The Next Billion-Dollar Energy Opportunity | Ep. 92 [Andrew Stock]

1 00:00:06,559 - > 00:00:08,800 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: What happens when a builder of sales 2 00:00:08,800 - > 00:00:12,000 engines, systems, and high growth companies turns his 3 00:00:12,000 - > 00:00:14,800 attention to one of the biggest bottlenecks in commercial 4 00:00:14,800 - > 00:00:18,000 energy: getting the right equipment to the right project 5 00:00:18,160 - > 00:00:20,800 at the right time, without all the waste in between. 6 00:00:20,960 - > 00:00:22,320 Welcome to Industry Ignited. 7 00:00:22,399 - > 00:00:23,120 I'm your host, Dr. 8 00:00:23,199 - > 00:00:24,480 Leanne Aguilar. 9 00:00:24,559 - > 00:00:27,760 And today I'm joined by Andrew Stock, co-founder and CEO of 10 00:00:27,760 - > 00:00:31,199 Green Raven, a direct from manufacturer supplier of power 11 00:00:31,199 - > 00:00:33,200 generation equipment and financing. 12 00:00:33,439 - > 00:00:34,719 Andrew, welcome to the show. 13 00:00:35,119 - > 00:00:35,920 SPEAKER_00: Awesome, great. 14 00:00:36,079 - > 00:00:36,719 Glad to be here. 15 00:00:36,960 - > 00:00:38,240 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah, thanks for joining me. 16 00:00:38,560 - > 00:00:42,479 So, Andrew, your career spans sales leadership, operations, 17 00:00:42,719 - > 00:00:45,759 product management, SaaS consulting, and now commercial 18 00:00:45,759 - > 00:00:46,880 energy distribution. 19 00:00:47,119 - > 00:00:50,079 Looking back, what threads have connected all those chapters? 20 00:00:50,399 - > 00:00:53,119 SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, I think the most common thread 21 00:00:53,200 - > 00:00:57,840 probably is I have an um kind of an addiction to efficiency. 22 00:00:58,000 - > 00:01:01,520 That's the best way I can word that is looking for whatever 23 00:01:01,520 - > 00:01:03,359 inefficiencies are involved in something. 24 00:01:03,439 - > 00:01:05,359 Now it could be, like you said, sales leadership. 25 00:01:05,519 - > 00:01:06,799 Okay, well, what's missing, right? 26 00:01:06,959 - > 00:01:08,879 Because you're okay, well, am I hiring the right people, 27 00:01:09,040 - > 00:01:11,280 providing the right tools, giving the right training? 28 00:01:11,439 - > 00:01:13,200 There's going to be a limited number of things that might be 29 00:01:13,200 - > 00:01:13,439 wrong. 30 00:01:13,599 - > 00:01:14,239 Okay, so fine. 31 00:01:14,319 - > 00:01:17,200 So find where the inefficiency is, hire better, train better, 32 00:01:17,280 - > 00:01:19,599 lead better, remove their obstacles, give them the right 33 00:01:19,599 - > 00:01:19,920 tools. 34 00:01:20,000 - > 00:01:20,959 Okay, find that. 35 00:01:21,040 - > 00:01:24,959 Or maybe it's operations, your workflow, things like that, or 36 00:01:24,959 - > 00:01:25,920 basically anything. 37 00:01:26,000 - > 00:01:28,560 Uh that's like kind of the always been the common thread is 38 00:01:28,640 - > 00:01:31,200 what is the inefficient thing that's happening, whether it's 39 00:01:31,200 - > 00:01:34,799 the before I got there or even while I'm there, and then fixing 40 00:01:34,799 - > 00:01:35,120 that thing. 41 00:01:35,200 - > 00:01:37,680 That would be the most common thread that I I habitually try 42 00:01:37,680 - > 00:01:38,000 to solve. 43 00:01:38,319 - > 00:01:38,799 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Oh, I love that. 44 00:01:38,879 - > 00:01:40,799 So an addiction to efficiency. 45 00:01:41,200 - > 00:01:41,359 SPEAKER_00: Yeah. 46 00:01:41,599 - > 00:01:41,840 Yeah. 47 00:01:42,079 - > 00:01:43,439 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: And were you always like that? 48 00:01:43,519 - > 00:01:46,719 I mean, can you see that like even when growing up or yeah, in 49 00:01:46,719 - > 00:01:49,760 your Yes, I don't know. 50 00:01:49,920 - > 00:01:50,959 SPEAKER_00: Call it a mental deficiency. 51 00:01:51,040 - > 00:01:51,439 Yeah, I don't know. 52 00:01:51,519 - > 00:01:52,319 It's always been that way. 53 00:01:52,400 - > 00:01:52,640 Yeah. 54 00:01:52,799 - > 00:01:54,319 That's uh I don't care. 55 00:01:54,400 - > 00:01:57,200 I'm trying to think of a spot in my life when I wasn't like that. 56 00:01:57,359 - > 00:01:59,280 Now that's just part of how my brain works, I guess. 57 00:01:59,680 - > 00:02:01,359 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Well, I don't think that's a bad thing. 58 00:02:01,439 - > 00:02:02,799 So that's awesome. 59 00:02:03,200 - > 00:02:06,239 Now you built your early career in staffing and recruiting 60 00:02:06,239 - > 00:02:07,920 before making the jump into solar. 61 00:02:08,080 - > 00:02:11,039 What did you see in the market that told you solar was the next 62 00:02:11,039 - > 00:02:12,800 wave worth betting on? 63 00:02:13,680 - > 00:02:16,960 SPEAKER_00: Well, if you look at obviously some of this just 64 00:02:16,960 - > 00:02:19,520 comes from age, you know, experience. 65 00:02:19,759 - > 00:02:21,680 There's always these cyclical patterns. 66 00:02:21,759 - > 00:02:23,680 There's always the next big thing, right? 67 00:02:23,840 - > 00:02:27,599 So for me, I got into the staffing industry during the 68 00:02:27,599 - > 00:02:31,759 dot-com era, the late 90s, uh, rode that wave. 69 00:02:31,919 - > 00:02:34,960 That kind of died down once job words were invented. 70 00:02:35,120 - > 00:02:39,199 Having a headhunter, which is what I was, wasn't as necessary. 71 00:02:39,520 - > 00:02:41,919 So a lot of people moved over to the real estate market. 72 00:02:42,080 - > 00:02:45,199 I didn't, I stayed in staffing, but most of my friends moved 73 00:02:45,199 - > 00:02:46,240 over to the next big wave. 74 00:02:46,400 - > 00:02:49,680 Then, of course, 2008 recession hits, that dies down. 75 00:02:49,759 - > 00:02:52,960 And I remember just watching and thinking, okay, well, hang on, 76 00:02:53,039 - > 00:02:55,199 there's all these cyclical waves. 77 00:02:55,360 - > 00:02:57,840 Uh, what's the next big wave? 78 00:02:58,080 - > 00:03:01,199 So a lot of researching, thinking about it, reading 79 00:03:01,199 - > 00:03:04,479 stuff, just I don't know, being a nerd seemed this is back in 80 00:03:04,560 - > 00:03:08,400 gosh, I don't remember the year now, 2014-ish. 81 00:03:08,800 - > 00:03:12,560 Uh, when I was reading a lot of articles at the time about um 82 00:03:12,800 - > 00:03:16,240 just energy pricings and what's happening on a global scale. 83 00:03:16,400 - > 00:03:19,759 That was just seemed obvious that wait a second, Florida is 84 00:03:19,759 - > 00:03:21,199 the next big wave. 85 00:03:21,439 - > 00:03:22,960 And so I took a gamble. 86 00:03:23,199 - > 00:03:26,479 I was a vice president of um a global 100 company. 87 00:03:26,639 - > 00:03:29,280 So cushy job, base salaries, all that jazz. 88 00:03:29,439 - > 00:03:33,360 It's a gamble, but at the same time, it was too cushy for me. 89 00:03:33,520 - > 00:03:34,319 I don't work like that. 90 00:03:34,400 - > 00:03:36,479 I'm more of a kind of a risk taker kind of guy. 91 00:03:36,560 - > 00:03:39,120 So yeah, for me, I just looked at the market conditions, and 92 00:03:39,120 - > 00:03:39,919 you always should. 93 00:03:40,080 - > 00:03:42,080 You should always look for where's an inefficiency or 94 00:03:42,080 - > 00:03:45,680 something that seems unfair or a lack of something and solve the 95 00:03:45,680 - > 00:03:45,919 problem. 96 00:03:46,080 - > 00:03:49,520 It kind of ties that, you know, addiction to efficiency thing. 97 00:03:49,680 - > 00:03:50,000 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 98 00:03:50,240 - > 00:03:52,400 SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, that's just seemed obvious to me. 99 00:03:52,719 - > 00:03:54,319 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So it sounds like you're you were very 100 00:03:54,319 - > 00:03:58,240 proactive though and intentional about looking for the next big 101 00:03:58,240 - > 00:03:58,479 thing. 102 00:03:58,960 - > 00:03:59,439 SPEAKER_00: Always. 103 00:03:59,599 - > 00:03:59,919 Yeah. 104 00:04:00,400 - > 00:04:00,960 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 105 00:04:01,919 - > 00:04:05,039 Now you said you like building and or fixing things and 106 00:04:05,039 - > 00:04:06,000 watching them blossom. 107 00:04:06,240 - > 00:04:10,000 When did you realize that was really your core identity as a 108 00:04:10,000 - > 00:04:10,479 leader? 109 00:04:12,479 - > 00:04:13,439 SPEAKER_00: You know, it's funny. 110 00:04:13,520 - > 00:04:15,759 I don't think I did for decades. 111 00:04:16,000 - > 00:04:17,839 I used to teach eighth grade American history. 112 00:04:18,000 - > 00:04:19,519 So I love teaching people I always have. 113 00:04:19,600 - > 00:04:22,160 I've always just loved teaching in general, right? 114 00:04:22,480 - > 00:04:26,399 And then it just slowly have it crept up on me over the span of 115 00:04:26,399 - > 00:04:30,160 decades to realize that if you combine the skill sets I happen 116 00:04:30,160 - > 00:04:33,920 to possess that, hey, be a good coach, be a good leader, lead 117 00:04:33,920 - > 00:04:36,000 from the front, look around the room, who's got the greatest 118 00:04:36,000 - > 00:04:38,160 work ethic in the room, whoever it is, work harder. 119 00:04:38,319 - > 00:04:40,240 Am I gonna be there the first and then the last? 120 00:04:40,399 - > 00:04:40,639 Yes. 121 00:04:40,800 - > 00:04:41,680 Am I gonna outwork you? 122 00:04:41,839 - > 00:04:44,319 I'm gonna outthink you, I'm gonna be in that competitive 123 00:04:44,319 - > 00:04:44,879 drive. 124 00:04:45,040 - > 00:04:46,959 You start piecing all these things together. 125 00:04:47,120 - > 00:04:50,959 And before you know it, I looked back, honestly, it wasn't until 126 00:04:50,959 - > 00:04:55,199 I was probably 50 years old till I realized, holy crap, I've been 127 00:04:55,199 - > 00:04:56,560 like the leader everywhere I go. 128 00:04:56,720 - > 00:04:59,759 It wasn't intentional, it just happened, I guess. 129 00:05:00,160 - > 00:05:00,399 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 130 00:05:01,040 - > 00:05:01,759 Yeah, interesting. 131 00:05:01,920 - > 00:05:04,720 So that that work ethic that you described, you know, being the 132 00:05:04,720 - > 00:05:08,079 first in, the last out, is that something you you still see 133 00:05:08,079 - > 00:05:08,560 today? 134 00:05:08,800 - > 00:05:09,439 SPEAKER_00: Yes. 135 00:05:09,839 - > 00:05:10,639 But hands down. 136 00:05:10,959 - > 00:05:12,480 It's it's what I hire for. 137 00:05:12,560 - > 00:05:15,839 Like I don't if let's say I was trying to hire someone for I'm 138 00:05:15,839 - > 00:05:18,639 trying to think of a task, just say it was a salesperson, okay? 139 00:05:18,800 - > 00:05:20,399 Maybe I'm selling wrenches. 140 00:05:20,560 - > 00:05:22,639 Do I care if you have experience selling wrenches? 141 00:05:22,800 - > 00:05:23,199 Not really. 142 00:05:23,360 - > 00:05:26,160 What I care about is your per you have personality, brain, and 143 00:05:26,160 - > 00:05:27,439 one heck of a work ethic. 144 00:05:27,600 - > 00:05:27,839 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 145 00:05:28,079 - > 00:05:29,600 SPEAKER_00: And you have ethics, right? 