(bright music) (bright music continues) - Theodore Roosevelt said, "The credit belongs to the person in the arena, the one willing to strive, fail, and dare greatly."

That is what this show is about, the human story behind the founder.

And today, Khushi Shah joins us.

At 14, she turned a science project into Drizzl, a company using smart irrigation technology to reduce water waste.

But this story is about more than innovation.

It's about purpose, pressure, and growing into the responsibility of a mission larger than yourself.

Khushi, welcome to "In the Arena."

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Khushi, welcome to "In the Arena."

- Thank you.

- So we like to start out by asking our guests, who were you, who was Khushi, before anybody ever called you an inventor or a founder or a CEO?

- Yeah, so I have a bit of an unconventional story.

I became a CEO at the age of 14.

So I was your average middle school, eighth grade student, just very curious and inquisitive about things around me, specifically technology and just why certain things work the way they did.

And I think I was a very outgoing child at that point, so I loved to talk about things that I was learning about and just socializing with my peers.

Yeah.

- So any hobbies or passions or sports or music or clubs?

- I was hyper-involved.

I loved to get involved in everything I could.

So I loved, like, dance and basketball growing up.

I also think was president of our student body at that time.

I was on the speech and debate team.

I think I did the drama club.

So I loved always, like, being on a stage and just talking and entertaining all my life, I think.

- That's wonderful.

And so if you're not doing those more structured things, and if you had free time, it sounds like maybe you didn't have a lot of it, but what would you find yourself doing if you had, like, a weekend where there was nothing going on?

- I think anything creative.

I was not really on technology a lot, like, as a child in terms of just watching YouTube or Netflix.

So I loved making crafts or just building things, tinkering with tech, and just putting together anything that's creative and that was my own.

- That makes sense.

And we'll get into a little bit more of perhaps how some of those what used to be fun transitioned over into maybe fun at some of the things you were building.

So 14, you became a CEO.

I think we have to dive right into that and not leave our listeners hanging there.

So how did you become a CEO at 14?

- Right, so that itself was never a part of the plan.

I, like I said, was very hands-on, liked to do very creative things, always go above and beyond in school.

So it was middle school science fair time and I knew that whatever I did, it just had to be very over the top and very typical Khushi fashion for anything that I did at school.

So I was looking for real-world problems to solve.

I think the typical middle school science fair projects are, like, how much water can a paper towel hold or, like, how many eggs can I drop and things like that, and I thought those were all very interesting, but real-world problems interested me the most.

So took a family trip to India and I saw a lot of problems that essentially stemmed from challenges with clean water, water conservation, water management.

So water was something that I knew we had to do a better job of handling, especially when I came back to the States and Europe, where I also grew up a little bit, and saw instances, like, where people had their sprinklers on in the rain.

So there was a moment like that one that was kind of my aha moment.

And from there, I did a lot of research, found out that the most water usage in the States at the time was coming from irrigation and that so many liters of that was wastage.

So I connected all the dots, and this is a time that a lot of smart home technologies like the Nest thermostat, Ring doorbell, were starting to roll in.

So I was like, "Why don't we have something like this for our sprinkler systems?"

So went out and made my own smart sprinkler system for my middle school science fair project.

It wasn't very beautiful, but it worked.

I learned how to code.

I picked up a Raspberry Pi, did all the early tech things, and I got a lot of traction at that science fair.

I got a lot of cool awards from, like, Google, NASA, the US Navy.

So I realized that this idea has a lot of potential and I decided to take it further to, like, regional, state, national science fairs, but I didn't really think of it as a business.

And then in high school, I kind of had this thing of, "I want to do something entrepreneurial," and I joined the entrepreneurship team at my high school.

And when I was looking for projects to essentially turn into, like, the idea for myself, my mentor mentioned, "You have this thing that you invented.

Why not turn that from a project to a product?"

