Watt It Takes

Nancy Pfund, founder of DBL Partners, discusses her experience investing in clean tech companies, her passion for impact investing, and her involvement in energy policy ideas. They also talk about childhood memories, involvement in social issues, well-known investments made by DBL Partners like Tesla, and the importance of perseverance in building a clean energy economy.

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Scott Clavenna, the co-founder of Greentech Media.Launched in 2007, Greentech Media quickly became the premiere brand in cleantech journalism and research. The company took a forward-thinking and sometimes-edgy approach to covering the emerging world of cleantech and climatetech.This conversation was recorded in 2017 in front of a live audience at Powerhouse’s headquarters in Oakland, CA. Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at https://www.powerhouse.fund/

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Dan Shugar, the founder and CEO of Nextracker. Dan lives, breaths and bleeds solar. Some call him the "King Midas" of solar, because he's turned so many ventures into gold. He’s been responsible for some of the biggest and most consequential solar projects and companies ever built.This conversation was recorded in 2017 in front of a live audience at Powerhouse’s headquarters in Oakland, CA. Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at https://www.powerhouse.fund/

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Andrew Birch, the co-founder of Sungevity.Sungevity was an early success story in residential solar. But after 10 years in business, it went bankrupt in 2017. In this interview, recorded five months after the company’s collapse, Birchy joined us on stage to talk about what happened. His story tells us a lot about the turbulence that defines the solar industry. This conversation was recorded in 2017 in front of a live audience at Powerhouse’s headquarters in Oakland, CA. Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at https://www.powerhouse.fund/

In this episode: Emily’s conversation with Dick Swanson, the founder of SunPower, one of the most successful solar companies of all time. Dick is a solar legend, who has been working to make solar cheaper and better since the 1970s.This conversation was recorded in 2017 in front of a live audience at Powerhouse’s headquarters in Oakland, CA. Powerhouse partners with leading corporations and investors to help them lead the next century of clean technology innovation. Our fund, Powerhouse Ventures, invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly transform our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more about Powerhouse at https://www.powerhouse.fund/

Watt It Takes  is a monthly podcast that tells the stories of founders and entrepreneurs who are building the carbon-free future -- their upbringings, their risks, their failures, and their breakthroughs that are transforming our world.Stay tuned to our new season in 2022. Subscribe to Watt It Takes today everywhere you get podcasts. Follow Powerhouse for more details on upcoming episodes.