The Customer You’re Ignoring That Fuels Growth (with Stepwise founder Jane Chen)

Описание: In this episode of Founder:Curious, hosts Luke Naudé-Lorentz and Chris Brereton sit down with Jane Chen, co-founder and CEO of Stepwise, to uncover the unconventional lessons that have powered her affordable home electrification startup.

Jane explains why the people writing the checks electricians—became her true customers, how she “ate a whale one bite at a time” to tackle massive challenges, and the Tetris-style trick that lets homeowners add big appliances without rewiring their panels.

What you’ll learn:

1. Sell to the payer, not just the user: Why pitching electricians first unlocked real scale (17:34–17:44)
2. Bite-sized progress: Jane’s “eat a whale one bite at a time” method for breaking down daunting projects (41:18–42:01)
3. Outsider advantage:How her non-electrician background helped her ask smarter questions and forge unexpected partnerships (25:11–25:19)
4. Rock-solid co-founder pacts: The early-stage Partnership Charter that kept roles clear and conflicts minimal (11:57–12:22)
5.Tetris-style load management: How the Stepwise Tap “stacks” appliance loads to avoid costly panel upgrades (20:45–21:14)

⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro with Luke & Chris
3:05 Jane’s background & vision for Stepwise
11:57 Nailing your co-founder agreement
17:34 Finding your real customer
20:45 Tetris hack for home electrification
25:11 Leveraging outsider status
41:18 “Eat a whale one bite at a time” strategy

🔗 Learn more about Stepwise → https://www.getstepwise.com/about

👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you never miss a Founder:Curious episode!