The Game of FOMO
Meet Deepak, Co-Founder at Tri-D Dynamics!
Start-Up: Tri-D Dynamics
Co-Founder: Deepak
Location: San Francisco
Founded: 2015 (really started 2017)
What is Tri-D Dynamics?
Tri-D Dynamics is a hardware start-up based in San Francisco that is working on smart pipes for the oil and gas industry. Their technology enables oil and gas companies to obtain data from pipes, in real time, at the bottom of their wells. The team is currently working on safely embedding electronics at production speeds into metal parts.
Starting the company out of necessity
The co-founders didn’t plan on starting a company, but ended-up doing this out of necessity. They were all part of an engineering leadership group (Gordon Engineering Leadership Center) at UC San Diego, which was a program that helped ambitious engineers hone their leadership skills. Deepak started his 2nd rocket club which is a chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space club at UC San Diego, and one of his co-founders joined him as VP in their senior year. In the UC system, Deepak noted that it is hard to find project space for engineering clubs, but they were able to get some hardware space by joining an incubator (Moxie Center for Entrepreneurship). One caveat was that the program asked that they register their company and that they participate in pitch competitions. Despite not knowing what they were doing, they ended up winning a lot of these competitions. They gained so much traction that in their senior year they vied the option to drop-out and join an accelerator, but they decided to finish their degrees and continue with master’s degrees.
Asking the tough questions and making the difficult decisions
Over time, the team realized that there were some fundamental flaws in their business plan. They realised that the aerospace industry was not ultimately, an area that was conducive for start-ups to grow, for reasons such as needing certifications, capital and lawyers to go through all the regulations, along with only being allowed to hire US citizens. In terms of their business, they were planning to mass 3D print rocket engines; they wanted to be the Rolls Royce of the rocket industry. However, it came down to the realization that it wouldn’t make sense for a SpaceX or Blue Origin to put their most critical component in the hands of a start-up. This gave the team perspective. It was not an easy decision for them to pivot away from the aerospace industry, given that they had spent most of their careers in this space, along with having a strong network there too.
Finding the best use case for your technology
Although Deepak hopes to one day re-enter the aerospace industry, him and his team were able to find another industry conducive enough to build a start-up, and a place they were able to offer higher value: the oil and gas industry. They conducted more than 100 in-person interviews in 6 weeks, and during this process, they were able to really understand what their potential customers needed. At the end of the day, their team wants to make transformational change and impact on the world using technology they develop.
Hurtles Deepak has faced on this journey
Deepak noted “One of my personal biggest challenges over the last 2 years was having the vision for seeing what the company could do with taking feedback we were getting out in the field.” They have taken feedback from customers and tied this into their vision and what they are passionate about. They also understand that as a hardware company, everything typically takes a bit longer. Now that the company has a new vision, the team is looking to grow their network through pitch competitions, blog posts, and conferences; they are trying to get as much exposure as they can. The team made a name for themselves in the aerospace industry, so although they are facing the challenges of joining a new industry, they are determined to continue their success.
Redefining what success means to you
For Deepak, he noted that success may look different to different people. He’s received the question from investors “how successful do you think you are going to be with this venture?” Deepak noted that his response to this is “I’ve never lost at anything I’ve done; I consider everything a win, and I never give up no matter what it is.” He doesn’t necessarily expect this company to turn into a billion-dollar company, but he is going to aim for it. He keeps his expectations low and his goals high—this allows him to be happy. Don’t expect perfection as this will always set yourself up for failure.
Running a company
To Deepak, there are 2 ways to run a start-up: 1) put a combination of product and vision together, and figure-out through customer feedback how to adapt and still work with your vision in mind; or, 2) start with a vision, hold onto it, and make sure people jump on board. Deepak thought that Tri-D Dynamics would be the second, but noted that to survive as a start-up, you need to listen to your customers. Another thing a start-up needs is funding! Without it, you aren’t alive, and you aren’t making progress. This is particularly important for hardware companies which tend to be more expensive than software companies.
Learn about the funding process
Deepak’s team was able to raise their first round of funding within 2.5 months, but it was a full-time job. Deepak noted it was hard figuring out all of the terms, and a lot of questions came up like should you ask for what you believe you need or what you believe you can get, and how to tailor your milestones based on that.
