Energy Tech Startups

0:00 Transform your startup journey with the energy tech nexus. Connect with fellow founders, access critical resources, and be part of a community shaping the future of energy and carbon tech. Your

0:10 path to building a Thunderlizard starts here. Learn more at energytechnexascom. Welcome back

0:16 to the show. Today, I'm glad to be with Stephen Ogie. He's the founder and CEO of a company building a product called VisionTech.

0:24 Stephen, why don't you tell us a little bit about the vision behind VisionTech?

0:29 Thank you, Jason. Another part of me on the show.

0:33 So for

0:36 us, it's been a journey coming down from where we started to now. So I could say that, it's like my life has gone full circle. When I started my career, officially back in 2004, my joint

0:52 national oil and gas company, Orlando, and Nigeria, I joined the company As a safety advisor, I was there for all. about six years. Also in between ID,

1:06 my background is in physics. I did a master's in safety engineering from the University of Abadi in the

1:12 UK. Then, shortly after about been in Comi for about six years, I was already thinking about entrepreneurship. Then the easiest thing that came to my mind because of my passion for speaking,

1:26 talking, training people was to set up a management consulting firm, which we did after my Masters in Safety Engineering and also an MBA from Lagos Business School.

1:38 I put up a structure, set up a management consulting firm to train people. It was in that training, state training, we found out we were also going back to Ireland as a train pulling on safety.

1:50 In doing all of those training, we just couldn't scale. We couldn't scale someone because we used to do classroom training. It requires your presence. You need to be there.

1:60 So it wasn't the trying to scale that we said, okay, you know, what, can we break our training and put it online in Nigeria as a 2000 and 12 that I'm talking about online training was wasn't what

2:14 I'm doing when whatever thinking about it. Yeah, so we're not in that space at all. But that was when the idea came, I was there working on a platform for online training in Nigeria, we're able

2:27 to successfully bring it to market around 2014, ran it for a

2:33 bit and sold it off to investors. But that's my love for technology now, came into play. When I came into the US in

2:45 2022, my community on visa setting up as someone who's an extraordinary ability in technology entrepreneurship. So I was thinking of moving the same idea to set up an Iranian business here. All.

2:58 Probably another starter that we did in Nigeria, which was a plagiarism checking platform. We call it no copy copy. I mean, Nigeria was so easy to have business in 2021. So I was thinking of

3:08 setting up something similar, but researching the market, checking, I'm talking to mentors here. I found out that I could scale on what I have skills in. And one of those my good skill is in the

3:25 knowledge I have about safety engineering, especially as regards to oil and gas. And we said I'm working on the ideas, okay? Was the market needed? Was it pain points for those in high hazard

3:36 industries? And that's what came up with the idea of vision tech. Yeah, and vision tech simply puts it just to use

3:44 computer vision technology, using system system cameras

3:50 in high hazard industries to monitor and detect incidents helping them cut off the time lag between identifying Most times in the oil and gas, if you ask them, if we just check statistics, you'll

4:03 know that people hardly, yeah, reporting rate of incidents, yeah, is below 50. Yeah, in most places, because the man who had the incident for many reasons, one of them would be if I was

4:16 involved in the accident, if I created the hazard in the first place, I would want to report it. I'm also more focused on the work I'm doing, yeah, so it's like policing in the workplace. So I

4:30 want to take that off the human people who are doing the work. So, yeah, technology can actually report on incidents, yeah, monitor if there's a spirit, if there's fall, if there are hazard,

4:41 hazardous stuff in the workplace, yeah, technology cameras are already there seeing distance, they can actually create an AI that detects those particular things, use cases, and report them

4:50 automatically. And also, we do something like what we call ghosting, so we're not actually reporting the people. We're reporting on the incident. So we're not focusing on the camera to check who

5:03 and who did X, who did what and what, no. While looking at the behavior. So the behavior we're reporting. Yeah, so like the company can better improve. Yeah, and do things better. So that's,

5:13 that's like, that's a lot. So let's go back a little bit and see. So a lot of this to safety. What are the different kind of reportable things that are standard today? When we think about like

5:23 OSHA, right? Like what are the things that they're usually looking at? And all I know about is their accidents, their neuromuses, I'm sure there's a bunch of other kind of - So it takes you to

5:30 the different types. Yeah, so even in accidents. So,

5:36 a 1, 001 kind of accident that could go wrong. So we calculate them as incidents. So there are hazards, so there are typically incidents that have not actually happened. Yeah, so where in our

5:47 space you create an environment that enables an incident to happen faster So,

5:56 those are hazardous. like if you're if you're if you're cleaning the floor, you find if you go to some shops, yeah, maybe Walmart or somewhere, yeah, they're okay for they'll keep a sign, say a

6:05 wet floor, yeah. So without that sign, that's a hazard. Got it. Because it could

6:11 cost an accident. Okay. Yeah. So we're saying so even when, you know, in a in the floor shop, somebody forgot to put the wet floor or maybe they were just a spill and they've not been notified

6:23 that there's a spill for them to put the wet floor's caution sign. The cameras saw that there was a wet floor. So the cameras, our I can detect that substance and report it and trigger it

6:32 immediately. So oh, we need to notify people that is and hazardier. It could lead to an accident. Yeah. So that doesn't, doesn't lead to. And that's why it works for different parts. So we

6:42 have things like, well, I've just mentioned that that could lead to slips and fall. If you're working on the on the walkway and they tell you Hold your rails. Yeah. You're for the rest of the

6:54 guys that show.

