I’ve known the founders of Simple Energy, Yoav Lurie & Justin Segall since 2011, when they accepted my offer to go through the Techstars program in Boulder.  Back then, they were driven, focused, intelligent, and passionate about changing the face of the energy industry.  I was hooked.  Over the years, I stayed in touch with the founders, watching them evolve from a startup to a well-run company whose customer base features some of the country’s largest energy utility companies.  They had raised a bunch of capital from investors like us (Techstars), Vision Ridge, and Westley Group.

About 2 years ago, they asked me to join to board, as I was already an investor through Techstars and Techstars Ventures and since I had been supportive since the beginning.  When I joined the board, the company was in dire straights.  They were close to bankruptcy, they lacked focus, were victims of scope creep – and similar to all companies that grew quickly, they threw people at problems rather than having a strategy of how to solve them.  A high burn rate, not enough revenue, and scope creep can be a deadly combo for a company.  I think all of us, Yoav, Justin, and the board hit the bottom when we decided to re-org the company.  But while those were tough times, we also knew that if Simple Energy could regain focus and energy, we could actually build a stronger company that allowed for faster growth.

Well, as a testament to Yoav & Justin – not only did Simple Energy scale more quickly, we blew through all the projections in just 2 short years.  And while I would love to share with you how much SE has grown, suffice it to say that we’re all extremely impressed.

Today, Simple Energy announced two new customers and a new investor, who will be joining Techstars Ventures and the other investors. In the coming weeks, I’ll be transitioning back from my formal board member role to that of a passionate and active mentor and advisor. I remain excited for all the great things in store for Simple Energy and believe they are poised to be one of the most influential and successful companies that change how millions of people make energy-wise decisions and how utilities interact with their customers. I am unbelievably proud of Yoav and Justin, who have come a tremendous way in the last two years and I feel lucky to have watched and participated in that growth and success over the last seven years.

Join me in giving the entire Simple Energy team a virtual fist bump.