146 00:05:29,680 - > 00:05:30,079 That's it. 147 00:05:30,160 - > 00:05:31,759 I don't really care about anything else because those are 148 00:05:31,759 - > 00:05:34,240 things I can't teach or I can't build from. 149 00:05:34,399 - > 00:05:37,199 So yeah, I'd say pretty much I've always lived by the that 150 00:05:37,199 - > 00:05:39,839 ethos of always be ethical, always do the right thing. 151 00:05:40,000 - > 00:05:42,319 Anyone who knows me will tell you that's how I insist. 152 00:05:42,480 - > 00:05:45,199 But yeah, be the first guy in, be the last guy out, work out, 153 00:05:45,279 - > 00:05:48,160 uh, work harder, work smarter, and whoever's the best person in 154 00:05:48,160 - > 00:05:49,920 the room, be a little bit better than that person. 155 00:05:50,079 - > 00:05:51,120 And you do fine. 156 00:05:51,439 - > 00:05:51,759 Yeah. 157 00:05:52,160 - > 00:05:54,560 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Now, do you think your experience staffing 158 00:05:54,560 - > 00:05:57,519 with the staffing you know companies helped you make better 159 00:05:57,519 - > 00:06:00,240 choices when it comes to hiring with your firms? 160 00:06:00,560 - > 00:06:02,000 SPEAKER_00: I mean, at first, I yes. 161 00:06:02,160 - > 00:06:09,120 I mean, I think I took I did my first job as an official manager 162 00:06:09,120 - > 00:06:14,879 over of sales teams back in 2000, maybe 2001, can't remember 163 00:06:14,879 - > 00:06:15,360 the year now. 164 00:06:15,519 - > 00:06:18,480 I'd already been in staffing for several years at that point, but 165 00:06:18,480 - > 00:06:22,000 it wasn't until you actually become an actual manager of 166 00:06:22,000 - > 00:06:24,800 people that you start realizing uh the importance. 167 00:06:24,959 - > 00:06:26,800 Oh my God, it's so underrated. 168 00:06:27,120 - > 00:06:30,160 Who you hire means more than almost anything. 169 00:06:30,399 - > 00:06:30,639 Right. 170 00:06:31,199 - > 00:06:33,040 I don't even know if it was because I was in the staffing 171 00:06:33,040 - > 00:06:33,360 industry. 172 00:06:33,439 - > 00:06:36,879 I think it was just experience of making bad decisions. 173 00:06:38,560 - > 00:06:39,120 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Right. 174 00:06:39,279 - > 00:06:39,759 I know. 175 00:06:39,839 - > 00:06:42,319 I I think that that's just sometimes the best way to learn 176 00:06:42,399 - > 00:06:44,160 is just by making a mistake, right? 177 00:06:44,480 - > 00:06:45,600 SPEAKER_00: Hiring the wrong people a few times. 178 00:06:46,000 - > 00:06:47,120 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Hiring the wrong people. 179 00:06:47,680 - > 00:06:49,279 Yeah, absolutely. 180 00:06:49,519 - > 00:06:53,040 Now, from scaling small firms to turning around major divisions 181 00:06:53,040 - > 00:06:56,800 inside large organizations, what lessons from those earlier 182 00:06:56,800 - > 00:07:00,639 transformation roles shaped how you lead Green Raven today? 183 00:07:01,439 - > 00:07:05,040 SPEAKER_00: You know, I think a lot of it is um it is so 184 00:07:05,040 - > 00:07:06,879 overlooked, operational stuff. 185 00:07:06,959 - > 00:07:09,600 Like everyone thinks that operations is boring because it 186 00:07:09,600 - > 00:07:11,839 sounds boring, but it's so critical. 187 00:07:12,000 - > 00:07:14,000 I'm very methodical, very organized. 188 00:07:14,079 - > 00:07:17,439 If you go look at my company's Google Drive and how the folders 189 00:07:17,439 - > 00:07:21,279 are organized, or how schedules are managed, or workflow of 190 00:07:21,279 - > 00:07:25,120 whose or job responsibilities, maybe, and uh where let's say 191 00:07:25,120 - > 00:07:26,000 you're running a team. 192 00:07:26,160 - > 00:07:30,079 Obviously, I have where I had larger teams and dozens of 193 00:07:30,079 - > 00:07:30,639 offices. 194 00:07:30,879 - > 00:07:34,000 Well, how does the workflow happen from starting at the very 195 00:07:34,000 - > 00:07:36,399 beginning, from marketing all the way through to first contact 196 00:07:36,560 - > 00:07:40,000 to first sale to fulfillment to customer support to delivery? 197 00:07:40,160 - > 00:07:43,199 And you start thinking, okay, what's that smooth handoff look 198 00:07:43,199 - > 00:07:43,279 like? 199 00:07:43,360 - > 00:07:47,360 From the it's like that concept, I used to think was so boring, 200 00:07:47,439 - > 00:07:49,040 like when I was younger, of course. 201 00:07:49,279 - > 00:07:50,720 Now it's my lifeblood. 202 00:07:50,959 - > 00:07:53,439 It's the I'm again I'm addicted to efficiency. 203 00:07:53,600 - > 00:07:56,240 Part of that is also being addicted to what is a customer 204 00:07:56,240 - > 00:07:58,079 experience like and how do I make mine better? 205 00:07:58,160 - > 00:08:01,199 And how what does that operational workflow look like? 206 00:08:01,360 - > 00:08:05,120 Both internally, so we as an organization operate better, and 207 00:08:05,120 - > 00:08:07,839 from the customer standpoint, what their experience is like. 208 00:08:08,000 - > 00:08:10,720 That's all how well did you build your operational 209 00:08:10,720 - > 00:08:11,600 infrastructure? 210 00:08:11,759 - > 00:08:13,759 I don't think I understood that when I was younger. 211 00:08:13,920 - > 00:08:16,720 So that comes a lot, a combination really, from 212 00:08:16,720 - > 00:08:20,160 working, obviously building many startups to working at a very 213 00:08:20,160 - > 00:08:21,600 large global public company. 214 00:08:21,759 - > 00:08:24,000 I've worked for a few, but I think it's just a blend of 215 00:08:24,000 - > 00:08:26,800 experience over time kind of really led me to realize that 216 00:08:26,800 - > 00:08:28,000 it's all about that, man. 217 00:08:28,160 - > 00:08:30,560 Your operational infrastructure and having someone with the 218 00:08:30,560 - > 00:08:34,480 brains and to organize it properly and analyze it and be 219 00:08:34,480 - > 00:08:36,240 smart and gather analytics. 220 00:08:36,320 - > 00:08:37,519 It's there's a lot, man. 221 00:08:37,600 - > 00:08:39,039 It's just a lot of it's just experience. 222 00:08:39,120 - > 00:08:41,600 You know, screw stuff up enough and eventually you'll get it 223 00:08:41,600 - > 00:08:41,759 right. 224 00:08:43,840 - > 00:08:46,080 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So do you use a uh process management 225 00:08:46,080 - > 00:08:46,320 tool? 226 00:08:46,639 - > 00:08:50,000 SPEAKER_00: I've written a lot of CRMs, at least some I've 227 00:08:50,000 - > 00:08:53,679 written from scratch, some just like all out of the box stuff. 228 00:08:53,840 - > 00:08:56,639 I'm pretty big on data analytics, just gathering data, 229 00:08:56,879 - > 00:08:57,120 right? 230 00:08:57,440 - > 00:08:58,639 Then what do you do with it? 231 00:08:58,720 - > 00:09:00,399 Or do you take action items from it? 232 00:09:00,639 - > 00:09:04,320 So yeah, I'm pretty data centric, I guess you could say, 233 00:09:04,480 - > 00:09:04,720 right? 234 00:09:04,879 - > 00:09:07,919 So usually that comes from whatever CRM I'm using at the 235 00:09:07,919 - > 00:09:10,639 moment, but that helps you identify your inefficiencies, 236 00:09:10,799 - > 00:09:11,039 right? 237 00:09:11,279 - > 00:09:15,679 Whether it was your the lag time from this call to that baton 238 00:09:15,759 - > 00:09:18,879 being passed to the next person in the chain, for example, or 239 00:09:18,879 - > 00:09:22,080 maybe it's job cost analysis, which no one pays attention to, 240 00:09:22,159 - > 00:09:22,720 which they should. 241 00:09:22,879 - > 00:09:25,120 That helps you identify those data points help you identify 242 00:09:25,279 - > 00:09:27,039 the inefficiencies in running any business. 243 00:09:27,120 - > 00:09:28,480 So yeah, pretty big on that. 244 00:09:28,799 - > 00:09:31,279 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: How has AI impacted your process flow? 245 00:09:32,000 - > 00:09:33,039 Inefficiency, I know. 246 00:09:34,559 - > 00:09:38,080 SPEAKER_00: Uh from a personal perspective, I've always worked 247 00:09:38,080 - > 00:09:39,840 very, I worked very hard and very fast. 248 00:09:40,000 - > 00:09:42,720 So I've always, I mean, let's toot my own horn, but always 249 00:09:42,720 - > 00:09:46,159 felt like I'm about twice as productive as anybody else. 250 00:09:46,399 - > 00:09:50,240 But once you kicked AI into it, oh my God, I can do personally 251 00:09:50,240 - > 00:09:51,840 the work, I can do five times much more. 252 00:09:52,000 - > 00:09:54,799 I can do so much more because I do use a lot of now. 253 00:09:54,879 - > 00:09:56,399 That's on a personal perspective, right? 254 00:09:56,559 - > 00:09:59,200 That could be something down like looking for ideas on how to 255 00:09:59,440 - > 00:10:02,480 on marketing campaigns or how to use this particular software 256 00:10:02,480 - > 00:10:03,840 tool or whatever it might be. 257 00:10:04,080 - > 00:10:05,039 That's on a personal level. 258 00:10:05,279 - > 00:10:08,639 So it's put my personal productivity over the top. 259 00:10:08,799 - > 00:10:09,519 That's ridiculous. 260 00:10:09,600 - > 00:10:12,399 But I get done and it can't, I can manage so much more. 261 00:10:12,559 - > 00:10:16,240 On a broader perspective, what I'm looking at for AI is I 262 00:10:16,240 - > 00:10:17,120 haven't gotten there yet. 263 00:10:17,200 - > 00:10:21,519 I'm still working on it, but it is more from like a marketing uh 264 00:10:21,519 - > 00:10:24,559 management standpoint, customer engagement standpoint. 265 00:10:24,639 - > 00:10:27,759 I think the the future of say AI assistance is pretty big. 266 00:10:27,840 - > 00:10:29,440 And I can't wait till I get to that point. 267 00:10:29,600 - > 00:10:30,960 I've got I've got a lot of work to do. 268 00:10:31,120 - > 00:10:33,440 I see where it can go, and I'm not there yet. 269 00:10:33,919 - > 00:10:35,759 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So many opportunities, and everything is 270 00:10:35,759 - > 00:10:36,799 evolving so quickly. 271 00:10:36,879 - > 00:10:40,159 It's like you know, by the time you implement it, it's outdated. 272 00:10:41,279 - > 00:10:42,320 SPEAKER_00: It's tough, man. 273 00:10:42,399 - > 00:10:42,720 I know. 274 00:10:42,799 - > 00:10:43,440 Yeah. 275 00:10:44,000 - > 00:10:46,559 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So Green Raven is focused on commercial 276 00:10:46,559 - > 00:10:49,120 solar and power generation hardware distribution. 277 00:10:49,279 - > 00:10:52,159 But it sounds like the company is really solving a much broader 278 00:10:52,399 - > 00:10:54,399 supply chain and execution problem. 279 00:10:54,639 - > 00:10:58,320 What gap did you see that made you want to build this business? 280 00:10:58,879 - > 00:11:01,440 SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest one is a lack of information 281 00:11:01,600 - > 00:11:02,639 from the end consumer. 282 00:11:02,720 - > 00:11:05,200 And again, this is I know not everyone who's listening to this 283 00:11:05,200 - > 00:11:08,799 is going to be from my industry, but there's limited information 284 00:11:08,879 - > 00:11:11,600 and there's so many gaps in the industry. 285 00:11:11,759 - > 00:11:15,759 So, for example, most solar companies are small, like really 286 00:11:15,759 - > 00:11:16,000 small. 