268: Innovate in Energy with Walt Alfred

Walt Alfred, Founder and President of Ally Power, is driven by a mission to innovate in energy production, reducing carbon emissions and creating sustainable solutions for a greener future.

We learn about Walt’s journey from a career in law to founding Ally Power, a hydrogen and electric refueling station company that has rapidly grown since its inception in 2019. He explains the ALLY Framework—Authentic, Leadership, Last, Yearly—a leadership philosophy that emphasizes transparency, team collaboration, and sustainable impact. Walt highlights how Ally Power’s innovative technology generates hydrogen, electricity, potable water, and sodium luminate while delivering cost savings and zero emissions. He also shares the company’s exciting future plans to decarbonize ports and airports, scaling projects from millions to billions in impact.

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Innovate in Energy with Walt Alfred

Welcome, Walt Alfred, the Founder and President of Ally Power, revolutionizing energy production and reducing carbon emissions one station at a time. Walt, thank you so much for making time for us today.

Thank you very much, Krista, for having me.

We’re going to dig in first, and for you to describe what Ally Power is. And then we’re going to dig in a little more personally about you. So, in layman’s terms, tell us about Ally Power.

Ally Power is a hydrogen and electric refueling station company. We started in November of 2019, and now we have projects that are looking to be deployed all over the world. We have a team of around 15 committed people that are in business development, as well as engineering, risk, and in, obviously, operations and executives of the team and management of the company. The purpose of the company is to produce four different revenue sources from two feedstock sources. The four revenue sources are hydrogen, electricity, sodium luminate, and potable water. And we do this through the two chemical reactions. First reaction with aluminum and sodium hydroxide, and the second reaction with hydrogen and oxygen to make the potable water. The reason why we want to do it this way is that, one, it’s zero emission. Two, it’s a very small footprint compared to other ways to generate electricity. Three, there’s some serious cost savings for the customer. And four, we have found a lot of customer interest all over the world for our product. So that in a nutshell is Ally Power. And we are welcoming in new team members and new opportunities every single day.

So let me get this right. You started in 2019.

That’s correct.

And you’ve already grown a team of 15 with places all over the world. And you did this during a time with COVID in the middle of it. Tell me how you did that. It’s very exciting.

So a lot of the meetings that we have are virtual because it was especially within COVID, there was a reticence to actually meet in person. But after COVID had subsided, we did actually get to do some in-person business development, which was very exciting for me to go to all these different places to see what was going to be the customer dynamic when approached with this particular solution. There are already going to be solutions in the market that are very well-developed and have existing customer relationships and how does Ally Power unique offering interact with the existing dynamics within the market. That has always been very exciting to me to see how a customer would react when approached with this particular opportunity. So we have found overwhelming customer support in a number of different areas and that’s something that even within the COVID area, we have been able to move the process forward to where we are today. So very exciting about things to come and look forward to being able to present that.

You use the word exciting or excitement quite a bit and it shows on your face when you talk about your company and your product. That’s one of the things that I see consistently across when I talk with founders. There’s that ownership and there’s that joy. So let’s dig in a little more about you. What’s your personal “Why” and what are you doing to manifest it?

So I’m actually a second generation inventor. My dad was an inventor in the telecom space, and he has continued to do patents even after he left corporate America, and now he has his own company. and I’m second generation and my particular area is in energy. As I see that energy is going to play a crucial role in a number of different industries from transportation to agriculture to utilities to water. It’s going to touch on a number of different areas in which we really need to focus on when we’re talking about generating the next era of power, because we would all like to have continued the human civilization at the level that we have, but we also have to be cognizant of the fact that we have been putting in a lot of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for a very long time. So how do we maintain this level of human civilization while also reducing those greenhouse gases.

So think back to your 13, 14, 15 year old self. Did you think you would be doing this at this stage in your life?

No. If I could ask my 13, 14, 15 year old self, I would have a patent and my own company and I’d be running it. This was not something that I thought at that point in time. I actually diverted my career from the law to starting this company because during law school a number of different factors led me to believe that energy was going to be a really big important part of the next generation of how we’re going to live and work in the world. And if I could be on the cusp of innovating in that respect, then that’s what I should be focusing a lot of my time and attention towards. So the reason why I diverted my career path is because I wanted to focus on this particular venture and see it through to the best of my ability.

I love that. So if you had a chance to speak to some other younger entrepreneurs, you’ve learned a lot since 2019, what advice would you offer them if they have an idea that they want to spark and bring to fruition?