So that was the switch for me and it all kind of just clicked and fell into place, and from there, I've just been building this as a business.

- So from 14-year-old middle school project to that teacher in the entrepreneurship club saying, "You already have a project.

Turn it into a product," how many months or years had passed in there?

- I'd say about a year.

And during that time, I was thinking about getting a patent, looking into that process, doing different interviews with different scientific companies.

So the momentum was still rolling, but still in that project phase.

- I'm interested to see what sort of, so it sounds like you went to a great school that encouraged that sort of creativity and outside-the-classroom experimentation.

What sort of resources did you have both at home, in the community, and otherwise that maybe helped that early, early, early stage?

Because so many ideas, and it makes me wonder how many other science projects are out there that that inventor or entrepreneur just didn't have that person to say, "You already have this.

Let's take it to the next step."

So were there other resources that you can point back to and say, "I was pretty lucky to have that."

- Yeah, I think it really comes down to the network beyond anything that I could have done myself at that age.

I think having that network and those people around you that realize your potential or the potential of one of your ideas before you do is really important.

I think for me, that was my parents in the very early stages and then also the teachers that I had when I created that idea just as a project.

And then like I said, the advisors and mentors at my new school and those at the entrepreneurship team, who were really encouraging me to step outside of my comfort zone and maybe start going to pitch competitions, learning about things like patents, business plans, just unconventional things.

But I think before I saw my own potential to be a leader or to be an entrepreneur, they did, and they pushed me in that direction.

So it was uncomfortable, but looking back on it, it was probably the most important thing they could have done for me.

- That's amazing.

So I know you mentioned that you travel.

I think you still probably do travel a lot, but did you travel a lot at a young age?

How many schools have you gone to?

- Yeah, I traveled a lot growing up.

I attended I think 14 or 15 schools by the time I graduated high school, and I grew up in the US as well as the UK and Italy.

So definitely a huge global perspective and I think that also plays a role in just how I operate as a person today.

- Yeah, I mean, that sounds like quite an experience, 13, 14 schools.

That's amazing.

And before we get to the present, we'll talk about where you are currently and what are next steps, but I want to jump back to early on.

So being a teenager, you have an idea, a project, now you're building a business.

I doubt if it's one, I don't want this to be a leading question, but I'm curious, was there a kind of a pivotal point where it started to feel like work or maybe there's a little bit of overwhelm in there?

- I think the more and more I got closer to graduating high school, it started to feel less like a passion project where I was just going to pitch competitions every weekend and spending my free time building this idea to what do I actually want to do with the rest of my life and is this that thing?

So I always explored a lot of career paths.

Like I said, I was involved in everything and I always wanted to try everything.

So I tried engineering and law and medicine and all of those things fascinated me so much and it was so hard to choose that I think I almost forgot this entrepreneurship thing that I was working on the side could be an option.

So at the end of my junior year of high school, I was like, "Okay, it's time that I almost start applying to colleges and actually start thinking about what I want to do."

But I don't think I understood what the 95% of entrepreneurship looks like.

I'd just seen that like 5% TV shows and magazine articles and going to pitch contests and winning money, which is all really great.

But I think the 95% that people kept talking about was like, I just don't know what that means.

And I was scared that I'd find out way after I was, like, many years deep into it.

So I decided at the end of my junior year that I was just going to graduate a year early and spend the time in place of my senior year as a full-time entrepreneur.

And during that time, I joined the gBETA program here in Peoria, just really working out of different workspaces, cafes, trying to experience what it was like to be a professional at now 17 years old.

And I think that was a very scary year to start off with because there was so much ahead of me and there was really no direction.

I was doing something that most students weren't doing at that time.

But I think also going through that year and just continuing to build that network and going through the trenches of that 95% and finding the things that I like about that made the year very beneficial to my journey and I came out of that year feeling a lot stronger.

- Was there a gap between you're working hard on this for a year to then now I'm focused on school, let's just put that startup on the back burner?

