00:07:55 · Sebastian Johnson, Alan Chang
[00:07:55] S0: And you mentioned problem solving for engineers. Is that like the key characteristic or trait that you look for across anybody joining any part of the business, or is there like a certain trait that you really hone in on? [00:08:06] S1: Yeah. Mean, ultimately, like, we are hiring problem solvers, right? Like, you know, whether it's, you know, engineering or not engineering, we are hiring problem solvers. And yeah, it's just like what type of problem? Are good at solving a specific problem? And how effective are they, right? It's as simple as that. [00:08:26] S0: And if you could give somebody some advice for somebody who wants to work with Fuze Engine, like how can they stand out? How can they get your attention? [00:08:33] S1: To be honest, like, my attention doesn't really worth... Doesn't mean much here. Yeah. Like, we have a process, a pretty robust process that we evaluate every individual, and you basically get... Yeah, if you meet the bar, you meet the bar, right? So it doesn't matter whether you get my attention [00:08:58] S0: or not. Which way you come into the process. Interesting. So that's been the biggest constraint on you right now is talent. Getting talent can unlock more and more growth. At the current rate, I assume you're on track to surpass a billion this year. [00:09:12] S1: Yes.
00:09:12 · Alan Chang, Sebastian Johnson
[00:09:12] S1: Yes. [00:09:13] S0: And when you look at that growth, where do you think that's going to come from? Is it customer acquisition? Is it gas again? Is it... You know, you've got product expansion lined up. You've got market expansion lined up. Where do you see growth coming from in 2026? [00:09:25] S1: Yeah. So we are we are expanding to Ireland and The US this year, but we don't expect meaningful revenue contribution from those markets, at least this year. We are also launching new products like micro solar and battery products that we're launching towards the end of this year. But again, we don't expect... These new products and new markets will take time to have a meaningful contribution to the company. But I'll say the key thing for us this year will be continuous scaling a core market in The UK. [00:10:00] S0: Yeah. Got it. Okay. [00:10:01] S1: But at the same time, take... Yeah. Take big bets on new markets and products. [00:10:06] S0: And when you decide that road map of either new markets in The US and Ireland or new products in, like, in the sense of the hardware. How are you deciding what to build and where to launch?
00:10:06 · Sebastian Johnson, Alan Chang
[00:10:06] S0: And when you decide that road map of either new markets in The US and Ireland or new products in, like, in the sense of the hardware. How are you deciding what to build and where to launch? [00:10:17] S1: US is a large market. The micro solen battery solution is, like, it will have a roughly three year payback. It's going to cost about $2,000 It's a no brainer for a lot of people. We're just doing the obvious things. Just know, The other thing about in energy or in utility in general is if you do something useful, people use it, right? You don't really have to think about product market fit. Yeah, okay. So it's really like, is the market big enough? Is this problem big enough for us to solve it? And if the answer is yes, then we just do it. [00:10:56] S0: Yeah. I mean, it's interesting because you say you say both of those things are obvious. I think from an outside looking in, US energy prices are actually lower than probably most of Europe. [00:11:05] S1: That's correct. [00:11:05] S0: Yeah. Like, I don't think most people would assume that actually US is the obvious one. [00:11:09] S1: But the Americans use roughly eight times more power than than Europeans. [00:11:13] S0: So it's the volume. [00:11:14] S1: Yeah. Think about all the big houses, the swimming pools there. You have to kiss on us.
00:11:14 · Alan Chang, Sebastian Johnson
[00:11:14] S1: Yeah. Think about all the big houses, the swimming pools there. You have to kiss on us. [00:11:18] S0: Yeah. It's expensive. Yeah. Interesting. And then the same with the hardware. I mean, when you explain it, it makes sense, but it's not something that traditional energy incumbents have done. Yeah. Like, it hasn't been obvious to them. Why do you think it's been obvious to you and not to them? [00:11:32] S1: Well, actually don't know whether it's obvious to them or not. But even if it's obvious, you still need to act on it. And I think it's the usual... It's very hard to have high agency in a big company where there's multiple decision makers and the decision makers are too scared to make a decision. So, yeah, we just, you know, analyze the problem, find best solution to problem, build solution. That's it. [00:12:05] S0: Agency is obviously something that comes through in the culture of the company externally. You scaled the team rapidly. How do you maintain that culture of agency and execution as you grow?
00:12:05 · Sebastian Johnson, Alan Chang
[00:12:05] S0: Agency is obviously something that comes through in the culture of the company externally. You scaled the team rapidly. How do you maintain that culture of agency and execution as you grow? [00:12:15] S1: We actually haven't scaled the team that rapidly. So if you look at this time last year, we were roughly, you know, just over 100 people. Yeah. So we've grown roughly two times in headcount. Yeah. So I wouldn't say we grew a lot in terms of headcount. So yeah, like we... Just to give you an idea, we have over 10 people in our recruitment team. And majority of them are focused on engineering hires. But we make two or three engineering hires a month. We'd love to make a lot more, but that's just the number of engineers that we're finding right now that we can... That meets our bar. [00:12:52] S0: Wow. And how do you think that's going to change over the course of this year, you know, as you go from, you know, 400,000,000, 500,000,000 to a billion? [00:12:58] S1: They kind of decouple revenue growth. Like, you can think of... The way I think about it is, like, when you hire a talented person, it's going to take, years for us to recoup our investment, right? So even if you hire even if I double the engineering team tomorrow, we're not going to see returns on that for a while, at least in the short term. We're simply investing long term. So yeah, like, what I wish we did was triple the engineering team last year, so we're going to see a much higher revenue growth this year.
00:12:58 · Alan Chang, Sebastian Johnson
[00:12:58] S1: They kind of decouple revenue growth. Like, you can think of... The way I think about it is, like, when you hire a talented person, it's going to take, years for us to recoup our investment, right? So even if you hire even if I double the engineering team tomorrow, we're not going to see returns on that for a while, at least in the short term. We're simply investing long term. So yeah, like, what I wish we did was triple the engineering team last year, so we're going to see a much higher revenue growth this year. [00:13:39] S0: And are you trying to factor that in this year then? Is that why you've got a recruitment team of 10 people? [00:13:43] S1: Yeah, we're trying to triple the recruitment team so we can... But again, hiring a great recruiter is also quite difficult. Hiring anyone great is is very difficult. [00:13:53] S0: And how how are you thinking about basing the team as you look to expand internationally? Are you looking at talent in The US, or are you going to say everything here in London? [00:14:01] S1: We're already hiring everywhere. [00:14:02] S0: Wow. Amazing. [00:14:03] S1: We are already hiring, like any talented person in the world right now, we And would want to if they want to relocate, we help them relocate. If they don't want to relocate, they can stay where they are. [00:14:17] S0: Amazing. The bar is just that high. Wherever you are will take you. Interesting. I want to talk about the two rounds that you raised last year, right? So you went from... You kind of became a unicorn, like, summertime.