So networking is really key. And what I would say is even before you get that really great big idea, you should already be having the network that you have, but also trying to expand it every single day, every single month, every single year. Because that network, even before you get the idea, is going to be so crucial for you for when you want to execute that idea afterwards. So having that network that allows you to implement it as fast as possible is really, really key. So that’s what I would say to would-be entrepreneurs is to continue to network with like-minded individuals. Find out who is in the room when you go to certain events, go outside your comfort zone, go to events you might not ordinarily go to, but you find an interest in that particular sector and find out who’s there, find out, go through the list of the people who are going to be attending and have a breakdown of who you want to meet and have a steady conversation in your mind prior to that meeting, so that you’re prepared for when that meeting occurs.

That is excellent advice. And networking continues throughout your career, on through retirement, because we all need resources once we’ve grown our businesses and moved on. Each company has a different way that they operate, and every company has a culture. They have processes. One of the things that we like to look at in Management Blueprint is a process that you might use. And one thing you and I had a pre-conversation and you brought up a process that uses the acronym ALLY. Will you describe ALLY for us?

Yes. So the ALLY stands for Authentic, Leadership, Last, Yearly. So it starts with Authentic. When you start any business, you want to come across as being trustworthy, as being honest, being honest with yourself, being honest with customers, being honest with investors.

I also think that this is really important for Ally in particular because of the proprietary and original idea upon which Ally Power is founded. So we have more than one patent in the works, one issued and several that I just have in my head and haven’t gone through the process yet. That’s a big key factor for us is that we wanted to come to the market with something original to solve a very big problem in the world. The second point is that Leadership. Leadership comes from not just the top, but it also can come from the bottom. So as a leader, it’s important to be able to listen to your team members and see what is working and what isn’t working. What team members aren’t working well together? It’s not going to be a process that is smooth sailing throughout. To create an organization that is going to create change means that you are going to have personalities within the corporation that are going to have to work together. And you as the leader have to understand that where are the pieces going to fit and where are they not going to fit? So that’s a recognition of that internal dynamic that is going to lead to positive external consequences.

So you want it to have an impression that could actually last and make that idea or concept or product be imprinted upon those people who have access to it and are exposed to that particular product or idea. So that’s a really big component piece. You want your ideas to last. And Yearly, this last component, some might say you only want your authentic leadership to last only a year. So that’s not really what we think of it like that. What we think of by yearly is yearly is just a time measurement. So it’s a good thing to have in a beginning of the year and an end of year review. So for an employee, you have certain metrics that you want that employee to meet or exceed in that year. And if they are able to exceed that metric over that year period, great, excellent, on to the next year, on to the next challenge. But if they aren’t able to meet that metric, at least you have a blueprint for what they were, what the expectations were for that year. And giving people a year to complete something is a good enough amount of time for you to actually see how that person works in the environment in which they're placed. Share on X

So if I’m going to be able to give you the free rein in order for you to accomplish certain things over and above what you said that you were gonna accomplish, then great, I can continue to give you that free rein and that responsibility. If you need a little bit more coaching or help or perhaps maybe this isn’t particularly your subset within the corporation that you need to find a different role, then that’s something that we need to know and take care of at the end of the year review process. So that’s why I have these four different authentic leadership last yearly as our leadership model within Ally Power.

Well, you said some words that definitely called me. Leadership, coaching, that’s how we keep our team motivated. It’s how we grow our teams. If I were to speak to some of your team, how do you think they would describe your leadership/management style? How do you think your team would describe you?

So my team would say that I’m very focused on business development in terms of my management style. I do like to give free rein to my employees and my partners in order for them to see what types of opportunities that they can take and run with within the markets that they’re familiar with. In terms of the consequences of non-action, I would say, there are periods of time where I think that they would say that I was not giving them enough coaching, not enough direction, and they would like me to be more vocal in terms of that. But in a young organization, I wanted them to prove themselves in that respect, and I will step in and facilitate action if things aren’t being accomplished at the speed that they need to be accomplished. So that’s what I think that they would say.

What I would summarize there is you’re more hands-off than hands-on. You step in when you need to.

I do. That’s correct.

I think there are a lot of employees that would appreciate that type of management style. Let’s switch gears a little bit. As you can see, there are books in my bookcase behind me, and if you could see the other bookcases around, I love to read. I love to read paper books. I’m on the computer all the time, but I do e-read and do all of that. Do you have a business management science author, someone that when they publish an article or a book, you are always drawn to that? Is there someone that you follow in terms of thought leaders?

