🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, founder edition.
What do GHG Accounting platforms and NYC Rats have in common? There are substantially more of them than any of us would like. — Despite this sentiment, today’s guest is the founder of a GHG accounting co. that is truly built different—as GenZ would say. Let’s get into it 👇
Today, we are talking to Saleh ElHattab, Founder & CEO of Gravity.
Yeah I know, we’ve all had a lot of inbound from GHG Accounting firms trying to help us with our sustainability reporting.
It gets old. But why?
The only reason it gets old is—Zero Differentiation. Frankly, the same cannot be said of today’s guest (otherwise we wouldn’t have had them on)!
There are a few core lessons in what they have done to stand out in a space as crowded as an NYC house party.
How to align all stakeholders in the sales process
Building a product so simple the user can be upskilled without specialized training
Building a culture of pragmatism
Speaking Return-on-Investment
📺 Watch on YouTube | 🍎 Apple Podcasts | 🎧 Spotify | 🗣️ Join the Slack Channel
🚨Attention! 🚨 We interrupt your regular programming for an important message.
ClimateTech founders are taking on a huge challenge. Building a climate startup is highly complex but also SO NECESSARY if we are going to save the climate. Founders not only you need to understand how to build a startup, but you also need to understand how to deal with hardware, have a strong handle on climate policy, know how to fundraise from diverse investors types, etc. etc. etc…
It’s a lot.
That’s why we make CleanTechies. The #1 Podcast for ClimateTech Entrepreneurs.
In addition to our jobs, we devote ~20 hours a week to producing this podcast for you. This way, you can learn from others who have walked the path you’re on now, learn from their mistakes, and gain insights on navigating this complex world.
If this mission resonates with you, we ask for your financial support of this project. It takes a lot of effort, and it’s not free. Your willingness to contribute on a monthly or yearly basis helps us keep this going.
If you’re already a subscriber and want to contribute financially, click “Upgrade to Paid” at the top right of your screen.
If not, follow the steps once you click “Subscribe Now” below to help us out. Thanks for helping us help all the climate entrepreneurs like you. 🙏 🌎
The Guest: Saleh ElHattab
Raised in Indiana, it’s fitting that Saleh ended up building a company supporting the industrial sector.
What was a bit different than most of his peers was his fascination for the intersection of the digital and physical.
This is what led him to end up working in the IoT space with Samsara, where he led product for their industrial sector. If you’re unfamiliar with Samsara, they entered a crowded space and IPO’d in 6 years by wiping the floor with the competition.
After a short time in VC to figure out his next company step, he settled on carbon accounting for the underserved industrial sector.
And wow—it’s going well. Props to Saleh; they have been highly efficient with their capital (we all love a founder with foresight and restraint)
The Company: Gravity
One Liner: Helping Industrial Manufacturing companies understand thier carbon emissions to reduce them while also identifying cost saving opportunites so big even your mom is surprised.
Started at a time when, frankly, there were already a good number of carbon accounting platforms, Gravity was set for an uphill battle.
Through extreme rigor and testing of PMF, they quickly through out many buyer personas — all the while having a focus on helping manufacturing companies not only report their emissions but also use the data collected to find big areas for OpEx reduction.
In addition, they made the platform so anyone can use it. That’s right you don’t have to be an Environmental Scientist just to understand how it works.
Oh you thought two things were enough? They didn’t.
On top of all this, they built a marketplace that goes along with their software. This helps their client’s procurement teams get better deals on products and services that will drastically help them improve their operating costs.
Today they are scaling after having found a strong match between product and client persona. (They are hiring…drop us a message and we can link you up)
Do you have suggestions on future guests or topics? Leave a comment!
Unable to support financially but still want to help? Share this post w/ 3 ClimateTech entrepreneurs (or aspiring entrepreneurs). Sharing is super helpful to us, and it costs you nothing.
📝 Show Notes:
Topics
02:27 Introduction and Background
03:05 Problem Statement and Solution
05:39 Global Emissions from Industry
11:44 Ideation and Idea Validation
13:37 Company Status and Growth
14:56 Challenges and Milestones
16:38 Testing and Pivoting
18:16 Differentiation and Competitive Advantage
22:53 Market Positioning and Challenges
25:38 Culture Building and Talent (Pragmatism)
30:38 Principles and Habits for Success
32:38 Future Plans and Opportunities
37:00 Entrepreneurial Ideas in the Climate Space
37:48 Closing Remarks and Call to Action
38:41 Takeaways
Links
This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
Asks 👋
👉 Listeners Survey
We would love to hear how we can improve the show and what you like most.
👉 Fundraising for Founders
If founders are looking for funding in the ClimateTech space, reach out & schedule a chat here!
👉 Early-Stage Founders Hiring
Silas just started his own recruitment consultancy tailor-made for early-stage ClimateTech startups. He does this by offering heavily discounted headhunting services for companies at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A companies. If you need a hand finding the best talent on the market, and you don’t want to sell your kidney to pay for it, let’s chat. (booking here)
👉 Meet Top Founders
Interested in getting in front of hundreds of ClimateTech VCs and Founders each month, reach out to info@cleantechiespod.com to learn more about becoming a sponsor.
If you couldn’t already tell, we care a lot about ClimateTech founders 😂
🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see y’all next episode!
#179 Industrial Decarb, ROI-Oriented Sales, GHG Accounting, Marketplaces x Recommender Systems, & More w/ Saleh ElHattab (Gravity)