Submetering / rate-arbitrage startup (Alex Blumberg). Master-meter conversion is a clean entry-point project that can unlock larger heat pump / solar / battery scopes downstream.
Marc (CRO) — 2026-05-04 17:57
Daisy Chain convo with Alex
Very clean entry-point project
~$500–700/unit capex
~30% cost reduction from rate arbitrage
~2-year payback → board-approvable
Current model = owner-funded capex → owner return
building spends ~$100–200k and generates ~$80–100k/yr
no financing baked in
not really driving follow-on projects yet (that's future vision)
But structurally it's an enabler
shifts tenant load → owner-controlled
creates real-time data + panel upgrades
sets up heat pumps / solar / batteries later
Their bottleneck = our wedge
fast proposal → slow, messy electrical scope + bidding
no standardized contractor pipeline
→ this is exactly where we plug in
Commercial
floated ~10% transaction fee → positive, wants follow-up with BD
also setting up CTO convo to model value in Momentum
Takeaway
This is a textbook example of a high-ROI entry point that can unlock larger pathways—but isn't being systematized yet.
Fits cleanly with our GTM:
start with projects that move
then expand into bigger capex over time
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 19:47
Ok--that's pretty straightforward then. It's the switch from SC1/SC9 to SC8. We can get this in after the rates are all in the back end. Is it just SC8 Rate I I assume?
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 19:47
Anything to help dial in the cost assumption in that range? Or can we just do $600/DU as the average?
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 19:53
Their bottleneck = our wedge
fast proposal → slow, messy electrical scope + bidding
no standardized contractor pipeline
For this-we'll need a spec to procure this. Do they do the work themselves, or do they bid it out to subs?
Any idea why it's such a slow, messy electrical scope? That makes me think it's not ideal for our generated spec idea. I would have thought it wouldn't require much site detail to scope out.
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 20:00
Nevermind--I'm reading the recording notes now and I see most of this is there. So it seems like Alex would be the one sending out the RFPs from Momentum and reviewing the bids. Not the owner. Is that right?
And we'd need a way for the owner to agree to a $10k design/regulatory fee up front before Alex runs the RFP.
If I have that right, then maybe we need a different RFP flow where there is a single vendor doing an initial assessment (Aeroseal or Daisy Chain), and then that service provider bids out the work for their scope. I might want to walk this through with you.
Marc (CRO) — 2026-05-04 21:09
Let me ping him more on that pricing. There is that big fixed cost associated with the master meter work... while this varies a bit on site particulars.... it is always going to be a large fixed cost that doesn't scale with units. So maybe they can send us something a little more nuanced than a $ per unit.
But I am even more excited about this after this convo.... I see this as a much more realistic as an interim proof point than full electrification... the meter switch is enabling of heat pumps... if you can't get an owner to do the meter switch... they are not doing heat pumps... if you can get them to do the meter switch, you build confidence in doing something bigger. And with the revenue generated from the meter switch can fund piloting packaged heat pumps in a few units.
Oh and I also suspect that all the data you really need to vet electrical capacity at a site for heat pumps (riser capacity, etc) comes from just implementing the daisy chain system.
Happy to walk thru whenever it makes sense to talk about bidding stuff. My biggest concern is being able to show in scope builder since I can't build pipeline without that.
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 21:37
Yeah--that makes sense. The team is already working on the tariff stuff, so just getting the pricing figured out will give us enough to create a measure.
Then we can discuss the bidding thing another time.
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 21:42
Oh and I also suspect that all the data you really need to vet electrical capacity at a site for heat pumps (riser capacity, etc) comes from just implementing the daisy chain system.
That would be nice. But the recording notes mention they sometimes include panel upgrades with the metering scope--replacing out 40A breakers. I wonder what triggers that at this stage, even before they get to heat pumps. And does that trigger any additional wiring work, or just a breaker swap?
Marc (CRO) — 2026-05-05 09:59
let's get into this level of detail with their CTO and Alex on a call that I will schedule.
François (HoPlatform) — 2026-05-06 15:04
Heads up that I'm cutting a ticket to myself to do a preliminary implementation (light weight, Claude driven) on the side. My goal is to identify architectural issues early, since we're in the process of the rate modeling anyway.
François (HoPlatform) — 2026-05-06 15:04
It'd be feature flag gated.
