Workplace Culture 
Robin Macdonald of Floorspace sat down with Daanaa’s Alexandra Kutilin, to discuss Daanaa’s company culture as a Startup in Vancouver and how the growing organization has fostered an environment of purpose, growth, and collaboration.
Robin Macdonald : Tell us a little about Daanaa’s origin story and the strategies and experiences that have led to your growth and success today.
Alexandra Kutilin: Daanaa originally started with a curiosity in applying its wireless power transfer technology to light electric vehicle charging in Vancouver. While we were exploring the viability of that business case, conversations within our network revealed pain points found in solar panels that Daanaa had the potential to alleviate. The more we uncovered, the more we realized the massive impact our technology would have in removing the limitations that prevent full capacity energy generation. It was around this time that I joined the company as an MBA intern tasked with helping to develop the solar energy business case.
We had an intense desire to learn about the solar industry and then use that information to validate or falsify our business case. When we got to a point where we couldn’t prove ourselves wrong, an attitude towards realizing outcomes then began to focus us. We continue to spend effort defining milestones, communicating progress, and ensuring we are aligned on what is fundamental to the company at any given stage.
Challenge is a norm, and we’ve come to expect it. It’s part of our team cohesiveness, the team energy. We know it will be an uphill battle, and we’re ready for it.
Alexandra Kutilin, Director of Operations ; Culture at Daanaa
RM: You touched on your career trajectory, starting as an MBA intern, can you elaborate on that and how your career’s grown at Daanaa?
AK: When I joined as an intern, I spent most of my time researching and speaking with people in the solar energy industry. But I also noticed that there was a lot of other things I could help with at the same time. I am trying to remember if we had letterhead… if we did, it needed improvement and that’s the first place I started. Then, I began improving our LinkedIn page and organizing our document filing system. With each little thing that came up, I said “Yep, it would be good if this were done. So, I’m going to do it.”
Those trivial things turned into bigger things. The first big project I took on was creating Daanaa’s hiring and onboarding processes that would hire key members of our team and drive growth. That was followed by refreshing our brand identity, a website redesign, vetting potential series A investors, bringing in our extended health and dental benefits program… the list goes on. I thrived on being someone that made it possible for everything else to happen. That’s how I ended up in company operations, having eventually secured office space for our growing team with the help of Floorspace.
RM: What attracted you to operations?
AK: I was generally interested in everything and wasn’t drawn to any particular company function. It felt good to help everyone, know the pulse on Daanaa’s activity, and develop the intuition that told me what needed to be done next. I wouldn’t have known that Operations was something I loved if it weren’t for a start-up that needed it, and if it weren’t for the trust that our team has in me. I regard their trust highly; it is the most important quality of a team.
RM: Make it happen. Looking from the outside, knowing you throughout the process, and seeing your growth from day one to today is remarkable.
AK: Drinking from the fire hose isn’t crazy!
RM: Throughout both your personal journey and your journey with Daanaa, what barriers and challenges have you had to overcome? Whether it be the pandemic or being a startup in general and scaling up.
AK: The Pandemic is a funny one for us, because we didn’t struggle as hard as everyone else. I joined Daanaa when we were about five or six months into the pandemic. My education had moved online in March earlier that year, so I was already used to being remote. If I were to answer for our Daanaa team at the time, I would say that going online was an easy transition because we were a small team of five people.
There were some tricky times regarding supply chain. We order components from outside of Canada to test designs, and it was a bit of an underdog situation being the start-up that managed to ship in what we need. We learned to manage our relationships with suppliers, and understand their goals and challenges, to prepare us for what may come.
RM: You mentioned it’s like drinking from a firehose, whether that’s pandemic related or scaling it up. There’s a lot of information coming at you fast. Are there other key challenges you had to overcome as Daanaa scaled up?
AK: My challenge was thinking ahead to what we would need next and evaluating my own capability to get it done. Every day that I work with Daanaa, I do something I’ve never done before. As much as I love it, I admit that it can be exhausting sometimes! Back when I started, I had never been in charge of figuring out a hiring process that hires the right people in the right roles. Last year, it was my first time going through the commercial real estate process and moving Daanaa into its new office. This year, it’s my first time leading the preparation of our annual company budget. Challenge is a norm, and we’ve come to expect it. It’s part of our team cohesiveness, the team energy. We know it will be an uphill battle, and we’re ready for it.
RM: What does the team look like today?
AK: We are a team of 21. We speak 15 distinct languages. We have lived in 18 different countries. We’re remarkably diverse, young, hungry, and ambitious About two-thirds of our team are engineers, and the rest are on the business side, ensuring we’re ready for market entry. The goal we’re all unified towards is commercialization of Daanaa’s first product that will unlock more energy generation in the solar industry.
RM: And it’s clear from the outside that everyone’s on the same page, and you have fun. Your cohesion is evident.
AK: It’s the people. Daanaa is a startup paradise.
RM: Speaking of the team, what are you doing to attract and retain talent in this market?
AK: Success is always in the preparation. We look ahead to predict the disciplines we are looking to hire for, where we might find them, what makes them interested in us, and what they want out of their work. Not all engineers are meant for startups, and not all startups are meant for engineers from bigger companies. We look to understand who our “customer” is in the hiring market, and we spend time and effort getting to know our candidates. For a startup, we have an unexpectedly thorough, team-oriented, hiring process – it’s a good thing! When an offer is on the table, they will know that they’re joining a quality team.
