Welcome to our Meet the CEO series of brief interviews with Activate portfolio company leaders. Our first interview is with Omnidian CEO and co-founder Mark Liffmann. Ominidian provides a monitoring, analytics, and servicing platform for clean energy assets.
Mark is a fifteen-year veteran of the solar industry who co-founded the residential and light commercial business at SunPower and developed a $500 million global enterprise before co-founding Omnidian. He previously held executive leadership positions at Clean Power Research, enerG2 and Solar Depot (Soligent). He holds degrees in Physics and Public Policy from Stanford, and Economics and Law from Harvard University.
After the challenge you’re currently addressing, what is the second most important challenge facing the world right now?
Mark: We are confronting the challenge of climate change and I believe that is the most significant challenge in the world right now. I believe the second biggest challenge in the world right now is the decline of truth, exacerbated by the rise of AI. When humans are barraged with disinformation and outright lies all the time, it is hard to discern truth. Without truth, we lose science, we lose progress and we lose humanity.
When seeking investment, what’s the most important piece of advice you’d offer to companies like yours?
Mark: Be persistent. It often takes kissing a lot of frogs to find the prince. It’s a match making process and there are lots of reasons that you might not be a good match for a given fund. Find the investors that are a good match for you.
What motivated you to try to solve the complex challenges your company is addressing?
Mark: I met a guy named David Kenny at Sunrun. He told me that Sunrun was managing their fleet of solar assets on spreadsheets. It got me thinking. I convinced Dave (and later [Chief Strategy Officer Ray Szylko]) to start a company together and the rest is history.
If you weren’t in your current job, what would you be doing?
Mark: I wanted to be a trophy husband when I was younger, but my wife decided to stop being a lawyer and become a professor. I also wanted to be a cleantech VC, but no one would have me. I guess if I wasn’t a founder of this startup, I might have to go found another one. I’d probably found a startup that would allow homeowners to buy solar and storage without creepy solarbros coming to their house.
Why did you choose to partner with Activate Capital, and what has your experience been working with our team?
Mark: We chose Activate because of their strong reputation as a value added investor. Activate has lived up to its reputation. The Activate team has been by our side every step of our journey since they invested actively helping us grow the business. We couldn’t have asked for a better investor to lead our Series B.
Welcome to our Meet the CEO series of brief interviews with Activate portfolio company leaders. Our first interview is with Omnidian CEO and co-founder Mark Liffmann. Ominidian provides a monitoring, analytics, and servicing platform for clean energy assets.