Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5°

David Hunt 0:02
Hello, I’m David Hunt CEO and founder of the Hyperion clean tech group and your host for the leads in clean tech podcast. Now for sound a bit odd a bit nasally I’m just getting over a nasty bout of COVID which managed to pick up on my travels, having managed to avoid it for the last two years. Hope there’s a boost job around the corner, and hopefully the voice hotel but onto the podcast. Now, I’ve always said that I believe that the business model innovation as much as technological innovation that holds the key to us winning in the battle to address the climate crisis. My guest today Philip Schroeder has been at the leading edge of both as former country director of Tesla, Germany and Austria, and the managing director of Zhan. Philip has been part of some of the most successful clean tech companies globally. Raised on an organic farm in northern Germany, he now heads up one comma five a CEO, in which he closed the largest clean tech Series A round in Europe in 2022, and is now very much focused on delivering a vertically integrated one stop shop for solar heat pumps, and home electric vehicle charging for Europe. I hope you enjoy the episode. Hello, Philip, welcome to the losing cleanser podcast.

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 1:15
Thank you, David. I’m very pleased to be here. Finally. Yeah, last

David Hunt 1:18
year, it’s been had been a little while. But it’s great to have you on good timing, I think actually with with all that’s going on with with the company. So I always like to start with a bit of a backstory. And yours is quite a long one. So I’ll just ask for the condensed version a little bit. But you’ve got a really interesting profile and how you came to be in the clean tech sector. Maybe we can start even before Tesla comes on, and then just what it was that drove you from growing up in a rural part of Germany and drove you towards technology and drove you towards making an impact in technology in the first place?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 1:52
Yeah, sure. I mean, as you know, I was born and raised on the countryside. So my my parents decided at some point to develop one of the first organic farms in northern Germany. So I think from from from that experience living on the countryside, but also back then, that’s 25 years ago, now, being organic farmers was a bit odd to say the least. So it was always a bit particular. So I think growing up on an organic farm, living in the countryside, and also close to her to one of the possible nuclear waste facilities in Germany was kind of a DNA for my entire life. So I was always different. I looked at things differently. And I think this is what I took from from my early days.

David Hunt 2:43
Yeah, it’s interesting, actually being a little bit unusual. And we’ll come to this a little bit later on in terms of the solar business. But before that, then no, everybody listening to the podcast will be familiar with Zonen and of course with Tesla, but those were quite informative in your your career, and then getting to where you are now. So perhaps you could share a little bit of how you came from this rural farming community to be firstly, with the well zonin Tesla Tonon if you can perhaps share a little bit of that experience.

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 3:13
Sure. I mean, you know, I could call it faith, but I think it’s to be true, it’s also a lot of coincidence. So I thought it was a great idea to start studying law and business, both of which I was not very successful. So I was always on the lookout actually for for something different, to be honest, to just escape the the the cruelty of studying, especially German law, and I was lucky also and at some point I started my first company met the right people. And and it was always in on energy. So I was I think it was it’s a mixture of coincidence and luck, but also the topic of sustainability. Living is something that has been driving me since the very beginning of my career.

David Hunt 4:00
Yeah, having spent some time with German notaries, I can appreciate that’s not necessarily the easiest of paths to go down.

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 4:07
No, it’s definitely not the end. And the end. I was I was blessed that I met the right people. I mean, one of whom I one of the persons I met early on actually was actually Christopher Osterman, one of the founders of zahlen even before we work together, and so I think in the end, it was partially coincidence, but also my inner wish to, you know, do something with purpose to something different. And I think, especially also my my career step at Tesla, and was driven by the same coincidence because actually, I never applied to Tesla, but they reached out to me. So I think I’ve been blessed with with luck. I’ve been blessed with coincidence and I have now the privilege of being in a situation where I’ve been watching zoning from being some kind of weird startup in In the beginning of 2011, and 12, to now being a company of 1000 employees, and really one of the leaders in, in a mainstream industry, and the same happened to Tesla. So I think, also back then, in 2013, there was lots of doubt whether it’s possible at all to have a successful business created and also a successful solution with mass market. And now that’s behind us or behind myself as an experience. And now I’m very lucky to be at the forefront of this exciting development to create, hopefully, and a cleaner, more convenient world for all.

