The Main Circuit is a behind-the-scenes look at the Joule Case journey. Here, Joule Case CEO, James Wagoner, recaps a whirlwind trip to Texas.

While many people are winding down the year and looking forward to the Holiday Season, the Joule Case team is gaining momentum. Fulfilling orders. Building new technologies. Fundraising. Everyday is another exciting step forward and I wanted to share a little more about the journey.

Alex Livingston (left) and James Wagoner at the Angels & Entrepreneurs Conference in Austin, TX.

After being featured as the fastest funder on Unicorn Hunters, Joule Case was invited to attend and pitch at the Angels and Entrepreneurs conference in Austin last week. Daymond John (Fubu and Shark Tank), Brandon Andrews (Shark Tank), Chris Lustrino (CEO of Kingscrowd), and Buck Jordan (Wavemakers Lab) were some of the speakers and attendees I was excited to meet.

This was our first in person conference since COVID-19 and we were excited to share our progress towards a battery-powered future. Even though we were a little out of practice, we have all the tricks (credit cards and lots of miles) to fly with two checked bags for free which we very much needed to transport Joule Case batteries and the typical booth marketing materials. Alex (Livingston, President of Joule Case) and I brought both our current product and the new, next generation battery system to Austin with us. The new product family will be unveiled on January 5th at CES, so stay tuned!. This was the first public showing of the new product we have been internally calling Rev6.

One of the many things we considered is, were we ready to show off the new Rev6 technology? But, the opportunity was too exciting for us not to. It was a very exclusive audience and everyone was respectful and equally excited after seeing the new platform. Alex posted a teaser sneak picture on LinkedIn so check it out there.

We landed in Austin at midnight and promptly crashed a little after 1 am after baggage and a hotel check-in. The conference started promptly at 9 am with Daymond John speaking.

The day was a blur of meeting so many people I had previously exchanged emails or a Zoom call with and it was a blast. We had tremendous interest at our booth and frequently had a line waiting to ask us questions. Someone asked me at lunch if I was nervous about my pitch and I realized I hadn’t even been thinking about it yet. I certainly wasn’t nervous when asked that question at lunch but I also confessed that stepping up on the stage will be different and that is when I will know exactly how nervous I am. This was the first time pitching to a live audience in person. When I got up to the stage to present, I felt excitement and connection to everyone in the room. I took a deep breath and gave a pitch that felt great. Afterwards, it felt equally great to hear positive feedback from it. If you’re reading this, thank you Mary Richards for the specific call out of my presentation on your Wefunder investment comment!

After a busy Wednesday including Austin BBQ at Coopers, it was time to send the final few quick emails and hit bed for an early flight over to Houston with Dave DeMuro to meet with a couple of innovative customers. Afterwards, Alex flew back to Boise to prepare for several key customer power activations over the weekend.

Houston was surprisingly hot and humid coming from wet and cold Seattle and I still had my standard issue Seattle coat that looked silly in sunny Houston. Our first meeting was with Ahn Mai of Company of Nomads. They are building thoughtful, mobile, modular, and sustainable marketplaces. They have proven the concept at Railway Heights with a beautiful facility that is teeming with creative entrepreneurs, chefs, and craftspeople. It reminded me of Pike Place Market. Ahn is building his second facility near the Rice University campus that will host events and 15 food trucks, with the hope that all will use Joule Case battery systems for their power needs. He wants the order fulfilled by March and we are excited to grow together with his group.

Our next meeting was with Junaid Ali of Prismecs. He is well connected with industrial customers and has been a terrific reseller for Joule Case. He found two unique applications of Joule Case technologies that we believe will prove to be a new, large market that can benefit from batteries. More to come once we finalize the customer agreement first. Junaid hosted Dave and I at Caracol in the Galleria and it was a wonderful way to end a successful trip.

I am writing this on the flight back to Seattle, excited about the relationships created on this trip with both investors and customers and the groundwork we’ve laid for future innovation.- James