Eli Harris; The Art of Overcoming

person-iconby Ed Parcaut calender-icon09 Jun, 2021

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Entrepreneurship is a word that inspires many polished images, but there’s a gritty side to becoming good at it. When it comes to starting our own businesses, we naturally focus on the success we can achieve.

While a positive vision is essential, there will always be obstacles along the way. That’s why true entrepreneurship isn’t just the journey of growing – it’s also the art of overcoming.

On Inner Edison by Ed Parcaut, we sit down with a guest who has taken the bruises and learned the lessons on the way to entrepreneurial success.

Eli Harris is the co-founder of R-Zero, the first biosafety company built on a platform of modern tools. Before that, he was making strides in China’s manufacturing sector.

A journey to a new country

At 21, Eli Harris moved to China to start his career on the foreign service track. He eventually ended up working in Beijing’s private sector, making drones with DJI. Five years ago, he went on to start his own venture.

Harris had a clear vision for his new venture. Based in Shenzhen, China, he founded his first business: EcoFlow. Harris wanted to build a lithium-ion battery that could rival the Honda 2000 gas generator.

Leveraging his experience with industrial drones, Harris and his engineering team began manufacturing large lithium-ion battery packs. He spent three and a half years as CEO, running the sales and marketing operations and ensuring the company raised plenty of capital.

At its peak, EcoFlow was shipping over 200,000 products to 3 countries.

That early success attracted some lucrative attention, and soon an acquisition offer came. The proposal was the ultimate reward for the visions, determination, and strategic growth that built the company.

However, after signing a binding letter of intent for the acquisition, the ultimate setback surprised everyone.

Bouncing back from failure

Upon learning about the impending acquisition, Harris’s previous employers decided to investigate his company for corporate espionage. While the investigation was eventually dropped, it was enough to kill the deal. In the end, the offer was pulled.

After raising some money from a state-owned enterprise, Harris was bought out as CEO of the company. Despite how quickly fortunes changed, he keeps a good sense of humor about the experience.

“I ended up with a small buyout and a good story to tell,” says Harris.

Starting again but in a better position

Anyone who had to return home after such a situation would be forgiven for having their head down. That isn’t how Harris approached his journey back to the US.

After ten years away, a multimillion-dollar acquisition would have been the perfect story to return with. Instead, Harris had to start again from scratch – but he didn’t come back empty-handed.

What he had earned over in China was industry experience. The sectors he worked in developed his skillset and gave him a fresh perspective on US engineering. Those qualities helped him assess his home market and eventually create R-Zero.

While engineers in the US were fixated on software development, he went into the biosafety sector. As a premium UV disinfection company, R-Zero was perfectly placed to offer institutions hospital-grade, sustainable solutions for public safety.

Hard work pays off but so do risks

Every entrepreneur needs a bit of luck – if only to offset the natural risks of starting a business. Hard work goes without saying. Entrepreneurs need another quality to succeed, though: a willingness to take risks and learn from all outcomes.

Moving to China at 21 shows Harris’ ambition and self-belief, but he also spent years developing himself. In the decade he worked oversees, he experienced different sectors, industry perspectives, and responsibilities.

On a personal level, he invested thousands of hours into learning Mandarin. Today, he’s fully fluent. By throwing himself into a new environment, he had to develop faster than his peers back home. At 21, that was a risk – and there were still failures along the way.

But by the time Eli Harris came home, he had all the skills and lessons to reap the rewards.

Failure is a lesson, not a result

Eli Harris is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of R-Zero. His success today is a testament to the risks he took and his reaction to them. The insights in his story are entrepreneurship gold.

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