From Techstars to Private Equity- Mario Dealba on Focus, Pivots, & Building What Customers Want

Six years ago, Mario Dealba packed up his family, left a corporate career, and moved to Birmingham to join the first Techstars Alabama EnergyTech Accelerator.

He arrived with an idea for a software company. What he eventually built looked very different.

During a recent Founder Story at Innovation Depot, Mario shared how Elektrik went from an early-stage startup searching for product-market fit to a fast-growing, tech-enabled electrical wholesaler—and ultimately secured a strategic private equity investment.

Listen to the Customer, Not the Story You Want to Tell

Elektrik initially built software to help customers identify the right high-voltage electrical equipment. The problem? Customers weren’t eager to pay for software licenses.

They were, however, asking Elektrik to help them actually purchase the equipment.

That realization forced a major decision: keep pursuing the SaaS model the company had raised money around, or follow what customers were clearly asking for.

Elektrik chose the customer.

“We were trying to make 100 bucks a month and I was not seeing that people were begging me to give us millions of dollars for products sold,” Mario told the room.

The company shifted toward wholesale, using technology behind the scenes to deliver faster, better service. That pivot eventually became the foundation for its growth.

Focus on What Moves the Business

Mario also shared one lesson he wishes he’d learned earlier: founders have to eliminate distractions.

In Elektrik’s early years, he was simultaneously running other projects and side businesses. By 2022, with the company running low on cash, he shut those distractions down and focused completely on Elektrik.

That focus changed everything.

His advice to founders today is simple: separate signal from noise and spend your energy on the work that actually moves the company forward.

Or, as one mentor told him: “Stay small and shiny.”

Mario’s path wasn’t a straight line—and that’s exactly what made his Founder Story worth hearing. The model changed. The team changed. The strategy changed.

But the company kept getting closer to what customers actually wanted.