Rick Luebbe dove into the startup world in 2000, a move that would eventually lead him to his current role.
Luebbe, a former aviation officer in the Army, went to business school after leaving the military, after which he did management consulting. His first startup, called Hubspan, led him to an important realization.
“(Hubspan) was doing XML translation, and that’s about as exciting as it sounds,” Luebbe says. “I realized doing a startup consumes a tremendous amount of life energy. If you’re not passionate about it, you can really regret that life investment.”
Luebbe decided that pursuing renewable energy would be more satisfying, so in 2003 he co-founded an energy storage company called EnerG2, which spun out Woodinville-based Group14 in 2015.
Now, Group14 sits on the cusp of major advancements after raising a $614 million Series C round last year. The company makes a silicon-based anode powder to replace the traditional graphite powder found in most batteries today. The goal is to make batteries cheaper, smaller and longer lasting.
The Business Journal spoke with Luebbe about his vision for Group14, his career and his early professional aspirations.
Rick Luebbe
Co-founder and CEO of Group14 Technologies
- Age: 57
- Hometown: Cincinnati
- Residence: Northeast Seattle
- Education: Bachelor’s from Cornell University, MBA from Stanford University
- Interests outside of work: Family (three kids), soccer. “I’m not very talented, but I like to get out there and run around.”
Day in the Life
We asked Rick to break down his typical workday:
- Morning: My focus tends to be on Group14's European operations and partners. I'll often spend mornings on calls with managers, customers and partners in Europe to discuss progress, opportunities and strategies for growth.
- Middle of the day: I'll shift focus more on our U.S. operations. We have a lot going on between our commercial factories.
- Later in the day: I'll spend time on our operations in Asia. There is also a lot of activity happening at our joint venture factory with SK in South Korea, which is slated to come online in the next couple of months, so a good part of my days are spent with the team, partners and customers based in Asia.
What’s new at Group14?
We’re in what I call hypergrowth phase. We’re coming up on about 250 employees now. We’re really focused on getting large-scale commercial production launched out of our joint venture with Korea (SK Inc.), maybe this quarter, so within the next couple of months. Then we’re transitioning to commissioning our two (battery active materials) modules in Moses Lake, both coming online targeting the second half of next year.
How are the efforts going in Moses Lake to build your new factory campus there?
Big things are happening fast. We just finished erecting all the structural steel for the first module. It’s about six stories of structural steel. Over the next month or two, we’ll start installing the large pieces of equipment.
Are you making inroads in the community?
We’ve had about 35 full-time people in Moses Lake for quite a while now. We’ve got a really good connection to the community. ... They’re really excited about this battery ecosystem concept. Not just us, but other folks in the space.
What were the early days of the company like?
It was really fun. It’s a small group. It’s a crazy challenge. The technology guys were the quintessential startup and entrepreneurial engineering spirit, working all hours and trying all kinds of crazy ideas. ... It’s a two-steps-forward, one-step-back environment. Pushing forward and then hitting a hurdle, coming back and thinking about it and attacking again. Eventually things started to work. We started to get breakthroughs and momentum started building. We started getting really good performance and learning how to scale it. As you learn more about the processes, things become easier.
What made you go from the military to the business world?
I did seven years active duty in the military and really had a great time. I really enjoyed the military a lot. ... As an Army officer, you track into what I would call support roles for the next eight years before you get back to a line unit. What I really liked about the Army was the line unit. Being in command. Being the front of the mission. Going those next eight years in staff roles, I was not as excited to go do.
Does Group14 resemble your military experience at all?
There are things that remind me of the parts of my military experience that I really liked. One is the camaraderie. There’s a lot of energy around what we’re doing here and a lot of excitement. We have a lot of fun with it.
What about the structure?
We’re very nonhierarchical around here.
How will the world look if this technology is successful?
The single most important thing I think silicon-based batteries are going to do is enable extremely fast charging. You can get that energy back in that battery as fast as you can refill your gas tank. That is going to change the way we think about using (electric vehicles). Charge anxiety goes away. When charge anxiety goes away, range anxiety goes away. ... Beyond that, we’re going to see the electrification of aviation. I do think the concept of the air Uber is coming faster than people think.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
My dream was to be a veterinarian.
What happened?
My senior year of college I got into vet school and flight school at about the same time. So I had to make a tough life choice. My thinking was I can always go back to vet school, but I can’t decide later to go back to flight school.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
