Biggest Challenges Faced By A Cofounder At Pencil Energy
Kyle's most significant challenge as an auditor was navigating the steep learning curve mid-audit, facing pressure to answer executive questions with incomplete information ("a lot of I don't knows"). As a founder, the biggest hurdle is determining product-market fit—a "dogged pursuit" of creating something people will actually pay for, a challenge complicated by the subjective nature of customer feedback.
Overcoming Challenges, Product Market Fit, Entrepreneurship, Stress Management, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kyle Brauer
Cofounder
Pencil Energy
UCLA - 2017
UCLA Anderson FEMBA, 2023 - MBA Degree
Political Science, American Studies
Climate, Environment, Sustainability & Waste Management, Energy & Utilities
Entrepreneurship and Business Owner
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. The steepest part of the learning curve in auditing comes around 30-40% through the process, when there's a lot of information but a low-level opinion on what matters. This can be stressful due to the many unknowns and executive questioning.
2. As a founder, a major challenge is determining if a product is useful and will generate revenue. There's no sure way to measure this except through actual sales or signed agreements, making it hard to know if you are building something worthwhile.
3. Many unknowns exist when starting a company. There is no playbook, just a constant effort to find product-market fit – building things people will pay for. This involves understanding your target audience and having the conviction to invest your resources accordingly.
Transcript
What are the biggest challenges in your roles as an auditor?
I would liken this to the previous question, on a timing basis. When you start an audit, there's an expectation that no one knows anything, and it's very new and exciting.
Around 30% to 40% through is the steepest part of the learning curve because there is the most information at your disposal. After gathering all the documents, you have the lowest level of opinion on what matters. This makes it the most stressful, as it's hard to answer questions from your executives.
Questions like, "Have you looked at this?", "Is X relevant?", or "How do we know X or Y?" often get the response, "We're still digging into that. We need more time." Or, "The testing hasn't shown what you're saying." Sometimes, "I haven't had a chance to test this yet because that's not in our plan." It's intimidating to answer with many "I don't knows" and requests for help.
However, this is expected and okay. It's just stressful when staff colleagues, who may be more experienced and faster, already have answers and have done the work more quickly.
As a founder, the hardest part, in my experience, is learning how to determine if something is useful to people. There's no playbook or right answer. It's a dogged pursuit of what's commonly called product-market fit.
Product-market fit means making things people will actually give you money for. There's no way to measure this until someone pays you or promises payment when something is ready. This is hard to achieve because anyone can say anything.
If you ask people, "Would you pay for this product?", they might say yes. But you don't know what that looks like in their mind's eye. Even showing a mockup or a demo doesn't guarantee they'll pay. It's difficult to get your product far enough along without wasting resources and without the conviction that what you're building is worth your time.