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Keith Gillard
Cleantech Investor & Co-Founder, SUSARO
In this conversation, Keith Gillard shares his journey from a childhood influenced by an entrepreneurial spirit to becoming a successful investor in clean technology. He discusses the importance of embracing failure, the cultural differences in perceptions of entrepreneurship, and the shift towards sustainability in business.
Normalize failure early. Watching his father's very public frozen-yogurt venture with a MASH actor fail — and life go on — gave Keith the conviction to be in the arena, bloodied and daring greatly.
Companies fail because of people, not technology. None of his portfolio companies ever failed because the tech didn't work; he insists on in-person meetings and full emotional intelligence before trusting a team with investors' money.
Education is the shortcut. Schools say there are no shortcuts, but talking to someone with more experience — or learning from every chemist who came before you — compresses decades.
Regulation is creating a once-in-a-generation market. SAF mandates jump from 2% to 6% in Europe by 2030 and 70% by 2050 — and SUSARO's TRL9 wood gasification turns forestry waste into jet fuel to meet demand cooking oil never could.