6:56 It's for every reason, yeah, so it's not because we know that you can't walk properly, we know you could walk, we know you're fine, yes, but still hold your rails. So when you forget or you

7:06 typically don't want to hold your rails, yeah, the camera is watching, yeah, so they could trigger an alarm. So please hold your rails, yeah, we say hold your rails because we know what could

7:16 happen if the rails are not held Yeah, I mean, and those kind of things, you know, you're already implementing, like, for example, when you drive the Tesla, if you're not holding, if you have

7:27 it on the auto drive and you don't, you're not holding the steering wheel, it tells you, can you please hold the steering wheel? Like, I know I'm self-driving, you're supposed to be paying

7:38 attention, and what you

7:42 said earlier about self-policing, that's one of the things that came to my mind, but what you said then later on around how it's not about kind of blaming people, but it's about just naming that,

7:56 hey, in this company, 40 of people are still not holding the railings when they're going up the stairs and things like that, that makes people more aware of their behaviors versus maybe even

8:08 penalizing people for doing something wrong. That would have a more, people, companies would have a more positive inclination towards that. Definitely, you're not going about penalizing also, it

8:17 could also be a reward system So we could say, okay, so when we report zero incidents, so many companies will tell you zero incident, what they mean is zero fatality, that there's nobody died.

8:27 Yeah, but many people got injured. Yeah, some sample didn't die at work, but it died at home. Yeah, because for example, one of our use case that we're working on will be on lifting, lifting

8:39 heavy equipment. So there's a position you take to lift any entity you want to lift. Oh yeah. So tell you don't just - Use your legs, nice. Yes, you need to use your legs, squat, and lifts

8:49 properly. Yeah. So the cameras are there so he could tell so this guy can be lifting wrongly and he's been doing it all His work life and that's repeated this motion and say I'm not in happen that

8:60 workplace Yeah, he didn't die those do fatalities or zero incidents everything. Yeah, but he retires honey. It can't move Yeah, so he's been killed in the workplace over 35 years. Yeah, he

9:13 didn't die in one day. Yeah So what we're saying is the our product helps monitor that report that so that the company can can focus on How can we do things better? Yeah, so it's not about just

9:26 talking the talk is about really doing it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and then

9:31 how do you How do you make it in a way so that people don't Feel safe with these cameras kind of monitoring them all the time. I think the other question is like what's the line between feeling like

9:41 a police date? Exactly. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like what makes how do you make the employees comfortable with the district part about it is we don't have to do. So first we do have to do

9:51 anything. The cameras are already the first place. So I'm not bringing the cameras. Why is it your - You've been watched anyway. You've been watched already, yeah. So we're just taking the

9:60 videos that they played on you or they're using watching you and now using it to make for lack of a better word when I use to bring like root cause analysis,

10:15 to dig dive into what could happen or what is happening in your workplace. Like I mentioned earlier, our product, we use Gustin. So we don't even show the faces, yeah. So we use like, we could

10:29 do a 3D model and it just shows

10:34 like for lack of a better word a caricature of the person. That's like a three, it's like digital twin all over again. So it's not you. So I'm not going to comment, so was that Jason? Or then I

10:44 don't, no, that's not the point. We're not even seeing your face. So even if the video is coming to us is showing the faces, when it's going to a program, it's converted automatically to

10:58 ghosting. We're not interested in who did what. So that's what we tell. That would make the stuff more comfortable. So in your workplace, you're free, you're doing what you're doing. And the

11:10 cameras were already there in the first place. Except for places where they didn't have this camera, they want something new installed and all of that. We also advise on what kind of cameras to use

11:21 to get better quality videos that could actually properly interpret.

11:29 Yeah, and then where are you with the technology itself to be able to do this? Yeah, so at this stage, we've done like, we've passed proof of concept. Yeah, we are building our MVP now. We're

11:43 hoping within the next three to six months, we should be be. on pilot. We were talking about 10 different companies. I mean, the oil and gas space, we focus on more on oil and gas because that

11:55 is where the high hazard, yeah, are more pronounced. And they robust safety programs, to be fair. So like, they already measured this. They already have an incentive. Yes. We also have more

12:06 data yeah,,

12:08 to work with in that space. That's why that's why I focus on, and also maybe my bias, because that is the industry I have good knowledge of. Yeah. But I know what we're doing could transcend to

12:20 manufacturing, construction, any way that is high hazard, yeah, we could transcend to that. So by the comments, we want to do a pilot with oil, all fully oil and gas. We'll respond to them.

12:32 We hope we can invest a bit of six months, we do the piloting with them. And after that, we'll do a full product launch in the markets.

12:40 And do

12:43 I would wonder, because the thing about AI is it doesn't sleep, Managers focus on what's most important or what drives kind of what's most obvious. And I wonder when you talk to potential customers,

12:57 what are the objections they may have? But my worry is if you put this in my house, you realize I'm standing on the top of the ladder all the time. I'm not doing all the same things. And obviously

13:08 that's different from a work environment. The liabilities are different. But how do you, I guess, how would you address the people getting inundated with too many alerts? Because that's kind of

13:20 the other risk too, right? You kind of have to ease people into new behaviors and not smack them on the face every time they do something wrong. So how do you think about that? Yeah, so most of

13:29 the, so all the features all the alerts, just like you have on your phone. So my phone could drink, I think, arguably since 2007 till dates, my phone's devouring out. Yeah, yeah. So my phone

13:41 is always, always on silent Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So is a feature on the phone? If you let it ring, I could put it on silent and it rings. Yeah, so, and it goes off. And the one of the reasons I

13:55 made it started doing that, yeah, I was in the workshop and someone said that we don't normally, even if a phone rings or it doesn't ring, that every human being, yeah, who has a phone, yeah,

14:08 every, almost like every four seconds, we look at our phone, yeah, subconsciously So, and my phone have not been ringing out, but I really miss a call. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you find out, so

14:25 the other ringing, the mind is already programmed. So also for our lads, from our software, yeah, he could turn on the features, I don't want the idea a lot. You could also turn it off, I

14:36 don't even be notified. Yeah, I just want the report so I can make a judgment or call on it at the end of the month. So you can wait 10 of the months, you download the report, Now that's in about

14:46 what we're working on. Yeah,

14:50 I told the team, I said, the representation of our results should be sweet and make sense to the consumer. Yeah. So, just taking a look at the dashboard, it could tell you everything you want to

15:05 know. Yeah. So, that was also one of our unique features because we look at what was already in the market. Doesn't really have that. Yeah. We want some guys. Already, people already used to

15:15 slick stuff on their phones and all of that We don't want to go below that. So, we want to be able to represent it in that way. So, you want to take a look at the end of the month. What are the

15:23 incidents, what are the things that were reported? Yeah. Our reporting also goes beyond just pointing fingers or letting you know what happened. What can you do to correct it? Yeah. So, not

15:37 only just about reporting, it's really about safety culture. It's really about safety culture. So, actually, that's the right word. Yeah you about safety culture like this is a safety culture.

