💡 From Tech Corporates to Purpose-Driven Innovation

Julien’s story is one of progressive realisation — sustainability was not always the primary focus, but it became the driving force behind Advizzo’s creation.

👉 Early career in corporate tech giants like Oracle — focused on product, sales, and process-heavy work.
👉 A pivotal shift came when Julien joined Opower, a pioneering US energy efficiency startup, which opened his eyes to purpose-driven technology.
👉 Inspired, Julien co-founded Advizzo in 2015 — focusing on helping utilities and their customers reduce water and energy consumption using behavioural science and smart data.

“We didn’t just build a platform — we built a whole new segment in water efficiency, where few were focusing back then.”

⚡️ The Reality of Building a Sustainable SaaS Startup

Julien was refreshingly candid about the realities of founding a sustainability-focused startup. Far from the glamorous tech unicorn narrative, his story highlights the grit required to survive.

Key Challenges Faced:

💰 Raising money with no product — “We went unpaid for eight months, with no salary, building out of nothing.”
😓 Stress and health impacts — “There was a point where the pressure to meet payroll landed me in the hospital. No entrepreneur talks about that enough.”
⚖️ Balancing product innovation with regulatory navigation — Sustainability isn’t just about having a great product; you need the policy landscape to align too.

“Startups in sustainability often forget — the best product in the world won’t succeed if the regulatory environment isn’t pushing the market in the right direction.”

🛠️ Building in a Market That Doesn’t Exist

A recurring theme was the sheer difficulty of creating a market from scratch. Water efficiency wasn’t high on the agenda when Advizzo started, so Julien and his co-founder had to educate, advocate, and sell all at once.

🚧 Barriers they faced:

👉 Lack of awareness in the UK about the importance of behavioural water saving.
👉 Minimal regulatory support compared to energy efficiency, which already had established mandates in the US.
👉 Resistance from utilities that saw behavioural programmes as a ‘nice to have’ rather than essential.

“We were asking utilities to invest in saving water — a resource they are used to billing for. That’s a difficult cultural shift.”

⚖️ Regulation: The Underrated Growth Driver

Julien spoke at length about the role of regulation in sustainability success. Advizzo’s growth accelerated when:

👉They hired a regulatory expert to help shape water-saving policy in the UK.
👉They aligned Advizzo’s value proposition directly to emerging regulatory requirements.
👉They understood that policy shifts create whole new revenue streams for startups if you position yourself correctly.

“Regulation creates the conditions for growth — without it, you’re trying to sell innovation to customers who aren’t required to change.”

🚀 Pro Tip: If you’re building a sustainability business, embed regulatory engagement into your business plan from day one.

🔍 Learn from Others: Embracing ‘Graveyard Diligence’

A standout takeaway was Julien’s use of ‘graveyard diligence’ — a term coined in a fashion sustainability article, which he wholeheartedly embraced.

💀 What it means: Actively studying why similar startups failed and using that intelligence to shape your own approach.

“We saw US startups drowning in endless pilots — never reaching scale. So we deliberately moved to full-scale projects, even if they started small.”

✅ Key Learnings from Competitor Failures:

• Avoid over-reliance on short-term pilots.
• Focus on landing longer-term contracts.
• Build tech that adapts to evolving regulations.
• Don’t chase grants that create false markets.

🔄 The Emotional & Practical Realities of Exit

Julien was open about the emotional complexity of selling Advizzo after nearly a decade of building the company.

⚙️ Why Sell?

• A new round of funding (Series B) would require another five years of high-intensity scaling.
• Joining a larger company (Calisen Group) provided access to sales teams, infrastructure, and complementary products, enabling faster market access.
• Calisen’s existing focus on smart metering and decarbonisation aligned well with Advizzo’s mission.

🧠 The Transition Experience

“It’s a weird adjustment going from being in control to being part of a larger machine. The stress doesn’t disappear, it just changes shape. The hardest part was letting go — trusting others to understand what made Advizzo successful.”

🚀 Despite the challenges, Julien sees partnership with Calisen as a smart, values-aligned route to scale.

✨ Final Reflection: What Needs to Change in Sustainable Business?

When asked the magic wand question, Julien’s answer wasn’t about faster exits or better funding — it was about impact.

“The biggest frustration was knowing we could do so much more — but being limited by short-term corporate thinking and lack of regulatory urgency.”

🔥 Julien’s Wish for the Future:

👉Faster, more ambitious regulation that drives sustainability initiatives forward.
👉Corporate leaders who genuinely understand that long-term value comes from embedding sustainability, not treating it as optional.

“We didn’t just want to make money — we wanted to save water, improve resilience, and leave a positive legacy. That’s what sustainability startups should be aiming for.”

🎯 Key Takeaways for Sustainability Founders

✅ Embrace regulatory strategy — don’t just build product, shape the market.
✅ Study why similar startups failed — don’t repeat the same mistakes.
✅ Build for long-term partnerships, not quick wins.
✅ Accept stress as part of the process — but find ways to manage it.
✅ Stay true to your impact mission — but be commercially smart about how you achieve it.

Julien’s journey through the trenches of sustainable entrepreneurship offers a goldmine of practical insight for anyone looking to launch or scale a purpose-driven business. As Julien put it:

“You don’t build a sustainability startup to make millions. You do it to make a difference — but that doesn’t mean you can ignore the business fundamentals.”