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Oct 9, 2017 · 18m · top-founders

807: He Exited His Company Than Invests $1m Into Energy Company For Operations Roll

Christopher Engman · 9m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews serial entrepreneur Christopher Engman about exiting his software company Vendemore and reinvesting $1 million into Climeon to lead global enterprise sales for waste heat recovery technology.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 41.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 2.5 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 1.8 Nathan pushing back 3.8
05100:0010:001:38–5:33 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Introducing Guest Christopher Engman Latka pushes hard to extract funding and exit numbers for Vendemore, jokingly mocking the guest for claiming confidentiality on a three-year-old deal. Engman resists the prying politely while maintaining his boundaries.5:33–10:11 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Investing in Climeon and Waste Heat Tech Engman schools Latka on thermodynamic energy loss in industry and Climeon's waste-heat conversion tech. Latka pushes back to keep the conversation focused when Engman digresses into Swedish industrial history.10:11–15:27 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Operational Roles and Landing Mega Deals Latka drills down on customer counts and presses Engman on the exact size of his personal check. Engman details the mega-deal dynamics and pilot contract structures of high-capex clean tech.15:27–17:44 · Nathan as informed peer 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Acuity Scheduling This segment consists of a solo sponsor read by Latka followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.1:38–5:33 · Guest teaching 1/10 Introducing Guest Christopher Engman Latka pushes hard to extract funding and exit numbers for Vendemore, jokingly mocking the guest for claiming confidentiality on a three-year-old deal. Engman resists the prying politely while maintaining his boundaries.5:33–10:11 · Guest teaching 5/10 Investing in Climeon and Waste Heat Tech Engman schools Latka on thermodynamic energy loss in industry and Climeon's waste-heat conversion tech. Latka pushes back to keep the conversation focused when Engman digresses into Swedish industrial history.10:11–15:27 · Guest teaching 4/10 Operational Roles and Landing Mega Deals Latka drills down on customer counts and presses Engman on the exact size of his personal check. Engman details the mega-deal dynamics and pilot contract structures of high-capex clean tech.15:27–17:44 · Guest teaching 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Acuity Scheduling This segment consists of a solo sponsor read by Latka followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.1:38–5:33 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Introducing Guest Christopher Engman Latka pushes hard to extract funding and exit numbers for Vendemore, jokingly mocking the guest for claiming confidentiality on a three-year-old deal. Engman resists the prying politely while maintaining his boundaries.5:33–10:11 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Investing in Climeon and Waste Heat Tech Engman schools Latka on thermodynamic energy loss in industry and Climeon's waste-heat conversion tech. Latka pushes back to keep the conversation focused when Engman digresses into Swedish industrial history.10:11–15:27 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Operational Roles and Landing Mega Deals Latka drills down on customer counts and presses Engman on the exact size of his personal check. Engman details the mega-deal dynamics and pilot contract structures of high-capex clean tech.15:27–17:44 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Acuity Scheduling This segment consists of a solo sponsor read by Latka followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.1:38–5:33 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Introducing Guest Christopher Engman Latka pushes hard to extract funding and exit numbers for Vendemore, jokingly mocking the guest for claiming confidentiality on a three-year-old deal. Engman resists the prying politely while maintaining his boundaries.5:33–10:11 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Investing in Climeon and Waste Heat Tech Engman schools Latka on thermodynamic energy loss in industry and Climeon's waste-heat conversion tech. Latka pushes back to keep the conversation focused when Engman digresses into Swedish industrial history.10:11–15:27 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 Operational Roles and Landing Mega Deals Latka drills down on customer counts and presses Engman on the exact size of his personal check. Engman details the mega-deal dynamics and pilot contract structures of high-capex clean tech.15:27–17:44 · Nathan pushing back 0/10 Sponsor Segment: Acuity Scheduling This segment consists of a solo sponsor read by Latka followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 78.9% · guest 21.1%0:00 · Nathan 78.9% · guest 21.1%3:00 · Nathan 29.1% · guest 70.9%3:00 · Nathan 29.1% · guest 70.9%6:00 · Nathan 11% · guest 89%6:00 · Nathan 11% · guest 89%9:00 · Nathan 37.5% · guest 62.5%9:00 · Nathan 37.5% · guest 62.5%12:00 · Nathan 20.8% · guest 79.2%12:00 · Nathan 20.8% · guest 79.2%15:00 · Nathan 65.4% · guest 34.6%15:00 · Nathan 65.4% · guest 34.6%18:00 · Nathan 93.3% · guest 6.7%18:00 · Nathan 93.3% · guest 6.7%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 3:56 Refusing to reveal exit numbers

