“Suddenly there was this complete transformative awakening that, okay, I'm not actually just solving the problems of the building. I have to understand: Who are the users in the building? Why do they do what they do? How does real estate work? Why do people buy and sell buildings? And if I can answer those questions, then I can bring it all the way back to: Why are buildings inefficient in the first place?”

—Logan Soya

Welcome to Nexus, a newsletter and podcast for smart people applying smart building technology—hosted by James Dice. If you’re new to Nexus, you might want to start here.

The Nexus podcast (Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Other apps) is our chance to explore and learn with the brightest in our industry—together. The project is directly funded by listeners like you who have joined the Nexus Pro membership community.

You can join Nexus Pro to get access to a deep dive into my reaction, my top highlights of this episode, and a full transcript of this and all episodes. Pro members get these weekly deep dives, access to the Nexus Vendor Landscape, and can participate in exclusive events with a community of smart buildings nerds.

Episode 18 is a conversation with Logan Soya, Founder and CEO of Aquicore.

Summary

• We unpacked Aquicore’s approach to smart buildings, which is rooted in solving the problems of a few core user types 

• Logan gave his answer to why building tech is 20 years behind the tech in our personal lives and his journey from the telecom industry to founding Aquicore in order to do something about that 

• We also went on a bit of a rant together on the energy management hierarchy of needs 

• Finally, Logan introduced a new feature that his team just announced - it’s called Projects. I love the Projects concept and think it fills a key gap in the energy management process. 

  • By the way, for more information on the Projects feature release, sign up for Aquicore’s Product Launch webinar next week.

• And much, much more.

Mentions and Links

1. Aquicore (2:22)

2. Nexus Podcast Episode 6 with Prabhu Ramachandran (6:40)

3. Georgetown University MBA program (7:16)

4. Energy Management Hierarchy of Needs (38:59)

You can find Logan Soya on LinkedIn.

Enjoy!

Thoughts, comments, reactions? Let us know in the comments.

Leave a comment

Music credit: The Garden State by Audiobinger

THE ABOVE AUDIO, VIDEO, SUMMARY, AND LINKS WILL ALWAYS BE FREE. PODCAST DEEP DIVES WITH MY REACTIONS, MY TOP HIGHLIGHTS, AND THE FULL TRANSCRIPT ARE EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF NEXUS PRO.

Here’s this week’s deep dive outline:

• My reaction, including highlights:

  • Logan’s answer to why tech in buildings is decades behind 

  • Personas in CRE and how Aquicore thinks about the primary vs. secondary personas 

  • Logan and I’s rant on the energy management hierarchy of needs and what you can do with interval data 

  • The concept of projects and how that brings non-technical stakeholders into the analytics and energy management process and really all aspects of running the building 

  • Logan’s keys to attracting talent: mission and solving fun problems

• Full transcript

  Go deeper