Role: Founder & CEO

Role: Founder & CEO

Overview

Sustaio was a consumer climate platform designed to make sustainable living measurable, actionable, and rewarding. Inspired by my Master’s thesis in Sustainable Design, the product translated complex household energy data into simple insights and daily actions that helped users reduce both their carbon footprint and utility costs.

I founded and led Sustaio from concept to market, raising ~$500K, going through the Techstars Energy Accelerator, partnering with a major U.S. energy provider, and growing the platform to 1,000+ users.

The Challenge

Climate data is complex, abstract, and often disconnected from everyday behavior. Most people want to live more sustainably, but lack clarity on what actions matter, how to measure impact, and how to stay consistent over time.

Existing solutions either focused on education without action, or tracking without meaningful insight. The opportunity was to bridge that gap — turning invisible systems like energy consumption, emissions, and resource usage into something understandable, motivating, and behavior-changing.

My Role

As Founder & CEO, I led every aspect of the company — product strategy, design, engineering, partnerships, fundraising, and go-to-market.

On the product side, I designed and built the platform end-to-end, including the core data model, user experience, and behavioral systems that translated complex environmental data into intuitive, actionable insights.

Approach

Making invisible systems visible
I developed a core algorithm that translated grid, gas, and water data into household-level carbon intensity insights. The goal was to take something highly technical and make it legible — showing users not just what they consumed, but what it meant.

Designing for behavior change, not just awareness
Rather than stopping at dashboards, I focused on creating a system that encouraged consistent action. The product combined:

• Personalized insights based on real usage

• Daily recommended actions

• Progress tracking and feedback loops

• Rewards tied to sustainable behaviors

This shifted the experience from passive information to active habit formation.

Bridging data + motivation through product design
I designed the experience to balance clarity with motivation — simplifying complex data into approachable visuals, while reinforcing progress through small, achievable steps. The system met users where they were, guiding them toward lower-impact behaviors over time.

Building from 0 to 1 with constrained resources
I built and launched the platform using low-code tooling, enabling rapid iteration while managing limited engineering resources. At the same time, I led partnerships with utilities and retail brands to expand the product ecosystem and unlock real-world incentives.

What I Designed

• End-to-end product experience (mobile + web)

• Carbon footprint modeling and data visualization systems

• Behavior-change mechanics (actions, rewards, progress loops)

• User onboarding and baseline measurement flows

• Partner integrations (utilities, retail reward system)

• Brand, product storytelling, and go-to-market materials

Outcome

• 1,000+ users onboarded

• 25+ retail reward partners secured

• Enterprise partnership with a major U.S. energy provider

• ~$500K raised from VCs, angels, and crowdfunding

• Techstars Energy Accelerator participation

Sustaio successfully demonstrated that complex environmental systems could be translated into accessible, motivating consumer experiences —bridging the gap between awareness and action.

Key Takeaways

Sustaio shaped how I think about systems design at its core. It required translating deeply technical infrastructure (e.g., energy grids, emissions models, resource consumption) into something human, intuitive, and behavior-driven.

More than anything, it reinforced a principle I carry into all my work:

The hardest design problems are often about making the invisible understandable and the abstract actionable.