Activated Scale

In this episode of the How I'm Building This Podcast, Prateek interviews Josh Claman from Accelsius who shares his journey from a small farm town in Illinois to leading a cutting-edge cooling technology company. He discusses the importance of hiring for curiosity, collaboration, and kindness, and how transparent communication fosters a positive company culture. Josh elaborates on the founding story of Accelsius, the revolutionary cooling solutions they provide, and the challenges of scaling a hard tech company. He also reflects on common misconceptions about following one's passion and emphasizes the importance of managing mental health as a CEO.

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Takeaways:

Josh Claman's journey reflects a global perspective shaped by diverse experiences.
Hiring is a critical challenge; curiosity and kindness are key traits to look for.
Transparent communication fosters trust and aligns teams with the company's mission.
Accelsius aims to revolutionize cooling solutions for high-density chips.
Educating the market is essential for overcoming objections to new technology.
Sales cycles can be long due to the need for proof of concept.
Key metrics include pipeline growth and proposal conversion rates.
Cross-functional collaboration is vital for team alignment and success.
Common advice like 'follow your passion' can be misleading for early-career professionals.
Managing mental health is crucial for maintaining effectiveness as a CEO.

Sound Bites:

"I want people to smile in the office."
"Follow your passion is terrible advice."
"Every day is a new problem to solve."

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In this episode, we cover:

00:00 Journey to Accelsius: A CEO's Background

03:11 Hiring for Success: Identifying Top Talent

07:37 Building a Transparent and Trusting Company Culture

12:56 Founding Accelsius: The Vision Behind the Company

17:25 Revolutionizing Cooling Solutions: The Problem We're Solving

21:01 Messaging the Edge: Educating Prospective Customers

24:19 Key Metrics for Growth and Health

26:43 Cross-Functional Collaboration: Ensuring Team Alignment

28:22 Debunking Common Advice: The Reality of Passion

31:12 Managing Mental Health as a CEO

33:15 Looking Ahead: Scaling Accelsius
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Where to find Josh:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-claman-3438731/

Accelsius: www.accelsius.com

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Where to find Prateek:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prateekmathur

Activated Scale: ⁠https://www.activatedscale.com⁠

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For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email prateek@activatedscale.com

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Prateek Mathur

Before founding Activated Scale, Prateek spent the last 20 years selling for and building sales teams at startups and public companies. He has won numerous awards and recognitions over his sales career. Over the last 5 years, he has advised a number of startups on their GTM, sales hiring etc. Prateek has intricately seen the pitfalls that startups face when scaling their business and hiring sales talent. With Activated Scale, he aims to make sales hiring easier by connecting companies with experienced US-based sales talent fractionally. Prateek is fascinated by the drive of a startup founder and loves their passion, vision and mission to reimagine our world.