Strategy Notebook
Submetering / rate-arbitrage startup (Alex Blumberg). Master-meter conversion is a clean entry-point project that can unlock larger heat pump / solar / battery scopes downstream.
Daisy Chain — May 4–6, 2026 #
Source: #sales-general
Marc (CRO) — 2026-05-04 17:57 Daisy Chain convo with Alex
Very clean entry-point project ~$500–700/unit capex ~30% cost reduction from rate arbitrage ~2-year payback → board-approvable Current model = owner-funded capex → owner return building spends ~$100–200k and generates ~$80–100k/yr no financing baked in not really driving follow-on projects yet (that's future vision) But structurally it's an enabler shifts tenant load → owner-controlled creates real-time data + panel upgrades sets up heat pumps / solar / batteries later Their bottleneck = our wedge fast proposal → slow, messy electrical scope + bidding no standardized contractor pipeline → this is exactly where we plug in Commercial floated ~10% transaction fee → positive, wants follow-up with BD also setting up CTO convo to model value in Momentum
Takeaway
This is a textbook example of a high-ROI entry point that can unlock larger pathways—but isn't being systematized yet.
Fits cleanly with our GTM:
start with projects that move then expand into bigger capex over time
https://app.bluedothq.com/preview/69f89965281e42a61dd0276b
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 19:47 Ok--that's pretty straightforward then. It's the switch from SC1/SC9 to SC8. We can get this in after the rates are all in the back end. Is it just SC8 Rate I I assume?
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 19:47 Anything to help dial in the cost assumption in that range? Or can we just do $600/DU as the average?
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 19:53 Their bottleneck = our wedge fast proposal → slow, messy electrical scope + bidding no standardized contractor pipeline For this-we'll need a spec to procure this. Do they do the work themselves, or do they bid it out to subs? Any idea why it's such a slow, messy electrical scope? That makes me think it's not ideal for our generated spec idea. I would have thought it wouldn't require much site detail to scope out.
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 20:00 Nevermind--I'm reading the recording notes now and I see most of this is there. So it seems like Alex would be the one sending out the RFPs from Momentum and reviewing the bids. Not the owner. Is that right?
And we'd need a way for the owner to agree to a $10k design/regulatory fee up front before Alex runs the RFP.
If I have that right, then maybe we need a different RFP flow where there is a single vendor doing an initial assessment (Aeroseal or Daisy Chain), and then that service provider bids out the work for their scope. I might want to walk this through with you.
Marc (CRO) — 2026-05-04 21:09 Let me ping him more on that pricing. There is that big fixed cost associated with the master meter work... while this varies a bit on site particulars.... it is always going to be a large fixed cost that doesn't scale with units. So maybe they can send us something a little more nuanced than a $ per unit.
But I am even more excited about this after this convo.... I see this as a much more realistic as an interim proof point than full electrification... the meter switch is enabling of heat pumps... if you can't get an owner to do the meter switch... they are not doing heat pumps... if you can get them to do the meter switch, you build confidence in doing something bigger. And with the revenue generated from the meter switch can fund piloting packaged heat pumps in a few units.
Oh and I also suspect that all the data you really need to vet electrical capacity at a site for heat pumps (riser capacity, etc) comes from just implementing the daisy chain system. Happy to walk thru whenever it makes sense to talk about bidding stuff. My biggest concern is being able to show in scope builder since I can't build pipeline without that.
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 21:37 Yeah--that makes sense. The team is already working on the tariff stuff, so just getting the pricing figured out will give us enough to create a measure.
Then we can discuss the bidding thing another time.
Jason (Product/BuildSci) — 2026-05-04 21:42 Oh and I also suspect that all the data you really need to vet electrical capacity at a site for heat pumps (riser capacity, etc) comes from just implementing the daisy chain system. That would be nice. But the recording notes mention they sometimes include panel upgrades with the metering scope--replacing out 40A breakers. I wonder what triggers that at this stage, even before they get to heat pumps. And does that trigger any additional wiring work, or just a breaker swap?
Marc (CRO) — 2026-05-05 09:59 let's get into this level of detail with their CTO and Alex on a call that I will schedule.
François (HoPlatform) — 2026-05-06 15:04 Heads up that I'm cutting a ticket to myself to do a preliminary implementation (light weight, Claude driven) on the side. My goal is to identify architectural issues early, since we're in the process of the rate modeling anyway.
François (HoPlatform) — 2026-05-06 15:04 It'd be feature flag gated.