15:47 Yeah, what we have is a company culture. So if the company culture is not in grainy safety, yeah, you can have safety culture apart from the company culture. So we want to build a culture in

15:56 every organization that safety is in high demand, because safety is about the people. So many companies prefer our people are our best policy, our people like this, our people are our best assets,

16:06 our people are all of that. But you don't focus on the longevity or the implication of the work environment on the people Yeah, so that's one of the things that we are pushing, yeah, but this,

16:20 but then everybody could, everybody have, well, everybody's seen all of this by doing it in different ways. I wonder if our own ways, okay, let us tell you what is happening in your workplace as

16:30 we got safety. And you could buy it if you're a very safety organized company or a safety culture company. Yeah, I think it's a no-brainer for them to use our product.

16:41 So how are you then actually going from, I mean your background's technical within safety. And now you're bringing in the digital technology part and combining them both. Tell us about your journey

16:53 of being, what are the steps that you're taking to actually create this product? Okay. So I found that this is my first company to found, but my taught technology based businesses. So I've always

17:10 told myself that I don't write codes, but I know why codes should be written And I draw that from a mental of mine who told me once that, say Stephen, you don't need to know how things are done

17:24 here in detail, but you need to know why they should be done or why they are done. That the man who knows how things are done will always get, who knows best how things are done, will always get

17:34 the job to be done. The man that knows why it should be done, will always employ the man that knows how to do it. So I focus on knowing why. Yeah, I focus on the business side of things. Is this

17:45 necessary? Why is this technology needed? What are the pain points of the customers? What are the things that we can address? And I find people who know how it should be done to work with, to

17:56 ensure that we do it. So when I mentioned I will find our first Lending Management System, arguably the first workplace

18:04 Lending platform in Nigeria in 2014,

18:09 2015, yeah. My idea was to find to know how, to know why, and I find the guys who know how, and I brought them on board, and we built that platform. We've gone ahead since then to build, I

18:22 think maybe, maybe another addition, maybe 15 or more Lending Management Systems for different organizations, yeah, as a private level. We've gone ahead to build a plagiarism checking platform.

18:35 We've gone ahead to build so many software companies, yeah, for other people, yeah. I'm just guiding them on how we should be done, yeah. because I know why it should be done and on this one

18:44 also I've gotten a technology partner that based off in Canada who are working with us to ensure that we build this out and build it and build it properly so they know how to do it and because I know

18:59 why I employ them to do it. And so why is now the time for this company what's happening in the technology that allows us to happen today. So one of the good things, both on the technology side and

19:13 on the safety side. The good part is that pro-to-now computer vision has been there, computer vision has been there for maybe 20 years but it's not been as readily used as it is today. Our two

19:28 giant intelligence and machine learning have rapidly grown in the space of the last 20 years. So we've seen a rapid response in this also in safety. Many people are becoming more aware.

19:45 The culture is changing drastically because of the new generation. People are calling out organizations at a large scale. If you are feeling on something beyond the money, people are taking their

19:57 health more seriously. People are taking their safety environment more seriously.

20:04 The ESG is also being pushed globally. America is in the forefront of it However, many people still think that the other international organizations also, while also pushing for safety, have

20:21 better standards than you have in the US. Yeah, that can be a good, you know, other place. All we're doing is we're using our background. Yeah, I've worked with the oil and gas company in

20:30 Nigeria. I've worked in the gas company in the UK. I'm now in the US. Yes, I'm using my extensive knowledge of all these industries So bring them to get us. Okay.

20:42 was to burn others with a safety culture. Safety culture is regardless of language, regardless of even the standards. Yeah, so it's above the standards. Yeah, so bringing all the standards from

20:54 the US, so you bring it OSHA, EPA, DOT, you're bringing the bus, you're bringing all the standards you can get all over the world. Yeah, and using the computer vision technology and AI, and

21:05 it's okay. Take all of this, so in one click, writing an algorithm I could scoop through all the OSHA documentation, and it's okay, what does it tell you about Sleep and Fall? And what does it

21:18 compare to the bus compare, and you build out something that is sophisticated. So 10 years ago, we couldn't have done that. My technology I've grown, and we know that it's the right time, to be

21:30 able to be doing this, yeah. And I think we're even too late. If we don't push it out in the next six months to one year, It's

21:39 to be a mass market product, so we're pushing it out. and we're building on this so that there are many parts of very many parts today. So since beyond just identifying incidents, there's

21:49 predictive analysis. Yeah, like I mentioned, root cause analysis, I mentioned being able to use those data to make sense to the organization. There are so many parts to this. Yeah, that speaks

22:00 to the ESG, speak to safety and all the standards that you have globally. Yeah. And one of the best ways like to refresh and answer of your question is

22:12 if it's not now when, yeah, it's when more people die in our workplaces. Yeah. So there's no better time to put in anything else to do with safety that will help people, yeah, become more aware

22:26 and help people save lives. Yeah. So and that's why we're doing what we're doing. So you mentioned you spoke to 10 companies as you're thinking of kind of piloting this or or more. I'm sure you're

22:38 speaking spoken to many potential customers. What are some of the big insights that you've gotten speaking to them that might have been different from like when you came up with the idea initially?