Engman firmly rejects Latka's attempts to extract confidential financial numbers, acknowledging Latka's reputation for prying but standing his ground.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 3:48 Calling out old NDA claims

Latka pushes back against Engman's non-disclosure claim by arguing a three-year-old exit is ancient history and demanding a ballpark figure.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:28 Explaining industrial waste heat physics

Engman educates Latka on car and industrial energy inefficiencies, breaking down how waste heat around boiling point is converted directly into electricity.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 13:40 Highlighting cap table anomalies

Latka demonstrates sharp analytical instinct by calling out the anomaly of a company having 350 shareholders while only having 40 employees and 5 customers.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Guest Christopher Engman 3135 Latka pushes hard to extract funding and exit numbers for Vendemore, jokingly mocking the guest for claiming confidentiality on a three-year-old deal. Engman resists the prying politely while maintaining his boundaries.
Investing in Climeon and Waste Heat Tech 3525 Engman schools Latka on thermodynamic energy loss in industry and Climeon's waste-heat conversion tech. Latka pushes back to keep the conversation focused when Engman digresses into Swedish industrial history.
Operational Roles and Landing Mega Deals 4425 Latka drills down on customer counts and presses Engman on the exact size of his personal check. Engman details the mega-deal dynamics and pilot contract structures of high-capex clean tech.
Sponsor Segment: Acuity Scheduling 0000 This segment consists of a solo sponsor read by Latka followed by the standard rapid-fire Famous Five questionnaire.

Statements from this episode (8)

Disclosure
Engman and his wife owned 75% of Vendemore at acquisition
“Luckily, I, together with my wife, we own 75%, so, Despite the moderate exit amount, we were big shareholders, so, and as you know.”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 4:40
Disclosure
Engman invested over 50% of Vendemore exit proceeds into Climeon
“I took more than 50% of my Vandemore exit, and so it has 350 shareholders, and I'm at least third. Yeah, and it's I am at least the third largest operational shareholder after the two founders, so.”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 5:47
Disclosure
Climeon pursuing IPO purely for primary capital with no insider selling
“We're actually going for an IPO. It's not to exit, so none of the big shirts are doing an exit. We're only raising capital, and the stock market climate is pretty favorable at the moment, so it's a good way to become liquid, and we also want to make acquisitio…”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 7:32
Assertion Contradicted
Engman: Climeon is over 50% more efficient than its nearest competitor
“So we are more than 50% more efficient than the number two.”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 9:06
Opinion
Engman: Climeon has potential bigger than Apple
“But I came across Kleinman, and I was like, wow, I don't think I can ever create a company with such a potential, because this potential is bigger than Apple, bigger, bigger than all the companies I mentioned.”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 10:38
Prediction Held up
Engman: Climeon will grow revenue over 100% next year
“Well, I think in the coming year, absolutely more than a hundred percent Absolutely. 100% revenue. Probably.”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 11:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Engman: Climeon pilot deals are worth $3M to $4M
“We typically start with a pilot. The pilot is something like three, four million dollars or a value”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 14:01
Disclosure
Engman: Climeon pays no variable commissions to sales team
“There is no variable component in the sales model going to me or any other sales person, which is a pity.”
Christopher Engman Oct 9, 2017 ▶ 14:51
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