Watt It Takes

Jaksot

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  Crux Co-Founder & CEO Alfred Johnson 25.08.2026 1t 12min

  Alfred Johnson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Crux, an AI-native capital platform for clean energy and manufacturing. Crux got its start in transferable tax credits, and has since expanded into tax equity investment and debt origination, leveraging software, data, and AI to cover the full capital stack for energy and manufacturing infrastructure. In this conversation, Alfred walks through the path that led him to Crux: growing up in a family of political operators in Washington, DC, walking onto Stanford's Varsity football team, and a front-row seat to the 2008 financial crisis at the Treasury Department. After co-founding and selling his first company, Mobilize, and returning to Treasury once more, Alfred set out to build something in clean energy — a decision he credits to his wife, Emily, who told him that he could solve any problem and should go work on climate change. He also speaks candidly about adapting the Crux product to changing policy landscapes and transformational developments in AI, all while raising three young sons.
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  Fervo Energy Co-Founder & CEO Tim Latimer (Re-Release) 16.07.2026 59min

  Tim Latimer is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fervo Energy (NASDAQ: FRVO), a publicly-traded geothermal energy company that generates 24/7 carbon-free electricity using Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). In this conversation, recorded in 2021, Tim traces his path from drilling engineer to entrepreneur and the earliest days of building a company few investors believed in.
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  Zūm Founder and CEO Ritu Narayan 30.06.2026 1t 12min

  Ritu Narayan is the Founder and CEO of Zūm, a company modernizing and electrifying student transportation. In this conversation, Ritu walks through the path that led her to Zūm: from growing up in India as the oldest of four children, to studying computer engineering as one of six women in a class of 300 at Delhi Institute of Technology, to building products at Oracle, Yahoo, and eBay. It was at eBay, watching colleagues leave early to pick up their kids while her own arrangements kept falling through, that she had the insight that would become Zūm. She left eBay to attend the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she incubated a direct-to-parent rideshare for working families, which later became a full-service school district platform modernizing and electrifying the yellow school bus. She also speaks about her passion for the problem, what it meant to build this company for herself, her mother, all working parents, and why she believes being an underdog is not a disadvantage, but a super power.
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  ThinkLabs AI Founder and CEO Josh Wong 28.05.2026 1t 25min

  Josh Wong is the Founder and CEO of ThinkLabs, an AI-powered grid intelligence company building a copilot for the electric grid that uses physics-informed models to help utilities plan, simulate, and operate their systems in real time. In this conversation, Josh walks through the path that led him there, from being born in Hong Kong and moving to Toronto as a child, to studying electrical engineering and starting his career at Toronto Hydro, where he saw firsthand how difficult it is to operate the grid in practice. That experience led him to found Opus One, an early platform for modeling and managing distributed energy systems that was later acquired by GE. After the acquisition, Josh found himself returning to the same core problem that had defined much of his career: the grid is becoming more complex, but the tools used to understand and operate it haven’t kept pace, ultimately leading him to start ThinkLabs. He also speaks candidly about the personal side of his journey, including the mental health challenges he faced after his first company, and reflects on what it means to start over while tackling one of the most critical bottlenecks in modern energy.
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  Alex Honnold, Rock Climber & Founder, Honnold Foundation 04.05.2026 57min

  Alex Honnold is the founder of the Honnold Foundation and one of the most accomplished climbers in the world, best known as the first person to free solo El Capitan. In this conversation, Alex walks through the path that shaped him, from growing up as a shy kid in Sacramento and discovering climbing, to living out of a van while building his career. As his travels took him to places without access to electricity, he came to a realization about what felt fair and made a decision that would define his next chapter. He went on to start the Honnold Foundation, which supports community-led solar projects around the world, and committed to giving away a third of his income each year. Today, the foundation has supported more than 100 organizations across 30 countries and is approaching $20 million in grants given, focused on expanding access to clean energy. The conversation also gets into the more personal side, including how Alex has navigated becoming a public figure, and how his perspective has shifted as a partner and a father.
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  3Degrees Co-Founder and Chairman Dan Kalafatas 15.04.2026 1t 16min

  Dan Kalafatas is the Co-Founder and Chairman of 3Degrees, a company helping corporations achieve their energy and emission reduction commitments, from sourcing clean power, to navigating carbon markets. In the conversation, Dan walks through the path that led him to 3Degrees, from growing up in a working-class mill town in Massachusetts, to studying economics at Dartmouth and working in consulting, to business school at Stanford where a lunch talk on renewable energy changed his direction. He went on to join Three Phases Energy as an early employee, helping build one of the first corporate renewable energy offerings based on renewable energy credits, before spinning out 3Degrees in 2007. Today, the company works with more than 80 Fortune 500 companies, has supported over 20,000 decarbonization projects, helped bring more than 12 gigawatts of clean energy online, and generates over a billion dollars in annual revenue.
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  Hydrostor Co-Founder and CEO Curtis VanWalleghem 26.02.2026 1t 18min

