Why I am an entrepreneur

My name is Tristan Kochoyan and I am an entrepreneur. I founded Power:On, an electricity supplier dedicated to isolated villages in Africa. In 2015, we built our first grid for 3000 people in Igbérè, Benin.

Many people think I am crazy for doing this. I can’t really tell them they are wrong. I indeed face many challenges, and I could write a book about all the things that went wrong along the way. Seriously, not one thing went down according to the plan. This project is incredibly harder than I imagined and I am not making a cent out of it. Quite the opposite actually…

So I often get asked: why are you doing it?? There are actually many reasons. This is why I wrote my manifesto.

Project with meaning

I want to solve real problems and work on projects that have meaning. This is why I am an entrepreneur.

Give back

I had the privilege of a top education and never lacked anything. As a personal philosophy, I believe in giving back.

Surging demand

1.3 billion people in the world live without electricity, and they all are well aware that this is not right. They demand what all of us take for granted.

States are helpless

In Benin and many other developing countries, the State does not have the resources to address that demand in a reasonable timeframe. Populations should not have to wait.

NGOs failed

For decades, NGOs have tried to solve this issue. But the number of people lacking electricity has not decreased.

Big corporations are beyond confused

Big companies do not have a clue of what should be done, other than distributing solar gadgets or implementing one-shot projects for PR purposes.

Power:On is on a mission

We can win because we are independent, passionate and we know that care is more important than technicalities. We do not build electric grids for the sake of it, but because we want to trigger development and make the lives of rural people easier.

Courage

Africa’s challenges should not be belittled, but I will certainly not ignore the progress that has been made. What we do takes courage and determination. I will not tolerate fatalism, desolation or self-pity. Life is hard, be harder.

You see, maybe I am a little crazy. But I would turn definitely insane if I worked on something I was not passionate about. What I do is not work. It’s a mission. This is why have still have the strength to keep fighting.

If you don’t have a mission and work for a company you don’t care about, maybe you are crazier than me… Find your purpose because if you don’t, you are not going to enjoy what you do and life is already hard as it is.

If you want to learn more about my mission, visit and share: pwr-on.fr