- For me, the biggest thing was I didn't want to lose the momentum that I had built up during that gap year/senior year time that I had.

I feel like I'd done so much and so many people were expecting so many different things out of me and the product and the company as a whole that I felt like I just had to keep going.

So the decision of which college I went to was super important to me.

The decision of what I studied was very important to me.

And, ultimately, I was able to find a program where I've been able to study abroad in London, now be in Boston, meet other like-minded student founders, study that intersection of tech/entrepreneurship, and be in a program where I've had semesters at a time to just work on my startup full-time as well.

So I think that the experience that I might have had as a college student is probably different than some of my peers, but I think the program that I chose for myself ultimately allowed me to kind of have that happy medium that I was looking for.

- Mm-hm.

What are some of your favorite college courses that you took during that time?

- I think anything that I can apply back to my own business and my own just entrepreneurial ventures have been my favorite.

So I took a class on negotiation, which I found to be very, very fascinating, and I think that applies to all aspects of life, just not business.

- Yeah, agreed.

- I also, like, as I continue to scale Drizzl, took a growth, acquisitions, and alliances class.

So those are all things that are farther down the line for me, but it's interesting to kind of get a perspective and say, "Okay, here's an end goal that I might be working towards and now here's the plan that I can make to fill in the gap."

So just all those things that I can tie back into what I'm working on I find very, very interesting to be in the classroom, but then also chat with the professors outside of the class as well.

- So I'm going to dig a little bit deeper here, so just bear with me.

That's a lot.

It seems like a lot.

And I'm curious how that responsibility of all the things, you're curious, you're looking down different paths and options and learning new things and you're still building, and as you're building, more people are saying, "Way to go, Khushi."

Are those expectations just keep rising?

And how as a young person is that making you feel?

If you don't mind sharing that.

- Yeah, I think it's definitely an honor to have so many people that believe in you and that support you and see this potential that you might not see, but they're pushing you towards.

It can definitely be overwhelming at times to have all these expectations over your head, but I think I know with the support and the people and just the way that I'm able to push myself that I can reach those goals and it just motivates me even more.

I think the path that I've had ever since I created this idea to today has been very different than my peers.

Like, for example, I didn't have a senior prom or I didn't get to have a high school graduation.

Things like that looked a little bit different for me, but I think that's just kind of part of my journey and ultimately what I'm building and the life that I'm creating and the career that I'm creating for myself.

I value it and it excites me so much that some of those trade-offs, yeah, it feels a little bit different than the rest of my peers, but I think it's so worth it.

- You've mentioned smart irrigation, Drizzl.

Let's dive into that a little bit more.

So tell us more about Drizzl.

- Sure, so Drizzl, in a nutshell, it's a smart irrigation system that leverages communication between underground sensors, a corresponding software, and a smart controller to optimize water usage and minimize water and financial wastage by only irrigating when your plants or your lawn actually needs it.

So taking a step away from those just time-based or schedule-based systems.

And Drizzl has applications across the residential, commercial, and ag markets.

So really big reach that we're hoping to get.

- So this started as a project, we keep saying that, and you're learning to code.

And let's talk about an evolution of the product over the years.

What are some key milestones, you know, from beta testing to getting out into the market to where you are today?

- I think the first big milestone that I reached was just having a working product.

Because there are so many hardware and software components, it's almost like its own ecosystem.

So I was very happy to finally have a working project or product at that time.

I think the next big milestone from there was now making it look like something that a user would want to buy off a shelf.

And that took years and years of prototyping, beta testing, talking to users, just pitching, really actually talking to the consumers themselves.

From there, I very quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to launch into the commercial ag and residential market at the same time to start off with.

So it was a tricky decision to decide where I wanted to start.

So, again, I went back to the users themselves to see where am I going to get the most opportunity and traction right now?

And for me at the time, it was the commercial space and a little bit of the ag space.

