The Cleantech Avenger

As with most super heroes, I enjoy the schedule and work-life balance of being a freelance worker. There was that ill-fated attempt to unionize the avenger industry years ago, but the nocturnal schedules and lack of superpower parity sank the effort.

I’m particularly happy being my own boss these days with the incredible amount of bad management news coming from the industry.

Firstly, there is the slew of C-level exec departures:

• Bart Tichelman resigned today from his position as CEO of Arise Technologies, leaving the company looking for a permanent replacement.
• COO, President and co-founder Nat Kreamer departed SunRun in late February, leaving fellow co-founder Lynn Jurich as president.
• Two high profile CFO positions opened up late last year: Verenium lost CFO John A. McCarthy Jr., and Ballard Power Systems parted ways with CFO David S. Smith.
• Virent Energy Systems named Lee Edwards as CEO after founder Eric Apfelbach moved to M2E Power, a move he says he made on his own terms.

Add to this last week’s news from troubled Imperium Renewables that it laid off 24 employees, and it’s a messy management picture. Despite having nerves of recycled steel, I don’t deal well this kind of volatility.

Cleantech vengeance is thankfully a very steady business.

With my super ear to the ground, I’ve also heard some chatter around Silicon Valley about more struggles at Ausra. After a change of strategy and round of layoffs in January, I used my super Internet and saw that their CFO seat is still empty. Not good news. Maybe a sign of something larger? We’ll see.

A rose by any other name...

I’m known for certain powers (the ability to gather and publish news in a single day), but marketing is not one of them. Maybe then it’s beyond my super ability to understand the amazing amount of name-swapping that’s going on out there.

I’ve noticed before the underwhelming creativity that goes into name changes at cleantech companies. But recently, my inbox has been filling up with these not-worth-the-paper-they’re-printed-on notices, leaving me scratching my head as to why a company scraps a perfectly good name and makes yours truly spend my Friday night updating my Rolodex instead of guiding my avatar to meet up with friends for a beer in Second Life.

A few of the gems: AVA Solar magically transformed itself into Abound Solar, EverQ was reborn as Sovello, and Earth Biofuels changed to Evolution Energy. Here at Cleantech Avenger LLC, we have one name and stick with it. I was also smart enough to register my iconic name many years ago.

World's best boss

I’ve perhaps never appreciated my caped, freelance, boss-less status more than after hearing the twisted tale of trust and deceit at Tesla Motors. Apparently, a disgruntled employee leaked the news of a dangerously low $9 million cash balance to the press.

CEO Elon Musk dug up the rapscallion thanks to an outside firm that dusted for fingerprints on a copier. Musk wasn’t content with the public apology from the offender, choosing to give him the boot. Not to leave well enough alone, Musk took it upon himself to root out any other potential leaks by channeling his inner McCarthy.

He fashioned an e-mail with a digital fingerprint and slightly altered verbiage and sent it out with a new nondisclosure agreement. The best laid plan ultimately failed because Musk didn’t reveal this to any of his executives, one of whom forwarded the email companywide and exposed the ruse, making a mockery of the effort.

It’s not the first time e-mail has made a mockery of Musk. Last month, he sent an e-mail to customers to proclaim that the “Department of Energy informed Tesla last week that they expect to disburse funds from our $350M Model S loan application within four to five months.” Problem is, Tesla hasn’t been awarded any funds.

It’s not all bad news, though. I’ve been hearing interesting rumors of a new non-toxic solar technology from Paul Hawken of Natural Capitalism fame, a long time proponent of biomimicry and a voice against the “heat, beat and treat” school of production.

As always, The Cleantech Avenger will be on this one for you, fighting untruth and greenwashing wherever I find it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Invoices due 30 days from date super services rendered.

Hey, I’m freelance remember?

See something happening in the industry that we should know about? Misbehaving CEOs? Other scuttlebutt? As always, your friendly Avenger welcomes industry tips.