287 00:11:16,080 - > 00:11:19,679 In the United States, anyways, the industry is very fragmented. 288 00:11:19,840 - > 00:11:22,720 You've got over 100,000 solar companies, so well over that 289 00:11:22,799 - > 00:11:23,039 actually. 290 00:11:23,200 - > 00:11:26,080 There's really 20,000 in California. 291 00:11:26,240 - > 00:11:27,200 It's immense. 292 00:11:27,440 - > 00:11:31,600 And the vast majority of those are what we all call truck in a 293 00:11:31,600 - > 00:11:32,159 truck, right? 294 00:11:32,240 - > 00:11:35,600 Is the guy with four employees and he happens to own a truck. 295 00:11:35,759 - > 00:11:37,279 It's a very fragmented industry. 296 00:11:37,360 - > 00:11:39,600 So those that's your industry right now. 297 00:11:39,759 - > 00:11:43,039 They don't they're not sitting on a big stockpile of cash, 298 00:11:43,279 - > 00:11:43,600 right? 299 00:11:43,759 - > 00:11:47,600 So for them, everything is like get a project, get it installed, 300 00:11:47,679 - > 00:11:50,960 get paid, somehow cover the cost of the hardware of that project. 301 00:11:51,120 - > 00:11:53,519 It's a very cash flow, it's a problem. 302 00:11:53,679 - > 00:11:57,679 Uh so the gap I saw was well, they're all limited to going to 303 00:11:57,679 - > 00:12:00,000 maybe three different distributors for their 304 00:12:00,000 - > 00:12:00,480 materials. 305 00:12:00,559 - > 00:12:03,039 And all three of those companies, I don't know if I 306 00:12:03,039 - > 00:12:07,120 should name drop, but typically their markup is 100% really 307 00:12:07,120 - > 00:12:07,440 high. 308 00:12:07,600 - > 00:12:10,480 But they can do that because they're offering a line of 309 00:12:10,480 - > 00:12:11,279 credit, right? 310 00:12:11,440 - > 00:12:12,960 That's the holy grail right there. 311 00:12:13,120 - > 00:12:16,000 You go to the distributors out there, the little guys, the guys 312 00:12:16,000 - > 00:12:18,720 like myself that are smaller, don't have line of credit. 313 00:12:18,879 - > 00:12:21,440 So if you're a little solar company, you have to go through 314 00:12:21,440 - > 00:12:23,759 one of the big three, even though the prices are super 315 00:12:23,759 - > 00:12:26,799 bloated, just because they offer credit terms. 316 00:12:26,960 - > 00:12:27,200 Right. 317 00:12:27,679 - > 00:12:28,639 Well, that seems dumb. 318 00:12:29,039 - > 00:12:29,519 Wait a second. 319 00:12:29,600 - > 00:12:32,480 So if I were to just go and establish my own line of credit, 320 00:12:32,720 - > 00:12:36,799 which I did for Green Raven, we can offer uh a name drop. 321 00:12:36,879 - > 00:12:40,960 So CED is offering uh a$500,000 line of credit to his 322 00:12:40,960 - > 00:12:41,600 installers. 323 00:12:41,759 - > 00:12:44,240 I can offer a million dollar line of credit, and I don't put 324 00:12:44,480 - > 00:12:46,799 mine doesn't put a lien on that end property. 325 00:12:47,039 - > 00:12:50,000 Okay, so but at the same time, I don't have that bloated 326 00:12:50,159 - > 00:12:54,000 infrastructure of 400 warehouses I have to pay for with their 327 00:12:54,000 - > 00:12:54,320 staff. 328 00:12:54,399 - > 00:12:55,120 We don't do that. 329 00:12:55,279 - > 00:12:55,600 SPEAKER_02: Right. 330 00:12:56,000 - > 00:12:57,759 SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of whittling out, okay, what are 331 00:12:57,759 - > 00:12:58,480 the inefficiencies? 332 00:12:58,639 - > 00:13:00,240 Well, get rid of all that infrastructure. 333 00:13:00,320 - > 00:13:01,120 You don't need it. 334 00:13:01,279 - > 00:13:02,320 It's just not necessary. 335 00:13:02,559 - > 00:13:06,639 Offer a line of credit, reach out to that 95% of the industry 336 00:13:06,639 - > 00:13:08,159 that is chucking a truck. 337 00:13:08,320 - > 00:13:11,679 All they needed was a line of credit, and now they can buy all 338 00:13:11,679 - > 00:13:15,039 of their hardware, it's half price because they're not paying 339 00:13:15,039 - > 00:13:16,639 for all the inefficiencies out there. 340 00:13:16,799 - > 00:13:19,440 And they still get that line of credit that makes it so their 341 00:13:19,440 - > 00:13:22,159 families and their them and their employees and their 342 00:13:22,159 - > 00:13:24,799 families can do really well without running out of money, 343 00:13:24,879 - > 00:13:27,360 which is an epidemic in the solar industry, right? 344 00:13:27,519 - > 00:13:29,279 Companies running out of cash and then collapsing. 345 00:13:29,600 - > 00:13:32,240 So we're trying to solve a lot of gaps, right? 346 00:13:32,480 - > 00:13:35,039 And I think we kind of nailed it. 347 00:13:37,440 - > 00:13:39,360 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So for people outside the industries, 348 00:13:39,600 - > 00:13:42,399 tell us more about the biggest inefficiencies today between 349 00:13:42,399 - > 00:13:45,759 manufacturers, finance providers, EPCs, developers, and 350 00:13:45,919 - > 00:13:46,240 buyers. 351 00:13:46,480 - > 00:13:47,840 SPEAKER_00: Well, each one of them is gonna have a different 352 00:13:47,840 - > 00:13:48,720 issue, right? 353 00:13:49,039 - > 00:13:53,360 So manufacturers, the biggest problem is they need to be on an 354 00:13:53,360 - > 00:13:56,320 authorized vendor list for the finance companies. 355 00:13:56,639 - > 00:13:58,240 You gotta realize that most of them are not. 356 00:13:58,320 - > 00:14:02,080 Now, those finance companies are more or less, how do I word 357 00:14:02,080 - > 00:14:05,360 this, in bed largely with the distribution companies. 358 00:14:05,519 - > 00:14:08,559 Well, the distributor is only going to offer these, I'll make 359 00:14:08,559 - > 00:14:10,960 it up, you know, 10 brands, the solar panel. 360 00:14:11,120 - > 00:14:13,759 Well, shoot, there's 5,000 brands. 361 00:14:14,000 - > 00:14:17,679 So if you're the manufacturer, you're fighting like anything 362 00:14:17,679 - > 00:14:19,919 you can to get brand recognition, to get on an 363 00:14:19,919 - > 00:14:22,320 authorized vendor list for the finance company, which gets you 364 00:14:22,320 - > 00:14:24,399 carried by the major distributors, and they're all 365 00:14:24,399 - > 00:14:26,399 kind of uh bottlenecked right there. 366 00:14:26,559 - > 00:14:29,679 Now, if you're the installer, going down that line, you said, 367 00:14:29,919 - > 00:14:32,000 so the EPC, you're the installer. 368 00:14:32,159 - > 00:14:34,639 Most of them are just going to buy their product from whatever 369 00:14:34,639 - > 00:14:38,000 CED offered them or Solar Gent, Busco, whatever, whatever that 370 00:14:38,000 - > 00:14:41,200 distributor gave them, which is a choice between these 10 brands 371 00:14:41,279 - > 00:14:42,639 or 20 brands, whatever. 372 00:14:42,799 - > 00:14:45,679 Um, and they have to go through that because of that bottleneck 373 00:14:45,679 - > 00:14:46,799 with the finance companies. 374 00:14:46,879 - > 00:14:49,039 There's a real bottleneck right in there, right? 375 00:14:49,200 - > 00:14:49,679 It's a problem. 376 00:14:49,840 - > 00:14:53,279 So the biggest problem for the solar companies is cash flow. 377 00:14:53,360 - > 00:14:56,159 They need to find a way to uh make all of this pencil somehow. 378 00:14:56,320 - > 00:14:58,879 But because that loaded infrastructure between the 379 00:14:58,879 - > 00:15:02,080 traditional distribution, kind of working with the authorized 380 00:15:02,080 - > 00:15:04,960 vendor list, AVL from the finance companies, causes a 381 00:15:04,960 - > 00:15:07,279 bottleneck, which causes uh artificial price inflation. 382 00:15:07,360 - > 00:15:10,080 So now that solar installer who's already struggling to stay 383 00:15:10,080 - > 00:15:12,480 in business is paying twice as much for his hardware. 384 00:15:12,639 - > 00:15:16,240 So there's like that's the problem of this whole thing, 385 00:15:16,480 - > 00:15:16,799 right? 386 00:15:16,960 - > 00:15:19,279 Is there's a bottleneck that doesn't need to be there. 387 00:15:19,440 - > 00:15:22,639 And a lot of it driving it right now, today's market, we're in 388 00:15:22,639 - > 00:15:26,639 April 2026, um, is the tax incentives, right? 389 00:15:26,720 - > 00:15:29,919 So everyone's trying to get the very last drop they can out of 390 00:15:29,919 - > 00:15:32,879 the ITC, the investment tax credit, which means it has to be 391 00:15:32,879 - > 00:15:36,320 domestic content and has to be fiat compliant and not from a 392 00:15:36,320 - > 00:15:36,879 PFE. 393 00:15:36,960 - > 00:15:39,919 And there's like all these requirements, which again cause 394 00:15:39,919 - > 00:15:43,279 a market pressure on what hardware we're all allowed to 395 00:15:43,279 - > 00:15:46,799 use, which when again you constrain supply, which is 396 00:15:46,799 - > 00:15:49,919 what's happened, that drives pricing way up. 397 00:15:50,159 - > 00:15:53,200 So there's a lot of stuff in the industry that are kind of 398 00:15:53,200 - > 00:15:54,960 artificial that don't need to be there. 399 00:15:55,120 - > 00:15:58,720 That whole tax incentive and all that, you know, non-domestic 400 00:15:58,799 - > 00:16:00,879 blah, blah, blah, that's all gonna go away. 401 00:16:01,120 - > 00:16:02,799 A year from now, no one's gonna give a crap. 402 00:16:02,960 - > 00:16:05,039 People are gonna be looking at what is the cheapest product in 403 00:16:05,039 - > 00:16:07,200 the market that is still a quality product with a good 404 00:16:07,200 - > 00:16:07,519 warrant. 405 00:16:07,759 - > 00:16:10,240 That's all that's gonna matter, which is what I'm what we're at 406 00:16:10,399 - > 00:16:11,919 Green Raven, what we're preparing for. 407 00:16:12,080 - > 00:16:15,440 How do we compare the real world of what's going to be a year 408 00:16:15,440 - > 00:16:15,919 from now? 409 00:16:16,080 - > 00:16:18,960 No one's gonna care about fiat compliance a year from now. 410 00:16:19,679 - > 00:16:20,240 Dr. Leeanne Aguila: Interesting. 411 00:16:20,559 - > 00:16:23,200 So the incentives are expiring this year? 412 00:16:23,519 - > 00:16:25,120 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, basically July 4th. 413 00:16:25,440 - > 00:16:29,200 Well, the residential projects that already is gone as of last 414 00:16:29,200 - > 00:16:29,679 December. 415 00:16:29,919 - > 00:16:32,639 The commercial one for commercial projects goes away. 416 00:16:32,720 - > 00:16:35,440 Basically, the job has to be started in some manner before 417 00:16:35,440 - > 00:16:37,120 July 4th of 2026. 418 00:16:37,360 - > 00:16:40,399 After that, all the incentives are gone, which is gonna totally 419 00:16:40,399 - > 00:16:44,000 remove that bottleneck that's caused that ridiculously 420 00:16:44,000 - > 00:16:44,879 inflated pricing. 421 00:16:45,120 - > 00:16:45,279 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Right. 422 00:16:45,600 - > 00:16:47,200 SPEAKER_00: There's a lot going on in the industry that's gonna 423 00:16:47,200 - > 00:16:47,440 change. 424 00:16:47,600 - > 00:16:48,480 I'm excited about it. 425 00:16:48,720 - > 00:16:48,960 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 426 00:16:49,519 - > 00:16:52,559 And are those incentives are they federal or are they 427 00:16:52,559 - > 00:16:53,039 state-based? 428 00:16:53,279 - > 00:16:53,840 SPEAKER_00: It's all federal. 