The Wisdom Of... with Simon Bowen Lauren Flanagan: From Near-Death to Nanogrid - Building Climate Resilience When Failure Isn't an Option
In this episode of The Wisdom Of... Show, host Simon Bowen speaks with Lauren Flanagan, CEO and co-founder of Sesame Solar, a company that's redefining emergency response through renewable mobile nanogrids. From her near-death experiences that shaped her mission to building technology that deploys clean power in disaster zones within 15 minutes, Lauren shares profound insights on first-principles thinking, testing breakthrough solutions in existential scenarios, and the wisdom of challenging incumbents through evolution rather than revolution. Discover how thinking systemically about urgent problems creates the foundation for global impact and why sometimes the hardest test cases produce the most scalable solutions.
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Episode Breakdown
00:00 Introduction and the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and bold leadership
05:30 From SaaS pioneer to climate innovator - Lauren's journey to Sesame Solar
12:15 The Dominica test case - when Hurricane Maria became an existential business challenge
18:45 First principles thinking - how to make complex technology radically simple
25:20 The urgent need vs early adopter framework for market entry
32:10 Why "test case thinking" beats venture capital in the early stages
38:40 Challenging deeply entrenched incumbents without declaring war
44:25 The philosophy of coexistence vs disruption in breakthrough innovation
50:15 How near-death experiences shape business mission and long-term thinking
52:30 The negotiation Lauren would most want to observe - Ukraine and World War III prevention
About Lauren Flanagan
Lauren Flanagan is the co-founder, chair and CEO of Sesame Solar, which manufactures the world's first 100% renewably-powered Mobile Nanogrids. She is also Managing Director of Belle Capital USA, an early stage venture fund that invests in high growth tech companies in underserved capital markets around the US.
Lauren has more than 25 years experience in founding and operating technology companies, and has invested in 32 companies in the past 8 years. Before founding Sesame Solar, Lauren co-founded WebWare Corporation, one of the first Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, which was acquired by a publicly traded company in 2003. She has consulted for technology leaders including Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and Xerox.
Lauren received Trailblazer Awards in 2000 and 2001 from the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and was awarded IT Software CEO of the Year for 2002 by Frost and Sullivan. BusinessWeek selected her as one of the Top 25 Angels in Tech in 2010. She was recognized on the 2024 Grist 50 list for driving fresh solutions to our planet's biggest problems.
Sesame Solar's customers include the Army Corps of Engineers, US Marine Corps, US Air Force, cities and counties, major telecommunications companies, and NGOs. The company is backed by Morgan Stanley, VSC Ventures, PAX Angels and high-net-worth investors.
Connect with Lauren Flanagan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laflanagan/
Website: https://www.sesame.solar/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sesame.solar
About Simon Bowen
Simon has spent over two decades working with influential leaders across complex industries. His focus is on elevating thinking in organizations, recognizing that success is directly proportional to the quality of thinking and ideas within a business. Simon leads the renaissance of thinking through his work with global leaders and organizations.
Connect with Simon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonbowen-mm/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialsimonbowen/
Website: https://thesimonbowen.com/
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