At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring some of the unique and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community of entrepreneurs, coaches, investors, management students and aspiring entrepreneurs. As part of that endeavour, we invited Praneeth Pillarisetti this week for an interview with us to know more about his inspiring journey. Let’s read about more!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Praneeth:
Talk us through your background, your vision and your journey as an entrepreneur so far, please;
Ever since I studied Masters in Renewable energy in the University of Florida, it has been my dream to start a company that would be the innovation leader in the Indian energy segment.
The startup was founded in 2017 and right from the start, I was pretty clear that I did not want to be similar to the 100’s of solar energy companies in India. I was pretty clear on 3 things that would set us apart from other energy companies:
1 – Every product would be developed completely indigenously by us from scratch
2 – Every product we develop would be world-class
3 – Every product we develop would be the best fit its customer segment
Solar is the most widely accepted green energy technology, so it seemed to be the best starting point. Hence our road map for the next few years is focused on solar. But our long term vision is to innovate in other technologies as well, such as fuel cells, waste to energy, EV’s etc.”
The vision and dream were always there, but once I figured out the solid business plan, my friends (from B.Tech) came forward as the seed investors. Then we collaborated with my alma matter IIT Madras and CSIR-CEERI Chennai to develop India’s first 2-in-1 solar panel.
Our vision is ambitious and simple: Build India’s most innovative energy company.
During my 10 years of education and work experience in the US, I worked with great companies like Cummins, Ford, which were working on cutting edge technology. But none of this research was focused on energy segments of developing countries like India. That is where the dream of building an Indian company that does world-class innovations, indigenously, not just for India, but the entire world. Which is why our first product 2-in-1 panel is built as per European standards and has even outperformed similar German products in a side-by-side benchmarking test.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We developed and launched India’s first and only 2-in-1 solar panels. Our panels can provide both electricity and hot water simultaneously from a single panel. (all other solar panels either produce only hot water or only electricity). We provide a total turnkey solution for the customer where we design, install and commission the entire system. So far we worked with many marquee clients such as OYO, Indian Railways, Novotel and have installations across 5 different states.
We did not stop there. In response to the COVID crisis, we launched a new Opex model campaign for the hotel segment. Hotels are the worst hit segment due to the ongoing crisis. So to help our hotel customers be more capital efficient, we offer our solar solution with zero investment (we invest in the system by ourselves). We recover by charging them on electricity and give them hot water for free. This way we help the hotel save money from day 1, without any investment. This is just another example of how we continuously evolve and think out of the box to make sure that our offering is the best fit for the customer segment.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
Although I loved my job at Cummins in the US and I was working on the cutting edge of technology, I always felt like I could be doing something more impactful in India. India’s energy segment is set to grow at a great pace and I believed this is the right place for innovation.
Also, in a large corporation, one is always replaceable, just another cog in the wheel. If not me, someone else will do the same job and accomplish the same thing for the company and its customers.”
But doing what I am doing now with Birds Eye Energy being the first to launch a technology like this, I can surely say that if not for us, this technology wouldn’t be in India. I feel like we are creating something and making an impact that is truly irreplaceable. If not for us, my customers would not have gone solar, or they wouldn’t have been able to achieve the type of savings and results that they have achieved with our systems. Rather than being just another cog in the wheel, we are blazing a trail for other wheels to follow.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
Most of the challenges we face are that faced by most startups: Managing cash flows, re-evaluating every rupee we spend, often being stretched thin on manpower etc.
In addition to those, the challenge of being the first in the market is that most customers are slow to adopt a new product. There have been cases where we lost business because the customer thought we did not have enough experience to execute the project; whereas in reality, even our very first project was much more complicated than his.
As a team, Harsha (my co-founder) and I take these in our stride. We are in this for the long run and we know that the product we have is a winner and that confidence keeps us going with the same enthusiasm day after day despite the challenges we face.”
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
For me, there should always be an underlying emotional connection to what I do. I can’t give my 100% unless I love what I am doing and I am emotionally vested in it. I have always been passionate about green energy right from my college days that is what drives me to do what I do.
That said, money is the means to achieve everything that I set out to. It’s my heart that drives me to build the most innovative green energy company in India and money (profits, revenues) is what will help me get there; so both are equally important. If I don’t take care of the financials, keep a keen eye on profitability, revenues etc, I cant achieve what my heart wants.
So for me, it’s not money or emotions – It’s using money as a tool to reach my goal.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Stress from running a startup is unlike any other. I unwind on the tennis court. I play tennis every morning and that 1 hr on the court feels like a ‘mini-vacation’. My family is my support system and spending quality time with my parents and wife is something I look forward. Our smallest and the cutest member of our family, (our pet dog) Marco is a great and hyperactive companion. Spending time with him is a great stress buster.
What has worked well for you so far?
Innovation and uniqueness of our product have worked well for us so far. Customers appreciate that our solution is world-class, saves rooftop space and doubles the total energy output from the rooftop space. This has helped us differentiate from the 100’s of other solar companies and establish a solid relationship without customers. This also helped us with better customer acceptance and grow at a rapid pace. We recently completed 100kW of orders within our 1st year of product launch.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
I am still quite early in my startup journey to be giving out a road map to success; but in my opinion, the key is perseverance, without arrogance.
When heading a start-up, by the very nature of the beast, you will see more failures than successes. When you are trying to create a new product or a solution or solve a problem that no one has solved before, there is no clear instruction manual on how to go about it. As you try out different things, you will most likely face many failures and roadblocks – That is the nature of the beast. As a start-up founder, you will have 90% bad days and 10% good days. You should develop a stubborn belief in yourself that you will succeed and persevere through the bad times and failures. At the same time, you need to be open to trying out new ideas, listen to constructive criticism from potential customers and use all the negative feedback to make your product/solution better. You need to be stubborn and persevere about the goal you want to achieve for your startup, but at the same time be humble and open enough to learn from the criticism to come up with a successful product/service.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
This is going to be more technical than philosophical.
The best advice for any aspiring entrepreneur is to take a long and hard look at what problem you are solving for the customer. The world is full of amazing products or services that were brilliant innovations but failed because they were not really solving a problem that customers have. I would urge any aspiring entrepreneur with an idea to spend as much time as possible with prospective customers and try to understand their world; rather than developing a product or a service in an isolated manner and then approaching customers to sell it. Spending a lot of time upfront with customers during the development stage helps you understand whether or not your product or idea will really help them. It will help you understand what else you can add or change to make it a more attractive proposition.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
I strongly believe in the adage: “The only thing that is constant is change”. Whether you are a 1-year-old company or a 100-year-old company a corporate leader should always be willing to change. One needs to constantly evaluate the customer behaviour, market direction, future business environment and make sure that the direction of the company is aligned with how the world will be in the future, not just how it is today.
… and that change is a great thing. That is where the opportunities for growth lie. With new changes, come new opportunities. Companies that can capitalize on those opportunities before others, can get the biggest rewards.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
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