Episode 30: Scott Kubly

Cleantechers - My most recent guest on Scaling Clean has been an advisor to three Seattle-area companies, a policy lead for the e-mobility leader Lime, as well as an official in four municipal transportation departments. But, he's also the CEO of an innovative camper van sharing company, Cabana. On a recent episode of This Week in Cleantech, I nominated Scott Kubly for “Cleantecher of the Week” because he courageously authored an open-kimono post on LinkedIn about Cabana’s ending. Here's the thing about cleantech: It's hard. We're disrupting powerful, mature, incumbent sectors, and it's not like the disrupted are passively waiting around for us to put them out of business. Oh, and add to that difficulty the normal challenges launching companies within new industrial sectors. Everyone is going to have failures. We're going to lose jobs, accounts and companies. I've learned that there are more lessons and improvements available from failures than wins. Scott continues to display that courage and openness by agreeing to be our Scaling Clean guest. He's the first to talk with us about lessons learned from a significant, recent loss. I'm grateful he's done that. 25:25 - Recognize the value of time. Cut off less impactful endeavors (even if you love them) to focus on what matters for demand. Channel your time toward company growth. 29:06 - To be a successful CEO, it’s crucial to make mistakes and apologize without requiring forgiveness from others – but forgive yourself. In the leadership world, errors are inevitable. The key lies in transforming those missteps into valuable learning experiences. 48:55 - The Stockdale Paradox, named after Admiral James Stockdale, is a mindset that involves short-term realism and long-term optimism — a mindset that is often necessary to handle the challenges of owning a company. Even if you are struggling through your current reality, it’s crucial to maintain faith that you will be successful in the end