Perspectives from a Founding Father
By: Dr. Green Power
Tags: Backstage Capital, Startup, Cleantech, Hardware

This was the gift from my kids…

Hi, I am Dr. Reginald Parker, the founder of Optimal Solar but more importantly, the father of Faith, Hannah, and Tyler. My family and company have completed 12 weeks of the Back$tage Capital accelerator (one more week to go). However, I did not do this alone. The company did not do it alone. It was all of us … the company and the associated families. We did it with Back$tage and our extended family which is many. I will not spend a lot of time discussing how I spent my time on Father’s Day but what I want to share is how I reflected on how being a father is great practice in being a Founder, at least for me.

As a founder, I have joy and pride in Optimal … what the technology has done, what our team has done, and what the business can and will do, as if it were my own child. Don’t tell my wife but I do look at the business as another child. I feel like a founder and a father.

For instance, just this past Friday Tim (Optimal’s Chief Biz Dev guy) and I came to a wonderful realization. We made our customer acquisition cost (CAC) a profit center.

Because solar is a highly specialized hardware based solution, many of our corporate clients do not have or want to acquire the expertise to design, build, and operate a solar facility. And so, many of our customers pay for our consulting services to help them with their projects. This is a net win for both sides. Our fee for the service is north of the cost to acquire the customer AND far south of the cost for them to do the work themselves. Tim and I felt that was way cool (see trophy). This was another notch in our belt for how we have made hardware easier. This was a proud daddy moment.

I had to complete a business inventory survey from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. It helped us realize that we paid very close detail that we paid to our business and it helped us put develop a few strategies to ensure competitive growth. Every good parent looks for best practices for their kids. I felt fortunate and happy to engage the process, even though the survey took about two hours to complete. You do this for your child and feel happy that you are able to better care for them.

My wife asked me how would it make me feel if am not able to realize my dream for my children. She had read that it leaves a hole in the heart of the father. My dream for Optimal is to revolutionize solar technology, end energy poverty, and transform the waste to energy market through solar enabled tech. If I am not able to do that for Solar, we fear that the lack of impact on the world. We feel that it is our call to do this good. Our team has been endowed with “A Very Particular Set of Skills. Skills [we] have acquired over … very long career[s]”. And we are going to use our Skills for humanity’s good.

On Father’s Day, I spent time with a friend, his family, and friends at a pot luck. A good father finds a clan with which to raise his kids. It is truly a village. We’ve found an excellent clan for Optimal. We couldn’t have found a better set of backers and partners.

Thinking about being a father to this startup has made the journey one that I welcome. I get tired but am re-energized. I’m protective of what we are building and mindful of our steps. I am cognizant of the impact that missteps can have. I know what the impact can be of having a wrong person around can mean. I am also aware that kids and organizations are resilient. But as a good father, why put them through it. And so, my founder mindset is that of the best father that I can be. I am practicing this mindset with my very own.

Now, this is the last week of the Back$tage accelerator. It is so very hard to imagine that. And now, Optimal is getting ready for a whirlwind week, this week and next. This week we have our culmination event, the regular weekly accelerator activities, and a bunch of tech and biz development activities. Next week, we’ll be competing as a semifinalist for the Climate Cup from the 25th to the 27th. In our minds, we are already winners for just making it this far. To be found to be a climate warrior by your peers and industry experts is simply wonderful. We will do our best to share our child prodigy (Optimal) to the world. Optimal has already made us proud and so, there isn’t any real pressure. We have one more blog while in the accelerator program. We will continue to share thoughts and answers to questions in the future. Thank you for reading and Happy Fathers Day to you and your family.