Vicki Knott is the CEO and cofounder of CruxOCM (Techstars 2018). Vicki is a well of knowledge when it comes to heavy industry and energy, with a background in chemical engineering and extensive work experience. Starting out in a pulp and paper mill to gauge how things work before engineering solutions, Vicki then moved on to train as a control room operator for a major pipeline company, which led her to soon-to-be co-founder, Roger Shirt.

During her time there, analyzing the ways in which control operators worked, Vicki quickly realized the rigid, archaic methods in place could not only be more sustainable but needed to be safer and saw an opportunity to make this process more efficient using automation. Despite being in a line of work made up of just 15% women, Vicki set out to change the oil and gas industry by bringing diverse perspectives and better, safer standards to the field through automation.

As a result, CruxOCM was born to close the loop in heavy industrial control rooms to deliver tools to control room operators that have a meaningful impact on heavy industrial operations. Through its trademarked technology RIPA (robotic industrial process automation), CruxOCM is future-proofing oil and gas control room operations to run efficiently and safely, achieving a 99% reduction in control room operator workload when applied to oil pipeline gathering systems. This ensures that the front-line people (control room operators) can operate energy sector assets in the safest, most profitable way.

What does your company do, and why is it important?

CruxOCM has redefined the approach to advanced process control, starting in the midstream pipeline industry.

How is what you are building disrupting your industry?

Currently, advanced process control systems (APC) for heavy industrial operations are architected horizontally and for the incorrect end user, resulting in revenue left on the table. Crux has re-envisioned APC as a vertical play and designed for the correct end user, the control room operator. We have started in the $29B midstream pipeline market and our solutions are outperforming traditional APC packages in other sectors by up to 2% additional production (~10% increase in top-line revenue generation). Given that the energy transition is underway and it has been recognized that hydrocarbons play a role in the transition for some time to come, Crux is at the forefront of making our existing infrastructure more efficient by reducing emissions per bbl today.

What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey?

Get to know yourself and what makes you tick intimately. I believe entrepreneurship is a personality type that we inherently have, the grit and resilience needed to succeed is astronomical and at your core, you have to believe in the value you are bringing to the world. If you don’t believe it, your customers and investors won’t believe it.

What has been your proudest moment or biggest triumph in your entrepreneurial journey?

There are many, of course, but a key one that comes to mind is confirmation of how great our relationship is with one of our first major customers based on the value we have generated for them. We were in a bit of a cash crunch and I had the option to ask investors, or a customer, to help us out. Upon reflection, the fact that we were able to have this discussion with our customers is an incredible testament to the value Crux brings. They worked with us and I couldn’t be more proud of our team that they were able to foster that kind of trust with a Fortune 500 company as a small startup.

Are there any lessons you've learned along the way that you wish someone had shared with you when you started?

Unconscious incompetence is a thing and it's dangerous. What I mean is that people will tell you that they have certain skills or abilities and they will truly believe that they do, but the reality might be that they do not have this skill set. How this can manifest is a key executive team member may be working counter to the success of the organization but has zero awareness of this. It's even possible that when this is brought to the attention of the individual they are so in denial that there is no coaching to be had. This is a much more difficult situation than I anticipated and I have encountered it multiple times now. If I had more preparation for that, I would have made fewer hiring mistakes!

Can you share any resources or organizations that have been particularly helpful to you as an entrepreneur?

Techstars was pivotal for us at our earliest stages as deep tech founders. We didn’t have the basics of sales pipelines, marketing, contracting, working with procurements, and the program gave us exposure to all of it, greatly accelerating our business.

If you are a Canadian founder, then the C100 is another great organization to get involved with. I also found leveraging our VC’s other founders in their portfolio to be very helpful.

How do you celebrate your achievements and milestones within your business?

We like to primarily celebrate customer milestones. Last year after signing our first multi-year, 8-figure deal, we hosted our first company-wide offsite in Mexico to celebrate. As a company, we like to set targets that we then celebrate as a team when we achieve them.

Why did you want to do an accelerator, and why did you choose Techstars?

We chose Techstars because of the partner ecosystem. The program that we did was an energy-specific program that gave us exposure to the types of clients we needed to sell to. This was hugely valuable for us to get a better handle on unknown unknowns and get us to a more level playing field with founders who have business or consulting backgrounds.

What was the most memorable experience from your Techstars program?

Oh, there are many! My three months at Techstars live as a core memory for me. I’d say the more memorable experience was on the final day, after a demo day, we all went out to celebrate in Oslo and we had the first snowfall of the year. It was magical and we proceeded to have a small snowball fight. It was the perfect ending after three months of amazing hard work.

I also remember the founder stories vividly. It was my first time ever encountering in close proximity successful founders and it was incredibly inspiring.

One more memorable experience. I loved the demo day prep and the competition around it. The comradery around all of us getting to a point where we were scoring 8/10 so that we could get on stage was an amazing experience of striving for excellence.

What was your biggest takeaway from your time spent in program with Techstars?

I would say my biggest takeaway from Techstars is the long-lasting relationships. I still speak frequently with the mentors from the program who became Angel Investors in Crux, who connected me to all of our current VCs. The Techstars network is the biggest takeaway!

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