S1EP36: From Engineer to Clean Tech Entrepreneur: The Journey of Building a Startup

Work That's Worth It

When Jane Melia's old gas furnace was about to die, she couldn't find a replacement solution that actually worked. So she built one herself—installed it in her own home, cut her bills by 40% and emissions by 90%.

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That personal frustration became Harvest Thermal, now a multi-million dollar clean energy startup.

From her childhood experiments with solar thermal to leading five different startups, Jane shares the green flags and red flags to look for when choosing a climate tech company. Plus, why you don't need a PhD to succeed in clean energy.

Also, her thoughts on being introverted while leading teams, raising funding, and building meaningful work.

Plus, discover the one career move that changed everything for her—even though it meant taking a pay cut and title demotion.

Key Points:

• Jane's passion for clean energy started in childhood with science-loving parents who experimented with solar thermal hot water systems when she was 8-10 years old.
• Her first engineering project analyzing wind farms in the 1990s made her realize that work could be both interesting and exciting, not just routine.
• The startup journey involves constant fundraising - you're either raising money or preparing for the next raise, similar to ongoing parental responsibilities.
• Starting a company means carrying enormous responsibility across all areas - from ensuring employees get paid to product safety to customer satisfaction.
• When evaluating startups, Jane looks for women in director/VP level positions as a litmus test for company culture and inclusivity.
• Climate tech offers diverse career paths beyond engineering - sales, operations, finance, and marketing roles are all crucial for startup success.
• Advanced degrees aren't mandatory for success in clean tech; multiple career paths exist and experience can be gained in larger companies before joining startups.
• Building and maintaining a professional "village" is crucial - these relationships become invaluable when starting companies and facing challenges.
• Being an introvert can be a strength in founding companies through careful preparation and thoughtful decision-making rather than relying on spontaneous interactions.
• Jane transitioned from CEO to Chief Revenue Officer at Harvest Thermal to focus specifically on scaling their commercial operations from hundreds to thousands of deployed systems.
• The "aha moment" for meaningful work came at her first startup (SoulFocus) where despite taking pay and title cuts, she found the energy, responsibility, and sense of purpose deeply rewarding.
• Harvest Thermal's solution reduced Jane's home energy bills by 40% and emissions by 90%, demonstrating the real-world impact of their heat pump and thermal storage technology.

Resources:

• Harvest Thermal