David Hunt 5:40
Yet it’s easy to point though, to coincidence or fate. But there are, as you say, sort of situations where you meet individuals or where things change, but you have to put yourself there in the first place. I mean, with the initial roll with Zhan on the meeting with Christoph in the first instance, how did that come about?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 5:57
Actually, it was quite funny. I, my first business I built was a heating business for energy contracting. So bit like what some people might know, tomando in Germany is doing right now for heat pumps. So the back then the oil price was very high in 2007, eight. And the idea was very simply put in very efficient gas heating. I mean, that’s almost laughable. Today, if you think about Putin and the gas crisis and the energy crisis, but back then it was was a very efficient way to reduce a cost to reduce energy consumption. And I, back then I built a contracting business. And at the same time, because I was still running CHP company, right, so, I mean, something that was a wood base CHP product, and I had interesting investors. And he got word that I actually found investors based from the family of Brennecke, Maya, and the crcna ownership family. And so he came actually, to introduced himself because he wanted to understand more about what we do. And so back then we met, and there was zonna, was not even a topic at the first meeting we had. Yeah, and since then, you know, our we never parted ways, we are still working together until this very day. So that’s really interesting, even though I changed jobs a lot, and companies as well. But that was one of the constant relationships that I kept going,

David Hunt 7:24
Yeah, a constant. And Chris was, of course, a good guy. And I was fortunate to have some involvement with with Verizon, and way back when it was just the 3040 people company in in Bavaria. So it’s quite an evolution of which you are obviously quite instrumental in supporting Christoph with that growth. To the point where obviously, there was the exit from Shell, or to shell, what is it now maybe a couple of years ago, a lot of people who go through that path of founding and growing and fast growth and then exit sort of find themselves assume no, and you meet many in becoming a VC or an angel investor and sitting on boards and using that experience wisely. But you’ve thrown yourself back into riding back into the deep end with another startup. What was the reasoning for that?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 8:08
Dell? Well, there was more than just one reason. I mean, I came back from Tesla, Tucson, and Menzerna was still a just a German based company. And we for back in the day, we raised a lot of money, I mean, clean tech now was big back then, it was really hard to get to digit venture capital investments. So I think zoning was one of the pioneers, and Christoph above all of them, to actually find money to go into clean tech and deep Tech, we did that we did it on three continents. The expansion was also my role. So after three years, in expanding into the United States, and into all of Europe, literally, as you might recall, and also Australia, there was an extremely intense time. So when shell actually took over, there were a couple of things coming together. First of all, I was lacking the vision with an investor or owner, actually a sole owner like Shell to actually develop the business further so that as soon as I lacked vision, I like to fuel to keep myself going, right. I mean, if you have that engine that is carrying you through all the stress, and all of the hard work and all the travelling and all the, you know, also great experiences, as soon as at least Maya, and if there is no vision left, if there is no plan, if there is, or at least some serious doubt about what’s going to come, then my engine basically collapsed. So I was not I could not really motivate myself anymore. And so at some point, I called up Christoph and told him basically, that that’s the case. So I left the company and I got back to what I know best. And what I know best is to find something that I’m really passionate about, and throw everything I have behind it and push it forward. That’s what I like. That’s what I’m about. So there was easy choice.

