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Watt It Takes

Emily Kirsch

Our monthly podcast tells the stories of founders who are building our clean energy abundant future—their upbringings, their risks, their failures, and their breakthroughs that are transforming our world. Subscribe on Spotify or Apple to stay up to date with the latest episodes.

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20 episodes
monthly
Avg 1 hr 12 min
English

Episodes 20

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#101
Tuesday · 1 hr 12 min
Crux Co-Founder & CEO Alfred Johnson
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 S
July 16 · 59 min
Fervo Energy Co-Founder & CEO Tim Latimer (Re-Release)
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.
#100
June 30 · 1 hr 12 min
Zūm Founder and CEO Ritu Narayan
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 t
#99
May 28 · 1 hr 25 min
ThinkLabs AI Founder and CEO Josh Wong
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
#98
May 4 · 57 min
Alex Honnold, Rock Climber & Founder, Honnold Foundation
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
#97
April 15 · 1 hr 16 min
3Degrees Co-Founder and Chairman Dan Kalafatas
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 we
#96
February 26 · 1 hr 18 min
Hydrostor Co-Founder and CEO Curtis VanWalleghem
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 energ
#95
January 30 · 1 hr 20 min
Arc Co-Founder and CEO Mitch Lee
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
#94
Dec 29, 2025 · 1 hr 26 min
Voltus Co-Founder and CEO Dana Guernsey
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 flexi
#93
Nov 26, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min
Tyba Co-Founder and CEO Michael Baker
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
#92
Oct 31, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min
Jennifer Granholm, Former Director, Department of Energy
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 lear
#91
Sep 25, 2025 · 1 hr 10 min
Cloverleaf Infrastructure Co-Founder and CCO Brian Janous
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
#90
Aug 19, 2025 · 1 hr 11 min
Intersect Power Co-Founder and CEO Sheldon Kimber
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 v
#89
Jul 23, 2025 · 1 hr 24 min
Brimstone Co-Founder and CEO Cody Finke
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 developi
#88
Jun 12, 2025 · 1 hr 3 min
Sage Geosystems CEO Cindy Taff
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 geother
#87
May 15, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Jigar Shah, Former Director, Loan Programs Office (LPO)
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, sup
#86
Apr 30, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Shayle Kann, Managing Partner, Energy Impact Partners
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
#85
Mar 27, 2025 · 1 hr 11 min
Pearl Street Technologies Co-Founder and CEO David Bromberg
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
#84
Mar 3, 2025 · 54 min
Overstory CEO Fiona Spruill
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
#83
Jan 14, 2025 · 1 hr 14 min
KoBold Metals Co-Founder and CEO Kurt House
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

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