Shawn Drost

Lowkey, you gotta hear about Shawn Drost. This guy’s the real deal in the green energy space, and his story is pretty inspiring. So, he’s a YC W22 alum, which already says a lot – that he’s got that startup hustle. But what really makes him stand out is what he’s built with Phoenix Hydrogen.

Shawn’s background is kinda all over the place, in a good way. He’s got a solid CS degree from USC, but he didn’t just stick to coding. He jumped into the energy and tech worlds hard. Before Phoenix, he was co-founder and Head of Growth at Hack Reactor, one of the top software engineering schools. That shows he’s got a knack for building communities and scaling tech products, right? But then, he also dipped into enterprise sales and product development, working with companies like Galvanize. Dude’s been in the trenches of both education tech and enterprise, so he knows how to connect dots between tech and real-world problems.

Now, here’s where it gets crazy interesting. Shawn decided to jump into climate tech, specifically green hydrogen. He’s the CEO of Phoenix Hydrogen, which he co-founded in 2021 out in Berkeley. The company’s on a mission to create a commodity marketplace for hydrogen, think of it like the Amazon or the Nasdaq for hydrogen. Why? Because hydrogen is the future of clean energy, and Shawn wants to make green hydrogen mainstream, accessible, and cheap enough to really compete with fossil fuels. To do that, they’re building some serious infrastructure, including one of the biggest underground hydrogen storage facilities in California. That’s no small feat, especially considering the regulatory and technical hurdles.

What’s super cool is that Shawn’s process proves he’s about more than just tech for tech’s sake. He’s fired up by a bigger purpose, climate action, sustainability, making a real impact. His stint at Terra.do, a quick program on climate change, probably opened his eyes even more to how massive the problem is and how much innovation it demands. He’s blending his tech skills, business smarts, and passion for the environment to push boundaries and really make a difference.

So, what does this all say about him? Shawn’s the type who sees a huge problem, like the energy crisis or climate change, and instead of just talking about it, he jumps in, learns everything he can, and builds real stuff. His background shows he’s a builder and a connector; he gets how to scale tech, how to get people excited, and how to turn ideas into massive infrastructure projects.

Bottom line? Shawn Drost is a techie turned climate innovator who’s crushing it in the green energy space. He’s not just dreaming about a cleaner future, he’s building the backbone for it. That makes him one of those founders you gotta watch, because he’s not just talking shit, he’s making shit happen.