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Running a small company in an regulated industry (and by small I mean any company that can't afford to spend tens of millions of dollars on influencing policy making), will make you feel like getting caught in an avalanche. You get tossed around and the only thing you can do is to keep swimming and keep your head up. Most of Solmentum's 1000+ customers are in PG&E's territory and we have a large sales force here in Northern California. It now looks like PG&E will change their rate structure. After years of exorbitant rate increases of the highest electricity rate tiers, PG&E has come under pressure to restructure their rates and get their revenues in other ways. The existing rate structure is favoring amongst others low income families, urban areas with smaller houses/apartments, energy savers and solar customers. Now new proposals are in front of the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) that would redistribute PG&E's revenues away from the high energy consumers to low-usage customers. In May, the CPUC will decide which of the different proposal will be adopted. (In an unusual turn of events there are different proposals from CPUC's Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pulsifer and CPUC's President Michael Peevey on the table.). Now we are in a holding pattern until the lobbying efforts from all the different interests groups push the CPUC to a decision. What's the most frustrating about this process is not necessarily the end-result but the unpredictability and uncertainty it creates in the meantime.

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The internet is a powerful tool. And it can cut both ways. Last week we found out that someone who was unhappy with our interview process posted a nasty review on some complaint boards calling Solmentum a scam. What a kick in the face! After nearly 2 years of relentless efforts by some incredibly talented, and dedicated people, one unhappy voice can seriously tarnish the reputation of the business overnight. As always, Warren Buffet got it right: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." We have been running the business in stealth mode until now to conserve cash and focus only on what's absolutely essential to growing the business. Now we got penalized for our frugality. To an outsider some actions can be seen critically (e.g. the fact that we are using shared office space in our Orange County office since we only need it for small team meetings). Most entrepreneurs would probably agree that it's a sensible way to run a nimble operation but to someone who never started a company having shared office space could be seen as a sign of a dodgy business.

The main takeaway is that we can't blame it on anyone but ourselves. It's time to step out of our shadows and communicate our story openly. Living and breathing Solmentum every day I know what the company stands for and how hard everyone works to build an awesome company with an outstanding reputation. But a bystander cannot see the inside of the company. We need to change that. We need to provide our customers and job candidates with an opportunity to get as excited about our organization as we are.

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Don't start a business if you don't have the resilience to work through the tough times. If you can't see an opportunity in every punch that's thrown at you, you'll probably quit before you ever had a chance to succeed.

(If you are not sure what I mean, make sure to read this great article on TechCrunch by Ben Horowitz:)