David Hunt 10:00
Good point, I think to talk about the the one comma five solution because it’s something that’s kind of passionate to my heart. So I think we talked about before I started the solar installer business in 2007. In UK, which was even my friends laughed me at that time. So like you said, the world was very different than but the problems of getting quality, clean energy solutions and technologies into households still exists. And this is what you’re addressing, maybe you could share a little bit, what is the mission? And what is the solution that one comma five provide?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 10:33
Yes, it’s, it’s a very, very simple business plan, which I love. So, you know, Don, and Tesla, we’re all about technology solutions, and 1.5 degrees is all about execution. So it’s all about basically building the workbench to have a one stop shop for clean tech in your home. And that will include heat pumps, that will include solar, it will include storage, and charging. And all of these devices are run on electric electricity. So all of them are combined in our in our view. And if you look at the last mile all over Europe, and actually all over the western hemisphere, and that last mile happens to be extremely fragmented. It happens to be under financed, and it happens to have a lack of skilled labour, it happens to have a lack of general talent overall. So while everyone has been focusing on technology and great products, which were really substantial to you to start, now, it’s all about you know, who’s going to be the solution provider for private homes, but also small commercial buildings, because they don’t want to have, you know, standalone products from from component manufacturers, everyone wants to have a solution. And so we are focused on creating that, workbench, the logistics, streamlining that, actually acquiring great companies that are focused on installation, but also building our own logistics and installation hubs all around Germany and Europe, we have so far 23 locations with 700 employees, after just one year, we are looking at 200 to 230 million in revenues in the first year after we started. And we are profitable, and we are looking to expand and the model is fairly simple. We believe that 70% of of the last mile is scalable. So you know, there’s something that you can repeat something that is not has no regional difference. And but 30% are regional. So when it comes to the DSL, when it comes to the roofing when it comes to permits when it comes to special equipment that you need scaffolding, but also requirements for skilled labour and 30% of that last mile are purely regionally. So our belief is that to be in order to be fast, we we need to do both, you know, get great entrepreneurs, as part of the group have as 1.5. So we are acquiring majority stakes in great businesses all across Europe. And on the other hand, scale with the substance we already have

David Hunt 13:19
nothing that’s really again, I’ve seen the pitch from from from when you first I think we’re weeks old in terms of bringing 1.5 to the marketplace around this issue refer to it the last mile or the bottleneck, because, again, going back to my experience, people who are even the early adopters who are wanting to integrate clean technology into their home, there was a lack first of all supplies generally but very, but there was also a real lack if you wanted to combine a heat pump with solar, for example, or other technologies. And it was tough for us as a business to get the accreditations for the various different technologies and to have people who have the right skill set in the right part of the control this kind of thing that you just talked about. So bringing a solution that is scalable, I think is the is the key thing because all of the technologies that you and I know exist and have existed for quite a while to solve most of the problems. It’s really about the execution. It’s about bringing the awareness to the public population and obviously been able to execute. One thing that’s interested in what you’ve been all there for that you talked about is the the acquisition and the working with partner companies. Having built a an installation business myself, you know, these types of companies come in all shapes and sizes and some very slick and commercial ones in some very old school Mom and Pop kind of family enterprises. How do you source the partners that you want to work with? And how has it been received in the marketplace, this overall solution that you can help people tap into?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 14:48
First of all, we are looking for companies that we would that we describe and define as so called pure plays. So we look for regional market leaders who have a great management so we’ll Look for great entrepreneurs who have totally understood the business that they’re in. So usually these are companies that are today already focusing on solar and electric charging, and battery storage and those markets where that actually plays a role. And these are the these are the key players we’re looking for. We believe there’s, you know, these middle sized companies that are true regional champions, this is for us the most interesting partnering firm to become actually part of the group. And so we’re not really looking into Mom and Pop installers, or small, purely AC electrician companies are purely installation companies who do not own the customer who do not have logistics, who do not have, let’s say, a proper platform set up once we have identified such a pure play. And then we might do add on acquisitions, but they are mostly product related. So for example, it makes a lot of sense, if you have a strong entrepreneurial team that is fast growing, for example, in Sweden right now, where we have this year, about 50 million euros in revenue, and to add capabilities such as heat pump, because you already have the sales capabilities, you already have logistics, you already have a standing system. So then we have add on acquisitions, but they are purely enablement for our regional partner, partner and company, as part of the group. And of course, we are also growing, but then we are growing by just opening additional hubs around these partner companies, right, so let’s buy and build. And the concept has been received, I would say differently in different nations. In Germany, we have, we have a very good network, we know lots of entrepreneurs, they also know us and know that we are not fooling around, I know that we are really, you know, if we say something, we’ll do it. And there is actually right now we have a pipeline of 1.5 billion euros in, in, in, in hardware sales of companies that we are talking to, and Germany is one of those nations where where we have pretty good standing. So people understand that there’s going to be consolidation, the customer wants to have more than just one solution. Working capital is an issue, if you want to grow by 3040 50% 100%, then you will always have the issue of, of financing that actually right CRM needs to be integrated. So skilled labour, so there are so many bottlenecks for those kinds of businesses that the offer that we’re giving them is to become part of a larger group to join Champions League. That’s what we like to call it and say, guys, you know, you can, you know, you can remain a regional champion, but you might come under lots of pressure when the consolidation of the market is starting, or you can actually build with us European champion. And that’s, that’s something that’s resonating well, with lots of entrepreneurs throughout Europe.

