The Utility Industry's Secret Weapon with Chris Bernkopf of Podero
Manage episode 466325978 series 3475855
Chris Bernkopf is the founder of Podero, a tech company that helps utilities balance power loads by controlling distributed energy resources like heat pumps, batteries, and EVs. Fresh off a major fundraising round, he's building his remote-first team to expand across Europe while delivering 25% energy savings to customers.
In this episode we talked about:
🔌 How Podero's software enables utilities to aggregate and trade power from customer-owned devices on energy markets
🌏 How growing up watching the same YouTube videos creates a global tribe of like-minded founders
🎯 The value of focused mentorship through programs like Y Combinator in developing founder mindset
💰 Why closing a funding round is just the beginning - it's "registering for the marathon, not finishing it"
🏗️ Building a remote-first company culture with quarterly offsites, virtual coffee chats, and camera-on meetings
#climatetech #energytech #cleanenergy
🪸 Transform your company's milestones into impact, like trees planted and coral reef restored: impacthero.com/podcast
Chapters
1. The Utility Industry's Secret Weapon with Chris Bernkopf of Podero (00:00:00)
2. Podero (00:00:37)
3. Power Markets and AI Impact (00:04:48)
4. Global Startup Communities and Future Plans (00:16:57)
79 episodes