Another challenge was when the team did not hear a no from investors, which of course to a young entrepreneur signals a potential yes. Deepak highlighted that he thinks that investors do this out of kindness, but he emphasized that it is a waste of time and a challenge.
At the initial stage, his team thought that they would only ask for 50K or 100K because they were going off an idea and didn’t think they would be able to raise much. They started going-out and just saying they were raising 250k or 500k to see what people would say, and they received a lot of maybes. In 2 months into the process, a family friend, who was an angel and real estate investor, told Deepak that he would give 500K and to let him know in 3 days. Deepak wanted to avoid family or friend investors, but the company had little money left, and at the end of the day, this was a yes and this investor believed in the team and what they were working on. They then reached-out to other investors and ended up getting 4 more offers that oversubscribed to the eventually raised 1M round. He referred to fundraising as a game of FOMO.
An interesting point was that the team thought that the day they received funding was the day they could finally sit back, relax and be happy. But Deepak noted that another switch in his brain went off and suddenly he was thinking about what the team was going to do to best position the company for the future. He is thankful for where the company is at and for the people who believe in them. Especially at the early stage, it is all about the team, which is something Deepak noted that he didn’t fully understand until going through the process of getting funded. He also noted that once you start paying yourself a salary, it is a very weird feeling!
Knowing what to work on and what to outsource
At first, the team was trying to do everything themselves because they were frugal, which isn’t a bad thing and is a reason why they are where they are now, but at times, it can also hinder progress. Deepak noted that for accounting and legal functions, for example, pay people a reasonable amount so that you can focus on the important aspects of the company. This is something a lot of entrepreneurs don’t realise: you must spend money on areas that are important, so that you can focus on building something of value.
Meet the Co-Founders at Tri-D Dynamics.
Meet the team!
The team is currently based in San Francisco and San Mateo, and they are entrepreneurs in residence at Autodesk. The team is made up of 3 co-founders. The team is currently very lean, but typically, they have 7-8 people working at any given time. Now that the team has a clear direction, they are starting to ramp back up. Deepak is grateful for his co-founders Alex and Jesse, noting that the company wouldn’t be at the point it is at without them and is thankful for their adaptability and high spirits.
Early Days
Early on, Deepak didn’t know what he was going to do when he grew-up. He thought he might become a chef because he loved to cook, but he ended up on a very different path. His parents moved to the United States with ideas of what they believed success looked like and they wanted him on a path of success as well, but never forced him into anything and were always supportive of everything Deepak did. His dad is an entrepreneur and knew from first-hand experience how stressful it is to live the entrepreneurial lifestyle. But Deepak noted that growing-up he always wanted the harder thing; he enjoyed pushing himself and his limits. He credits the mindset of being able to do whatever he put his mind to, to his family.
Get to know Deepak better!
Deepak completed his undergrad and master’s degree in aerospace engineering, and he has worked at NASA and SpaceX. In 2013, him and his team built the first 3D printed rocket engine from a university, where they pushed the limits of 3D printing in the aerospace engineering industry.
If he wrote a book, he would call it Fortune. He is critical of the term “lucky” and considers other than where he was born, that other things happen and not from luck. He has put himself in a position where he was able to do the hard work and move towards a position of success. Acknowledging luck of the draw makes a difference, he also believes that everyone has the ability to do what they want if they put their mind to it.
Something nerdy…after all, he has a degree in rocket science. Growing-up he built model airplanes, rockets, and started 2 rocket clubs in his undergrad.
Deepak tries to stay grounded by sticking to a regular schedule, which includes starting his day at 5:30am with a work-out. He’s played sports his entire life, which are a big outlet for him. He also gains energy from speaking with friends, family, and an executive coach.
“The act of only listening and not talking is so powerful.”
Deepak has some great advice
Deepak noted “the act of only listening and not talking is so powerful.” It is very common for all of us to react to show our engagement in conversations, but sometimes the best way to engage is to just listen and not react. He challenges you to pick someone you are close with, and the next conversation you have, just listen—you might learn something!
Thanks Deepak! Feel free to reach-out out to the Tri-D Dynamics team, and check-out their website.