  Curtis VanWalleghem is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hydrostor, a company that stores energy in underground rock caverns using compressed air and water, designed for ten hours or more of storage. In the conversation, Curtis walks through the path that led him to Hydrostor, from growing up in Ontario and studying engineering while playing varsity hockey, to a decade in global consulting, to confronting surplus power challenges at Bruce Power and deciding to build a company around compressed air energy storage. Founded in 2010, Hydrostor has raised over $550 million in equity, secured roughly $8 billion in revenue contracts, and is advancing a multi-gigawatt pipeline of long-duration storage projects across North America and Australia.
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  Arc Co-Founder and CEO Mitch Lee 30.01.2026 1t 20min

  Mitch Lee is the Co-Founder and CEO of Arc, a company electrifying the marine industry, starting with recreational boating. In the conversation, Mitch walks through the path that led him to Arc, from a childhood fascination with stocks and compounding interest, to building and selling his first company, to betting big on what electrification can unlock on the water. Founded in 2021, Arc has since raised over $110 million through its Series B and scaled from delivering its first customer boat to producing multiple boats per week, while also landing major commercial partnerships at working ports.
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  Voltus Co-Founder and CEO Dana Guernsey 29.12.2025 1t 26min

  Dana Guernsey is the Co-Founder and CEO of Voltus, a company turning customer-side flexibility into dependable grid capacity across North American power markets. Emily spoke with Dana about her path, from growing up in Queens, New York and studying mechanical engineering at Dartmouth, to discovering energy markets during her time at EnerNOC and ultimately co-founding Voltus. Since then, the company has scaled to operate across every major power market, managing more than eight gigawatts of flexible capacity and supporting tens of thousands of customer sites.
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  Tyba Co-Founder and CEO Michael Baker 26.11.2025 1t 18min

  Michael Baker is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tyba, which builds the software that models and operates energy storage assets so developers, owners, and operators can optimize performance in increasingly complex power markets. Emily spoke with Michael about his path from growing up across several continents, where he first saw how energy shapes opportunity, to discovering storage and the gaps in the industry’s tools that ultimately led him to start Tyba. Since then, the company has grown from early prototypes to working with customers ranging from global energy companies to leading solar-plus-storage developers, and is now on track to manage two gigawatts of customer assets by the end of the year.
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  Jennifer Granholm, Former Director, Department of Energy 31.10.2025 1t 9min

  Jennifer Granholm is the former U.S. Secretary of Energy, where she led an unprecedented wave of investment in clean energy deployment and manufacturing. In this live conversation, recorded in San Francisco after the Powerhouse Ventures Annual General Meeting, Emily spoke with Governor Granholm about her journey from emigrating to California as a child to discovering her calling in politics and public service. They discussed how her early experiences shaped her leadership, the lessons she’s learned from decades in government, and what it takes to stay grounded while driving systemic change.
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  Cloverleaf Infrastructure Co-Founder and CCO Brian Janous 25.09.2025 1t 10min

  Brian Janous is the Co-Founder and CCO of Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a company developing “powered land” by bringing together utilities, grid operators, and data centers so new capacity can come online faster and with more certainty. Emily spoke to Brian about his path, from a quintessential 80s childhood in Mississippi and Texas to more than a decade at Microsoft leading a 100-person energy strategy team, where he began envisioning new ways to connect power with the world’s expanding computing needs. That path led him to co-found Cloverleaf Infrastructure, which in less than two years has raised $300 million, closed its first major deal — Project Red Granite, a 1.3 GW development representing $8 billion in investment and 2 million square feet — and is now in the process of selling a second large project expected to close this year.
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  Intersect Power Co-Founder and CEO Sheldon Kimber 19.08.2025 1t 11min

  Sheldon Kimber is the Co-Founder and CEO of Intersect Power, a clean energy company that develops, owns, and operates some of the world’s largest grid-tied projects, delivering American-made, low-carbon solutions for global markets and co-located industrial facilities. Emily spoke to Sheldon about his journey from growing up in South Africa and Ohio, to studying at Kenyon College and going to business school, and eventually working in the trenches of clean energy development, where he formed a vision for fast, flexible infrastructure that challenges the status quo. That vision became Intersect Power, which he founded in 2016 to deliver large-scale clean electricity to the industries that need it most. Intersect has raised over $2 billion in equity, operates $4 billion in assets—including one of the largest battery fleets in the country—and is breaking ground on $9 billion more, with major customers like Google and Microsoft.
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  Brimstone Co-Founder and CEO Cody Finke 23.07.2025 1t 24min

