# Silicon Savannah: Expanding Access to Clean Cooking Fuel

- Show: [Over the Air](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air)
- Published: 2021-05-11
- Length: 29m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel
- Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/over-the-air/episodes/Silicon-Savannah-Expanding-Access-to-Clean-Cooking-Fuel-e2l43s0

## Summary

Nick Quintong, CEO and Co-Founder of PayGo Energy, explains how his team developed an IoT smart meter to enable fractional purchases of clean cooking gas in Kenya, displacing dirty fuels like charcoal and kerosene. He details the hardware development journey, noting that while individual components were off-the-shelf, the integration required a custom, tamper-proof device capable of high-precision measurement at high pressure. Quintong shares lessons on using low-fidelity cardboard prototypes to test user interaction and avoid social bias, while emphasizing the critical need to parallel-process value engineering to hit target unit costs for commercial viability.

## Chapters

- [1:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=60) Introduction: Nick Quintong and PayGo Energy
- [2:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=149) Quintong's Path from GE to Nairobi and Silicon Savannah
- [6:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=370) The Problem: Informal Settlements and Dirty Fuel Access
- [9:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=591) Hardware Development: Custom Smart Meter Design
- [14:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=876) Lessons: Low-Fidelity Prototyping and Parallel Value Engineering
- [19:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=1166) Beta Testing Pitfalls: Social Pressure and Skewed Data
- [22:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-05-11-silicon-savannah-expanding-access-to-clean-cooking-fuel#t=1320) Setting Success Metrics and Managing Investor Expectations

## Topics

- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Design for manufacturing & NPI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/design-for-manufacturing)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- PayGo Energy (company)
- GE (company)
- Kiva (company)
- University of Nairobi (other)
- Strathmore (other)
- Bend, Oregon (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [The Costs and Challenges of Scaling IoT for Success | Prescient Devices, Founder & CEO Andy Wang](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2021-11-09-the-costs-and-challenges-of-scaling-iot-for-success-prescient-devices-founder-ce) (IoT For All Podcast)
- [Maximizing ROI for IoT Prototyping and Development | Blynk's Pavel Bayborodin](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2021-08-31-maximizing-roi-for-iot-prototyping-and-development-blynks-pavel-bayborodin) (IoT For All Podcast)
- [The EEVblog Sparkgap Generator](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-11-20-the-eevblog-sparkgap-generator) (The Amp Hour)
- [#026 - Connected lab - a startup bringing IoT to R&D environments, with Alok Tayi of TetraScience, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-05-17-026-connected-lab-a-startup-bringing-iot-to-r-d-environments-with-alok-tayi-of-t) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [What is IoT Democratization? | Soracom's Kenta Yasukawa, PhD](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2021-03-15-what-is-iot-democratization-soracoms-kenta-yasukawa-phd) (IoT For All Podcast)

## Citing this page

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