I found that those two have some overlap.

So I started there.

And then from there, the most recent big milestone was a few months ago launching the residential product to now get that into the hands of homeowners, which I think was the very first vision I had was to have a smart home technology.

So that was very full circle and a long time coming.

So, yeah, I think those have been some of the big milestones recently.

- What are some of the biggest challenges, whether from a product standpoint or just business model, revenue model, that you've had up to date?

- I think, like I said, again, just touching on the fact that there are so many components.

There's a software component, multiple pieces of hardware.

It's like when one thing is working, you realize you could do something better with another or something else is now not connecting.

So just figuring out that entire ecosystem and making sure that it's not also something that I can understand, but just an everyday homeowner or everyday user could understand.

I think that was a big challenge.

And I think also just being able to be in front of consumers that I personally don't associate with at a younger age.

Like, I'm not a homeowner.

Especially when I started, I was not near the age of a homeowner.

So being able to talk to commercial property owners, city officials, homeowners at that age, and just being able to relate to that audience and find what can I really help them with, I think that was a big challenge starting off as well.

- Do you think that going to, say, if you're going to go talk to a property owner that has multiple locations and maybe it's a commercial sale, what are your thoughts on you being your age and going and talking to some of these people?

Do you think it was more challenging because of that?

- Partially yes, because a lot of times you want to purchase from people that also relate personally to the problem and can explain how this would help the problem from, like, their own perspective.

But I think once I had scientific results to back how much water and financial savings Drizzl was supporting, that kind of spoke for itself.

And then word of mouth definitely helped a lot.

Once I had some of those first few pilots and clients, I think everything was just kind of a domino effect from there.

And just finding ways to actually still relate to that consumer.

So I think in my opinion, the best thing about Drizzl is there's so many different benefits to the product.

There's that sustainable, you know, we're saving water, it's better for the environment.

There's also financial savings that a lot of users care about.

Some users care about both.

Some care about the convenience in terms of the time that it's saving them from scheduling their irrigation systems.

So being able to actually understand what different consumers look for in terms of benefits, I think that made it easier over time.

- Yeah, I'm curious, have you raised any dilutive investment capital to date?

- I have not.

So everything's been non-dilutive and I think I've been very intentional about that.

- And so how have you funded it, kind of bootstrapping it, and are these the pitch competitions that you speak of?

- Yes, so I love my pitch competitions.

They're great.

I think it's a great opportunity not just for funding and to raise non-dilutive funding, but the network that I've been able to get from going to these events and competitions has just been unimaginable.

So it's always just been someone referring you to another competition or somebody else who wants to just donate some cash into what you're building.

And I think that has just been such a great opportunity for me so far.

- That's awesome.

That is definitely one way to do it.

And if you can do it, more power to you.

Okay, so with your product and now you're in the homes, I'm curious, how's that going?

- Yeah, so that has been really exciting.

I installed the first Drizzl about a month and a half ago, the residential one, into my own home here in Peoria, which was super monumental, super great.

And now actually getting the product into the hands of homeowners.

I am very excited to get their feedback as they start using it and installing it.

- Congratulations.

I mean, that's huge.

- Thank you.

- First product launch in this category.

I think a lot of entrepreneurs, you're always go, go, go, go, go.

You forget to pause and reflect on that.

So congrats to you on that milestone.

- Thank you.

- So where do we go from here?

So Drizzl is, you know, you're commercial ag, at home.

What's next?

First for the company and then we'll follow up with what's next for Khushi.

- Sure, so in terms of the company, just scaling.

I love what I'm building and I think I have so much momentum now in so many different consumer segments and just on so many different levels that I can't see myself stopping anytime soon.

I would love to keep finding new commercial and ag clients and just scaling to homeowners all over the US and eventually all over the world as part of either, you know, the Google home hub or the Amazon home hub and just be a very recognizable smart home technology.

