Culture Shock to Cleantech: Building ElectricFish with Anurag Kamal

Culture Shock to Cleantech: Building ElectricFish with Anurag Kamal

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 6 of Better Than We Found It, the go-to podcast for sustainable leadership and purpose-driven business practices. Today, we're joined by Anurag Kamal, CEO and co-founder of ElectricFish, a San Carlos-based startup solving the grid bottleneck that's holding back EV charging infrastructure. A mechanical engineer by training, Anurag spent the early part of his career working on heavy-duty powertrains at Eicher Motors (a Volvo subsidiary in India) before moving to the US to research lithium-ion batteries at Michigan Tech. He went on to work at BMW's Silicon Valley office before founding ElectricFish at a climate hackathon in 2019. In this episode, we explore Anurag's journey across continents and corporate cultures, from India to Detroit to the Bay Area, and how those experiences shaped his leadership philosophy. We dig into the reality of building a company with co-founders you met at a weekend hackathon, why the electrical grid is being "torn apart" by EVs and renewables, and what it takes for a technical engineer to evolve into a commercial storyteller who can rally investors, customers and talent around a mission that could reshape how electricity moves for the next hundred years. If you're a founder, engineer stepping into leadership, or anyone curious about the future of energy infrastructure, this episode is packed with insight. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshhuggins/]  Connect with Anurag on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anurag-kamal/] This podcast is brought to you by GS2 Partnership, the recruitment partner for ambitious, impact-led teams across energy, finance, and the built environment. Find out more about GS2 here [https://www.gs2partnership.com/]

Sustainability Through Abundance: Why Consuming Less Has Failed

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 5 of Better Than We Found It, the go-to podcast for sustainable leadership and purpose-driven business practices. Today, we're joined by Marco Terruzzin, Chief Revenue Officer at Energy Vault. Marco's career spans mechanical engineering, a PhD in energy economics, carbon credit trading in China under the Kyoto Protocol, and scaling Energy Vault from five employees to a publicly listed modern independent power producer. In this episode, we explore how Marco navigated the tension between engineering ambition and commercial reality, from validating a gravity-based energy storage technology to pivoting the company's entire value proposition when market assumptions didn't hold. We discuss why the energy transition needs to be framed around prosperity and abundance rather than scarcity and reduction, how AI data centres could undo 20 years of grid decarbonisation within 24 months, and why Marco believes the economics will ultimately pull the industry back toward renewables. We also get into Marco's leadership philosophy including his unconventional hiring test, why he values dialogue over interviews, and the guiding principles that have kept Energy Vault's commercial team aligned through rapid growth and strategic pivots. If you're interested in energy storage, the intersection of AI and clean energy, or building high-performance teams in fast-moving industries, this episode delivers. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshhuggins/]  Connect with Marco on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcoterruzzin/] This podcast is brought to you by GS2 Partnership, the recruitment partner for ambitious, impact-led teams across energy, finance, and the built environment. Find out more about GS2 here [https://www.gs2partnership.com/]

The Secret to Scaling "Five-Star Service" in Clean Energy with Mark Liffmann

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 4 of Better Than We Found It, the go-to podcast for sustainable leadership and purpose-driven business practices. Today we're joined by Mark Liffmann, CEO and Co-Founder of Omnidian the company that created an entirely new category in the solar industry known as performance assurance. Mark's career is a masterclass in reading the market before anyone else: after starting as a corporate attorney at Harvard Law, he jumped into solar in 2002 long before the clean tech boom and helped build SunPower's residential business from zero to half a billion dollars in five years. In this episode, we explore how a chance sales call revealed that America's biggest solar companies were managing hundreds of thousands of systems on spreadsheets and how that "aha moment" led Mark and his two co-founders to build Omnidian from a $600,000 angel round into a company guaranteeing 1.5 gigawatts of distributed energy assets. We also dig into the painful reality of raising pre-seed capital while still in your day job, the Bill Walsh management lesson that Mark calls the most important he ever learned, and how Omnidian has built an award-winning remote-first culture with less than 10% annual attrition including eight consecutive years as a Top 100 workplace in Washington State. Whether you're a founder navigating early-stage fundraising, a leader building culture at scale, or someone fascinated by the infrastructure quietly powering the energy transition, this episode is packed with hard-won insight. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshhuggins/]  Connect with Mark on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/markliffmann/] This podcast is brought to you by GS2 Partnership, the recruitment partner for ambitious, impact-led teams across energy, finance, and the built environment. Find out more about GS2 here [https://www.gs2partnership.com/]

