Growing Accelsius with Josh Claman

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.

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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