22:50 Yeah. So, um, one says, I was just so much, but I don't know if our competitors are listening, yeah, so they don't use some of our ideas. But, um, one of the things I can say jumped out for

23:01 it, because I was one of one of the areas that my mentors pushed me to say, Stephen, you need to don't build walls in your head, build what the customer wants Yeah, because we tend to do that a

23:11 lot in technology space. You find tech guys, they like an idea, they love it, and they just go jump into it and just start building. Yeah, so talk to the customers. So what are their pain

23:21 points? Yeah, what do they really need? So, um, and I happen to be on the board of a company that is IT, that is focused on safety. Yeah. And it's big in the oil and it's big in the, in the

23:34 US oil and gas industry. Yeah Uh, so I would have done a strategic advisory board of that company and have over 30 people. Yeah, all the fine minds, yeah, anything to do with safety on that

23:47 board. Yeah, so even just talking to the mind, hearing them in meetings where we have meetings and what are the pain points? What are we really seeing? Yeah, what should we be changing? Yeah,

23:57 gives me an inspiration on what to drive and how to push. But coming back to your concern that when I spoke to, we've spoken to over 50 or more different companies. Yeah, but we're narrowing down

24:09 to so let's take five to 10 Yeah, that we can firstly, for ease of reach. Secondly, people are also willing to let us tap into that data. Yeah, because not every company wants you to come in,

24:23 use the existing camera, see those things, whatever they're doing. So they are also big on safety. That's why they are loud enough. Yeah.

24:33 One of the things that readily came as reporting. Yeah that many incidents, even the ones that run firstly not even reported. And secondly, even the ones that are reported, they don't do anything

24:47 with it. Yeah. They just report and it just goes. That's part of the inside is not about the immediate response. It's about like the continuous improvement. Yes. So it's not by just reporting.

24:56 So when you report, what do you do with it? So I met a lady at the offshore technology conference this year in Houston and she collects data

25:10 from oil and gas companies. She has loads and loads of data. You see this and everything, 50 data is just a small part of the entire data that she has. And I was talking to her, okay, so what

25:20 are you doing with this data? Yeah, I said now, I said the time we spoke, yeah, there was nothing. Yeah, there was also a little something collected first. And I told her, oh, we're working

25:30 on this. And those data will make sense. Yeah, those video footage and all of that could make sense for a lot of things that could happen. So many companies already have data. Yeah, it's how

25:41 they now use those data. Yeah, an improvement in oil and gas, especially high hazard industries, an improvement doesn't need to even be drastic. Yeah, a 1 improvement in safety culture or safety

25:54 incident reporting could change a lot. Yeah, the difference between

26:01 going to work and coming back alive, yeah, and getting killed at work place is

26:08 maybe just one mile, one mile more on pressing your pedal down. And it's okay, it's not just doing seven, let me do 71 miles per hour. That could be the difference. So it's not something that is

26:25 actually too drastic. So what we're looking at is, let's say we'll study what you have in the companies, yeah. See those small improvements that we could make, yeah, or that you can begin to

26:36 make that we can suggest to you that you begin to take actions on that will really, really help in the workplace.

26:44 and then as you're working on refining this and actually building this product what do you think would be your biggest challenge going forward to actually be able to scale this

26:58 like I mentioned before we've done this twice so does the two temples I did market is different so I felt I feel if I could do it in Nigeria Yeah USB USB easier for me to do does does the demise of

27:11 the half because I have more supports Yeah I have been able to establish a very robust network and good people I've met here also beat them in both of the hub Yeah I was also helped Me I've had

27:30 meetings with JC and I've had interactions also with other hub members I've seen what are they doing this eco -system hottest killing what are the defenses that opportunity to play Yeah and how they

27:41 looking for money Yeah Also talking about that, yeah, because of our experience, we also try not to put in a lot of capital, yeah, at the beginning. So is this something I can build by myself,

27:55 using my personal phones and friends and family to bring to market? Yes. So my MVP will come out to market regardless of whether I get external funding or not. Yeah, so that's one of our

28:08 positioning. So we'll be able to come up with our MVP When we bring it to market, if the market doesn't like it, it can die a natural death. But if the market likes it, yeah, the next skill is

28:22 out of skill. So it's in our more funding, yeah, which was, so we have a good network of people already and that's in that basket. But we want to bring, want to show them something that is

28:32 working, something that is credible, something that is working, something that it can look at. Okay, people are actually really using Yeah, and my goal is to make people love our products, to

28:44 want to use it. Yeah, that will help in that barrier, because the lead barrier we see to be funding. Yeah, technology part, my team, say Stephen, we know the technology. Yeah, we can build

28:57 it. My own also, in my experience, I feel the pain points for every startup, that three pain points. My own pain point, the first one is access to capacity. Yeah, knowing what you are doing

29:12 Yeah, being able to build what you say you will build and let it make sense. Second one is access to finance, being able to get the money to build it. Then the last is access to markets. And you

29:23 sell what you build.

29:27 Yeah, most times you find people want to help you teach you how to build. So you find a lot of training, capacity development, which is the first part. So many entrepreneurs have been helped

29:35 already in capacity. Many people want to give you money. Yeah, very few people want to teach you how to sell what you're selling. as the hottest spots Yeah I saw one of the drivers for me for this

29:49 is that is that had a spot that will be able to crack yet you want to be able to we've we've been able to crack it yes sodas that saw the order to which I which I had with people which are easily

29:60 available yeah you can manage those I can manage those toys that access to markets yet based on our relationship and our network Yeah I I tell you that we have access to at least a thousand possible

30:15 clients that we already have a network that can reach out to from day one yeah that we can have a telephone call two or so dispersing social talk to you about this so is a direct call way to have that

30:29 database will have that already on ground Yeah I'm in my previous startups I never had access to markets yeah it was very hot but are they spend a lot of money on marketing and talking and doing stuff

30:41 Yeah so for us that barrier

30:46 This business is high, it's supposed to be high, but for us it's lower barrier. Yeah, so technology, my guys say, oh, we'll crack it. Finance, we'll get funding. If your product is good,

30:57 yeah. And the customer wants it. So I'm focusing more on, let my customer want what I'm building. Or let me build what the customer really wants. Are you ready to lead the decarbonization charge?