A lot of my scientific reading goes through Department of Energy technical reading. I also read a lot on current events, especially in the hydrogen industry with utility scale, generation of electricity, potable water. So these are the types of journals that I like to frequent when I’m talking about my technical side in terms of things that I like to read. When I get the time, and I like to look at other leadership style books. Now, one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read was from John Adams, which is what made into, I believe, an HBO series as well. That was just a fascinating look at a president that had such a really interesting life as a founding father to President of the United States to elder statesman. And you could see the interesting dynamics between being in Washington’s cabinet and how that grew into interpersonal relationships between the legendary figures that actually built our country. So, those are the types of stories and genres that I’m drawn to. I was also just watching the other day Hamilton online. That’s a really great look as well as there’s so much potential for Hamilton in his life and that was a really great way for us to absorb really what he was able to accomplish with his life and what could have accomplished it.

So you get your technical information, you go to the primary sources, as you said, and then in your reading, what I’m hearing you say is you’re looking for inspiration. You’re looking for how did these unique individuals do what they did and succeed under very difficult circumstances.

Yes.

DR. KRISTA CRAWFORD: All right. What did I not ask about Ally Power that you feel others should know? What do we need to fill in?

So when I talk about the yearly metrics, it’s not just on an individual level that I review what each person has done for the company. I also try to look at the whole company as a whole and what we’ve been able to accomplish on a year-by-year basis. So since 2019, we’ve been able to scale the company, not just in terms of geographic market size and those types of offerings. We’re also been able to have significant progress with our technology, significant progress with the ways to finance that technology. And there’s a lot of different ways that you can finance an infrastructure project. You can have a joint venture, for example, with another company that wants to partner with your technology. You can finance it through an equity-backed security. You can just get customer-backed financing for the entire project. You might sell it to a customer and they love the idea and they want to go with it. They believe in the technology and they like all the four things that you’re selling and they need it and that’s what they want to do. We’ve also been able to reach out to government sources of funding and see that our technology, when paired alongside other technology, has significant benefits. So one of the technologies that is more well-established in the market, specifically in hydrogen, is called an electrolyzer-based system. So an electrolyzer takes electricity and it splits the hydrogen and oxygen from water into hydrogen and oxygen. And it takes a certain amount of electricity in order to do that. So we came up with a way for us to partner with an electrolyzer-based company and utilize public funds to do that. So that’s one of the things that we were able to accomplish for this year, that we submitted a proposal to a very large government entity. And they liked it so much that they put it up as a proposal that the office is willing to champion this particular proposal going forward. Also, being able to work with nonprofits as well as for-profit companies is a really useful dynamic that we have to have in order for us to be able to access certain types of funding. And being able to have those partner relationships and realize how important those are to inculcate within an organization has been really telling this year as well. So looking at it from a five-year perspective, I think that we’ve been able to accomplish a lot over a relatively short period of time.

Yes, you have. I can attest to that. Curious, what are you working on right now that excites you? What’s something newer that’s in your horizon that you can share? I understand there are many things you can’t share, but what’s something that excites you right now?

So, in addition to transportation and utilities scale generation of electricity, there’s going to be a huge transformation within ports and airports and how that fuel is brought to bear within the ecosystem of the port itself. So that’s really the next iteration of where Ally Power wants to go. And in terms of scale, size of projects, it’s going to be going from maybe hundreds of millions of dollars to billions of dollars in terms of when you’re talking about retrofitting an existing airport or building an all-new airport, you’re definitely into the billion-dollar conversations already. And we are in conversations with partners that have access to those types of conversations. So that’s, I think, the most exciting thing that’s happening right now, is going to be ports and airports. We foresee that there’s going to be a decarbonization within that sector as well, and which fuel is eventually going to win out for how we ship things, for example, with ships or which fuels would be used for airplanes in the future. We want to be a part of that conversation and we think that we can with the technology that we bring to bear.

Well, as someone who lives on a harbor and I’m looking at ships right now, that’s exciting for me to hear about. And, obviously, it’s a related field, but you’re expanding your market. So that’s fantastic. It has been wonderful speaking with you and thank you so much for being so generous with your time. I hope we’ve inspired some young entrepreneurs. How can people find out more about Ally Power and or get in touch with you? What’s the best way?

Sure. So we have a website www.allypowerinc.com. And you can get in touch with me via my email, which is walt.alfred@allypowerinc.com.

Fantastic. Any final thoughts for our listeners?

I just really want to appreciate and thank you very much, Krista, for the opportunity. I know that there are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who are just on the cusp and they’re thinking about going through with it. They have an idea and they’re trying to decide whether or not to really take the plunge and go through with it. I would say go through with it.

The world does need more entrepreneurs. It does constantly need new ideas. And we want to welcome you at the table when we see your new idea. So thank you very much, Krista, again for the time.

Well, thank you for being the entrepreneurial cheerleader that you were today. And we appreciate you being on the Management Blueprint.

Important Links:

• Walt’s LinkedIn 
• Ally Power 
• Krista Crawford’s LinkedIn 

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