Retaining is a mix of environments: company culture and aligned goals, management style, the vibe of the office and team, opportunities offered, and so much more. People feel good when they can make progress and get things done, so we do our best to provide the stage on which our teams can perform, develop ownership on what they are doing, work collaboratively with each other, and be engaged in their own professional development. You can see some team quotes reflecting that on our Careers page at Daanaa’s website. We also make time for fun stuff – it feels good to see feedback coming in for pizza and hang time after our monthly townhalls.
RM: From success at various pitch events and the TIAs, it’s evident that there is a high standard. How does it feel to be where you are now?
AK: It’s exciting, and it feels like fuel for us. Each time we got into a new accelerator, won an award, or a team member won a pitch competition, it’s a “stop-in-awe,” and “I can’t believe we did this” moment. It gives you more fuel to think we can do this, and the sky’s the limit so let’s keep going.
RM: How would you describe the culture at Daanaa in one word?
AK: How does one person answer that? I’m one person in a company who works alongside a team of individuals that have their own ways of describing it! I collected words that our team chose to describe Daanaa: Some general words that came up were, multicultural, diverse, and professional.
We are also a curious team. The way we channel our curiosity is described as focused, dedicated, ambitious, diligent, driven, and impactful.
The words that paint a picture of what it feels like to be part of the Daanaa team are: friendly, positive, kind, warm-hearted, fun, supportive, and cooperative.
Company culture is created by everyone who is part of the company.
RM: You’ve just moved into a new office space, which we were fortunate enough to help you with. Do you have any advice for other companies taking that first step into their new space?
AK: Work with Floorspace! And involve your team in coming up with rudimentary space requirements, first. We came from a basement office with little natural light, so that was a feature our team looked forward to. You may also be surprised by office space that you didn’t think would work, so keep an open mind. Our current location in Railtown lends opportunities for living our company mission of making the world a better place, and I’m excited to see how we will do that.
RM: That’s awesome context. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know, right? Define what you want and then go through the process with an open mind, understanding that those parameters can change and grow.
AK: The other piece of advice that I would have, which it was great that Floorspace encouraged this, is to do your due diligence. It doesn’t matter if the property owner says, “Oh yeah, your use of the space will be approved by the city no problem!” It’s your responsibility to dot your I’s and cross your T’s – it’s what makes the entire process go smoothly! Who wants to be stressed out during a move?
The other piece of advice that I would have, which it was great that Floorspace encouraged this, is to do your due diligence.
Alexandra Kutilin, Director of Operations ; Advice on Leasing Office Space
RM: That’s awesome advice. How are you planning to use the new space to support your team?
AK: No matter the work arrangement, in-office or hybrid, we want to make sure that this is a feel-good place to be. The lounge area is drawing my attention right now. I want to see games in there, puzzles, creative knick-knacks…. things that can help you take a break, or help you think over a problem you’re solving. I’ve even used our dart board to solve my own indecision. Funky trinkets can support the creative process because, as scientific as engineering can be, it is also a very creative discipline.
If you listen and observe, the people in your office will almost design the space for you through their habits and behaviours. For example, a few of us were relentless about watching the soccer World Cup last year. Instead of having a TV, we had an old projector and a white wall – and from that moment on, I knew that our couch had to be permanently fastened to its current spot… and not in the original place I thought it would go. This worked so well for our future meetings, because now we use the same setup for our monthly townhall get-togethers.
With some companies, there is pressure to have a move-in ready space on day one for your team. That wasn’t our reality because of our company stage and the fact that we were doing this for the first time. Coming in half-baked allowed for the space to be utilized naturally. It wasn’t planned that way, but that’s how it’s working for us, and it’s working well.
RM: What’s next? What’s coming down the pipeline?
AK: Commercialization. We’re piloting our MVP and integrating Daanaa for mass solar panel production.
RM: Looking forward five years. What does 2027 look like?
AK: Our company mission has two parts: the first is to build a world where the hunger for energy is satisfied sustainably, and we’re working towards this by prioritizing cleantech applications. In 2027, we envision being fully operational in the solar market with multiple customers, while getting ready to commercialize a second vertical use case for our proprietary technology. That leads us to the second part of our mission: to use cutting-edge engineering to redefine what is possible for future generations.
RM: Very cool. Daanaa is doing big things, changing the world.
AK: That’s what we’re aiming for.
About Daanaa
They’re hiring! To learn more, visit: https://daanaa.com/careers/
Daanaa is the only chip-based technology that allows energy to be transferred freely, safely, and efficiently. Through rigorous research, cutting-edge engineering, and a passion for sustainability, they partner with ambitious manufacturers to overcome energy challenges previously constrained by the limitations of physical hardware. For more information visit https://daanaa.com/
About Floorspace Commercial
Floorspace is a technology powered commercial real estate brokerage that helps companies with their real estate solutions. If you have any questions about subleasing your space or finding a new space, one of our advisors at Floorspace would be happy to connect.
We’re here to help – contact us https://www.floorspace.ca/who-we-are.