31:11 Energy Technexes is your platform for growth, offering unique resources and expertise for energy and carbon tech founders. Join us at energytechnexescom and start building your Thunderlisset. Yeah,

31:21 and

31:25 is that because you're here in Houston or because of the network you've been able to build? Or because of your background of coming from energy? What makes that barrier a lot today? I think, I

31:32 think, I mean, I'm a fit-based person. Yeah, in our products, we don't want to talk religion Or I'm

31:41 all of that. Yeah, but I can't, I can't take it out. Yeah. So most times

31:49 God connects people. Yeah. So like me coming to the Nexus, for example. Yeah. I met somebody, I had a discussion with him on my product. And I said, oh, it's a group he should be part of.

32:02 And he just brought me downstairs to you. Yeah. Yeah. We could have met anywhere else. Yeah. They basically I would have met with him somewhere where I met him before. I met him at the iron I

32:12 would have met, would have had lunch anywhere else. Now why was, where were we in the building? And you were downstairs that same day. And he just brought me downstairs. Yeah. I feel everything

32:21 works together. Yeah, everything is connected. So while I want to take the credits, okay, because the network I've built, I feel is the connection. Yeah, that have helped me build those

32:32 networks. So I made somebody also in church that we started talking and he looked at my resume trying to put a profile for him and said, Okay, we're just talking and. I like him because he's done,

32:43 he's built businesses, he's gone out of them, he's retired now just to get advice from him because I was very impressed when I came to America. I want to know, what does it take to succeed here?

32:54 Yeah, I wouldn't say okay because I've stayed in Nigeria, then you can't transfer the same level of knowledge to this place. You know, as well as that basic universal principle that work anyway.

33:04 Yeah, but I wanted to know what it takes to do the 17 year So in talking to him, I only looked at it. So Stephen, you've done XYZ on our board meeting last month. We're actually talking about

33:14 this. And you've done this extensively. Let me talk to the chairman of the board. I think we should bring you on the board. And that's how that connection worked. I came on the board and I met

33:23 other people. Yeah, I will spoke. Yeah. So for somebody once told me that a closed mouth is a closed destiny. Yeah. So whenever you meet people, talk about what you want or what you're doing.

33:36 Yeah. Is

33:38 in their best interest to help you. Yeah because dismissal will succeed anyways and not editing people's people help people who are already looking successful yet they won't they want you to succeed

33:49 yet especially when they know that you're putting your the opportunity good fight you're doing your best when should I use a seat and because they know you will succeed without them you or someone

33:57 else will help you with we are going to want to be part of that journey and I found out happened to me I found people saying oH steven well what we are doing we already Yeah I want I want to be part

34:09 of it's one of my co -founders said just which we are also talking one danny US estimate how can I be part of Disney Dream yet yet Diva is that a cultural difference of here in Houston vs in Nigeria

34:22 or is it what's different this time so for me also I think I think he's he's a dick dick the cultural difference between he and Nigeria is not so much Yeah maybe part of America I think Houston is

34:39 More You said more people have met, yeah, I can't speak for everybody, but we are more liberal, we are more open-minded, yeah, I've met people also in conferences or other parts of, yeah, who

34:53 are not so avar to Nigeria, yeah, or Nigeria at all,

35:01 they may not say that we are racist or are racial, but yeah, they just want to do business with you. But I think we are more exposed in the multi-cultural environment, yeah, people have

35:10 interacted, they've seen people from different races, different culture, yeah, so see, people do different things and you just, you take the person based on what you see, yeah, can this person

35:23 do this? Is this incredible enough to do this? Yeah, and they succeed in what they're doing. If I, they credible people, yeah, on their own. So, you're not judging me based on someone up as

35:35 that looks like me. Yeah, judging me on me. Yeah and I think I think I've I've enjoyed and more of Dots Yeah in Houston than when I traveled to other parts of the U S Yeah I think that's why wilson

35:48 were coming down to the U S to settling my family which was these which was the spots you're out for his article listing the greater Houston area yet because first the Jar into into the when people

36:01 are not well traveled or they're not exposed to what I call chalk Yeah acceptance change is a difficult thing for anybody jaso people people what they Wada already the beach used to or dive head about

36:13 or they can easily relate to your attic has worked well for for US coming down to to Euston

36:21 and you know you spoke about three things that are important for an entrepreneur and one of them and it's like access to capital to do and there you mention you know you're trying to work in a very

36:34 lean way just using the resources that you have What are you thinking as you grow with regards to your fundraising journey? Where are you there? Yeah, so in our point, we're still working on what

36:46 we have, where do you think in that path? I've had conversations with Jason already around that path. Yeah, what the hub could do.

36:56 Yeah, we have found us, found us events. Yeah, we are trained. Yeah, firstly, you don't wait till the day you need something to begin to look for it. Yeah, so you begin to prepare yourself

37:06 for that Yeah, the same way, because those things have a way of impacting how you build what you're building. If I'm building something, I just want to just be okay, sell if you make some money,

37:20 yeah, add value, and I'm okay with it, then it's fine. If you build something, like,

37:28 it turned out like that. It felt like, yeah. Like Jessica Pritchettos, yeah, you need to think, In that direction you need to begin to look at US okay So how do I do this form on the brain for

37:39 an hour to get it right from the beginning Yeah so for now we're just taking advice we just open listening ya talking to people who have done it yet one of my mentors has founded five companies yet as

37:52 it had three successfully yet failed in into may hesitate three so he has lessons to give me but in how not to feel and how to Secede Yeah so Ah he's one of the one of the ER push one of the driving

38:05 force for us and is and is done successfully in any north American market so we will listen to him Yeah we we talked to him webmator with him almost every week yet argued so what are we doing Yeah