David Hunt 18:02
Yeah, no, I could, I could, well, appreciate that. And if they haven’t been on the other shoes, I could see the huge value as an installer to be able to scale access capital access, efficiency, savings access marketplaces, as you’ve talked about, how about from a consumer perspective, full it what’s been the US what’s guessed the advantage from a consumer point of view, and how much of your efforts are about educating and making awareness for consumers of just what’s possible to achieve in your own home?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 18:32
To be honest, at the beginning, we thought, creating awareness would have been a great issue. Now we see that we are overrun. So we hardly have any chance of, of, or to even take time to create awareness because there is so much awareness. And I mean, that’s triggered by the energy crisis, right? I mean, changing from gas heating to heat pump, changing from grid electricity to supply that is skyrocketing, and cost to solar, having an integrated trends. Transferring also, or transitioning to an electric car, it’s happening all the time, and simultaneously. And the great news is customers want exactly what we offer. So we can see that customers, even without knowing us, they are a bit like you know, totally annoyed with the fact that you have to talk to a utility installer, maybe one specialised heating installer, one specialised solar installer. Somebody wants to rent something, the other one has an app only for this and so it doesn’t it so I think the good news is, we have to do a lot less than we anticipated to convince people or make them aware. I think the main aspect for us is now to deliver on the promise right? And delivering on the promise means that the customer actually gets everything from us. And from a solar system, heat pump, energy tariff, one one really, really big project for us. We just hired a CTO from Google, for the group is our own IoT management system. So we always view every asset that we instal as part of our own virtual power plan, but also our own IoT setups so that you have one app for all applications, one partner that you speak to, and also an integrating electricity supply into that offering. So the real struggle for us now is not on the acquisition side. And that’s something that is, you know, it’s hard, but it’s doable. I think the real big challenge for us is to living up to the promise we are making towards customers, and not just being another solar company, but truly becoming a one stop shop.

David Hunt 20:42
Yeah, I think it’s interesting that the experiences you’ve been through before, in Foursquare for some reason, for example, really, I guess, coming home to roost, because I think the tipping point, certainly for electric vehicles, all these things independently add kind of credit, to some extent, the perfect storm. And then you get the situation with the energy crisis, which obviously wasn’t quite a thing when you started the the organisation, but that must have really heightened the level of interest and the ability to scale this backdrop of, from a consumer point of view, and from a business point of view, having to address this much more quickly, not just because of the impact on climate, which drives many of us, but just physically from a cost perspective.

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 21:19
Totally. I mean, that’s that all of us have been dreaming. I mean, it’s kind of sad that it’s actually it needed this, this this war, this horrible war on this energy crisis. But now the investment decision is a no brainer. And we finally made it from a from a, let’s say, from a market perspective into the mainstream, right. But this also means now that we need to grow up we need to we need to grow up and, and not be some kind of beautiful idea over financed by venture capitalism, not profitable, doing some some nice things, you know, moving around on lots of Congresses, and speaking about the green future, how we have to deliver in scale, and we have to do it in a way that is sustainable, also, to remain profitable. And I think that’s, that is, it’s awesome. So we are really, really happy about the development of 1.5 degrees. But it was also as you said, it’s about timing. And it’s also now we have to stay really focused to to deliver in and grow up as fast as possible. So I think that’s that’s it?