429 00:16:54,000 - > 00:16:54,399 Oh, the federal. 430 00:16:54,879 - > 00:16:55,759 100% federal, yeah. 431 00:16:56,159 - > 00:16:56,399 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Okay. 432 00:16:56,639 - > 00:16:58,960 SPEAKER_00: So for your your taxes at the end of the year, 433 00:16:59,039 - > 00:17:02,080 basically, you're getting so if you combine that, if you remove 434 00:17:02,080 - > 00:17:06,000 the false pressure on the market based on federal tax incentives, 435 00:17:06,079 - > 00:17:09,279 and you can marry that with getting an education to the 436 00:17:09,279 - > 00:17:11,359 solar installers of, hey, guess what? 437 00:17:11,440 - > 00:17:13,279 There's more than those 20 brands on the market. 438 00:17:13,440 - > 00:17:14,799 In fact, there's thousands. 439 00:17:14,960 - > 00:17:17,839 Uh so let's find you the best product at the best price. 440 00:17:18,000 - > 00:17:21,440 And I'm and I you're gonna see this uh a year and a half from 441 00:17:21,440 - > 00:17:21,680 now. 442 00:17:22,079 - > 00:17:24,079 All the hardware is gonna be half the price of what people 443 00:17:24,079 - > 00:17:24,559 are paying today. 444 00:17:24,720 - > 00:17:26,559 I mean, we're even at half the price. 445 00:17:26,799 - > 00:17:27,200 Just wait. 446 00:17:27,359 - > 00:17:30,079 Once you remove those artificial pressures, what's gonna happen 447 00:17:30,079 - > 00:17:32,000 to hardware pricing is gonna be fantastic. 448 00:17:32,240 - > 00:17:32,559 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 449 00:17:32,799 - > 00:17:35,839 Now you talk a lot about practical equipment, supply 450 00:17:35,839 - > 00:17:38,400 chain reliability, and project execution. 451 00:17:38,559 - > 00:17:41,920 Why are those fundamentals still such a major pain point in an 452 00:17:41,920 - > 00:17:43,920 industry that has matured so much? 453 00:17:45,039 - > 00:17:46,400 SPEAKER_00: I don't think it has. 454 00:17:47,359 - > 00:17:49,680 The industry, you said the industry had matured so much. 455 00:17:49,839 - > 00:17:50,559 The industry isn't. 456 00:17:50,640 - > 00:17:52,240 I think the industry is a toddler. 457 00:17:52,480 - > 00:17:55,920 The inefficiencies in this industry are rampant. 458 00:17:56,079 - > 00:17:56,880 It's crazy. 459 00:17:56,960 - > 00:18:00,000 I've been a consultant for I think four different solar 460 00:18:00,000 - > 00:18:01,839 companies I've helped build over the years. 461 00:18:02,000 - > 00:18:05,440 And every one of them, or most of my friends are owners of 462 00:18:05,440 - > 00:18:06,079 solar companies. 463 00:18:06,319 - > 00:18:06,880 It's rampant. 464 00:18:06,960 - > 00:18:07,440 It's bad. 465 00:18:07,599 - > 00:18:08,400 Bad management. 466 00:18:08,559 - > 00:18:11,680 People who they're again, you're the owner of a solar company, 467 00:18:11,759 - > 00:18:14,160 we'll call it chuck in a truck, which is the vast majority. 468 00:18:14,319 - > 00:18:17,279 They're not gathering analytics or job cost analysis. 469 00:18:17,519 - > 00:18:20,160 They think, oh, well, giving a building permit in such and such 470 00:18:20,160 - > 00:18:21,119 county is$400. 471 00:18:21,599 - > 00:18:23,920 Not really, because I'm in a position to that building 472 00:18:23,920 - > 00:18:25,599 permit, the structural engineering stamp, the 473 00:18:25,599 - > 00:18:29,279 electrical engineering stamp, resubmittal fees, and that's 474 00:18:29,279 - > 00:18:30,319 actually$1,500. 475 00:18:30,960 - > 00:18:33,519 You got to think in the mind of wait, we're doing 20 of these 476 00:18:33,519 - > 00:18:35,359 jobs a month, and that's just that. 477 00:18:35,599 - > 00:18:38,480 Then you go install a job, you think, oh, we can install it for 478 00:18:38,480 - > 00:18:39,759 this kind of cost of labor. 479 00:18:40,000 - > 00:18:42,960 Well, they don't know that really you're gonna have to do 480 00:18:42,960 - > 00:18:47,039 multiple truck rolls with two, three guys, let's call it, add 481 00:18:47,200 - > 00:18:48,400 up the actual labor cost. 482 00:18:48,640 - > 00:18:51,680 So they're not making as much money as they think they are, 483 00:18:51,759 - > 00:18:55,680 but they don't gather analytics, job cost analysis, for example. 484 00:18:55,920 - > 00:18:58,480 When I say that it's not grown up, that's just one element. 485 00:18:58,640 - > 00:19:02,480 And then you look at five years ago, the average solar sales guy 486 00:19:02,480 - > 00:19:06,480 was making$10,000 on a commission selling a residential 487 00:19:06,480 - > 00:19:07,200 solar project. 488 00:19:07,359 - > 00:19:08,319 That's absurd. 489 00:19:08,480 - > 00:19:10,240 That's just absolutely absurd. 490 00:19:10,480 - > 00:19:14,559 Because there's no, even today, there's very minimal, if any, 491 00:19:14,880 - > 00:19:15,680 regulation on this. 492 00:19:15,839 - > 00:19:18,799 Like in real estate, you have to get a license to sell a house, 493 00:19:18,960 - > 00:19:19,440 let's call it. 494 00:19:19,839 - > 00:19:22,160 Or you have to get a series seven if you're a financial 495 00:19:22,160 - > 00:19:22,720 advisor. 496 00:19:22,799 - > 00:19:25,440 You have to get some kind of, but that doesn't exist in the 497 00:19:25,440 - > 00:19:26,160 solar space. 498 00:19:26,319 - > 00:19:28,720 So when you're saying now that some for an industry that's 499 00:19:28,799 - > 00:19:30,559 quote, mature, it is not. 500 00:19:30,799 - > 00:19:32,640 It is still the Wild West. 501 00:19:33,039 - > 00:19:33,279 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Wow. 502 00:19:35,599 - > 00:19:36,799 SPEAKER_00: Still the Wild West. 503 00:19:37,359 - > 00:19:40,559 We all know what the Wild West is and we're in it, but it's 504 00:19:40,559 - > 00:19:41,359 getting better. 505 00:19:41,599 - > 00:19:41,920 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Okay. 506 00:19:42,160 - > 00:19:42,880 SPEAKER_00: Thank God. 507 00:19:43,039 - > 00:19:43,920 Uh yeah, yeah. 508 00:19:44,480 - > 00:19:47,039 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So it's not new, it's been around a while, 509 00:19:47,200 - > 00:19:50,720 but it's still like you said, there are it's not very 510 00:19:50,720 - > 00:19:53,599 regulated as far as like who can who can sell it. 511 00:19:53,680 - > 00:19:56,799 SPEAKER_00: There's not any kind of certification or lack of 512 00:19:56,799 - > 00:20:00,799 education or just knowledge from this the this group, this solar 513 00:20:00,799 - > 00:20:02,960 company might be great construction guys and do really 514 00:20:02,960 - > 00:20:06,400 quality work, but do they know how to use a spreadsheet and do 515 00:20:06,400 - > 00:20:07,359 job cost analysis? 516 00:20:07,519 - > 00:20:08,160 Probably not. 517 00:20:08,400 - > 00:20:09,839 Some do, not many. 518 00:20:10,000 - > 00:20:11,359 It's just it's still young. 519 00:20:11,519 - > 00:20:12,960 The industry is still young and immature. 520 00:20:13,039 - > 00:20:13,920 It's got a long way to go. 521 00:20:14,160 - > 00:20:14,400 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 522 00:20:14,640 - > 00:20:18,160 Now, Green Raven is also providing finance products for 523 00:20:18,160 - > 00:20:21,279 installers across solar, storage, geothermo, and 524 00:20:21,279 - > 00:20:22,480 commercial generators. 525 00:20:22,640 - > 00:20:25,839 How important is it to solve capital access and hardware 526 00:20:25,839 - > 00:20:28,880 access together rather than as separate problems? 527 00:20:29,279 - > 00:20:30,880 SPEAKER_00: Well, there's two different pieces of finance. 528 00:20:30,960 - > 00:20:33,920 So one would be those solar companies need to be able to 529 00:20:33,920 - > 00:20:35,920 finance the projects themselves, right? 530 00:20:36,000 - > 00:20:39,920 Um, they need access to finance tools, which are heavily 531 00:20:39,920 - > 00:20:43,279 dependent, again, on the tax credits and subsidy stuff that 532 00:20:43,279 - > 00:20:44,160 we talked about earlier. 533 00:20:44,319 - > 00:20:44,960 That's a problem. 534 00:20:45,119 - > 00:20:47,920 I've pretty much made a career out of networking with people. 535 00:20:48,079 - > 00:20:49,680 Literally, that's how I make a living. 536 00:20:49,920 - > 00:20:52,960 So a lot of what Green Raven does isn't even not, we're not 537 00:20:52,960 - > 00:20:53,759 doing this for money. 538 00:20:53,839 - > 00:20:55,759 We do this because it's the right thing to do. 539 00:20:55,920 - > 00:20:59,599 Is when I'm talking to this company over here, he says, Hey, 540 00:20:59,839 - > 00:21:03,119 I really need a finance tool I can use for, I don't know, 541 00:21:03,279 - > 00:21:06,000 nonprofits with, you know, blah, blah, blah, this situation. 542 00:21:06,079 - > 00:21:06,799 Do you know anybody? 543 00:21:06,960 - > 00:21:07,519 Yes, I do. 544 00:21:07,680 - > 00:21:09,359 I make that connection happen. 545 00:21:09,680 - > 00:21:11,599 I do that all day, every day. 546 00:21:11,759 - > 00:21:12,720 It's just who do you know? 547 00:21:12,799 - > 00:21:13,200 Who do you know? 548 00:21:13,279 - > 00:21:14,640 So I get a lot of those kinds of calls. 549 00:21:14,799 - > 00:21:16,720 A lot of it is finance related. 550 00:21:16,960 - > 00:21:17,200 SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh. 551 00:21:17,359 - > 00:21:19,680 SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that's one side of financing. 552 00:21:19,839 - > 00:21:23,279 And it's really, really important because most, well, if 553 00:21:23,279 - > 00:21:26,480 you actually ask the average American how how they think 554 00:21:26,480 - > 00:21:29,599 solar projects are paid for, they think it's all cash. 555 00:21:29,759 - > 00:21:31,440 It's not, right? 556 00:21:31,839 - > 00:21:34,400 There's a lot of education that needs to happen in that realm. 557 00:21:34,559 - > 00:21:39,759 But even the finance world for solar is still, to me, very it's 558 00:21:39,759 - > 00:21:40,640 not mature yet. 559 00:21:40,799 - > 00:21:42,559 That's the best way, and it's definitely not stable. 560 00:21:42,720 - > 00:21:46,480 And the changing tax situation with random tariffs coming and 561 00:21:46,480 - > 00:21:48,480 going and whatever is not helping. 562 00:21:48,720 - > 00:21:53,839 It makes sure it's very unit's very rocky, best way I can say 563 00:21:53,839 - > 00:21:54,079 that. 564 00:21:54,240 - > 00:21:58,079 So that's one side of finance is how do these solar projects get 565 00:21:58,079 - > 00:21:58,960 financed to begin with? 566 00:21:59,119 - > 00:22:02,319 I do a lot of Connecting the dots and people that I know who 567 00:22:02,319 - > 00:22:04,559 know people and connect them all and ta-da. 568 00:22:05,519 - > 00:22:09,119 Um, the other piece of it is what I alluded to earlier, uh, 569 00:22:09,200 - > 00:22:13,839 that line of credit concept, meaning all those solar 570 00:22:13,839 - > 00:22:16,000 companies, and like I said, there's a ton. 571 00:22:16,240 - > 00:22:20,240 They all think they have to work with CED or sold agent because 572 00:22:20,240 - > 00:22:22,240 that's the only way they can get the line of credit to stay in 573 00:22:22,240 - > 00:22:26,000 business, which means they think they have to pay literally 100% 574 00:22:26,319 - > 00:22:28,559 markups on their hardware because they don't know any 575 00:22:28,559 - > 00:22:28,799 better. 