CleanTechies Podcast #179 Industrial Decarb, ROI-Oriented Sales, GHG Accounting, Marketplaces x Recommender Systems, & More w/ Saleh ElHattab (Gravity)
đ Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition.
What do GHG Accounting platforms and NYC Rats have in common? There are substantially more of them than any of us would like. â Despite this sentiment, todayâs guest is the founder of a GHG accounting co. that is truly built differentâas GenZ would say. Letâs get into it đ
Today, we are talking to Saleh ElHattab, Founder & CEO of Gravity.
Yeah I know, weâve all had a lot of inbound from GHG Accounting firms trying to help us with our sustainability reporting.
It gets old. But why?
The only reason it gets old isâZero Differentiation. Frankly, the same cannot be said of todayâs guest (otherwise we wouldnât have had them on)!
There are a few core lessons in what they have done to stand out in a space as crowded as an NYC house party.
* How to align all stakeholders in the sales process
* Building a product so simple the user can be upskilled without specialized training
* Building a culture of pragmatism
* Speaking Return-on-Investment
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The Guest: Saleh ElHattab
* Raised in Indiana, itâs fitting that Saleh ended up building a company supporting the industrial sector.
* What was a bit different than most of his peers was his fascination for the intersection of the digital and physical.
* This is what led him to end up working in the IoT space with Samsara, where he led product for their industrial sector. If youâre unfamiliar with Samsara, they entered a crowded space and IPOâd in 6 years by wiping the floor with the competition.
* After a short time in VC to figure out his next company step, he settled on carbon accounting for the underserved industrial sector.
* And wowâitâs going well. Props to Saleh; they have been highly efficient with their capital (we all love a founder with foresight and restraint)
The Company: Gravity
One Liner: Helping Industrial Manufacturing companies understand thier carbon emissions to reduce them while also identifying cost saving opportunites so big even your mom is surprised.
Started at a time when, frankly, there were already a good number of carbon accounting platforms, Gravity was set for an uphill battle.
Through extreme rigor and testing of PMF, they quickly through out many buyer personas â all the while having a focus on helping manufacturing companies not only report their emissions but also use the data collected to find big areas for OpEx reduction.
In addition, they made the platform so anyone can use it. Thatâs right you donât have to be an Environmental Scientist just to understand how it works.
Oh you thought two things were enough? They didnât.
On top of all this, they built a marketplace that goes along with their software. This helps their clientâs procurement teams get better deals on products and services that will drastically help them improve their operating costs.
Today they are scaling after having found a strong match between product and client persona. (They are hiringâŚdrop us a message and we can link you up)
Do you have suggestions on future guests or topics? Leave a comment!
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đ Show Notes:
Topics
* 02:27 Introduction and Background
* 03:05 Problem Statement and Solution
* 05:39 Global Emissions from Industry
* 11:44 Ideation and Idea Validation
* 13:37 Company Status and Growth
* 14:56 Challenges and Milestones
* 16:38 Testing and Pivoting
* 18:16 Differentiation and Competitive Advantage
* 22:53 Market Positioning and Challenges
* 25:38 Culture Building and Talent (Pragmatism)
* 30:38 Principles and Habits for Success
* 32:38 Future Plans and Opportunities
* 37:00 Entrepreneurial Ideas in the Climate Space
* 37:48 Closing Remarks and Call to Action
* 38:41 Takeaways
Links
* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas
* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
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đ Early-Stage Founders Hiring
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