“Erik Lindgren – From Service Industry Specialist To 7 Figure Business Owner” - CEO Weekly
Phoenix AZ, February 06, 2023
“Erik Lindgren, the Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Tycho Energy originally set out to build a career as a professional golfer with the Professional Golfer’s Association (PGA). From a young age, Lindgren took to golfing as a hobby that became his passion. That passion eventually earned him a scholarship to attend Robert Morris University where he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. After graduating college at age 25, Erik moved west to Arizona in the pursuit of furthering his golfing career. As time went on, he decided that he wanted to try something new. He set sports to the side and took on 3 jobs to fill that void. Primarily, he worked in the bar service space where he quickly rose to leadership. Though his move to AZ didn’t net a PGA contract, it did set off a chain of events that lead to the man he is today. While working as a bartender in a major US corporation, Erik met Michael Thooft, now his partner and the second co-founder of Tycho Energy. “Mike and I worked really great together, we both shared a passion for helping people.”
“I liked what I did at the time and I made good money doing it, but at the end of the day, I wanted to have a bigger impact on the world.” Says Lindgren. In 2016 Erik set out on a new endeavor in the renewable energy sector. Seven days a week he sold residential solar systems by going door-to-door in AZ neighborhoods. Three months in, he decided to extend an invitation to his co-worker. Together the two sold dozens of systems as employees and in early 2017 they decided to take what they’d learned in the service industry and build a new kind of renewable energy solutions company centered around helping American homeowners save money on electricity while positively impacting the environment.
“Firist, we needed to make renewable energy accessible to as many people as possible. Conventionally, powering your home with renewable energy meant a huge upfront expense, so we started reaching out to different lenders to see if we could find a lender that made sense.” Through creative lending and installation partners, Erik and his partner developed a program that allowed qualifying AZ homeowners to convert their home to renewable energy with no upfront expense and a monthly payment that averaged below most homeowner’s existing monthly cost for electricity. Over time the program evolved and improved. That program is now known as the ‘Tycho Energy Redirection Program’.
Erik & his partner Michael hit the streets and quickly earned their clients. The customer service experience they’d gained in the service industry translated to a streamlined and painless process for their customers which earned them positive ratings that lead to more business. In its first year, Tycho Energy achieved 2.3 million In sales. Where many young people would spend faster than they earned, the duo decided to reinvest their profits back into the business. With their earnings, Erik & Michael were able to grow the Tycho team by bringing on 6 full time employees. Year 2, the company nearly doubled their sales. With the company’s early success, Erik decided to seek out education from other industry leaders. “One of my biggest struggles early on was learning how to balance leading a team and driving revenue at the same time. In 2021, we found 2 mentors, Taylor McCarthy.” Tycho hired Knockstar University to help streamline the training and onboarding of new team members which helped Erik balance in entrepreneurship. Leading from the front, Erik entered the company’s intense training program where he studied, trained and entered into a 6 week sales competition among the best of the best in the renewable energy space and graduated top of his class. Today, both Erik and Michael attribute much of the company’s success to the mentorship they’ve received from Knockstar University.
Erik’s experience in the training inspired him to build the same processes within Tycho Energy. He became dedicated to learning as much information on renewable energy technology as possible and sharing it with his team. “We don’t just want employees at Tycho, we want to help people build a career. As a leader, it’s my job to provide an affirming environment where individuals can find success. If they fail, that’s my fault. I learn more and more every day and I share everything with the team.” Throughout his time in business, Erik’s company has maintained a spotless record with the Better Business Bureau and earned a perfect 5 star rating on Google.
As of 2022, Tycho has handled over 3,000 renewable energy conversion projects in the US and is currently averaging 70 each month. Their efforts have had a major positive environmental impact offsetting the over 3,100 metric tons of carbon, effectively doing the work of 14.8 million trees. Aside from what they’ve done for the environment, Tycho is making strides to improve the lives of people they’ll never meet through volunteering and charitable donations. The company has donated thousands of dollars to charitable organizations that handle world hunger, medical research, mental health awareness, and more. Last November, Erik and the Tycho team grew out their mustaches and raised funds for Movember, a charitable foundation dedicated to mental health and cancer research. This year, Erik has his sights set on expansion into new markets. “At the end of the day, I want to positively impact the lives of as many people as possible. Whether through renewable energy, a new career, or charity. That’s what gets me out of bed every morning.””