From Media Tech to Microgrids: Win or Learn, Never Lose with Ed Wise

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 3 of Better Than We Found It, the go-to podcast for sustainable leadership and purpose-driven business practices. Today we're joined by EJ Wise, CEO and founder of Positive Energy an EV charging infrastructure company at the forefront of America's electrification movement. EJ's story is one of the most compelling career pivots you'll hear: seven successful exits in media technology, from building fantasy football at CBS Sports to working at Will Ferrell's Funny or Die, before a chance investment and a birthday party conversation changed everything. Now leading what could become the largest EV charging contract award in US history, EJ brings a sales leader's clarity, an entrepreneur's hunger, and a refreshingly honest take on what it takes to build something that actually matters. In this episode, we explore: * How EJ made the leap from media technology to the energy sector and why not knowing the industry turned out to be his biggest advantage * The Romeo Power story: angel investor turned Chief Revenue Officer, working alongside SpaceX and Tesla alumni to commercialise battery technology * Why EJ pivoted to found Positive Energy and the vision for the US's most reliable public EV charging network * The technology roadmap: ultra-fast charging, wireless inductive charging, and autonomous vehicle charging infrastructure * His non-negotiable hiring principle and why good character always beats great credentials * What it really means to leave the world better than you found it: climate, team legacy, and the power of accountability Whether you're navigating your own career pivot, building a team, or following the future of clean energy this episode is packed with straight-talking insight and more than a few brilliant stories along the way. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshhuggins/]  Connect with EJ on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/edpositivenergy/] This podcast is brought to you by GS2 Partnership, the recruitment partner for ambitious, impact-led teams across energy, finance, and the built environment. Find out more about GS2 here [https://www.gs2partnership.com/]

From Electrician to CCO: What One Career Says About the Future of American Solar with David Reasenberg

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 2 of Better Than We Found It, the go-to podcast for sustainable leadership and purpose-driven business practices. Today we're joined by David Reasenberg, Chief Commercial Officer at Heliene, one of North America's premium solar module manufacturers. David's path to the C-suite is unlike almost any other you'll hear from painting trash cans as part of a school recycling programme in junior high, to becoming a licensed electrician, to installing solar on icy rooftops in Vermont, to founding his own e-commerce solar business, before building a career defined by rare tenure, loyalty, and relentless accountability across some of the industry's most respected organisations. In this episode, we explore: * How David's early environmental roots in 1990s California quietly shaped the career that followed * The power of "compound judgment" and why staying in a role longer than most gives you an edge no job-hopper can buy * How Heliene became one of the first US manufacturers to ship modules with full domestic content, and what that means for customers navigating today's policy landscape * Why "responsiveness is a lost art" and the deceptively simple habits that separate great salespeople from average ones * David's approach to hiring, referencing, and building high-performance commercial teams * The role of AI in sales and why discipline will always beat cleverness Whether you're in sales, renewable energy, or building a career with purpose, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons from someone who's done the work at every level of the industry. Connect with Josh on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshhuggins/]  Connect with David on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-reasenberg/] This podcast is brought to you by GS2 Partnership, the recruitment partner for ambitious, impact-led teams across energy, finance, and the built environment. Find out more about GS2 here [https://www.gs2partnership.com/]