38:18 even just a suck it is howard they just have detained him and does get in response on on what to do and how to go around it and as will continue with its we focus more on that and we already talking

38:28 to people at least three people who are at that level yet i beyond just Angello seed investing Yeah why that senior level and the deep lake for my Experience is is is below start talking to them now

38:44 so they see me talking to everyone that is podcast when I have this I'll share with him yeah absolutely see you you didn't have anything yet and this is from my own experience when I spoke to my first

38:56 investors in two thousand and thirteen I did not have while I had an idea I when I spoke to them in Nigeria I was just talking to them from My mouth they were met three months later in a

39:10 coincidentally like I told you about orchestration meeting in a meet in a place and I had my iPod and I showed him a mockup

39:20 we met again like three or two foremost after and assured him a prototype yup the progress appear so we met again as they were Luncheon and I shared with him media communication on the national unused

39:32 Overflow chapo

39:34 From beginning till the day was spoke to when he invested about nine months, I wasn't asking him for money I was just showing no we're making progress. So and I'm what I'm letting him know Or what I

39:44 was letting him know Dan was I am making progress with or without you. Yep And and by the way at this future day, you know, there will be a time we need capital. Yes. Yes So I so that also he

39:55 knows I mean this boy is coming Yeah, it's coming. It's going. Ah, I think I should plug in now before somebody just puts puts him money Because I can tell you still you have seen him grow. Yeah,

40:06 so that's what I'm trying to build now still credibility. Yeah, talk to people Let them know about Johnny. Yeah, so I'm also don't want to that so many vessels They want to bring him money that by

40:18 the by the Policy they won't bring him money on till your market ready So we're not bringing money on till you hit a certain amount in revenue So we also have those people which you know, yeah,

40:31 don't let them know Wow, but zero revenue today When we get to1, 000, 000 revenue, we notify them. We're not at1, 000, 000. The last time we spoke was zero. Now we're at1, 000, 000. We'll

40:41 get to3, 000, 000, or3, 000, 000 now. So, until you're there, I'll show you guys. Yeah, and it's understanding that these investor relationships, they're not built overnight, right? It's

40:52 a long process and you start even

40:56 before you're ready because it's all relationship-based. They have to trust you as a founder to put their money into it. Yes, yes, and that's the right one And many people, like someone wants to

41:04 be Ellie in this journey. Yeah, that people don't invest in your product or your business, they invest in you. Yeah, so they need to know you. Yeah, so we try to cultivate that relationship and

41:15 that's what we're doing now. Try also not to ask for money to Ellie 'cause I have so many founders go down that route. We actually did that in one of our first startups. Yeah, I felt we took money

41:26 to Ellie. Yeah, it affects the way you run the business, affects the drive you put in.

41:36 Yeah, when, when someone has a hammer, yeah. Or if I capitate, I have a hammer. Every problem is like a nil. So you, that's because that's what you have. When you have money, too. Yeah,

41:49 most times you feel money solve all the problem. Yeah. So it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it's, it's,

41:54 you know, but I see enhances thinking. In my own understanding, my own experience also, it with this thinking. Yeah, that thing is that you do when you're hungry. Yeah You're welcome from,

42:05 we're hungry people. Yeah. Yeah, so. Going back a little, you said, sometimes going out to raise money, a little trailer. I remember some of the angel groups, I would go out to, and we were,

42:16 we were super young. We didn't know what we were doing. And we were pitching a version of the business. And then two years later, we came back and we had made progress. And some of the investors

42:27 said, well, we're not going to look at your deal because you were pitching two years ago in the deal of stale. I'm like, well, it's a different business I'm not even saying, like it's. Did you

42:35 even read the materials? And to be fair, they probably see a million of these a year, but if

42:41 you're not building the relationship and you're just kind of trying to transact all the time, the question does emerge, you know, why hasn't this been funded yet? If it was good, it would have

42:50 been funded like

42:54 that. It's gonna be, yes. But I think it's, you're on your fourth venture here. This is experience talking. It's hard to know what that sounds like when you're a first-time founder

43:02 and what it takes to kind of lead the investors to water, so to speak. It's a lot of

43:11 work, but it's kind of what you have to do to build that relationship so that it's easy when the time comes to engage in that investment discussion. It is. Yeah, so that's a lot of wisdom right

43:22 there that you're really shared here. It is. And truthfully, also, it's a very difficult place to

43:27 be. Yeah. Yeah, especially when you need the money. And you want it really bad And you want it really bad, but you know you know deep down your heart is not the right call yeah the money will be

43:39 good Yeah Annabelle a wendy invest we are talking about is even willing to give you the money Yeah if you're asking are you you're not good enough going against the different ballgame but wait the

43:49 money is available to be given to you they know this money are ticking up you're making a huge deep Donny or you know you're making a mistake yeah and his his mod is more difficult Yeah because

44:02 there's always a sack of

44:06 money Yeah someone someone I read I was reading somewhere there was a ninety percents said be careful of the invest investment should take Yeah because if his endeavors investment the interest on his

44:16 height Yeah for the reader to the alliance and was times you'd get something that comes in like as I like to call it an angel investment but really that was investment because at the end of the day

44:29 your company is going Yeah we've lost business like that so we also very careful Yeah You're Not Square and I Don't Want To one on something is when a beauty in something just because of legacy to

44:39 build something for a name Y'all want some one was also told me that

44:44 I rather have ten percents ye of a mighty ocean yeah that half hundred percent of his swimming pool near so you want to go with people you want you want the right minds to be with you may also you

45:00 have to look at what are we building yeah do they really believe in the CR believe in Me yet to be able to schedule and duties at the lodge at a large polite proportion and because of my personality

45:12 too Yeah am Someone I can't take money from Jason and Soak I want to do I'll buy this phone yet and I come back to you and I Saw I'd embody for when I saw Elba Money I lost money No if I Go to the