576 00:22:28,960 - > 00:22:30,880 I need to somehow get that education out there. 577 00:22:31,039 - > 00:22:31,920 That you know what? 578 00:22:32,000 - > 00:22:35,759 Don't let that line of credit problem stop you from cutting 579 00:22:35,759 - > 00:22:36,720 your costs in half. 580 00:22:36,880 - > 00:22:37,920 It's totally doable. 581 00:22:38,240 - > 00:22:40,400 You just have to find the right green raven. 582 00:22:40,960 - > 00:22:42,000 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Okay, right, right. 583 00:22:42,079 - > 00:22:44,319 So you're helping educate people, is what I mean. 584 00:22:44,720 - > 00:22:46,079 SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that's a lot of it. 585 00:22:46,240 - > 00:22:48,160 And it's uh it's harder than it sounds. 586 00:22:48,319 - > 00:22:51,440 But if I could get the word out that, hey, man, don't be limited 587 00:22:51,440 - > 00:22:56,400 to paying ridiculous prices to infrastructures that are so 588 00:22:56,400 - > 00:22:59,279 bloated and inefficient, there's a better way. 589 00:22:59,440 - > 00:23:01,200 Uh so that's the other side of finance. 590 00:23:01,279 - > 00:23:03,839 The solar company needs to be able to finance their hardware. 591 00:23:04,079 - > 00:23:07,279 That is what we unlocked uh just a few months ago, which is 592 00:23:07,359 - > 00:23:08,960 that's gonna be a game changer for sure. 593 00:23:09,279 - > 00:23:09,839 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah, okay. 594 00:23:10,000 - > 00:23:12,880 So, like you just said, the current just distribution model 595 00:23:12,960 - > 00:23:14,799 is bloated and expensive. 596 00:23:14,960 - > 00:23:18,400 So, what specifically is broken in the traditional hardware 597 00:23:18,400 - > 00:23:21,119 distribution system and how are you approaching it differently? 598 00:23:21,440 - > 00:23:24,240 SPEAKER_00: A lot of it, well, first of all it's I know I spoke 599 00:23:24,240 - > 00:23:25,279 to some of this. 600 00:23:25,519 - > 00:23:29,359 Those distributors are having a huge operating cost, right? 601 00:23:29,519 - > 00:23:32,319 So this reminds me of a different business I fixed a 602 00:23:32,319 - > 00:23:36,559 long time ago where it was a lot of brick and mortar, uh, which a 603 00:23:36,559 - > 00:23:40,880 lot of it just sat around empty with, I mean, no customers, just 604 00:23:40,880 - > 00:23:41,519 staff. 605 00:23:41,759 - > 00:23:44,720 And I remember looking at that, like, wait a second, this isn't 606 00:23:44,720 - > 00:23:45,680 1954. 607 00:23:45,839 - > 00:23:47,279 This is it, this is dumb. 608 00:23:47,680 - > 00:23:51,519 So I shut down a ton of those, consolidated some stuff, just 609 00:23:51,519 - > 00:23:52,960 kind of re-orgot a business model. 610 00:23:53,039 - > 00:23:54,799 It's like, okay, this now makes sense. 611 00:23:54,960 - > 00:23:57,680 I think this that that same problem holds true in the 612 00:23:57,680 - > 00:24:01,599 distribution model, where you've got a lot of warehouses that are 613 00:24:01,599 - > 00:24:02,559 unnecessary. 614 00:24:02,720 - > 00:24:06,079 They could a lot of now, mind you, sometimes a solar company 615 00:24:06,079 - > 00:24:10,079 might need to buy, I don't know, X some rails for this one 616 00:24:10,079 - > 00:24:12,880 project or a couple of pallets of panels for this one project. 617 00:24:13,119 - > 00:24:13,599 Sure. 618 00:24:14,240 - > 00:24:18,400 In those situations, just the traditional distribution might 619 00:24:18,400 - > 00:24:18,880 make sense. 620 00:24:19,279 - > 00:24:21,599 The pricing is going to be dumb because you're buying such a 621 00:24:21,599 - > 00:24:25,119 small quantity, but okay, that kind of works. 622 00:24:25,200 - > 00:24:28,160 You're still paying ridiculous prices because you have to pay 623 00:24:28,160 - > 00:24:29,279 for the rest of that infrastructure. 624 00:24:29,440 - > 00:24:31,440 So a lot of what we're trying to do is say, you know what? 625 00:24:31,759 - > 00:24:34,720 For the customers out there that are buying, say, commercial, 626 00:24:34,799 - > 00:24:37,440 which uh commercial solar is rapidly growing. 627 00:24:37,519 - > 00:24:39,839 It's gotten insane in the last couple of years. 628 00:24:40,000 - > 00:24:43,680 They're not buying two pallets, they're buying two container 629 00:24:43,680 - > 00:24:44,480 trucks worth. 630 00:24:44,640 - > 00:24:46,799 And if they're buying that from a traditional distributor, 631 00:24:46,880 - > 00:24:49,279 that's just a lack of information and they don't know. 632 00:24:50,160 - > 00:24:54,400 More importantly, if as I think most of them don't understand 633 00:24:54,400 - > 00:24:57,920 the options that are on the market, meaning it doesn't have 634 00:24:57,920 - > 00:25:01,440 to be one of these 10 brand names that you know because 635 00:25:01,440 - > 00:25:03,279 that's what CED carried. 636 00:25:03,440 - > 00:25:03,759 Right. 637 00:25:04,000 - > 00:25:04,319 What? 638 00:25:04,400 - > 00:25:06,400 There's a thousand other products out there. 639 00:25:06,480 - > 00:25:07,440 I'm working with one now. 640 00:25:07,519 - > 00:25:10,240 I'm not going to name drop, but it's the new manufacturing 641 00:25:10,240 - > 00:25:11,119 facility in Georgia. 642 00:25:11,200 - > 00:25:12,559 So it's domestic content. 643 00:25:12,720 - > 00:25:15,359 The product itself, if you nerd out and go through the data 644 00:25:15,359 - > 00:25:18,160 sheet, is significantly better than almost anything on the 645 00:25:18,160 - > 00:25:18,480 market. 646 00:25:18,559 - > 00:25:22,000 And I can get it at half the price of what the name brands 647 00:25:22,000 - > 00:25:23,359 are, and it's a better product. 648 00:25:23,440 - > 00:25:26,079 It's tier one, better temperature coefficiency down 649 00:25:26,079 - > 00:25:28,079 the line, better product, but no one's ever heard of it. 650 00:25:28,240 - > 00:25:28,400 Sure. 651 00:25:28,720 - > 00:25:29,920 How do you get the word out? 652 00:25:30,079 - > 00:25:31,839 That's a major gap right there. 653 00:25:31,920 - > 00:25:35,519 How do you get the education to those solar companies that you 654 00:25:35,519 - > 00:25:35,920 know what? 655 00:25:36,000 - > 00:25:37,680 But you have more options than you're aware of. 656 00:25:37,759 - > 00:25:39,759 And don't let that line of credit thing stop you. 657 00:25:39,920 - > 00:25:41,039 There are better products. 658 00:25:41,359 - > 00:25:41,680 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Right. 659 00:25:41,920 - > 00:25:45,680 Well, and I think it comes down to, like you said, education and 660 00:25:45,920 - > 00:25:49,279 credibility with all these options out there, unless if 661 00:25:49,279 - > 00:25:51,599 it's not being sold by one of the big names, then how do 662 00:25:51,599 - > 00:25:52,160 people trust it? 663 00:25:52,240 - > 00:25:54,400 How do people know that it's a good quality product? 664 00:25:54,720 - > 00:25:56,400 SPEAKER_00: You gotta be a nerd and read the data sheet. 665 00:25:56,640 - > 00:25:58,400 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah, read the read the spec sheet for 666 00:25:58,400 - > 00:25:58,559 sure. 667 00:25:58,640 - > 00:25:58,720 Yeah. 668 00:25:58,960 - > 00:25:59,839 SPEAKER_00: Or just be open to it. 669 00:25:59,920 - > 00:26:01,119 Honestly, that's the real thing. 670 00:26:01,279 - > 00:26:03,119 Just be open to learning about it. 671 00:26:03,359 - > 00:26:03,680 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 672 00:26:03,920 - > 00:26:07,119 Now, are they offering like warranties and such that will 673 00:26:07,119 - > 00:26:09,039 help give some assurance? 674 00:26:09,359 - > 00:26:09,440 Yeah. 675 00:26:10,000 - > 00:26:12,960 SPEAKER_00: The one that I'm alluding to, it's a 30-year 676 00:26:12,960 - > 00:26:16,079 warranty that includes shipping and labor. 677 00:26:16,240 - > 00:26:17,200 No one does this, by the way. 678 00:26:17,279 - > 00:26:19,920 The warranty on a solar panel is just, oh yeah, one of your 679 00:26:19,920 - > 00:26:22,799 panels, you know, takes a nosedive, we'll ship you a new 680 00:26:22,799 - > 00:26:22,960 one. 681 00:26:23,119 - > 00:26:23,759 But you, Mr. 682 00:26:23,839 - > 00:26:26,559 Cusper, have to pay for the shipping cost and the labor cost 683 00:26:26,559 - > 00:26:29,200 to install it, which is way more money than the actual panel 684 00:26:29,200 - > 00:26:29,519 itself. 685 00:26:29,759 - > 00:26:30,000 Right. 686 00:26:31,440 - > 00:26:34,480 From these guys that I'm referring to, that includes all 687 00:26:34,480 - > 00:26:34,799 of it. 688 00:26:34,880 - > 00:26:37,279 It's not just a replacement panel, it's also the shipping 689 00:26:37,279 - > 00:26:38,000 and the labor. 690 00:26:38,160 - > 00:26:39,359 That's a big deal. 691 00:26:39,759 - > 00:26:43,759 Uh, but you you, as a the owner of a solar company, don't even 692 00:26:43,759 - > 00:26:45,440 know this brand exists. 693 00:26:45,680 - > 00:26:47,519 That's the thing that's nuts. 694 00:26:47,680 - > 00:26:49,759 There's better products at half the price with a better 695 00:26:49,759 - > 00:26:51,039 warranty, and you don't know about it. 696 00:26:51,200 - > 00:26:53,359 That's my next hill I have to tackle. 697 00:26:54,640 - > 00:26:56,960 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So you were mentioning like the tax credits 698 00:26:56,960 - > 00:26:57,680 expiring. 699 00:26:57,839 - > 00:27:01,200 And so as tax credits and domestic content rules and 700 00:27:01,200 - > 00:27:04,799 compliance requirements continue to reshape the market, how are 701 00:27:04,799 - > 00:27:07,680 those policy and sourcing pressures changing what 702 00:27:07,680 - > 00:27:10,400 commercial energy buyers need from their partners? 703 00:27:10,960 - > 00:27:13,119 SPEAKER_00: I think increasingly, well, at least in 704 00:27:13,119 - > 00:27:18,000 the commercial world, they are more open to taking a phone 705 00:27:18,000 - > 00:27:18,319 call. 706 00:27:18,480 - > 00:27:21,359 A lot of it's just also just personal contacts because I've 707 00:27:21,359 - > 00:27:22,160 been around a while. 708 00:27:22,240 - > 00:27:24,720 A lot of so I can open some doors maybe. 709 00:27:24,880 - > 00:27:25,279 SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh. 710 00:27:25,519 - > 00:27:26,960 SPEAKER_00: But in the commercial world, because 711 00:27:26,960 - > 00:27:29,359 they're buying larger quantities, and they were 712 00:27:29,359 - > 00:27:33,599 referred to me by Joe Blow, who knows me, trusts me, has worked 713 00:27:33,599 - > 00:27:35,440 with me for God knows how many years. 714 00:27:35,599 - > 00:27:36,720 I can get that phone call. 715 00:27:36,799 - > 00:27:39,519 They're more open to saying, well, hang on a second, I've 716 00:27:39,519 - > 00:27:41,920 never heard of that brand, but send me the data sheet. 717 00:27:42,079 - > 00:27:46,799 Uh, those commercial installers typically aren't as limited by 718 00:27:46,799 - > 00:27:50,640 that line of credit uh line of credit availability, and they're 719 00:27:50,640 - > 00:27:52,160 not buying in small volume. 