How Camus Energy Found Product-Market Fit by Targeting Forward-Thinking Utilities

Finding early adopters isn’t just about identifying potential customers – it’s about finding the right ones who can help shape your product and market. In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Camus Energy co-founder Astrid Atkinson revealed how targeting innovative utilities enabled them to create an entirely new product category.

Looking Past Industry Stereotypes

The conventional wisdom about utilities painted a grim picture. “I heard a lot of concern that folks in the utility space were pretty slow moving, very conservative, very resistant to change, perhaps not very much fun to work with,” Astrid recalls.

But rather than accepting these stereotypes, Camus Energy looked deeper. They discovered that amid the conservative majority, there were utilities actively seeking transformation. These weren’t just early adopters – they were potential partners in defining a new market.

Identifying the Innovators

What set these forward-thinking utilities apart? As Astrid explains, they were “so creative and so dedicated to demonstrating models of dramatic change in some of the areas we need it most around decarbonizing our energy supply.” More importantly, they were “willing to put their money where their mouth is in terms of adopting new technologies and really pushing the envelope.”

These weren’t just customers looking for incremental improvements. They were organizations actively working to transform their industry from within.

Aligning with Core Values

A crucial insight was understanding that even innovative utilities are driven by deep-rooted values. “The utility industry is very focused on the idea of serving the broadest community,” Astrid notes. “That obligation to do so in an even handed, generalized and universal way is like kind of something close to a sacred duty in their minds.”

This understanding helped Camus Energy position their solution not as disruptive technology, but as an enabler of utilities’ fundamental mission.

Building the Right Category

Rather than competing within existing software categories, Camus Energy created a new one focused on future needs. When talking with investors, Astrid explains they position themselves as “really looking to build the software capabilities that will empower and enable the utility of the future, not necessarily the utility as it stands today.”

This approach resonated particularly well because it addressed emerging challenges. As Astrid notes, “while they may have been able to more or less, kind of keep tabs on and even control the growth of things like rooftop solar and its impacts on the grid, the more we see consumer sided technologies becoming part of our everyday energy landscape, particularly electric vehicles… The more the change that’s happening on the grid sort of outpaces their ability to manage the rate of its growth or the rate of its change.”

Growing Through Collaboration

Instead of viewing other startups as competition, Camus Energy took a collaborative approach to market development. “Success for us isn’t whether we beat out another fledgling software company,” Astrid emphasizes. “It’s whether we can grow the market enough for all of us to be successful together.”

This ecosystem mindset extends to partnerships: “I pretty much always say yes, I would like to have a conversation about that because in my mind, success for us isn’t whether we beat out another fledgling software company, it’s whether we can grow the market enough for all of us to be successful together.”

Results and Validation

The strategy has yielded significant results. With seven utility-scale customers, Camus Energy has proven that even in conservative industries, there are organizations ready to embrace transformation when the solution aligns with their values and vision.

The lesson for founders? Don’t let industry stereotypes blind you to opportunities. Look for organizations actively seeking change, understand their fundamental values, and position your solution as an enabler of their mission rather than a disruption to their business.