From Cheese to Clean Mobility: CO.LAb’s CEO is Making Moves

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Transcript

Elena: I’m so excited to host you and to see you and to meet you. It’s great to see you.

Tasia: Thank you so much for having me, Elena. Great to be here.

Elena: I am really excited to talk about your experience and how you’re helping new entrepreneurs answer the electrification, clean mobility space, let the listeners know a little bit more about your background, how you got to where you are today, because I know you have an interesting career journey.

Tasia: It’s quite a circuitous path, actually. But yeah, so I like to say that I’ve only ever worked in startups or as a founder myself. So in started in the I shouldn’t tell you how old I am, but I will say started in the early 90s around Internet technology, that whole space so particularly the digital advertising technologies, so worked for about a decade long to almost just under 15 years in that internet technology space. Again, digital advertising, so email marketing software of ad serving rich media. It was a fabulous time to be working with startups, very high growth, lots of m&a activity. So all the companies had with the exception, successful exits, and then align it provided a diversion. I was to this we had just sold one company and I was working for the acquiring business and running two different departments in the business that we had just sold. And my son was free and I’m traveling all over a park going to Philadelphia and going out and I’m like, I haven’t worked this hard. I really want to bind and pursue my passion. And so I ended up and who knew that this was never going to be on my path. I ended up buying a cheese company, Elena, and went back after finding this cheese company in New York City and from Alabama, went back home and acquired this small artisan cheese company, and then spent that next 15 years scaling that business and into mainstream grocery stores across the country and some exports and and then retired. I thought I was gonna retire after that exit. And I told my son he was leaving for college. I said, when you go off to school, I’m gonna take your gap year so I did. I took his gap year and took a year off and landed in Chattanooga and found out about CO.LAB the company Lab, which is a startup accelerator. So for someone who’d been working in startups her whole career and build businesses. I’ve never been really exposed to accelerators. I didn’t join an accelerator. I haven’t been a part of that whole world, but I couldn’t think of anything more fun than working to help people do the same thing. I’ve done my whole career, which is to build and to scale their business. So I landed in the role of a just over a year ago, and as CEO and CO.LAB and we decided, actually talk to the board. I said give me 100 days to get my bearings. I want to understand Chattanooga in our market and really where our core strengths are, and what I had felt I uncovered not closing secrets. It was just a secret to me is that stupid industry here in Chattanooga is really based on the energy sector on the automotive EV sector and then the freight and logistics industry. And in aggregate we have over 300 companies here that are focused on freight logistics, Volkswagens home for in the United States making their EVs here we’ve got on the energy infrastructure side that will be needed in order to support the adoption of EVs and autonomous vehicles. And then the freight industry that is moving in that direction as well. So we’re all in this race towards net zero and then this is a big part of it again, on the freight and on the consumer adoption side. So we launched a program earlier this year. That we are calling sustainable mobility. And the way we define that Elena is that the sustainable mobility umbrella, if you will, is all about the future forward movement of people, goods, energy and data. So it’s pretty easy to understand the movement of people right so you got public transportation and personal transportation, movement of goods, predominantly freight right and how we move those around the world and then the energy piece doesn’t moving anything that has to be there to support this electrification goal. And then on the database. We really have a really fascinating resource here, Elena which is on quantum so at our energy company launched the first commercial late available quantum network, and quantum when you think, what in the world does that have to do with AV, but actually, I’ve learned quite a bit so all of the data that we need to process again for EVs. And abs and when we’ve got vehicle to vehicle communication, a vehicle to everything, that in order to accomplish that the quantum is a big piece. So that movement of data is a part of our sustainable mobility umbrella too. And that was a really long winded. I’m telling you my story and how I got here.

Elena: It’s so fascinating, and there’s a lot of parallels in your career track and mine and I think we are sisters from another mister, but that’s another episode. So I feel that when you’re talking about CO.LAB so just to to narrow the more. You’re working with others in the clean tech mobility, EV space. What are some of the business models? I know you had about a reverse pitch which I would love for you to talk about because I think that’s a great way to solve problems. What are some of the ways that the entrepreneurs that you’re working with are solving these the big problems are geared in electrification?

Tasia: Yeah, there are a lot of big problems and I’m I’m a hyper optimist about this. Just a little more about my background. I’m an early adopter for EVs had my first Tesla exchange I’m now in my third class on all these things that people talk about it it’s I don’t like it because of charging infrastructure or range. I mean, I’m, I’m always the one that’s out there as a cheerleader. So when I stumbled upon this focus for us and when we decided to get perfect. In terms of the startups that we’re working with, we just closed applications for our sustainable mobility accelerator. That will kick off in January this year, we received 144 applications from over 30 different countries. So literally around them that are finally in our selection process now and we will announce the team who will pick six teams to join us for the 12 week, accelerator program. So when you when you go to our teams that we’re working with started out in that sort of beginning stay the best solutions and the best that can bring them into the fold and to work very closely with our industry partners here and so we have seen a lot of energy companies. So Elena which is which is great, because we need to solve solve that. Right so how do we charge via directional charging, battery life? All are essential for this adoption to continue. And then on the routes that we’ve just launched, and for those of your listeners who are not familiar with reverse pitches, it’s really turning the turning the direction of how traditional pitches work, so a traditional software startup may pitch to an investor or a company. Here’s my solution. Here’s what I’m looking for. I think this is solving a problem, please invest in me. This is called relations, the industry partner saying, here’s a problem. We haven’t found anybody out who’s solved it startups come to me if you’re working on this, and we want to help you get the solution to market. So with that reverse pitch. One of our problem sets we put out for is who’s working on the charging infrastructure, because that needs to be solved where they are, how they’re good or how reliable they are. The distances I mean, Tennessee has a program where they’re doing along the interstate across the fast chargers every 50 miles, but just those those startups that are working on those problems we are looking for now we’re looking for them across the country and maybe even across the world.