720 00:27:52,480 - > 00:27:54,880 So that's kind of the direction of like what I'm spending a lot 721 00:27:54,880 - > 00:27:55,759 of my time on now. 722 00:27:55,839 - > 00:27:58,160 They're the it's it's low-hanging fruit because 723 00:27:58,160 - > 00:28:01,039 they're more receptive to options on the market, right? 724 00:28:01,200 - > 00:28:05,440 The chuck in a truck, small residential uh installers, not 725 00:28:05,440 - > 00:28:07,279 as open to change, and they don't know. 726 00:28:07,440 - > 00:28:09,759 And that's uh that's gonna be a long haul. 727 00:28:10,000 - > 00:28:10,960 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Right, yeah. 728 00:28:11,279 - > 00:28:14,079 So, what kind of customers are you best positioned to serve 729 00:28:14,079 - > 00:28:14,400 right now? 730 00:28:14,559 - > 00:28:17,119 And where are you seeing the strongest demand across solar 731 00:28:17,279 - > 00:28:21,359 storage, geothermal, geothermal, and backup generation? 732 00:28:22,079 - > 00:28:24,799 SPEAKER_00: Well, one of the big ones, but I don't know if enough 733 00:28:24,799 - > 00:28:27,440 people, I I know everything's like a buzzword is like AI, 734 00:28:27,519 - > 00:28:27,680 right? 735 00:28:27,759 - > 00:28:30,480 Everyone's like, everyone loves the whole AI buzzword. 736 00:28:30,640 - > 00:28:33,359 They require a lot of electricity. 737 00:28:33,440 - > 00:28:36,960 The data centers, I'm sorry, that are running the AI are uh 738 00:28:37,200 - > 00:28:39,759 oh my god, they use so much electricity. 739 00:28:39,920 - > 00:28:42,960 One decent sized data center is enough as like a small city, 740 00:28:43,119 - > 00:28:43,359 right? 741 00:28:43,519 - > 00:28:45,440 And they're we're still at the early stages. 742 00:28:45,599 - > 00:28:47,440 Where do you think that power comes from? 743 00:28:47,680 - > 00:28:50,160 I mean, if you follow the path, there's tons of documentation. 744 00:28:50,240 - > 00:28:51,599 You can read it on your own. 745 00:28:51,759 - > 00:28:55,680 What happens as the AI keeps growing and that computing power 746 00:28:55,839 - > 00:28:58,079 and the how much electricity they consume? 747 00:28:58,240 - > 00:28:59,680 Where's that power coming from? 748 00:28:59,920 - > 00:29:01,359 I think that's a big one. 749 00:29:01,519 - > 00:29:04,480 I'm very interested in kind of the some of the um partnerships 750 00:29:04,480 - > 00:29:07,119 and calls we've been doing on the geothermal front because 751 00:29:07,119 - > 00:29:10,880 they can produce a lot of electricity, very, very low 752 00:29:10,880 - > 00:29:11,119 cost. 753 00:29:11,279 - > 00:29:12,720 That that's an exciting piece. 754 00:29:12,880 - > 00:29:16,720 How fast we can deploy, I think, is uh to like a new data center 755 00:29:16,720 - > 00:29:18,640 coming online, that's a problem. 756 00:29:18,799 - > 00:29:20,240 There's a big pathway there. 757 00:29:20,400 - > 00:29:22,880 Obviously, in the uh storage is also a big thing. 758 00:29:22,960 - > 00:29:26,160 We talk about grid resiliency, which is not great, and depends 759 00:29:26,160 - > 00:29:27,599 on where you are in the country, of course. 760 00:29:27,680 - > 00:29:29,680 I'm sure if you're in Omaha, it's fine. 761 00:29:29,920 - > 00:29:32,240 If you're anywhere in California, probably not so 762 00:29:32,240 - > 00:29:32,559 fine. 763 00:29:32,799 - > 00:29:33,599 So, yeah. 764 00:29:33,759 - > 00:29:36,240 Um, therefore, batteries become a bigger play. 765 00:29:36,319 - > 00:29:39,359 So, as obviously our electrical grid has gotten older and 766 00:29:39,359 - > 00:29:43,039 degraded over time and not been replaced or upgraded. 767 00:29:43,200 - > 00:29:46,079 I think you're seeing you're gonna see more and more lack of 768 00:29:46,079 - > 00:29:48,799 stability, which is where that battery play is gonna come in. 769 00:29:48,960 - > 00:29:51,440 Uh, we're already starting to see the beginning of that. 770 00:29:51,519 - > 00:29:53,599 There's a lot of opportunity for growth. 771 00:29:53,839 - > 00:29:57,279 Uh, I think panels, solar panels, the technology hasn't 772 00:29:57,359 - > 00:29:59,359 isn't growing by leaps and bounds anymore. 773 00:29:59,440 - > 00:30:01,200 It's growing by millimeters. 774 00:30:01,279 - > 00:30:04,160 The biggest change there is just gonna be opening that supply 775 00:30:04,160 - > 00:30:07,599 base globally, so people start realizing, oh, wait a second, 776 00:30:07,680 - > 00:30:10,720 there's a lot of really, really good product out there at half 777 00:30:10,720 - > 00:30:11,200 the price. 778 00:30:11,359 - > 00:30:13,680 That's gonna be the big change on the solar panel front. 779 00:30:13,839 - > 00:30:18,000 On the storage side, pricing has come way down over the last 10 780 00:30:18,000 - > 00:30:18,240 years. 781 00:30:18,319 - > 00:30:19,119 It's been ridiculous. 782 00:30:19,200 - > 00:30:19,839 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Uh yeah. 783 00:30:20,079 - > 00:30:24,000 SPEAKER_00: Battery that used to be$30,000 uh 10 years ago, you 784 00:30:24,000 - > 00:30:26,880 can now at wholesale, anyways, get that same battery. 785 00:30:26,960 - > 00:30:30,480 I had a call today for a lithium-iron battery where my 786 00:30:30,480 - > 00:30:32,000 cost was twelve hundred dollars. 787 00:30:32,160 - > 00:30:32,480 Wow. 788 00:30:32,720 - > 00:30:33,680 Oh my god. 789 00:30:34,000 - > 00:30:35,119 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: That's that's wild. 790 00:30:35,359 - > 00:30:35,599 Okay. 791 00:30:37,039 - > 00:30:38,079 SPEAKER_00: That's a big difference, right? 792 00:30:38,559 - > 00:30:39,039 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Big difference. 793 00:30:39,119 - > 00:30:39,359 Yeah. 794 00:30:39,519 - > 00:30:42,079 SPEAKER_00: Um, again, when we were talking earlier about the 795 00:30:42,240 - > 00:30:45,759 the how mature the industry was, and I was like, I wouldn't say 796 00:30:45,759 - > 00:30:46,000 that. 797 00:30:46,240 - > 00:30:50,000 It's very much it's got a long way to go, but we're I'm proud 798 00:30:50,000 - > 00:30:51,839 to say we're heading down the right path. 799 00:30:51,920 - > 00:30:55,039 Uh, and I I can't even pick a piece of the industry, like you 800 00:30:55,039 - > 00:30:58,960 said, was it solar panels, storage, is it generators, is it 801 00:30:58,960 - > 00:30:59,920 geothermal? 802 00:31:00,160 - > 00:31:01,839 They all have tremendous potential. 803 00:31:02,000 - > 00:31:05,839 So uh it's really hard to focus on one, but we'll see what I can 804 00:31:05,839 - > 00:31:06,079 do. 805 00:31:06,480 - > 00:31:07,039 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 806 00:31:07,359 - > 00:31:10,720 So when it comes to these large-scale commercial you know 807 00:31:10,880 - > 00:31:15,119 installations, what percentage of their electricity is is 808 00:31:15,119 - > 00:31:15,920 covered by solar? 809 00:31:16,079 - > 00:31:18,319 How much of the overall? 810 00:31:18,640 - > 00:31:18,799 Okay. 811 00:31:19,359 - > 00:31:20,640 SPEAKER_00: Depends on the footprint, right? 812 00:31:20,799 - > 00:31:23,279 I mean, if you're we're talking about something small, like 813 00:31:23,440 - > 00:31:26,960 let's say it was a church, okay, they're not gonna have a ton of 814 00:31:26,960 - > 00:31:27,839 land, right? 815 00:31:28,079 - > 00:31:31,039 They may not have the footprint to cover everything, but 816 00:31:31,519 - > 00:31:35,119 generally speaking, I would say, at least as far as what I've 817 00:31:35,119 - > 00:31:36,640 seen, it's all of it, right? 818 00:31:36,880 - > 00:31:40,640 Um yeah, I don't, I mean, the only limitation is space, and 819 00:31:40,640 - > 00:31:43,920 that's when you start thinking again, I met with a gentleman 820 00:31:43,920 - > 00:31:46,400 building a commercial property here in Northern California, 821 00:31:46,640 - > 00:31:49,839 doesn't have a lot of room, but he needs a constant, very high 822 00:31:49,839 - > 00:31:50,799 volume of electricity. 823 00:31:50,960 - > 00:31:53,440 So the conversation went geothermal, better fit for him. 824 00:31:53,680 - > 00:31:57,839 Very small footprint, and it produces uh enough electricity 825 00:31:57,839 - > 00:32:00,880 to run a city, and it takes a footprint, maybe I don't know, 826 00:32:00,960 - > 00:32:02,240 what was it, 1200 square feet? 827 00:32:02,559 - > 00:32:03,359 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Oh, okay, right. 828 00:32:03,759 - > 00:32:05,599 SPEAKER_00: There's solutions out there, they're still kind of 829 00:32:05,599 - > 00:32:06,480 evolving in time. 830 00:32:06,559 - > 00:32:09,839 But generally speaking, to answer your question if I had 831 00:32:09,839 - > 00:32:12,319 solar on my property, what percentage am I expecting that 832 00:32:12,319 - > 00:32:13,039 solar to cover? 833 00:32:13,200 - > 00:32:13,839 All of it. 834 00:32:14,160 - > 00:32:15,200 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Okay, right. 835 00:32:15,440 - > 00:32:18,480 And are there circumstances where it even feeds back into 836 00:32:18,480 - > 00:32:20,880 the grid and then they're getting uh credit? 837 00:32:22,559 - > 00:32:24,640 SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you're in depends on what state you're in 838 00:32:24,720 - > 00:32:26,799 or what utility you're under, I should say. 839 00:32:27,039 - > 00:32:29,359 There are some, it's there's a lot, it's called net metering, 840 00:32:29,599 - > 00:32:32,319 though how you're overproducting because during your solar is 841 00:32:32,400 - > 00:32:34,000 only making electricity during the day. 842 00:32:34,160 - > 00:32:36,960 Well, if you're only using that much of it, what happened to the 843 00:32:36,960 - > 00:32:37,359 other bit? 844 00:32:37,599 - > 00:32:40,240 Well, you're either storing that into a battery or you're selling 845 00:32:40,240 - > 00:32:40,960 it to the utility. 846 00:32:41,119 - > 00:32:44,400 In some utilities, it works out great, like a lot of the markets 847 00:32:44,400 - > 00:32:47,279 in Texas, for example, uh, will have a one-to-one ratio. 848 00:32:47,440 - > 00:32:50,640 Meaning, if I kicked over, I don't know, make up a number of 849 00:32:50,640 - > 00:32:53,680 500 kilowatt hours of electricity surplus to the grid, 850 00:32:53,839 - > 00:32:56,640 then that night, when I'm using electricity from the grid, my 851 00:32:56,640 - > 00:32:58,559 first 500 kilowatt hours was free, right? 852 00:32:58,720 - > 00:33:00,000 That's a one-to-one ratio. 853 00:33:00,160 - > 00:33:01,599 In some markets, it doesn't work like that. 854 00:33:01,759 - > 00:33:03,119 California definitely doesn't. 855 00:33:03,279 - > 00:33:04,160 You're gonna sell it. 856 00:33:04,240 - > 00:33:06,480 I'm in, I'm personally in Northern California, so it's 857 00:33:06,720 - > 00:33:08,640 PGE, Pacific Gas and Electric. 858 00:33:08,799 - > 00:33:11,519 Running price, probably around 40 cents a kilowatt hour when 859 00:33:11,519 - > 00:33:13,680 you're depending on the time of day and all that and time of 860 00:33:13,680 - > 00:33:13,839 year. 861 00:33:14,000 - > 00:33:17,279 If you're pushing electricity to the grid, depending on time of 862 00:33:17,279 - > 00:33:20,160 day and blah, blah, blah, month of the year, you're gonna get on 863 00:33:20,160 - > 00:33:23,599 average maybe two and a half to three cents a kilowatt hour for 864 00:33:23,599 - > 00:33:26,319 the power you give them, but then you're buying it back later 865 00:33:26,319 - > 00:33:28,079 that night at 40 cents more. 866 00:33:28,319 - > 00:33:29,279 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: That's insane. 