I think that's truly the vision.

And to, of course, always, as I started this, to save water and save money.

Always come back to that mission as well.

- Mm-hm.

Tell us about the quote that you wrote up on our whiteboard here.

Why did you pick that one?

- Right, so the quote I selected was, "You can't do the same thing as everyone else and expect a different result."

I think this is a quote that resonates very well with me on an everyday basis, but just also my journey as a whole.

Everything that I've done has been super, super unconventional and really just not ever part of the plan.

But I've found that my dreams are also considered a little bit unconventional and I'm a big dreamer, so I very quickly realized that doing something that's a little bit different, something that a lot of people don't understand right away, might sometimes be the best decision.

And, yeah, it's just worked out really great.

- I think it's a good one and I'm going to use it.

And so back to Drizzl, where do you see this in, say, five to seven years from now?

And what's the ultimate goal with it?

- The goal is to just be a huge recognizable smart home technology and also technology that's really recognizable and widely used in the ag and commercial space.

Water savings, financial savings.

I want to see those numbers get better and better as I continue to implement new technology and just better ways to do things into the product always.

I think I'm at a phase where I'm also now interested in dilutive funding, hiring a bigger team, so just scaling on more of a backend, organizational end as well.

So I think those are all things that I'm looking forward to.

- [Doug] So are you looking to perhaps exit down the road?

- I think that could be cool.

I like to dabble in a lot of different entrepreneurial things, so I am definitely interested in starting some new things over the years and growing those as well.

- I think this is a perfect transition into now let's talk about Khushi, the founder, who, as you stated, you're very curious and like to learn new things.

So where do you see you, besides still continuing to build Drizzl and have the impact that you want to have?

What are you going to do for yourself?

- I can always see myself being an entrepreneur.

I just love this life so much.

There's the ups and the downs, but it's really what fuels me.

It's what wakes me up in the morning.

So whether it's Drizzl, the next venture, or just anything else that I'm doing that's creative and kind of fueled on my own, that's definitely things that I can see myself doing in the future.

But I'm also just kind of a very go with the flow type of person.

So I like to really just put out all the energy and all the work that I can and just see what things stick, what things come back to me.

So I'm just excited to see how things go on their own as well.

- Yeah.

Who would you say has had the greatest impact, it could be more than one person, that's had the greatest impact on your success to date with your endeavors?

- I think it just has to be my family as a whole.

So mom, dad, sister, these are the people that have seen me every single day since the point that I came up with this idea, and they've seen the great parts of it, but they've also seen the not so great and the more challenging moments.

And like I touched on earlier, it's so great to have people that see your potential and push you in that direction before you recognize it.

And in that sense, they've definitely been those people for me.

And I think sometimes I'm like, "Oh, you already knew this about me before I knew this about myself."

And I think they've just been some great supporters and it's always nice to have people that are able to reality check you when you need it as well.

- Yeah.

Last question, Khushi.

So if you could go back to that science fair to visit 14-year-old Khushi, what would you tell her?

- Well, that's a great question.

Kind of gives me goosebumps.

(Khushi and Doug chuckle) I think I would just want to explain to her and talk to her about how it really just takes one conversation or one project or one moment to really change your life, and you never really know what that is.

I definitely didn't know that that would be the one thing that really changes the trajectory of the next five to 10 years for me.

And I think it's also been fun that I didn't know that, but I think it would be very cool having a conversation with my younger self about that.

- Yeah, that's powerful.

All right, well, thank you so much for joining us today, Khushi, and sharing your story.

- Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure.

- Khushi's journey reminds us that founders do not enter the arena because they have all the answers.

They enter because they see a problem they can no longer ignore.

Khushi, thank you for sharing not only what you are building, but what building it has required of you.

And thank you for joining us and come back next time as we step into the arena with another founder willing to strive, risk failure, and dare greatly.

From "In the Arena," I'm Doug Cruitt.

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