Following the clean-tech bust of the early 2010s, the path to renewable energy was anything but clear. Yet in 2013, Chris Hopper took a bold step forward to co-found Aurora Solar, on a mission to accelerate solar energy adoption. Aurora’s platform streamlines and improves the processes of sales, design, and installation—making solar more accessible and efficient for all. Operating in a tough funding environment, he relied on grit to secure a seed round that enabled the company to bootstrap and grow steadily over the next five years. Today, Aurora Solar has raised over half a billion dollars, achieved a valuation exceeding $4 billion, and has empowered the design of over 10 million solar projects worldwide. Chris shares why he’s grateful for the challenging early days, how Aurora's cloud-based platform uses AI to streamline workflows, and why—despite his forward-thinking mindset—he encourages entrepreneurs to remain open to serendipity.