867 00:33:29,440 - > 00:33:30,079 SPEAKER_00: That's nuts. 868 00:33:30,240 - > 00:33:33,680 I'm gonna sell you this for two dollars and I'm gonna buy it 869 00:33:33,680 - > 00:33:35,599 back for$40 in about three hours. 870 00:33:35,920 - > 00:33:36,160 Right. 871 00:33:36,319 - > 00:33:37,680 No, that makes no sense. 872 00:33:38,240 - > 00:33:40,319 Right, which is why you have batteries in California because 873 00:33:41,039 - > 00:33:41,920 you have to be to the grid. 874 00:33:42,319 - > 00:33:45,440 So the answer that's a hard one because it just varies by 875 00:33:45,440 - > 00:33:46,480 utility and location. 876 00:33:46,720 - > 00:33:46,960 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 877 00:33:47,119 - > 00:33:50,880 And on average, what would you say is the time for return on 878 00:33:50,880 - > 00:33:51,200 investment? 879 00:33:51,519 - > 00:33:54,559 SPEAKER_00: Again, that's gonna vary on where you are and how 880 00:33:54,559 - > 00:33:55,279 you finance it. 881 00:33:55,519 - > 00:33:58,400 If you went with what's called a power purchase agreement, PPA, 882 00:33:58,480 - > 00:34:00,400 you're just paying for the electricity the system makes. 883 00:34:00,559 - > 00:34:00,960 That's it. 884 00:34:01,039 - > 00:34:04,640 So you're literally saving money the first day it got turned on 885 00:34:04,799 - > 00:34:06,480 and probably for the next few decades. 886 00:34:06,720 - > 00:34:08,079 So there's no ROI discussion. 887 00:34:08,159 - > 00:34:10,000 I have read this on Reddit a thousand times. 888 00:34:10,079 - > 00:34:11,199 Hey, what's my ROI on this? 889 00:34:11,280 - > 00:34:13,039 How long is it gonna take to break even? 890 00:34:13,360 - > 00:34:13,920 Depends. 891 00:34:14,000 - > 00:34:15,199 Are you paying cash for it? 892 00:34:15,360 - > 00:34:16,800 Are you doing a PPA? 893 00:34:16,960 - > 00:34:18,719 Kind of like a lease, if you think of it that way. 894 00:34:18,800 - > 00:34:19,039 Okay. 895 00:34:19,199 - > 00:34:19,440 SPEAKER_02: Yeah. 896 00:34:19,599 - > 00:34:22,880 SPEAKER_00: Um, if I'm paying cash for it, other variables, 897 00:34:23,039 - > 00:34:24,159 what's my utility price? 898 00:34:24,320 - > 00:34:27,519 Am I in, I don't know, Missouri, where the average price of 899 00:34:27,519 - > 00:34:31,840 electricity is 12 cents, or am I in Sacramento where my average 900 00:34:31,840 - > 00:34:34,000 price is, you know, maybe 40 cents? 901 00:34:34,719 - > 00:34:36,320 Thinking per kilowatt hour, right? 902 00:34:36,480 - > 00:34:40,480 So that payback period wildly varies, depends on where you 903 00:34:40,480 - > 00:34:40,719 are. 904 00:34:41,039 - > 00:34:42,159 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Got yeah, that makes sense. 905 00:34:42,400 - > 00:34:43,920 SPEAKER_00: I mean, never. 906 00:34:44,000 - > 00:34:45,920 I can't even imagine a place where it's not. 907 00:34:46,079 - > 00:34:47,920 I that's it's ridiculous. 908 00:34:48,000 - > 00:34:48,639 Yeah. 909 00:34:49,599 - > 00:34:51,199 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: So when you look at the competitive 910 00:34:51,199 - > 00:34:54,079 landscape, what will separate the winners from the companies 911 00:34:54,079 - > 00:34:55,679 that struggle over the next few years? 912 00:34:56,079 - > 00:34:57,199 SPEAKER_00: Building better relationships. 913 00:34:57,360 - > 00:34:58,480 Well, let's break that up. 914 00:34:58,639 - > 00:35:01,920 If you're referring to my industry, distribution, build 915 00:35:01,920 - > 00:35:03,199 really good relationships. 916 00:35:03,360 - > 00:35:04,639 That's a big piece of it. 917 00:35:04,880 - > 00:35:08,639 Because if I'm working with some company that I found on an ad, I 918 00:35:08,639 - > 00:35:12,639 clicked on a LinkedIn, they're out of whatever random country, 919 00:35:12,719 - > 00:35:14,880 and it's just because I saw a price that looked really 920 00:35:14,880 - > 00:35:16,400 appealing and I bought it. 921 00:35:16,639 - > 00:35:18,880 Okay, do you have a relationship with them? 922 00:35:19,039 - > 00:35:21,840 What if you get that palette and some of it's broken or it didn't 923 00:35:21,840 - > 00:35:22,800 show up on time? 924 00:35:22,960 - > 00:35:26,079 Or I've had this happen where the first half of the top of 925 00:35:26,079 - > 00:35:28,559 that palette was the correct product, but the bottom half was 926 00:35:28,559 - > 00:35:29,920 some other brand, right? 927 00:35:30,400 - > 00:35:31,679 That's happened before too. 928 00:35:31,760 - > 00:35:33,920 SPEAKER_02: So oh, yeah, I know. 929 00:35:34,079 - > 00:35:36,559 SPEAKER_00: So when you call your distributor who sent that 930 00:35:36,559 - > 00:35:37,840 to you, do they answer the phone? 931 00:35:38,000 - > 00:35:39,119 Do they solve the problem? 932 00:35:39,440 - > 00:35:42,719 Will they take a loss on something just to make things 933 00:35:42,719 - > 00:35:42,960 right? 934 00:35:43,440 - > 00:35:43,920 Probably not. 935 00:35:44,000 - > 00:35:46,079 If it's some rando you found on LinkedIn. 936 00:35:46,320 - > 00:35:49,360 Whereas if you were working with Brain Raven, you're just gonna 937 00:35:49,360 - > 00:35:51,519 call me, or you're gonna call Jason, or you're gonna call 938 00:35:51,519 - > 00:35:54,559 somebody on my staff, um, and we're gonna make it right. 939 00:35:54,719 - > 00:35:58,159 So I think that that's a big differentiator in terms of in my 940 00:35:58,159 - > 00:36:00,320 industry is are you responsive? 941 00:36:00,800 - > 00:36:01,760 Are you responsible? 942 00:36:02,000 - > 00:36:03,199 Are you gonna just do the right thing? 943 00:36:03,360 - > 00:36:05,920 Even if it means you kind of take it in the shorts a little 944 00:36:05,920 - > 00:36:07,599 bit every now and then, it's okay. 945 00:36:07,840 - > 00:36:08,719 You gotta do the right thing. 946 00:36:08,880 - > 00:36:10,880 I think that's a big differentiator in my world. 947 00:36:10,960 - > 00:36:13,920 Now, from the other side of it, when you look at solar 948 00:36:13,920 - > 00:36:16,559 installers, for example, it's such a hot mess. 949 00:36:16,639 - > 00:36:18,800 We were talking about how immature the industry is. 950 00:36:18,960 - > 00:36:21,840 Those that are out there that I've got a friend of mine who 951 00:36:21,840 - > 00:36:25,280 owns a solar company just east of San Francisco, and he knows 952 00:36:25,280 - > 00:36:28,800 how to read spreadsheets, do budgets, do job cost analysis. 953 00:36:28,960 - > 00:36:30,400 He's a true businessman. 954 00:36:30,559 - > 00:36:34,000 I mean, he really, really runs a well-run company because he 955 00:36:34,000 - > 00:36:34,719 knows what he's doing. 956 00:36:34,880 - > 00:36:35,840 That's going to differentiate. 957 00:36:36,159 - > 00:36:38,719 That's why he's been in business for 17 years and probably still 958 00:36:38,719 - > 00:36:39,679 will be, right? 959 00:36:39,920 - > 00:36:41,760 Whereas a lot of solar companies coming up. 960 00:36:41,840 - > 00:36:45,840 So from the solar installer side of the business, those that make 961 00:36:45,840 - > 00:36:48,719 it are those that actually have someone on board who knows what 962 00:36:48,719 - > 00:36:51,199 the heck he's doing or she's doing, right? 963 00:36:51,760 - > 00:36:53,519 And a lot of them do not. 964 00:36:53,760 - > 00:36:56,719 And so that's why you're seeing a lot of solar companies fold 965 00:36:56,719 - > 00:36:56,960 right now. 966 00:36:57,039 - > 00:36:59,519 So those are two different uh industries, right? 967 00:36:59,679 - > 00:37:02,880 I'm not the installer, but I do know what they need to work. 968 00:37:03,280 - > 00:37:03,440 unknown: Right. 969 00:37:03,679 - > 00:37:05,760 SPEAKER_00: I'm a targeter, and I know what they need to work 970 00:37:05,840 - > 00:37:06,159 too. 971 00:37:06,400 - > 00:37:07,840 Good relationships, right? 972 00:37:07,920 - > 00:37:09,360 Yeah, that sounds so lame. 973 00:37:09,440 - > 00:37:09,760 I get it. 974 00:37:10,000 - > 00:37:11,599 That's what it's true. 975 00:37:12,000 - > 00:37:12,559 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Hope it's true. 976 00:37:12,639 - > 00:37:13,039 It's true. 977 00:37:13,760 - > 00:37:16,559 Now you've you've built companies, fix companies, and 978 00:37:16,559 - > 00:37:18,239 helped scale teams repeatedly. 979 00:37:18,480 - > 00:37:21,519 What is different about building your own company versus helping 980 00:37:21,519 - > 00:37:23,039 someone else grow theirs? 981 00:37:24,000 - > 00:37:25,440 SPEAKER_00: I don't have a security blanket. 982 00:37:25,519 - > 00:37:26,800 There is no safety net. 983 00:37:27,519 - > 00:37:28,639 That's it, right? 984 00:37:28,800 - > 00:37:31,199 When you're you're brought on board as a I don't know, 985 00:37:31,280 - > 00:37:34,559 managing director or whatever company, whether it's temporary 986 00:37:34,559 - > 00:37:36,719 or permanent, whatever, yeah, you probably have a nice 987 00:37:36,800 - > 00:37:38,320 cushy-based salary, right? 988 00:37:38,400 - > 00:37:39,440 You've got a comfort zone. 989 00:37:39,599 - > 00:37:40,880 You can make mistakes. 990 00:37:41,039 - > 00:37:43,679 Uh, you'll still have a job next week. 991 00:37:43,840 - > 00:37:48,639 Um, when you're doing your own thing, as I am, uh there is no 992 00:37:48,639 - > 00:37:49,440 safety net. 993 00:37:50,079 - > 00:37:53,119 So I think the majority of people are probably too 994 00:37:53,119 - > 00:37:59,280 risk-averse to uh do this, which I can tell you that my ex-spouse 995 00:37:59,280 - > 00:38:03,360 is definitely in that camp or did not like the level of stress 996 00:38:03,360 - > 00:38:04,320 I'm willing to take. 997 00:38:04,480 - > 00:38:04,800 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 998 00:38:04,880 - > 00:38:07,280 SPEAKER_00: Um, because I'm okay operating in that gray zone 999 00:38:07,280 - > 00:38:08,000 where there is no certainty. 1000 00:38:08,320 - > 00:38:09,280 That's the big thing. 1001 00:38:09,519 - > 00:38:11,840 You have to do this, you're gonna have to be brave. 1002 00:38:12,079 - > 00:38:12,559 Bravery. 1003 00:38:12,800 - > 00:38:14,159 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: A lot of risk, but on the other side, 1004 00:38:14,320 - > 00:38:17,039 flip side, the potential for great rewards as well. 1005 00:38:17,280 - > 00:38:17,679 SPEAKER_00: That's correct. 1006 00:38:17,760 - > 00:38:19,440 I've enjoyed some rewards too, yes. 1007 00:38:19,599 - > 00:38:19,840 Yeah. 1008 00:38:20,079 - > 00:38:21,760 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: And then there's, I mean, what I love is 1009 00:38:21,760 - > 00:38:22,639 like the flexibility. 1010 00:38:22,719 - > 00:38:24,079 I can set my own schedule. 1011 00:38:24,239 - > 00:38:27,920 I have the um, I can be creative in what I focus on and you know 1012 00:38:28,000 - > 00:38:30,079 how I can make diversify. 