Electrifying Growth Episode 29: Transforming the Energy Industry Using Sound

"Failures and setbacks are a natural part of entrepreneurship, but the ability to recover from them is crucial." - Panos Adamopoulos

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of our newest portfolio CEOs, serial entrepreneur and triple Master's degree holder Panos Adamopoulos, whose background spans from serving in the Greek military to founding two successful companies overseas, to his current venture, Seismos, Inc.. Seismos leads the category of predictive analytics with the only non-invasive, low-cost, cloud-enabled data acquisition and insights platform that models both performance and troubleshooting in real time. 

Here's what you can expect from Episode 29:

1. The Value of Experiential Learning

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Panos served in the Greek military; a requirement of Greek citizens by law. He then studied chemical engineering and worked in business development before moving to Silicon Valley in 1999. "I saw the Silicon Valley boom, but I also saw the big dot-com crash," he recalls. Then, in September 2001, he decided to take a big leap: Panos up and moved to Nanjing, China, knowing no one and without any sort of agenda, for a small global procurement company. Fast forward many successes, he sold the company 7 years later.

Adamopoulos' years of hard work and networking paid off, and by 2008 he recalls having over 1,000 manufacturing facilities in his network. His second company, based in Hong Kong, had a similar business-line manufacturing approach to the first; everything from "chemicals, to paraffin-made products, to garments." He sold that business in 2011, a much quicker exit than the first, to which Panos says, "I became better at what I was doing... Entrepreneurship at the end of the day is a process."

2. Panos' Journey to the US

In 2011, Panos began to consider moving back to the US. At the forefront of his mind was Texas, the energy industry hub. "I said, you know what, I'm going to go to Texas... It was kind of the same recipe as when I [decided] to go to China. It wasn't with a prescription. I didn't really know exactly what I would be doing. I didn't know what the company I would be launching would be. It was more of an exploration mode."

Important note here, Panos points out, it's no easy task to come into the United States legally. "The easiest way for a foreigner is education," he says. So at 39 years old, Adamopoulos went out for his third Master's degree at McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin studying Masters of Science and Technology Commercialization. At the time, his only goal of enrolling was to come to the United States. However, when he realized his classmates' accolades... "the guy next to me is the Vice President of Apple, and the guy sitting on my left is the Vice President of IBM," it ignited a competitive fire inside, leading Panos to graduate first in his class.

3. Energy Sector Evolution

A significant portion of our conversation focused on Seismos' unique approach to the oil and gas industry, and the story begins with Adamopoulos graduating from Berkley (with an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship). He spoke with scientists at the Lawrence Berkley National Lab and met Russian Scientist Valery Korneyev, who opened his eyes to a new acoustic waveform. The two then began to question, "How could we use these principles to make a difference in the energy sector?"

For those unfamiliar with the energy sector, it's very analog; real-time data can feel nonexistent. Back in 2011, Panos recalls that delivering data required extensive mobilization of people and equipment, then 10-12 months to process and deliver said data. Adamopoulos quickly recognized the business opportunity, understanding that optimization wasn't possible with outdated data.

In the oil and gas industry specifically, Seismos manipulates and propagates sound through tubular systems. "Sound is not a new thing... the way we do it is different," Adamopoulos explains. "We are the experts in manipulating sound... We send sound very, very long distances, we measure sound reflections, and [using those signatures] we can extrapolate information about the remote media... we translate what really matters to the engineers (physical properties of that formation) and give that to them in real-time. Once they have that information, they can make smart decisions that affect the [economic side of their business]: higher production, cost efficiencies, and so on."

Key Takeaways

• Panos emphasizes the necessity of a resilient mindset to navigate setbacks and obstacles.

• Leverage failure as a learning tool. There is value in learning from failures and the crucial ability to recover and iterate upon them.

• Panos discusses how mentorship can evolve with different stages of business growth, emphasizing the importance of diverse input throughout the entrepreneurial journey.

• There are many hurdles in selling advanced technology to the conventional oil and gas sector. Understanding customer value and dependability is key.

• Global expansion, especially during COVID-19, demonstrates the importance of agility and seizing opportunities in the ever-changing startup ecosystem.

For a more comprehensive explanation of these topics and to learn from Panos Adamopoulos’ experiences, tune in to the full episode below.