If there is anything that I have learnt over the past one year, it is that the culture and values matter a lot in a startup.

Starting with my most recent hire, I have started to explain and look for these qualities :

1. High ( unnaturally high ) work ethics

Talent is over-rated. As I have come to figure out, Joe may have the best talent in the industry but Frank have just 0.8X of the Joe’s talent but if Joe is working 35- 40 hour work weeks, his productivity is = 1X times 40 hours = 40X. While Frank puts in 98 hours a week and his productivity becomes 0.8X times 98 = 79X

So I insist to all my colleagues that a) this is not just a job, this is an opportunity to say five years from now that “I was part of the team that changed the industry and thus changed how the world works now.” b) there is no such thing as work-life balance and c)the product and the person becomes the same because you just cant take out the passion and purpose towards the change that you are working on, be it a work or at home or at the squash court.

2. Result oriented and metrics driven

No matter how much work you put in, if you cant show the results for it, then nobody cares. This is why at ,SolarTown, we work on a metrics driven culture and are extremely focussed on quantifying even the intangible aspects such as “Customer delight” and work tirelessly on those deliverables with a targeted 100% accuracy within the due time.

3. Customer centric

The mission of SolarTown is ” To be the Earth’s most innovative and customer-centric solar energy company”. We understand that the only reason we exist is to make amazing products / service that creates value to the consumer and this is the only and single point of focus that takes up a large chunk of our efforts because ultimately, in this war against non-renewable resources, it is the customer who decides to take our side, cheer for us with all her heart and be lead by us towards a new future. Who else will take care of them if we don’t? Big oil?