Meet The Disruptors: Alex Ince-Cushman Of Branch Energy On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Using data to propel our service. This means calculating factors from weather to energy usage to determine which smart energy device will best help each of our customers save the most. We then help finance and install these devices.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Ince-Cushman.
Alex Ince-Cushman is the co-founder and CEO of Branch Energy, green energy provider dedicated to helping consumers lower their monthly bills and carbon footprint through the use of smart technology.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Absolutely. I’ve been drawn to math and science from early childhood. It was that affinity that led me to study aerospace engineering in college and eventually earn a Ph.D. in nuclear fusion from MIT. After a few twists and turns that involved stints in technology consulting and software development in Silicon Valley, I took a position as the chief technology officer at a large energy company. All these experiences deeply inform the how and why of co-founding Branch Energy.
Many factors led to the company’s inception, but one of the most prominent catalysts was my desire to create a meaningful contribution to the decimation of climate change. Like so many new parents, my focus shifted after the birth of my daughter. It was hard to not contemplate the implications of the world I would be leaving behind for her. So, when I found myself with some free time I began reading one of the reports by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). It was the first time I had investigated the subject on more than a surface level. The science of climate change was a striking and sobering read. My life changed that day because I walked away with two very strong convictions, both of which led to the co-founding of Branch Energy. Firstly, climate change is staggeringly vast and complex, and secondly, it can be addressed and real progress achieved through the deployment of existing technologies at a large scale. Why no thought leaders had emerged in the discussion of this issue to herald the good news that we could begin making material progress on emission reduction today, without creating expensive new technologies, baffled me. But it’s that message that is at the core of our approach at Branch Energy.
I understand you and Daniel have known each other for a long time. Can you tell us more about how met and how you came to co-found Branch Energy?
Dan and I literally grew up together. We met in middle school and have been friends ever since. Dan is a serial entrepreneur who has started several businesses in his career. Over the years, I’d help out informally where I could on nights and weekends, so we’ve actually had a lot of history working together. In addition to having a ton of trust that comes with having spent more than half of our lives as close friends, we are also great collaborators. We have very different problem-solving styles but we both love to debate ideas, and I feel we balance each other out. When we work together in this contentious but idea-meritocratic way we invariably end up with better ideas than either of us would have on our own.
Can you tell our readers what is disruptive about the work you’re doing?
When we started Branch Energy, we knew we wanted to shake things up.. As we embarked on this journey, one revelation made the framework for which we would build the business upon very clear, and that was that our impact could be maximized by making it easy for consumers to save money while reducing their carbon footprint. To do this, we built Branch Energy from the ground up as a tech company. We use software and data science ingenuities to build positive experiences for our customers and to find ways to save them money using smart energy devices. This approach makes us slightly odd ducks in the energy industry, but we are happy to embrace that title. Changemakers throughout history have been viewed as such.
Can you explain in more detail how Branch Energy’s disruption will create a positive impact?
We’re driving impact in a few ways. The first thing our customers are likely to notice after signing up for Branch Energy is that their monthly bills are smaller. The cost of energy can be one of the biggest expenses in a family budget, so to have that number reduced is often a relief. But, setting aside the financial benefits, we’re also aiming to shrink consumer carbon footprints. This is accomplished in a few ways:
- Delivering 100% green energy to all our customers.
- Using data to propel our service. This means calculating factors from weather to energy usage to determine which smart energy device will best help each of our customers save the most. We then help finance and install these devices.
- Planting one tree to represent each of our customers every month.
All of these measures add up to a material impact on the consumer’s carbon footprint. So, as we grow our customer base, we’ll also be growing our impact.
This is probably not your last venture. How are you going to shake things up next?
For us, technology will always be the compass that helps us guide our customers in reducing their monthly energy bills and overall carbon footprints. We currently have our “boots on the ground,” in Texas and we absolutely plan on expanding to more states and countries.
Have you read anything recently that you’d recommend?
For those looking to get a general introduction to the challenges posed by climate change, “Speed and Scale” By John Doerr is a great place to start. “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” by Bill Gates is another great option. For those who love podcasts “My Climate Journey” provides some great content at the intersection of climate change and technology.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can connect with me and find news and updates about Branch Energy on our website, or on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We’re pretty easy to find!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Alex Ince-Cushman Of Branch Energy On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