45:26 market and Swizzle Available I will buy Something Else

45:29 I Will I'll make sure I combine create the value I Will I must create value for your money Yeah I will never come back and so we lost its no where where I come from we don't do like that Yeah you must

45:40 show value Yeah I learned that in business school too if one of my professors made sure that using vegetables for example say you're you're like an onion trader then you go to market and there's no

45:54 logo on you and or something happened Yeah maybe there's now scarcity of onions we went to market yourself is except pepe is something that is I something that's on trade with it yeah don't come back

46:06 to the Jojo Facade so we lost money Yeah with this money OH no I will need money for if you come to raise money for something that nobody will believe in you so you want to show value for whatever

46:19 Yeah and we just and that's that's credibility and is a new market for Magneto I need to ensure that would do that Yeah Yeah and there's an expensive time like when you like going to the market chip

46:29 to extend the metaphor you're there you've already invested in getting there you already have kind of your experience and maybe that that plan was the first plan but like you said there is other other

46:42 vegetables you can trade back and you're not going to waste that overhead or that that's really the lesson here and it'll give you the opportunity to come back to market again and again and again

46:54 definitely definitely on the view if you borrow from Medicis were commonly some song but Nokia the one on the field and the rest of them too they'll tell you that what is that that will be disabled

47:04 technology yet at some sled we tried trading somewhere furniture making companies yeah but they just kept transitioning so does what you after so you after quitting value as does when you start taking

47:19 money you must quit value for the shoulders Yeah for the Stakeholders you must quit that value but before then we are looking at is

47:29 quitting at at the expense of Yourself and was quit value for the customer Yeah and because at the end of the day is the customer that will reward but thou roared all shoulders so abused something

47:44 that day like something that the loss of the idea will use your city can add eventually give you value bacon being by the shoulders to one of the things I want to explore with you because we're

47:55 playing on you know now is the right time but also this is something we have to put in front of our customers really you're part of the way you're going to create value for your investors is by coming

48:06 to market and not having anyone compete with you right or you're going to get out there before other people and what you know so this this a little bit of crushed on timing right like why was now the

48:19 time how are you also going to come out and and kind of create this defense ability around the business where no one's going to be able to catch up

48:28 I I that's a difficult question

48:33 because The truth about it,

48:36 and I've looked at it in different ways. I made a potential investor once, back home in Nigeria, billionaire, and we're in this office, talking, and he told me, Steven, then we're on our

48:49 second journey, bidding our, our third journey, bidding our plagiarism checking platform. And he says, Steven, after all my projections, oh, it was lofty, fantastic meeting I had that

49:00 dayPresented, spoke, I was in my elementwhen I finished within my, oh, so. And it looked like numbers. Said, Steven, you talk about two million studentsusing this platform.

49:14 Okay, giving you X, Y, Z amount. You know if I come on board, that's him talking to me now. Said, Steven, you know if I come on board, two million becomes useless. Yeah, because on my own,

49:27 I have a network that we can reach all the universities, and we can hit all of them.

49:34 twenty to fifty million students using this platform say Yes I know that Yeah and so I said that to cities whatever you tinker building Yeah if one of the big guys who holiday billionaires if if if

49:51 bill gates wakes up Tomorrow Elo Box weeks about things and your eyes go lesson one thing about his oil and gas safety and vicente with what he just deed with the robotics and and the cars and all of

50:04 that and he takes the direction of and well I'll just so we just tend to Q Yeah because he kills the markets he just takes over the market so that said it'll stop you from putting your best efforts

50:18 and just coming to market that because even if you have that many car builders Yeah I Bet more still more cars are still needed that many technology based companies Now, many oil and das come to be

50:32 more austin either. More energy come to be more austin needed. There is always a

50:36 market for the man who can build something and find that market. Yeah, so there's always a market. There's a market, the market, the same way the beds fly, they don't collide in the air. Yeah,

50:49 even if we even need the edge full of beds, if we bring all the beds in one city, it would look like, wow, there's no space Let them all fly up every space. Yeah, so there's always room for

51:03 everyone. So bear, what we'll look at is we need, which I talked to my team about. So one of the different shuttles first, I said, even if we don't do anything, let's finish our clients. Using

51:16 the word finish is a border pattern from Nigeria, like let's say, oh, let's go and kill it. When our clients see our dashboard, when they see their reported dashboard, just a while before they

51:29 will think about What did We'll See Ya soon as one of the tasks I give to my team lead the closet while Yeah I've never seen safety reported like this Yeah sulit are reported be extraordinary before

51:45 start thinking about oH so what the reporter will say that our secondary that even some of the elements of our reports should be something that day and not thinking so because I'm a business school

51:57 students as it were I'm thinking more from a management perspective also released fifty which most companies don't most companies focus on management as your safety is it your hitch I was in the

52:09 middle yeah the all like thou fighting some wearing the three Cops or unthinking a management pass with my owner's perspective yet my Tim Watson came from a safety perspective on what Angel Mary

52:21 altogether Yeah so there's no fight there's no coffee between her Gyro Safety and and management while wearing it as one saw the reporting that will be from our platform, we would make you so much

52:33 business sense to management, that they have no other choice than to, Okay, let's focus on this. Let's push this. So that's one of the areas of what we're looking for. It reminds you of the old

52:44 Staples commercials, you had to hit the easy button, right? It's the same thing. It needs to

52:52 be to enable that adoption. It needs to feel that simple, that it's obvious. Yes And

52:60 I think also what you were saying, you know, you can't always be worried about hypotheticals, in terms of like, who else can come in and like, disrupt this, because you understand the problem.

53:10 So you can create a solution. I mean, Elon Musk is not looking into this problem, you know, at least not right now.