David Hunt 22:22
Yeah. How are you keeping pace with what’s going on? I know, you had a big round you raised earlier this year. And obviously, you’ve got experienced Christoph, who’s on the board, of course, as much fundraising experience. So there’s a big lump of money coming in to support the scaling. But you know, to become this one stop shop, you know, solution, everybody talks about this, but to really become my guess the Amazon of clean energy, yet, there’s a lot of moving parts there. How are you personally managing the challenge of all of this happening? So quickly, different new countries coming on stream or this kind of thing? It’s, it must really challenge you and your team to keep pace?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 22:57
totally right. I mean, we in the end, we have three, we have three companies or three, let’s say groups within 1.5 degrees. One is one is an acquisition, Team m&a, so we look for the greatest entrepreneurs, and they also become shareholders in the holding. They believe in the same vision, they get additional means through us, we get speed through them, and profitable businesses, by the way. So that’s, that’s the acquisition team. That’s something that is not easy, but it’s doable. The second team we have is the operational integration. So, operations when it comes to logistics, when it comes to warehousing, when it comes to supply when it comes to CRM systems and all of that, and there is a lot of work to do. But this is also where we have the most value to be created. So for example, we have been able to grow EBIT and year over year across the portfolio by 300%. And one most of the most of the improvements come by streamlining CRM ERP systems, but also focusing in your supply. So we are focusing on supply right now, we are integrating heartbeat from the beginning. And the initiatives. So for example, we are we are procuring material in 2023 for about 260 to 300 million euros. So there is there is lots of potential to just bring down cost on that segment. So even though prices went up for for an average installer, we managed to bring down the cost and at the same time negotiate API agreements. So basically, having direct relationships to the suppliers not only for supply but also to integrate their systems into our IoT system. So we have direct API assist agreements with Andres with solar edge with lots of companies Shibo for heat pump and so on, and I think this is this is so this operational part will be a key battleground for As to be more competitive than the market. And the last group that we have our team is purely tech focus, they see, they see every additional company joining the group as a doorway to assets under management, as they would call it. And so they simply say, I love it, you know, we are now flying to Australia, for example, end of the week, hoping to also enter the market there. And there are big installers coming our way, and they have a throughput that is quite considerably, quite large. And if you now can, from a tech perspective, that’s obviously awesome, because we have our our strategy is very simple. Every system that’s being installed will have a will be part of our IoT system, and part of our virtual power plant. And we’ve we’ve, we have a great team on the tech side, with Yannick from zaan. And so he used to be also head of product design. But also now coming in Barbra, she used to be head of flexibility at Aeon. She’s now with Google, she’s heading the Native and Digital startup department of Google. So she’s supporting the ducks listed native digital companies in Germany from a Google perspective. And she is now taking over a CTO is the tech part together with the annex. So if these three components work, if the three engines all work together at the same time, I’m pretty sure we can build something amazing. At the same time, we have to make sure that those three engines really work all together, because if they don’t, if they don’t, then this this is also lots of complexity that you have to manage every day. But we are excited. We have great talent, and we are very bullish that this will work.

David Hunt 26:45
Yeah, yeah. No, obviously, from what we it’s been achieved so far is phenomenal. And the circumstances are set for for growth, which is great. Going back to the complexity, because you know, from from my perspective, we work with organisations bringing leadership usually talent into the into organisations in the cleantech sector, but going down to the last mile stuff, I’ve always found that there’s a lack of talent and experience and access to green jobs from the blue collar from the installer networks from right the way from digging the holes through to the CEO. You finding that as a challenge, are you engaged in any kind of, you know, public, you know, I was always asked to, to speak to universities and schools and to local authorities around signposting people where the jobs of the future are coming from, we know where they’re coming from you finding that that’s potentially a bottleneck to growth.

