Aaron is a visionary entrepreneur with over 20 years of leadership experience across North America. As the founder of Rokstad Power in 2008, he transformed it from a bootstrap startup into a major player in its sector, employing over 1000 people and generating more than $500 million annually. His business philosophy centers on aggressive customer acquisition and a family-oriented culture, appealing to top utility clients in Western North America.
Before Rokstad, Aaron was President at a Quanta Services subsidiary, leaving to pursue the entrepreneurial path. His journey has been marked by overcoming challenges such as partnership changes, undercapitalization, and competitive market pressures. His approach to business emphasizes perseverance, positivity, and leadership development, believing that taking calculated risks is essential for growth.
Aaron’s accolades include Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014, recognizing his vision, leadership, and financial performance. He actively participates in leadership forums like the INC CEO Project and MacKay CEO Forums and is the founding President of the Electrical Utility Employers Association of Hawai’i.
Company: Rokstad Power
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Aaron Rokstad: My Name is Aaron Rokstad and I’ve been in the electric utility space for over 20 years now. I’ve been an entrepreneur and CEO for 16 of those years with my own startup entities.
My most recent company, Rokstad Power, is a service provider to regulated electric utilities across the US and Canada, performing construction and maintenance on the power grid, specifically powerlines and substations. When the power goes out, we can be found close by helping restore your power.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Aaron Rokstad: Interestingly, Warren Buffett has traditionally been one of our customers, through his Berkshire Hathaway Energy utility holdings.
I would tell him he needs more companies like us in his ecosystem because we act like a rising tide that floats all boats. We are a disrupter of the supply chain by the way we organize our operations around the customer, which quickly makes us a leader that influences our competitors around us to elevate their game, namely in safety performance and efficiency. We have a track record of elevating from a bit player to the top wallet share, whenever given the opportunity to do so. This in turn drives down the utilities’ contracting costs.
Quiet quitting, The Great Resignation, is an ongoing trend causing many businesses to struggle to keep talent engaged and motivated. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued, and misunderstood in the workplace. In your experience, what keeps employees happy? And how are you adapting to the current shift we see?
Aaron Rokstad: An innovative and performance-driven company culture that is rooted in family values, where staff see a clear path to influence and empowerment. Their voice matters. From the initial touchpoint with the business to the first couple of months after onboarding, people sense that something is different. We are also a promote-from-within business with a wide array of professional development programs, and the vast majority of folks buy into the Rokstad special sauce. We have very low turnover.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Aaron Rokstad: With the growth of AI, Data Centers, the EV market, renewable power projects, and general power consumption growth, the Electric Utility space is bursting with investment. Our business is capital intensive and we plan to address the company’s largest bottleneck, the balance sheet, to support growth by bringing in a large equity investment with a smart dilution strategy.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Aaron Rokstad: Assuming we unlock the balance sheet for growth, the next frontier is scaling the Leadership team for increased operations. We have a Leadership Academy, which is our long-game approach to developing leaders, but attracting some fresh entrepreneurial talent would go a long way.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Aaron Rokstad: The most common oversight I see in leaders is outsourcing the intimate knowledge of their financial structure to their Finance leadership. By not understanding their numbers, cash flow, and the KPIs that drive them, I believe you can’t properly contract or expand the business when needed and that’s a dangerous way to operate. Most businesses can boil these KPIs down to one or two important metrics to pay attention to without overcomplicating it. For us, it’s field crew count. That’s the metric that drives our P&L and the cash flow and informs us of what the borrowing base is going to look like.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Aaron Rokstad: Something like Elon’s Neurolink, where we could instantly transfer knowledge and vision to each other. So often, the words get lost in translation, or people assume they get the mission but end up off target.
What does “success” in 2024 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision
Aaron Rokstad: “Health is the crown that the wealthy wear upon their head that only the poor can see…” – Robin Sharma.
As an entrepreneur and leader of people, I take a holistic approach to defining success. What good is having wealth if you don’t have your health? At the risk of sounding cliche, balance amongst personal relationships, health & fitness, family, and finance are all part of the mosaic of being a sustainable and motivating leader in the modern era. I spend an equal amount of time coaching people on these aspects as I do on business topics. The return on time investment is incredible. I enjoy helping people transform their lives from survive to thrive.
