Another Take At Zero-Energy Buildings: Optimum Energy’s Nathan Rothman (Part 7)

SM: Is there a way your company could grow faster? Your product is ready, your channel is ramping well. Is capital an issue for growth?

NR: It is the lengthy sales cycle. When we go into a building, we get in at the building operator level or the CFO level. If it is at the C-level, they find 30% ROI attractive, but they have no concept of our technology. They then refer us to the building operator or VP of facilities.

When we talk to the building operator or VP of facilities, we are ultimately presenting them with a paradigm-shifting technology. They then ask to speak to their outside engineering group and the contractor that services all of their equipment. It becomes a very complex sale.

SM: You have a very lengthy sales cycle, and you have to be a part of that cycle.

NR: We have to be a part of it either directly or as a partner. Southern California was our test marketplace. We have some really good partners there. Once they prove one of the concepts there, we then roll it out across the country. In the beginning we would have to send an engineer into every building to make sure that all the systems were in place.

When clients implemented our technology, we would have to send a technician on-site for three to four days to make sure that everything was working. We can’t scale that way. Our vision is to let our partners do that. The only thing we would have to send out is an appliance. We are doing that now in southern California. Our partners do all of the retrofits required.

SM: It sounds as though your channels are starting to mature some and help to sustain growth.

NR: We felt that it was important to not get too far ahead of ourselves, so we have had the time to let those develop.

SM: There is always a certain portion of scaling that happens through sales. There is another piece of scaling that happens through marketing and market development. The marketing creates a pull versus the push effect of sales.

NR: We hired a director of marketing to help us. Our demand is beginning to surge. We are setting up new channel partners for distribution. I will say that contractors are more farmers than hunters. That is not meant in a derogatory way. People call contractors when they have a need or task in mind. Getting the market to pull for us is key. We are now visiting trade shows, lecturing around the country, publishing articles, and working on a public relations campaign to begin creating that pull.

We are also partnering with companies that sell complementary technologies. Our products will enhance the value of their technologies. We substantiate the use of their equipment. There are companies called energy savings companies, or ESCOs. All the big energy companies have subsidiary ESCOs.

ESCOs come in and assess a building for energy efficiency. They pay for a remodeling. They get their repayment from savings over time. The government allows them to have a 20-year payback. Now we show up on the scene and allow them to get a three-year payback. This allows them to build up the size of these projects and do more and more. We are becoming a driver in that market because we have such a short payback with large savings. We have a Department of Energy project in New York that is a $1.8 million implementation and has a 13-month payback.

SM: What about the stimulus money for green energy and energy savings? How does that affect you?

NR: This is a systemic change. The whole industry is changing. You are exactly right that we do focus in those areas and hope to get on the Department of Energy’s radar. We are working through our senators and representatives to get there.

SM: Congratulations on your success. This is a fantastic story. Good luck; I wish you all the best.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Another Take At Zero-Energy Buildings: Optimum Energy’s Nathan Rothman
1 2 3 4 5 6 7