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 27:39
And at the beginning, we thought also, this will be one of the greatest bottlenecks. Now we see that from investment bankers, over software developers over electricians, and roofers, we have really, we have managed well to get great talent in. But I think that is not representative for the market. And I think, due to the fact that we have now grown to a company, with a clear vision with, you know, some some purpose and sexiness towards the workforce, especially those that are already qualified, that already know the market, they don’t need to be attracted, we benefit from them, basically abandoning other companies are abandoning, you know, the usual installation company and rather working with us and for us. And so I think it’s a bit it’s a bit, it’s not representative. And it’s also not good, because in the end, we are just taking talent from other companies and including them with 1.5, which is helping us but it’s not having the bigger purpose, right. So we tried to do exactly what we can in order to promote for talent, but on the other hand, I mean, we need skilled labour now, right? I mean, we don’t need it in five years. So we needed really now, we do have projects where we train installers, especially for the roofing side, from other end businesses, so they are not coming from from clean tech per se. But again, I mean, that’s, it’s, it’s kind of weird, we expect it to have much more, you know, energy spent into getting, let’s say, external talent, first time into the, into this industry. And that’s happening, however, not on the instant installation side, on the installation side, we get sufficient people from other companies. We do get people in for the first time from other industries, for example, investment bankers, we do m&a A lot. And so there are lots of first timers coming from from software. There are lots of first timers coming from from banking and financing and controlling. But luckily we are in a privileged situation that on the installation side, and at least in Germany, we already have a reputation and we are benefiting from it.

David Hunt 29:57
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it’s interest. I’ve already again bang the Drum that we need all of the world’s greatest talents in the clean tech sector, whatever level or other type of role that they fulfil. I think what’s interesting, maybe because we talk about the international expansion of which I know there’s a lot going on at the moment, when I started my solar business, I was, you know, Germany was the role model, so to speak, you had an event going on, so that there was a lot of, I think, already good work happening. That hasn’t necessarily been happening in other countries around Europe, in particular, around this talent, and this blue collar workers kind of thing. I know, it was a struggle for us to sort of build our teams and to grow at all levels. When we when we started that business, which of the country you mentioned Sweden already, but sort of where are you looking to expand first? And how are you finding those first steps into those new markets outside of Germany,

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 30:47
like, if we look at the business plan and 2030, so long term, we want to be in any market that is meaningful and or important over also any market that will open up in Europe, but also the Western Hemisphere, excluding the US for the time being, we want to be present we believe that only if you are capable of not being just a regional or national player, you will have true impact. By size, but but also by synergies by financial fitness, and so on. So So for us, it’s now at the beginning, we are very optimistic. I mean, at the beginning, now we look at, we look at Spain, we look at Poland, we look at Northern Italy, we look at Scandinavia, we have made a decision about Scandinavia. So we are already in and Finland, we are already in Sweden, and we are opening now into Denmark, and we are in Germany, and now we will be adding this year, Spain. So we are looking also for talent and partners from Spain. And we are also opening up for Italy. And I already said that we are also entering Australia. And you see that the typical so that trade, right? So we look for markets, where we think that there is some consolidation going on. And for every market, we enter, we have the let’s say we have the ambition to become one of the leaders. So obviously, we want to play on the same level as Empire when it comes to size and revenues in Germany at some point, and the same goes for Sweden, with Syria. And but even if we do not match every national player in the national market, much more important for us is that within the next two years, we are already in every relevant market thus by pure total volume having being basically one of the largest players globally. And that’s that’s the strategy. So and whatever it needs, needs to be done. We will we’ll go in.