1013 00:38:30,480 - > 00:38:32,800 SPEAKER_00: And it's gonna hurt, but I'm also gonna learn from 1014 00:38:32,800 - > 00:38:32,960 it. 1015 00:38:33,039 - > 00:38:35,519 And then from what I just learned, I'm going to make more 1016 00:38:35,519 - > 00:38:36,079 money from it. 1017 00:38:36,320 - > 00:38:36,960 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah, yeah. 1018 00:38:37,119 - > 00:38:39,599 SPEAKER_00: And it's just that willingness to accept risk and 1019 00:38:39,760 - > 00:38:40,559 the freedom of it. 1020 00:38:40,639 - > 00:38:41,840 Yeah, it's pretty awesome. 1021 00:38:41,920 - > 00:38:43,039 It's definitely not for everybody. 1022 00:38:43,760 - > 00:38:44,480 Not for everybody. 1023 00:38:44,719 - > 00:38:47,920 Trust me, my mom's been telling me for 20 years, Andrew, I wish 1024 00:38:47,920 - > 00:38:50,400 you would just go get a real job. 1025 00:38:51,280 - > 00:38:52,079 Right, right. 1026 00:38:52,239 - > 00:38:52,559 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah. 1027 00:38:52,880 - > 00:38:54,559 SPEAKER_00: Look, mom, I'm must not be. 1028 00:38:54,960 - > 00:38:56,719 You gotta know me by now. 1029 00:38:57,840 - > 00:38:59,679 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Now you've emphasized the power of 1030 00:38:59,679 - > 00:39:02,800 relationships, phone calls, and real networking in a world that 1031 00:39:02,800 - > 00:39:05,840 often defaults to automation and text-based communication. 1032 00:39:06,000 - > 00:39:08,880 Why do you think that human connection still matters so much 1033 00:39:08,880 - > 00:39:10,400 in business development? 1034 00:39:10,880 - > 00:39:12,639 SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like what I was just saying a minute 1035 00:39:12,639 - > 00:39:12,960 ago. 1036 00:39:13,119 - > 00:39:17,199 Meaning, if something goes wrong, and it will, it just 1037 00:39:17,199 - > 00:39:19,679 will, you're gonna get the wrong product, not shipped to the 1038 00:39:19,679 - > 00:39:20,880 right place, shipped to the wrong time. 1039 00:39:21,039 - > 00:39:23,440 They didn't give you as much as you had ordered, and you got a 1040 00:39:23,440 - > 00:39:26,559 whole crew on a job site and everything's going sideways on 1041 00:39:26,559 - > 00:39:27,199 something. 1042 00:39:28,079 - > 00:39:30,320 You need to be able to call somebody and talk to them. 1043 00:39:30,559 - > 00:39:32,559 And you need to have faith that they're gonna pick up the phone 1044 00:39:32,559 - > 00:39:34,159 and solve your problem, right? 1045 00:39:34,400 - > 00:39:37,840 Um, I'll not call out the distributor that used to always 1046 00:39:37,840 - > 00:39:40,400 insist that this is back when I was running a solar company, 1047 00:39:40,559 - > 00:39:42,800 everything had to be delivered straight to the job site. 1048 00:39:43,119 - > 00:39:46,239 And we'll call it 15% of the time. 1049 00:39:46,320 - > 00:39:48,639 I got the wrong materials, not delivered to the right place, 1050 00:39:48,719 - > 00:39:49,760 not delivered at the wrong time. 1051 00:39:49,920 - > 00:39:51,039 There was always a problem. 1052 00:39:51,199 - > 00:39:51,440 Right. 1053 00:39:51,920 - > 00:39:55,199 All I could do was text somebody for resolution. 1054 00:39:55,440 - > 00:39:58,800 Oh my good lord, I've got seven guys on a job site. 1055 00:39:58,960 - > 00:40:01,039 I'm paying right now, right? 1056 00:40:01,280 - > 00:40:02,800 I need a resolution right now. 1057 00:40:02,960 - > 00:40:05,199 I'm not emailing you for resolution. 1058 00:40:05,360 - > 00:40:05,760 Exactly. 1059 00:40:05,920 - > 00:40:06,159 Right? 1060 00:40:06,719 - > 00:40:07,760 That's why it's important. 1061 00:40:07,840 - > 00:40:09,920 So when you're doing business development, it's the same 1062 00:40:09,920 - > 00:40:10,239 thing. 1063 00:40:10,320 - > 00:40:13,679 Uh, if I let's say I was a sales guy, which obviously I used to 1064 00:40:13,679 - > 00:40:15,679 be, uh, why would you buy from me? 1065 00:40:16,159 - > 00:40:20,000 Probably because you know, I don't sound pushy or salesy, and 1066 00:40:20,000 - > 00:40:21,599 you can always get me on the phone. 1067 00:40:21,840 - > 00:40:23,679 Uh yeah, kind of always. 1068 00:40:24,000 - > 00:40:25,440 Um that's what people buy. 1069 00:40:25,599 - > 00:40:28,880 It's not because I had a really cute marketing funnel on 1070 00:40:28,880 - > 00:40:33,280 Facebook or I auto-responded or auto-texted, or nothing wrong 1071 00:40:33,280 - > 00:40:34,239 with drip campaigns. 1072 00:40:34,400 - > 00:40:35,679 I get it, they have their place. 1073 00:40:35,840 - > 00:40:38,719 But no one's uh no one's gonna build, you know, buy long term 1074 00:40:38,719 - > 00:40:41,440 from you or work with you in a long term on a larger scale to 1075 00:40:41,440 - > 00:40:45,119 help you scale your business if you're solely reliant on that. 1076 00:40:45,599 - > 00:40:47,280 That also speaks to a generational thing. 1077 00:40:47,440 - > 00:40:50,320 I recognize I'm obviously in my 50s where I grew up in a world 1078 00:40:50,320 - > 00:40:52,639 where yeah, you call people and you talk to them on the phone. 1079 00:40:52,719 - > 00:40:54,880 Uh, whereas a lot of the employees I've had that are 1080 00:40:54,880 - > 00:40:57,119 three decades younger, they don't call you. 1081 00:40:57,280 - > 00:40:59,119 Everything has got to be an email or a text. 1082 00:40:59,199 - > 00:41:00,320 I don't know if they're afraid of the phone. 1083 00:41:00,400 - > 00:41:02,320 They didn't know that building relationship. 1084 00:41:02,400 - > 00:41:04,880 I'm not sure what the generational gap is, but it's a 1085 00:41:04,880 - > 00:41:05,519 real business problem. 1086 00:41:05,679 - > 00:41:08,000 I've had this conversation with many of my friends for many, 1087 00:41:08,079 - > 00:41:08,639 many years. 1088 00:41:08,800 - > 00:41:10,000 Yeah, what a failure. 1089 00:41:10,239 - > 00:41:11,119 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Yeah, it is. 1090 00:41:11,199 - > 00:41:12,000 And no, you're right. 1091 00:41:12,079 - > 00:41:13,519 It is a oh man. 1092 00:41:13,679 - > 00:41:14,320 Yeah, yeah. 1093 00:41:14,559 - > 00:41:16,559 Where we used to fight for the phone, right? 1094 00:41:16,800 - > 00:41:18,880 To get a chance to call our friends or whatever. 1095 00:41:18,960 - > 00:41:20,960 And now they're like, I'm not gonna call you. 1096 00:41:22,079 - > 00:41:25,440 I'm gonna Snapchat you or you know, text you or whatever. 1097 00:41:25,679 - > 00:41:27,119 SPEAKER_00: Hey, well, if it's something simple like pick up 1098 00:41:27,199 - > 00:41:28,639 milk on the way home, send me a text. 1099 00:41:28,800 - > 00:41:29,119 That's fine. 1100 00:41:29,519 - > 00:41:30,320 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Sure, sure, right. 1101 00:41:30,480 - > 00:41:33,039 Yeah, or if you're in a meeting, don't want to be interrupted or 1102 00:41:33,039 - > 00:41:35,119 some it's not time sensitive, right? 1103 00:41:35,280 - > 00:41:35,840 But yeah, yeah. 1104 00:41:36,000 - > 00:41:39,360 Yeah, that phone call and relationships and just I mean, I 1105 00:41:39,360 - > 00:41:42,400 mean, it's cultivating trust, you know, I think. 1106 00:41:42,480 - > 00:41:44,000 And and uh yeah. 1107 00:41:44,639 - > 00:41:48,400 So final question, Andrew, as you look ahead, what's your 1108 00:41:48,400 - > 00:41:50,239 broader vision for Green Raven? 1109 00:41:50,400 - > 00:41:52,960 And what advice would you give to entrepreneurs or commercial 1110 00:41:52,960 - > 00:41:55,840 energy leaders trying to build something meaningful in a fast 1111 00:41:55,920 - > 00:41:56,880 changing market? 1112 00:41:58,079 - > 00:41:59,360 SPEAKER_00: Be informed. 1113 00:42:00,159 - > 00:42:02,239 Honestly, that's the so much. 1114 00:42:02,320 - > 00:42:04,400 That's like such a vague answer I know. 1115 00:42:05,199 - > 00:42:08,719 Obviously, today's world is all about tax credits and blah, 1116 00:42:08,800 - > 00:42:09,440 blah, blah, blah, blah. 1117 00:42:09,920 - > 00:42:12,320 I know everything I could possibly get my hands on because 1118 00:42:12,320 - > 00:42:15,440 this is what I do when I'm not actively working, is I'm reading 1119 00:42:15,440 - > 00:42:20,239 about fiat compliance and whatever tax situations and what 1120 00:42:20,239 - > 00:42:22,320 manufacturers and how the components work. 1121 00:42:22,400 - > 00:42:24,079 And I need to be informed. 1122 00:42:24,239 - > 00:42:27,039 So that'd be one learn your market, whatever your industry 1123 00:42:27,039 - > 00:42:28,639 is, learn it inside and out. 1124 00:42:29,039 - > 00:42:30,480 Uh, gather data. 1125 00:42:30,639 - > 00:42:34,000 I mean, for God's sake, if you're an installer, job cost 1126 00:42:34,000 - > 00:42:35,519 analysis matters. 1127 00:42:36,000 - > 00:42:36,960 It just does. 1128 00:42:37,119 - > 00:42:39,679 You need to know where the holes in the boat are. 1129 00:42:39,920 - > 00:42:42,639 If you're not doing job cost analysis, you have no idea. 1130 00:42:42,880 - > 00:42:43,679 You're just guessing. 1131 00:42:43,760 - > 00:42:47,360 I've seen that a ton of times, and I don't get it. 1132 00:42:47,519 - > 00:42:50,320 Gather data points, make decisions based on data. 1133 00:42:50,559 - > 00:42:52,719 And if you don't know how to, then hire someone who does. 1134 00:42:52,960 - > 00:42:55,039 That's probably the best staying that's part of staying informed. 1135 00:42:55,119 - > 00:42:55,519 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: Be informed. 1136 00:42:56,159 - > 00:42:56,480 Right, right. 1137 00:42:56,639 - > 00:42:59,039 Data start knowing your numbers, exactly. 1138 00:42:59,360 - > 00:43:00,719 Yeah, and be informed. 1139 00:43:00,880 - > 00:43:02,000 That's great advice. 1140 00:43:02,400 - > 00:43:04,000 Andrew, thank you for joining me. 1141 00:43:04,159 - > 00:43:07,199 How can listeners learn more about you and Green Raven? 1142 00:43:07,440 - > 00:43:09,440 SPEAKER_00: Well, obviously, anyone could go to our website, 1143 00:43:09,519 - > 00:43:12,159 which is just go greenraven.com. 1144 00:43:12,239 - > 00:43:13,760 There's tons of info on the company. 1145 00:43:13,840 - > 00:43:15,760 Uh, obviously, you can schedule a call with me. 1146 00:43:15,840 - > 00:43:18,480 I was probably one of the very first LinkedIn users, well, 1147 00:43:18,559 - > 00:43:19,840 actually, I was ever. 1148 00:43:20,239 - > 00:43:20,400 Wow. 1149 00:43:21,360 - > 00:43:25,440 So I'm very easy to find on LinkedIn, except I talk to 1150 00:43:25,440 - > 00:43:25,920 almost everybody. 1151 00:43:26,000 - > 00:43:29,039 It's one of my mentors told me a long time ago accept a call from 1152 00:43:29,039 - > 00:43:29,360 anybody. 1153 00:43:29,440 - > 00:43:30,800 You never know where it's going to lead you. 1154 00:43:30,960 - > 00:43:31,599 And I do. 1155 00:43:31,760 - > 00:43:33,519 So anyone could reach out anytime. 1156 00:43:33,760 - > 00:43:34,159 Dr. Leeanne Aguilar: All right. 1157 00:43:34,320 - > 00:43:35,199 Well, thank you. 1158 00:43:35,679 - > 00:43:38,320 And thank you to our listeners for tuning in to Industry 1159 00:43:38,320 - > 00:43:38,880 Ignited. 1160 00:43:39,039 - > 00:43:41,599 Be sure to subscribe and join us for the next episode. 1161 00:43:41,760 - > 00:43:45,440 Until next time, stay bold, stay curious, and keep igniting 1162 00:43:45,440 - > 00:43:46,239 industry.