Elena: I love that and so when you’re talking about some of these companies that are addressing charging issues, are you then also providing like strategic support, like walk me through a little bit more on what happens in the incubator, like, again, the 12 week program.

Tasia: It’s a cohort of six teams, and you come into this team and what we do is we line you up within mentors forms, we’re gonna line up these teams with mentors in their industry that can help help them with their solution and help that scale. We also will give you access as a team and this to work with our industry partners for pilots, which is very important, right? So if I’ve got this idea but if I’ve got one of the leading the global leaders in the space that are saying I will give you access to do case studies or pilots that’s incredible. And that access to potential first customer to with with our partners. In addition to that we will do what we call investor swarms. Same kind of thing isn’t mental support for pairing up these teams where you can help them that it’s also on what kind of money are you raising who they need help from and these are the investors that will potentially invest in you. We’re working with those teams on their product market fit on their go to market strategy, and really keeping their focus on getting their business to scale. And then all of that will end with a pitch event where they will pitch again in front of industry partners and in front of investors. And then they’re they’re off to the races. Now I will say that the companies that we are recruiting into this program are we’re looking for post revenue or a very clear and imminent path to revenue. So we’re not on the ideation stage. So I mean, if you had a great idea for something, but you had no idea how you’re gonna get that accomplished. There are programs that will help you with your ideation and line you up and help you write the business plan and figure out what your capital structure needs to be. We’re post revenue we’re looking for companies that already have which makes sense already have an MVP, right? And then they’ve got a team in place. So again, not a solopreneur but but teams that are really looking to scale. Yeah, that’s so important.

Elena: Yes, that’s a very, very important distinction to make. And I I will say we should probably do an update episode, maybe like after the program is has wrapped up I know you said it’s 12 weeks maybe we do just like an update episode update everybody on what were the results of some of the really interesting companies can can we do that? Can we make that happen? What makes you excited to work on CO.LAB in conjunction with electrification?

Tasia: For me, I I love those people any entrepreneur really because they’re crazy people they have to be a little bit say I mean, if you think about I mean I know that Elon Musk is very controversial, but some of you said, I’m going to do something that no one else is willing to do. And I’m going to put all my time and my energy in it. And I thought what likelihood of failure is pretty high, but I’m going to do it anyway, that those are that’s those are my people. So I love interacting with entrepreneurs and with startups. In those that are creative too that are coming up with creative ideas. So when we hear obstacles that are in front of EV adoption like range or batteries or weights, batteries and freight which is fascinating to see and the bat the weight of the battery is tricky. How do you change that out? Are we doing battery swapping, but that people are those that are saying, I will solve this problem, right? No one’s thought of this. That’s what that’s what excites me and even thinking about you know, what are the new problems we haven’t thought of yet and how do we solve them and how do we work with them again, the gold and the brave, if you will, that are willing to be out there and soften that’s that’s really where yeah, you know, fire turns on inside of me but I love that. 

Elena: How can folks get a hold of you? How can they learn more? About CO.LAB? Obviously the this current cohort is their applications are now closed. But if you know entrepreneurs post revenue are thinking of joining up and they’re in oh one other questions do they have to be in the Chattanooga region?

Tasia: Yeah, great question. We expect in person for the 12 weeks. There are some flexibilities and maybe some weeks out and we may have people from out of the country coming we really do want them to get to know Chattanooga and get to know the industry partners here and I think once they find that their customers and their mentors are here, then they will choose to stay in the area. So we you know, we’re we want to elevate the community. So Chattanooga is a part of it. There’s not a there’s not a requirement that you have to move here for two years or for the logic for business. But during during the program. Yes. And I will say that even though if there are any startups listening, you’ve missed out on the first cohort. We will run this program in 2024 in the summer and applications will be open for that early next year. So there there are plenty other chances for you or participate in the reverse pitch.

Elena: I will also put that in the show notes so everybody can go and click on it. Check it out. To see this has been amazing. Again, I’m 100% serious we need to do an update episode once this first 12 weeks wraps up, I’m really really fascinated and maybe we can have someone on the show that went through the program. That would be a great episode as well of idea sharing and it’s been a pleasure to share. I love meeting you. I’ve heard such wonderful things about you and everything that I heard was true. So thank you so much for your time.