David Hunt 32:48
Yeah, yeah, no, it’s an exciting journey. And one of the things that drives us all are certainly those who’ve been in the sector for some time is is the bigger picture stuff. No, no, recently, you became a father for the for the first time, which really focuses the attention of everybody on on the future. Want you had named off the remit for keeping below 1.5 degrees to minimalize the worst impacts of climate change? How confident are you that we as a community of clean tech entrepreneurs can do that?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 33:19
I’m getting more confident by the day. I think we need a couple of tipping points still, though, right? I mean, you see that the money is coming in. I think the industry is ill prepared when it comes to scalability still on the last mile. I mean, it’s if you look at now, Germany in the first half year, there were about 100,000 solar systems added. And that is just 35% increase. And so I’m still worried about us growing up fast enough. But I’m not worried about the macro economics. So the macro economics are there I think the political pressure will only increase. Unfortunately, the worst years of climate crisis are ahead of us. So I totally believe that there will be much more political pressure still coming. And there is enough financial power and technologies there. But again, we come back to the to the point there has there is no Amazon yet for cleantech. There is no Henry Ford, who basically for the automotive yet, so I think the entrepreneurs that we are seeing across the United States, but also in Europe, and going in that direction. The there is a lot of homework still to do on that side. But I’m not worried about the macro economics. I’m only worried about our capabilities to really build meaningful, impactful companies that can actually not only move 1000 10,000 20,000 homes a year or buildings a year, but they can actually move each hundreds of 1000s of buildings towards climate neutrality per year. And we need tents and Dozens of these companies in each continent, otherwise, we won’t make it.

David Hunt 35:05
You know, again, again, it’s to serve as the technology exists that will exist the but there is this thing around execution. Now, I always believed, because it was maybe easier to do so in the past that, you know, the the clean tech sectors across Europe and probably globally have been successful, despite governments rather than because of them. But do you see, particularly with the energy crisis going on at the moment that governments are starting to address and create policies which are more supportive than those that we’ve had in the past?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 35:35
100%? I think that’s I think you can see that there is a policy within Europe to create European champions, I mean, the decoupling from from of the systems basically, of China, but also Russia, a bit of an end of global globalisation is leading to the sentiment within the European Commission, but also a national governments that we need European champions, I think, yes, every national government is looking also to create national champions. And but I think everyone has understood that Europe needs to have clean energy, European champions to actually be independent when it comes to energy, but also solve the climate crisis. And we can do both at the same time. I mean, create jobs, create new, large companies that actually help us to live the money that we spend on energy within the European Union, instead of just, you know, sending it to Saudi Arabia, and on the other hand, become really geopolitically independent. And so I think, yes, there has been a big shift in that. And it gives us reassurance that at some point, clean tech companies will also be system critical. Right. So right now you see your neighbour being supported, because they are critical to the energy system. But I think that we are on a good track that clean tech companies, especially those who are in the infrastructure business, will become system relevant. And that’s good. That’s important. And of course, at some point, it might also backfire, because we see overheating in the market right now. And generally, generally, it’s good. I mean, generally, it’s still good to see that mindset changing.

David Hunt 37:19
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Looking for people who are either in the installation business that are interested in becoming part of something bigger, or from from those in our audience, who I’m sure most have some kind of clean technology at home. But for those who perhaps are looking there, is there a particular website or place people can go for those different attributes, whether it’s for their own consumption? Or whether it’s a business proposition being perhaps on your radar for partnerships, we’re Where should people go to look?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 37:46
Totally, I mean, every entrepreneur that is listening, who is listening, who’s listening, should really ask themselves like, what do I Where do I want to be in five years? Right? Do I want to be another solar company? And or do I really want to take it to a different level, I think we can, we can enter in a discussion with anyone in every market, to just get to know us get to know the vision, get to know the people behind 1.5 degrees, we are a big group of a big team of very cool people, at least as what I like, and exciting people. So I think if you’re an entrepreneur, reach out to us get to know us, if you’re in Hamburg, Berlin, Stockholm, doesn’t matter. Just pass by. And even if you are deciding not to work with us, I think it’s going to be an interesting discussion about the future of, of our of our business. And if you are sitting somewhere as somebody who’s employed, and then totally go to our website, and check out we have about 120 open positions right now. And they are not exclusive. So they are more positions in the regional hubs. So for example, in Scandinavia, we have our, our own organisation. And obviously, we do get help from people like you and David, to also, you know, get you know, to understand the within the extended network of talent, who can help us scale in every relevant market. So don’t be shy, and reach out to us. And yeah, let’s start a discussion about how you can contribute to 1.5 degrees.

