Paul Schubert

“I have known and worked with Paul during the last 17+ years, most recently, as President of ENVIA Energy where I reported to Paul and two other Members of the Board representing owners of ENVIA, a first-of-its-kind renewable fuels project in Oklahoma. During my previous 7 years at Velocys, one of the owners of ENVIA, I spent 2+ years reporting directly to Paul in his position as COO of Velocys. When I first met Paul in 2001, he had just joined Syntroleum, another alternative fuel start-up company in Tulsa, where we both held Senior VP positions, he in R&D and Engineering and I in Business Development. Since our earliest days working together in the GTL industry, we both experienced the challenges of building the foundation for commercializing new start-up technology companies. At Syntroleum, Paul joined at a critical time which required company discipline in the technology demonstration phase. Paul keenly understood the key elements essential to financial success. Therefore, Paul focused on critical operating changes needed and led the company to a much-needed higher level of engineering and process competency. Paul’s strong technical knowledge and communications skills led the Syntroleum management and Board to accept the changes and make the difficult long-term decisions necessary. During this time, I observed Paul at his very best, providing vision and guidance to the company; communicating effectively with management and employees and making sure that employees at all levels were recognized for their achievements and motivating them to keep striving for improvements. When Paul and I later joined Velocys in 2011, I observed the same technical and business leadership that Paul demonstrated at Syntroleum. He quickly evaluated the technical challenges and put together a team and a plan to achieve the critical components of a stronger technology company. The credibility that Paul had, not only with his in-house team, but also of clients and industry professionals on the outside clearly advanced the reputation of Velocys. During the time I worked directly for Paul, I got an even better appreciation of this leadership style, his compassion for employees, aligning on goals, coaching through difficult challenges and most importantly delegation of authority to do their jobs effectively. There was never a question, by any employee working for him, that Paul always “had their back.” This provided the loyalty that helped secure and maintain critical skilled professionals during difficult management changes at the company. The stability that Paul provided, and the motivational support from a firm but fair “coach” was truly appreciated by all of the management staff reporting to him. In my many years of observations, I believe the compelling attributes defining Paul’s executive leadership style are those which have clearly been foundational to his success: - Keen understanding of both the technology and financial requirements of the busines”