Lynn Jurich
Lynn Jurich
Lynn Jurich is the co-founder and CEO of Sunrun, a residential solar company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Jurich holds an MBA and BS from Stanford University, with her BS in science, technology, and society. Early in her career she worked at Summit Partners, where she "completed investments with an aggregate market value of over $900 million in the financial services and technology sectors." She co-founded Sunrun in 2007 while attending Stanford Business School. In November 2008, she helped Sunrun...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinesswoman
CountryUnited States of America
changing demanding face however market money planet pocketbook primary saves savings
For Pocketbook Environmentalists, financial savings are the primary motivator. However Pocketbook Environmentalists are changing the face of the market and the planet for the better by demanding that going green saves you money.
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With Zipcar, consumers avoid the upfront cost of buying a car, not to mention gas, insurance, and repairs. Plus, they reduce the number of polluting vehicles on the road. Suddenly the planet-smart carless option is also the convenient money-saving option.
believe client computers leading shift trends
We're leading a fundamental shift from centralized energy to distributed energy. Energy will go in that direction, just like mainframe computers went to client servers, then to the Internet. I believe in solar, and the macro trends are just too undeniable.
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Hire people who are smarter than you, and don't be afraid to work with them as partners. Make it clear that you plan to learn from them, not just the other way around. The right, smart, motivated people respond very well to that approach, particularly coming from a younger manager like I am.
believe dependent foreign people
All people believe in America, jobs, creating energy here, not being dependent on foreign energy sources.
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You have to accept the fact that not all your decisions are going to be right - and when they are wrong, you have to own it right away. I try not to have an emotional connection or investment in the decisions I make so that when they need to change, I can quickly move on to: 'How do we fix this?'
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I think, in a lot of places, the solar panels are a badge of honor; they're trendy. If you go to Hawaii or Japan, people even install fake solar panels because it's cool and it's popular. And so I think solar panels have gotten a lot more attractive. They're sleek, black, they look good on a roof.
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Prior to SunRun, I was headed toward a career in venture capital and then realized I wanted to apply my knowledge of finance more directly to helping change the world.
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For a lot of people, one of the reasons they don't like to work for founders of startups is that they can be sensitive and protective around what they've built. You have an emotional attachment to the early marketing and technology materials, and you don't want to hear that anything's wrong with them.
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Consumers used to think they had to compromise with solar. It was, 'Okay, I'm doing the right thing for the environment; it's cool to see the panels. I have to compromise on the cost and convenience side.' And now they no longer have to. On the cost side, it's cheaper, and on the convenience side, we set it all up.
calls car catch extra gas means mechanics owning phone public spend time waste work
For me, not owning a car means I may spend a little extra time on public transportation, but I can use that time to read, catch up on work projects, and make the phone calls I couldn't get to earlier. Plus, I never waste time at the mechanics or gas station.
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There is a new wave of environmental consumers I like to call Pocketbook Environmentalists. They're going green primarily because it makes good financial sense, but the fact that it benefits their families' health and the environment also makes them feel good.
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We believe widespread adoption of home solar will significantly improve life in cities by phasing out polluting coal plants, eliminating miles of ugly new transmission lines, and ensuring cleaner, healthier lives.
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When wireless cellphones first came out, analysts predicted that at peak, it would only replace 5% of landlines. They said the quality wasn't good enough. Clearly that was improved. I think you'll find a similar thing in solar.