My Life at Palmetto: DJ Jayalath

DJ Jayalath is Palmetto’s vice president of consumer product. He recently sat down with the comms team to talk all things product, including the all new Palmetto App.

How long have you been at Palmetto? And what is your role here?

I've been at Palmetto for about three and a half years, and I lead our consumer product area. That includes how our website works — how the digital solar and HVAC buying processes work, things like the Energy Advisor, a really cool tool that helps people find out what energy upgrades make the most sense for them — and the Palmetto App. Those are the product areas where I spend the most of my time.

Most of my time is really spent on how we can help people get the most out of the money they're spending on energy, and how to help them make budget- and planet-conscious decisions. A lot of people think that energy is a tax that they don't have a lot of control over. They hear about turning lights off or doing other little things, but they're also like, “That doesn't make much of a difference in my utility bill. Why should I care?” The reality is that there's a ton of stuff that people have control over. Stuff that doesn't compromise their quality of life, but enables them to control the amount of money they spend, do more with that energy, and be smarter with it. Trying to make that easier and more accessible is the thing that I'm really passionate about. That's why we released Energy Advisor. It's hard to tell how to save energy in a way that works for you, your home, in your location. Now you can click a few buttons, get an answer backed by scientific rigor, and try it out. It’s been amazing to see how people use it. 

That's what drove us to build the new Palmetto App. There are so many little decisions you can make every day that can impact how much energy you use, and how much you spend. And you don’t need to buy anything to get started. We’re helping the millions of Americans going, “Hey, I don't want to spend this much money on my utility bill. The prices keep going up and it’s less reliable and it’s impacting the planet in ways I don’t like.” Helping people to take control of their energy use and do what they want with it is the thing that I’m really excited about. 

What does a typical day for a VP of product look like? What would we find you doing?

When people ask me, “What does a VP of product really do?” I just tell them that I start and stop fires and write emails. Generally, if something's not working out really well, then there's a fire somewhere and I find it and put it out. Or things aren’t moving along and I’m starting a fire to get things moving again. 

At the core my job is about understanding what users are trying to do, empathize, advocate for what is the best thing for them, and balance all that with what the business needs. 

In most cases it means making decisions when there's not a lot of perfect information about what needs to happen in the future, placing a bet, and working to prove it out. From there, you learn, iterate, come back, and try to make things better.

What excited you about joining Palmetto and what keeps you excited now?

There were a couple of things. First, was Chris [Kemper, Palmetto’s Founder and CEO]'s essay about the new utility revolution — I was like, “Damn, that's right.” The energy problem is going to be massive, because a lot of people underestimate how much energy will be needed in terms of electricity. Electrification is a great thing, but at the same time we need more electrons for electrification to work. Palmetto is trying to solve a really hard problem that's impactful, and meaningful, for generations. That was the starting place for it.

Palmetto’s mission really resonated with me: leading the world towards a clean energy future. It's about helping drive that change, and Palmetto’s scale and size enables us to genuinely help millions of people with how they interact with energy. 

I like working with good people on hard problems that are meaningful, and as a bonus we had a strong foundation to start from. I’m interested in helping the 95% of Americans who are not thinking about energy to take control and impact the climate in a positive way. 

What excites you most about the impact Palmetto might have on the world?

I like how we think about the problem: that it's not purely from an environmental perspective, but it is also from a technology, policy, and realistic business perspective that can build something that can endure and have the impact we're trying to have. 

The things that we create with LightReach, enabling people to make the process of going solar easier. The HVAC Comfort Plans, making it easier for people to switch to a cleaner, more efficient energy product. The things that we're doing with the Palmetto App to help people easily make the little tweaks that allow them to use energy more efficiently. That'll save them money and, at the same time, the energy they aren’t using is energy that's available for somebody else and reduces the environmental cost of creating that energy. 

I think we have a massive opportunity to do something that no one else has done. If we keep doing what we're doing, we can have a meaningful impact on the planet.

What's the best piece of advice you've received?

It's okay to mess stuff up. Don't mess up the same stuff. [DJ didn’t say ‘mess’ or ‘stuff’. You can use your imagination.]

Especially in product, you’re gonna make a lot of mistakes. For us to move the ball forward, you have to try a bunch of different things. And you will have to try things that haven't been tried before, because the things that have been tried before have already returned the result that it has. The most important thing is that you learn and iterate forward so that you're not making the same mistakes over and over. You're trying to make new mistakes. Trying to find new mistakes is an interesting way to move forward. It removes the fear that keeps you from making some bigger changes, and that gives you the opportunity to have the bigger impact.

What do you do outside of work that keeps you energized and ready to go?

I’ll steal part of Chi’s answer. I have a child. He’s one. He’s super fun. So hanging out with him is definitely something that I love doing.

I like to build things. At work, I don't really get to build as much. I collaborate and work with people who work with people who end up creating stuff. It’s really far removed. And there's something really satisfying about building. The room that I'm in, I built. Sometimes I build furniture. Sometimes I build electronics for fun. Most of the time I don’t have time to do either, so cooking is my outlet. The two biggest types of cuisine are probably Italian and French. I gravitate towards things that are technically complex.