Hard Things: Building Catalyst Power + Cheaper Clean Energy for C&I

Discover how Gabe Phillips is tackling hard challenges, scaling Catalyst Power, & delivering cheaper renewable energy with ESCOs, community solar, & battery solutions.⭐ My guest today is Gabe Phillips, Founder and CEO of Catalyst Power.Catalyst Power is an ESCO, retail electricity provider, community solar aggregator, and solar/battery developer for commercial and industrial businesses in the Northeast US.In addition, he is a distance runner, musician, woodworker, father, and thriver on 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I told him that we might need to have an intervention later.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:The outsized benefits of doing hard thingsHow his customers view risks and risk mitigation when it comes to solar powerWhy a roll-up acquisition strategy made sense to launch this businessHow he’s able to get clean renewable power at cheaper prices for customers than brown powerWhat the following phrase means: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”Three of his favorite books on entrepreneurship, meditation, and the benefits of being uncomfortableAnd lots more---👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