketing communications  and  public affairs firm  helping cle...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we talk with Jennifer Von Bismarck — a guest who brings a different perspective from most we've featured. Most of our guests to date have led companies that develop renewable energy plants, sell cleantech equipment, or provide energy services. But today our guest is a pure play. She's a career-long investor who served in leadership positions at sequential investment...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we talk with Jesse Grossman — a CEO who took a different path to leadership. Scaling Clean listeners know that we seek out clean economy CEOs for their lessons on building teams and running companies. All our guests to date have developed their leadership abilities by ascending a career ladder, and they’ve done that across several companies. Today’s guest has instead...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we’ll be talking with Miranda Ballentine, a CEO with experience across “.com,” “.org,” and “.gov” sectors. Most know her as the head of the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA). But Miranda’s experience spans a wide range — from serving as sustainability director at Walmart, to consulting with David Gardner Associates, to working as the Air Force Assistant Secretar...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we’ll be speaking with Kevin Smith, CEO of Lightsource bp — one of the few leaders in cleantech who has successfully led two major solar companies. Kevin’s a great interview in part because of the depth of his background: fossil fuels and renewables, Europe and the U.S., and experience across two different types of solar. Throughout it all, he’s proven to be an impre...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we talk with Jeff Wolfe — an “OC,” or original cleantecher. This entrepreneur has three companies under his leadership belt, including two that he founded. Jeff’s work has spanned solar installation, EV fast charging, and investment considerations for Shell New Ventures. His current company is Veloce Energy, which offers easy-to-install EV fast charging infrastructur...

In this Scaling Clean podcast , we talk with Jennifer Von Bismarck — a guest who brings a different perspective from most we've featured. Most of our guests to date have led companies that develop renewable energy plants, sell cleantech equipment, or provide energy services. But today our guest is a pure play. She's a career-long investor who served in leadership positions at sequential investment...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we talk with Jesse Grossman — a CEO who took a different path to leadership. Scaling Clean listeners know that we seek out clean economy CEOs for their lessons on building teams and running companies. All our guests to date have developed their leadership abilities by ascending a career ladder, and they’ve done that across several companies. Today’s guest has instead...

In this Scaling Clean podcast, we’ll be talking with Miranda Ballentine, a CEO with experience across “.com,” “.org,” and “.gov” sectors. Most know her as the head of the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA). But Miranda’s experience spans a wide range — from serving as sustainability director at Walmart, to consulting with David Gardner Associates, to working as the Air Force Assistant Secretar...

In this Scaling Clean podcast , we’ll be speaking with Kevin Smith, CEO of Lightsource bp — one of the few leaders in cleantech who has successfully led two major solar companies. Kevin’s a great interview in part because of the depth of his background: fossil fuels and renewables, Europe and the U.S., and experience across two different types of solar. Throughout it all, he’s proven to be an impr...

We're up with our third episode of Scaling Clean , where I spoke with former CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor, Mark Bassett . During his impressive tenure, Mark saw sales surge even in the face of the COVID recession. He’s worked most of his career in heavy, mature industries, including 11 years rising through the ranks of Dow Chemical. And he’s actually Dr. Mark Bassett, with a Ph. D. in Chemical Eng...

Today, we are bringing you perspective from Jing Tian, who co-founded her own company early in her career and also led the U.S. presence for three different international cleantech firms. And Jing Tian is also Dr. Tian, who earned a Ph. D. in chemistry from Drexel University and served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department at Princeton University. Jing is now the chief growth office...

On today’s Scaling Clean, a discussion with Silvia Ortín. She has worked in the power sector her entire career. Silvia started as a contract trading analyst for TXU Energy in the late 1990s. Over a quarter century later, she is the CEO of RWE Renewables Onshore Wind and PV division. Silvia is the first woman to hold the position. Our goal on Scaling Clean is to aggregate insights from CEOs, invest...

Ever heard the joke about the engineer who walked into a podcast interview and turned out to be a fountain of wisdom and soundbites? Well, our guest today is just that… except he’s no joke. South African-native Claus Nussgruber leads Utility Global, a net-zero hydrogen company based in Houston. He spent his 31-year career working in and leading corporate initiatives focused on hydrogen and other r...

We’re back with part two of our conversation with Soluna Computing CEO John Belizaire. John’s current company is building modular green data centers that run on renewable energy. And though he just turned 50, John has already sold two companies. Our conversation for Scaling Clean was incredibly rich. You can hear the first half of the conversation on last week’s episode. In last week’s episode, Jo...

John Belizaire is CEO of Soluna Computing, which builds modular green data centers running on renewable energy. Though he just turned 50, John has already sold two companies. In his current role, he testified before the U.S. Congress and rang the NASDAQ bell. His speaking and writing attract the interests of new and legacy media, including Cheddar News, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journ...

We’ve got a heavily experienced growth company CEO for you in this episode who is lighting up the traditionally workhorse energy-efficiency sector. Al Subbloie is the CEO of the energy efficiency as a service company, Budderfly, based in Shelton, Connecticut. Budderfly has 125 employees operating in 49 states with a growth rate of well over 50% for this year. And this is the third company Al’s bui...

Host Mike Casey speak to Kimberlee Centera, President and CEO of TerraPro Solutions. Kimberlee is a trailblazer in the renewable energy sector who has helped build over 10,000 renewable energy projects in the U.S. alone. She can accurately be described as an “OC,” an “original clean-techer,” and has been involved in land-use questions her entire professional life. If you look up “breadth of develo...

Host Mike Casey talks with Graham Richard, the former mayor of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He's one of the few people in clean tech who served in elected office. After his political career, Graham took the reins at the Advanced Energy Economy, a national trade association. He's now a senior advisor at the San Francisco-based investment fund, Finite. You can learn more in the podcast write up here.

Host Mike Casey talks with Ken Locklin, who is the cleantech oracle you probably haven’t heard of because he has the enviable combination of foresight and humility. For more than three decades, Ken’s honed his ability to observe the major developments within multiple clean economy sectors, and then distill the trends for the rest of us. While serving as Impax Asset Management’s North American Dire...

Host Mike Casey catches up with Abby Hopper, the head of Solar Energy Industries Association. That's the U.S.' main solar trade association. Abby is a lawyer by training, and a veteran of several top regulatory posts at the state and federal levels. That includes leading the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the years that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in 2010. In short, Abb...

So far on our podcast, we’ve interviewed cleantech leaders that are in a later stage of their careers. We figured that wisdom comes from a combination of gray hair and track record. Chad Farrell is different, and that’s a good thing. As the CEO of Encore Renewable Energy, Chad’s first company is his current company. Encore develops what it calls “community-scale” renewable energy projects, often o...

Host Mike Casey catches up with Bob Fishman, a veteran leader of energy companies. His background includes stints at Ausra, General Atomics, and the NAES Corporation. you can learn more in the podcast write-up here.

Brad Mattson is described as a “Silicon Valley Legend” because he’s the only person to have taken two companies from his garage to Nasdaq. Brad’s also been a VC and has led two clean economy companies. Plus, he’s a thoroughly wonderful person and a fountain of wisdom. Thanks, Brad, for talking with me. You can learn more in the podcast write up here.