53:19 Yeah, at least not in the way that you are, right? Like from your angle But I won't even if Elon Musk decide to look at this problem. When it looks at it, we say, Oh, we shouldn't take Doing so

53:30 can we do what can we learn from what can we buy we buy them a week what are we doing to to be like people to be better than them I want I want in the next five years anybody coming into these

53:41 environments called me into the safety oil and gas safety or high hazard industry safety to do anything technology to sell one of our competitors efficient Tech yeah globally you want to be on that

53:54 and

53:56 say yeah so what matters let's knock this guy off Yeah now I wonder if I'd like let it be a Pepsi Coca Cola fights Yeah good for the industry overall that eco -system is good for the ecosystem is good

54:11 for the industry I be makes people think that I'd be willing to bring out stuff Yeah You're You're not just a Walkover because as technologies improve it will also prevent you want to go to the market

54:21 Yeah If if It's What We're creating is also created well so adopting Yeah it's it's Okay how do we how do we move but all of this is in sync with the customer. Yeah, because there's so much you can

54:34 drive the customer. Yeah, most of the features we have on most of our devices and not even customers don't use them. Yeah, so you want to build something that the customer is using and they're

54:45 asking for more, they're gaining for it. Yeah, because it's making sense to them and it's actually helping them. So what we're building is low cost, is reducing cost for the company. Yeah, let

54:56 that cost that you are reducing the company, let it translate to employees benefits, help the employees, help the staff, yeah, and all of that. And we have so many spirals from this that I'm not

55:07 gonna be able to share on this podcast. Yeah, that even has to do with workplace. So when you mentioned, you know, when I was saying you talked about, yeah, just your passing, if it's just you.

55:17 Yeah, so one of our products that we're gonna come up, yeah, in the next 24 months, as part of the plan, is gonna be just for home workplace alone So beyond what you do in high hazard industry.

55:30 you sit down at home, in your own office, working from home, working from home, being a big team now, one of our products is gonna, from this part of the spiral of it, is gonna be focused on

55:40 working from home. So we have all those in the pipeline, but - And keeping over the modern - Yes. So let's talk a little bit about trends at the macro level. And I can see a lot of safety is

55:51 regulation driven when we think about OSHA and like local rules Are there any historical regulations that are gonna drive this or is there anything people are talking about from a regulatory

56:04 perspective that you expect to affect the business in the next five years? Yeah, so those things that are talking about are these like helping us. Yeah. So ESG. Yeah. Yeah, it's one of them.

56:16 So many states are adapting, yeah, there's so many regulations also around the OSHA and the rest of it are being rewritten Is that being driven by, you said before people are more interested in

56:27 this topic or are there other things that are driving that? transition. I think one of one of the driving transition is technology. Okay, yeah, because you can enable a lot now. Yes, so many

56:36 playing there be a lot. And the the old guys,

56:43 where I say the the

56:47 older generation who have been in the business who created most of these rules and regulations that we're using, yeah,

56:56 beginning to allow new guys who are coming in who are now enhancing the enhancing those regulations. Because we have this generational transition that's happening. Yes. So it is a good one. So

57:06 there are many that many OSHA rules and many of all these rules that on paper, yeah, it's okay. But on ground it's not workable. Yeah. So being able to marry boats is what is worth driving most

57:22 of these most of this stuff. And most times, like, I was in a session last week, Monday, the guy was saying, That Stephen and the team said when you guys think about safety don't think about the

57:37 workplace Yeah Focus on the regulation focus on policy Yeah, because that is what the regulation says But on ground it's different but ideally if we focus on what the regulation says and marry

57:53 towards on ground you'll find most of our Incidents would drop down because in our own Thinking Policy drives everything. Yeah once so there's no incident that happens in the workplace That is not

58:08 policy driven Yeah, and maybe focus on policy mix policies

58:15 It's people man in the management who are in forms does it does it? Yeah, so every incident in the workplace can be traced to a managed management failure Maniben doesn't want to hear that, so I

58:26 want to blame people. Yeah, by the end of the day. is a management problem. Yeah, if management enforced it, or if they did the policy - Or let it get a, let it not get enforced. It will not,

58:38 it will not, it will not, it will not yield to any incident. So over, that's what I was saying. So culture in the company, coming back tonight, I already mentioned. So culture is, safety

58:48 culture cannot be different from management culture. So if we say we have a culture, yeah, we value people, we respect them Less safety be the number one of how you show. So how do I show love in

59:02 the oil and gas industry? Safety. Yeah, how do I, so let's safety be the watch word. Everything drives where that had the management thing from safety perspective. Most times we think from

59:13 production, yeah, instead of safety. But forgetting that without safety, even if we do production, it will come. Production will pay for safety and all the revenue that we made will be everyday

59:26 because of one mistake. Yeah, but if you consistently focus on that safety and drive it from that perspective, yeah, you just need to keep building fruits better. So that's what we're looking for.

59:39 That's a key message to wrap up this podcast on, but Stephen, your enthusiasm and your passion for this really shines through and also really admirable. You know, you've come here as an immigrant

59:52 entrepreneur and thought Houston is the place to build companies and have found it, you know, it's good to hear that you found it also welcoming and seeing you thrive in being here in a very short

1:00:02 period of time. So - Houston, the tell you is the oil and gas capital of the world. So coming in here, I was thinking of strictly technology, maybe educational tech and all of that until I said,

1:00:14 talk to one of my mentors and I said, Stephen, you have a background in oil and gas. You are in the oil and gas capital of the world. Yeah, you are doing a PhD in environmental sciences.

1:00:26 How can you tie back your life? So go back, reflect on it. I took out time. I said, I don't want to talk about religion, but I took out time to pray and talk to myself and talk to God. Yeah.

1:00:36 And I looked at it and so after I came up to tie, I just wrote an article I wanted to post on LinkedIn to say, how has my life been? How has my journey been 20 years? Yeah, working and all of

1:00:47 that. And I found out what comes as where I started from, what I've built and how it's come back to where? Yeah, when I said, okay, this is it, this is the work. This is the next thing to do.

1:01:01 Yes, this was in the driver's net next time. That's all I'm working on.