David Hunt 39:22
Yeah, it’s an it’s an incredible mission that we all share and tipping onto that little bit because I appreciate that you are and how ways have been sort of very mission driven, but equally, it’s tough. What we do is tough building companies, it’s tough scaling at speed. Are there particular people who inspire you and keep you going when when there are darker days or a tougher days?

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 39:44
I think most of these people are part of my team. So like people that I really know and that really have relation with me. So I have I have the privilege of having a team around myself that already have seen the hard days of Tesla, I mean, every great business is built out of hard work. And at the beginning, it’s just pure pain because everybody, everybody wants to prove you wrong anyways. And we all still remember the laughter of BMW managers being in Tesla stores across Germany. And we also still know how Aeon and others were looking at Zhan and at the beginning, so, so I think it’s the same right now everybody is saying like this, can’t you know this can’t happen? Why should they be successful. So it’s great to have a team around you, that actually went through those extremely tough times with you. So that’s something I can always motivate myself to just spend time with them. And know that we are in this together, also with our entrepreneurs. And obviously, there are many other great people outside of the business, Christoph is one of them in the board, but we have plenty of great people in the board. From you know, I’m actually being mentored now, by lots Mashka, also of who’s the CFO of Porsche. So, so so that it to be honest, we are so privileged right now to have that kind of support, and that kind of, of experience behind us. And that’s so broad and rich, that I think the only thing that we cannot, we will not have any excuses. If we don’t make it right. There’s everything in place for us to be successful. Right? So I cannot make up excuses. If this does doesn’t work, I have all the support and all the motivation and and yeah, and backing that I think managers can dream about if they leave, or set out for such a goal like 1.5 degrees.

David Hunt 41:40
Yeah, take away all of the excuses and the the backdrop to put some pressure on yourself. But no, it’s great to have those kinds of people around you, which is always inspirational, unnecessary. No matter how good an entrepreneur or business person or how talented you are, you always need those people around you to give you a support. I tend to close Phillip, because I’m an avid reader. And I know it’s a challenge when you’re running businesses and have a young family. But are there any books over your lifetime that have been particularly inspirational or useful or supportive to you, that you are able to share or recommend? To be honest,

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 42:17
I’ve read many books on entrepreneurs, I read many books on life changing experiences, and none of them gave me the kind of results I had from real life experience. So yes, they have many, you know, I think interesting books to read. But I really have to say that nothing could ever replace the experience of trying to do something yourself. And sometimes failing at it, but also winning sometimes. And so to be honest, there is no book that I would recommend, I think I can recommend to anyone who’s listening, you know, it’s it’s the greatest timing ever, to go and work for something that has impact and is sustainable. So if you are not in this business yet, get up, leave, you know, leave the big oil companies believe the software companies, they are not needed as much as this is needed. So just do stuff, get up change, and be part of this. And I think that’s going to be much better than any book you can read.

David Hunt 43:24
Absolutely, yeah. Although you might have to write one yourself one day but no, there’s there’s a valid points. And obviously you there are many jobs, as you said on the on your own website. Clearly, from a Hyperion perspective, we work and we’re always looking for talents, at leadership and at senior level, who wants to transition into the sector. And it’s so important, we get a chance to do that. And obviously we’re working with with Philip at the moment around a number of roles across Europe. So reach out and doing do have that personal impact. But listening, Philip, it’s great to share a bit of the story of a sudden the website page will have various links to one comma five so people can do their own more research. And yeah, I’m really keen to see how we do evolve over the next three or four critical years in this in this journey.

Philipp Schröder – 1KOMMA5° 44:04
Thank you for having me. And I’m glad to be back in latest in a year to see how we did.

David Hunt 44:17
Hello, and thanks very much for joining us on the evening clean tech podcast. I hope you’ve enjoyed that episode and appreciate you joining us again, please do subscribe if you haven’t already. And please do share any episodes that have particular interest within your community. If you do get an opportunity to write us a review on Apple podcasts or your platform of choice, very much appreciated. Hopefully see you on the next episode.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai