Bloom Energy
Recruiter Whitnie Low gave us a great overview of recruiting at Bloom Energy, is an energy company in Sunnyvale that makes a unique fuel cells. Their “Bloom Boxes” are already being used by Google, FedEx, eBay, and others. Their profile reads
“Bloom Energy will make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world. Our technology, first developed for NASA’s Mars Program, will dramatically change the way that the world’s energy is produced, distributed and consumed.”
Stanford MBAs and Bloom: Alum Josh Richman is VP, Business Development. Interns have included Brandon Middaugh ’13 and Tamara Mullings ’14.
Currently at 1500 employees, Bloom hires between 5-10 interns
during the summer. MBA roles are within finance, business development, marketing. Marketing covers the partnerships with companies like AT&T and Walmart. Business development roles deal with utilities and government entities.
Tips for Candidates from Talent Manager, Whitnie Low:
- Energy experience is great, but candidates can get up to speed by learning the lingo. Know the basics.
- Don’t need engineering background. Also have finance internships
- Talk to Alumni or past interns
- Lots of candidates have come via Club Treks
- Translate skills to the company if career changer
- Would consider international students
Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo
Alum Jason Kaminsky, VP in Environmental Finance, recently spoke to us about his role in environmental finance at Wells Fargo. His small group at Wells Fargo funds large wind and solar projects. The company is doing “tax advantage investing” to the tune of $6.4 billion in loans and investments in 2012 to “businesses and projects with a direct positive impact on the environment.”
He enjoys the work and sites advantages of his role are the small group, super sharp team, and lots of visibility within the company. Wells Fargo invests in solar around the US and Jason talks to solar developers, energy service professionals, engineers, and looks at various business models. Right now their main focus is on commercial solar.
Networking to Find the Next Job
When I asked him how he found this role, he mentions a networking with classmates husband who worked there at the time. The connection has gone on to found a startup called SunFunder. SunFunder is a crowdfunding platform connecting investors to high-impact solar projects in off-grid communities around the world. He mentioned another company that is doing something similar – Mosaic.
So what about segments that might be of interest to MBAs? Jason mentioned companies focused on investing, monitoring systems, residential solar, servicing. There is lots of growth in storage. Utilities like Edison, Nextera, Duke will always need MBAs.