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When Tenrehte was first getting off the ground,

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we entered our prototype PICOwatt

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into a competition associated with CES,

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Consumer Electronics Show,

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the world's biggest industry trade show.

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And we built the prototype in my dad's basement.

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We had no idea if it was actually going to work

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on stage at a live demo for CES judges.

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And the product, when we flew it to Arizona,

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it wasn't working right off the bat.

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We were fixing software

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and changing it at the last minute.

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And I got a sinus infection on the plane,

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and I had to get up on stage

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and do the demo anyway.

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And I was holding on to my phone

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to demo that the PICOwatt

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would turn lights on and off on stage,

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and I had no idea if it was going to work or not,

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but I was hoping that it was.

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And when I pressed on,

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the light turned on,

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and the product worked,

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and it was just this serendipitous moment

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between me and my partner Carlos

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when the product worked live when it had to

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in front of a huge stage,

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you know, with a huge audience

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and tons of judges.

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And I think it was at that moment

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I really knew we weren't just playing around

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with a start-up company,

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that we could actually do this.

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We could build products.

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We could get it out there

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and that people would appreciate what we were doing.

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