  Cody Finke is the Co-Founder and CEO of Brimstone, a company working on the most impactful decarbonization solutions for the industrial sector. Brimstone’s breakthrough process delivers multiple industrial materials, including Portland cement, Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) and Smelter-Grade Alumina. Emily spoke to Cody about his journey; from growing up in Seattle and Idaho to earning a PhD at Caltech and working in environmental research, where he learned the importance of developing solutions that can scale. That path ultimately led Cody to co-found Brimstone, a company that has raised over $60 million, and signed a partnership with Oklahoma company Dolese Bros. Co. to supply the materials for its commercial-scale plant.
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  Sage Geosystems CEO Cindy Taff 12.06.2025 1t 3min

  Cindy Taff is the CEO of Sage Geosystems. Sage Geosystems is pioneering Pressure Geothermal—a new category of next-generation geothermal energy that delivers grid-scale power and long-duration energy storage virtually anywhere. Emily spoke to Cindy about her journey; from growing up in Los Angeles and Louisiana, to spending 36 years climbing the corporate ladder at Shell, and what ultimately motivated her shift to geothermal. She shared how her daughter encouraged the transition, and why geothermal stood out as the place where her skills could have the greatest impact. That path led her to Sage Geosystems, which is now building its first commercial geothermal energy storage facility in Christine, Texas. The company has raised $62 million and has secured key collaborations with the U.S. Department of Defense and Meta, including a power purchase agreement for at least 150 megawatts of geothermal power to support Meta’s U.S. data centers.
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  Jigar Shah, Former Director, Loan Programs Office (LPO) 15.05.2025 1t 15min

  Jigar Shah is the Co-Managing Partner of Multiplier LLC, an advisory services firm; a part-time venture partner at Powerhouse Ventures; and a co-host of the Open Circuit podcast from Latitude Media. In this special episode, Emily spoke with Jigar about his LPO journey — from the invitation to join the government, to stepping away from a thriving business, to leading an agency he had once called irredeemable.During his tenure, Jigar led the LPO in committing over $108 billion to 53 companies, supporting clean energy and advanced technology infrastructure across more than a thousand sites nationwide. They talked about what it took to rebuild trust in LPO, what it was like trying to shift how Silicon Valley and venture capital saw the role of Washington, and where we go from here.
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  Shayle Kann, Managing Partner, Energy Impact Partners 30.04.2025 1t 4min

  Shayle Kann is a Managing Partner at Energy Impact Partners and host of the Catalyst podcast. Emily spoke to Shayle about his journey, from growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, to his early career at Green Tech Media, and later stepping into leadership at Energy Impact Partners. Shayle’s path wasn’t conventional, but his passion for storytelling and energy led him to successfully apply these interests in both media and venture capital. As host of Catalyst, he’s shaped critical conversations on the future of energy, and now, as Managing Partner at EIP, continues to lead investments accelerating the energy transition and the decarbonization of infrastructure.
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  Pearl Street Technologies Co-Founder and CEO David Bromberg 27.03.2025 1t 11min

  David Bromberg is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pearl Street Technologies. Pearl Street’s software helps transmission providers, renewable energy developers, and other stakeholders overcome the interconnection bottleneck at the heart of the clean energy transition. Emily spoke with David about his journey: from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, to his days as a self-described depressed PhD candidate, to the early career lessons that shaped his path. David wasn’t sure he had the right personality to be a CEO, but he stepped into the role anyway and co-founded Pearl Street Technologies. The company, recently acquired by energy data and analytics leader Enverus, has contracted over 400 gigawatts with ISOs, modeled more than 2,000 clean energy projects, and is now being used to model nearly 10 percent of the nation’s interconnection backlog — and counting.
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  Overstory CEO Fiona Spruill 03.03.2025 54min

  Fiona Spruill is the CEO of Overstory, a software company that partners with utilities to predict and prevent wildfires caused by vegetation encroachment, ensuring a more reliable power grid. Emily spoke to Fiona about her journey; from growing up in three very different cultures, to her seminal experiences working at the New York Times and Meetup, to her transition into climate tech, to the evolution of her career at Overstory, from Chief Product Officer to Chief People Officer, to her decision to step in as CEO. Overstory employs more than 60 people representing 16 nationalities, has raised $32 million, and has partnerships with over 50 utilities across the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
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  KoBold Metals Co-Founder and CEO Kurt House 14.01.2025 1t 14min

  Kurt House is the Co-Founder and CEO of KoBold Metals. KoBold uses modern scientific computing to discover the critical materials needed for the energy transition. Emily spoke to Kurt about his journey; from growing up as an athletic nerd in Los Angeles, to his long and winding career through consulting, startups and academia, to his decision to co-found KoBold Metals, a company that employs more than 200 people, has over 60 active exploration projects across four continents, has raised $1B at a valuation of $3B, and in 2024 discovered the largest copper deposit in more than a decade.