What can customers teach a scaleup?
- Emin Askerov
- Jul 7
- 1 min read
Why do many cleantech startups stall before they even start? They skip the hard part: talking to customers.
When Polina Vasilenko founded HelioRec | BCorp, a floating solar startup, she didn’t just build prototypes and pitch investors. She went to the ports, the future clients.
One hundred fifty conversations later, she had the data she needed:
✅ Ports want to decarbonise
✅ Rooftop solar isn’t enough
✅ Wind turbines? “Not beautiful” for city ports
✅ Floating solar? Interesting, but “too risky”
She says, "Everyone talks about climate action, until they need to change how they work.”
Polina heard every objection:
⚡ What if a ship crashes into it?
⚡ Solar panels can catch fire
⚡ What would extra maintenance cost?
But because she did the hard prep, 150+ meetings, events, customer interviews, she knew the pain points and had answers ready when investors asked: “Is this scalable?”
Takeaways for cleantech founders:
✔ Start customer discovery before you fundraise
✔ Expect objections, plan your risk-mitigation pitch
✔ Real clients beat fancy pitch decks every time
Want to build something that scales? Talk to your customers, all of them, before you talk to investors.
Image: HelioRec
