Me vs Circumstance

Call me vain or call me naive: not too long ago, I carried the foolish belief that our personality and behaviour is something within our conscious control. My make-believe world was inhabited by humans of invincible spirit, carrying heavy shields that were impervious to the force of circumstance.

In prosperity or penury, at times of peace or war, whether surrounded by love or hate or greed or jealously, the human being could always stand tall - in control.

A few years of experience change even our most tightly held beliefs; I now look back and laugh at my younger self. Today, I stop short of saying that we are slaves of Circumstance. We hold our innermost beliefs, but are swayed by what we see, hear, smell, taste or touch.

Like onions, we exist as layers; the innermost rings are made up of core values, the middle rings comprise of thoughts and feelings of those dearest to us, and the outer rings are dependent on the situation we are in: are we wealthy or poor, are we in love or spurned by it, do we live in a place of peace or war, or even if we are busy at work or on a vacation.

Much like peeling an onion, meeting with us has to be an outside-in process. At first, we come across the parts of our behaviour shaped by the circumstance that affects us the most. For example, people change completely when they find love - a sad, tired man can transform into an energetic believer. The world's biggest miser may splurge on a vacation when he or she gets a new job. A happy young girl becomes distrustful when her boyfriend cheats on her.

Accidents and sudden changes in fortune can, therefore, have an immediate bearing on the face we show the world. However, someone closer to us - close friends and family - can tell that we haven't changed so much. That is because they have access to the inner, middle layers - which have been carefully nurtured through constant contact and communication with these very same people. These middle layers are less susceptible to change, and perhaps we can recognise these portions of ourselves when we look at ourselves in a 10-year old photograph.

Our innermost layers are often secret. Most of us wouldn't be able to articulate these - as they are seldom stated; we don't practice communicating these "core values". Why don't we state them to our closest friends and family? Because we don't want to upset them, or establish a stark difference of opinion.

These values are stable, and transform gradually over the span of a lifetime. Our deepest selves don't transform as fast as the layers surrounding them. This often causes pain, suffering or self-loathing, when they is a deep disconnect between "who we are" and "what we seem to be". Happier are those who can keep their layers in sync.

How to run a Hardware Startup? (Indian Perspective) - Part 2

Crowdfunding is highly recommended for most consumer hardware-tech

Thanks for your great response and insights on Part 1 of this post! [first published on LinkedIn]

Today, we achieved new milestones in GPS accuracy (even in cloudy weather) & Swing Angle detection! In hardware, you won't believe how hard it is to come by these small successes. Hence this excitement :) Anyway, back to my post...

6 - Customers pay for perceived benefits, not "cool tech"

We made this mistake early, and as founders close to the product, you might too. Even if you identify the right problems to solve and solve them the right way, you need to present them to the customer as a solution. So "World's Best AI-Powered Sports Wearable" is a poorer pitch compared to "Get high-impact performance-insights tailored for your game". In fact, what would work even better? A specific problem that your product solves. E.g. "Hit precise cover-drives off every half-volley".

As you can see, this shapes your thesis, your product-pitch, ad-copy & creatives.

7 - Protect your IP. Patenting is an ongoing process, not a one-time thing

It's possibly true that VCs increasingly look at secret-sauces & trade-secrets, rather than "patents" while evaluating companies. However, it is still critical that you protect your IP - trademarks, patents, etc - in all jurisdictions of your interest for two reasons: (1) to protect your business against copycats if you're successful, and (2) to feel more comfortable working on your own product without being slapped with an infringement suit.

Also to be noted, Patenting isn't a one-time thing. It's an iterative, incremental (expensive) process.

8 - Consult experts / similar businesses to structure your transactions

Especially useful for international trade businesses.

Make sure you're getting your transactions into the right country, into the right bank account, paying the correct amount of taxes etc. Also, ensure that you aren't subjecting yourself or your customers to excessive Customs Duties, VAT etc.

India isn't the easiest place to do business, and GST Laws complicate this further. For example, if you receive money in India, but manufacture out of China and drop-ship directly to the customer, which Customs Office do you deal with? Which country's taxes are imposed? Are these treated as exports (do you get the benefits)? All these are questions that merit serious thought.

9 - Crowdfunding validates product-market fit

If you're a hardware founder, you NEED to explore Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Kickstarter is the more credible older sibling, that usually offers All-or-Nothing funding (i.e. you keep your money only if you hit your target) but caters to only a handful of countries: India is not one of them. Indiegogo is more flexible, and supports most countries worldwide. However, due to failed projects in the past (which raised millions of dollars), there is some amount of distrust among backers.

Please remember this: a successful Kickstarter or Indiegogo project is not just essential for good cash-flow. It's a tremendous confidence boost. PEOPLE WANT YOUR PRODUCT! And they're willing to take the "crowdfunding risk" and wait a long time to get it. Now it's your job to deliver.

10 - Customer-Service > Tech

It doesn't matter how good your tech is; your customer support needs to be better! People love hands-on teams that are responsive to any problems they face. A customer with a bad review might end up loving you if you handle his/her query well. And this results in awesome word-of-mouth publicity!

Take feedback with humility. Be responsive, and be nice. And solve problems fast. Keep the communication channels open: Messenger/FB Groups > Email > Contact Us Webpage > Phone Call (in most startup cases).

MORE COMING SOON. In case you have any questions / suggestions / comments up to this point, I'd love to hear from you. Cheers.

How to run a Hardware Startup? (Indian Perspective) - Part 1

We decided to take the plunge into Hardware around this time last year, after our early Beta users strongly suggested that we move on from an "App only" model. GPS, IMUs, and sensors in general find an obvious fit in Sports, as they allow for capture of more useful data and incredibly powerful UX.

This post isn't so much about our journey, as it is a list of learnings, lessons & mistakes we've come back from. So if you are thinking of starting a hardware / IoT Startup (esp. global-facing), this will be exceptionally useful for you.

1 - Spend 80% of your first 2 months defining the problem & market:

Unlike apps and software, once you decide your path, there's probably no turning back. You can't push an overnight update and wish away a mistake you make at this stage.

E.g. if you want to build a Child-safety product, should it be a watch, something you can clip onto children's clothing, or a pocket--monitor? Should it be enabled with GPS (but GPS doesn't work without open sky)? Would you sell this to schools, parents, etc? How HUGE is the market? Remember, hardware-mistakes can take several months to undo.

2 - Form is SUPER important:

If you're an engineer, you'll do well to remember this. Function & features are one thing, but the form makes or breaks your hardware product. This is especially true for wearables, and to a lesser extent with other IoT devices.

This is where you want to survey your target demographic and maybe ask them to use a "looks like, feels like" dummy (design the electronics on a parallel track). Remember the uniqueness of your product, and the size, weight, temperature-range, water-proof-ness expectations people might have from it. Build for these expectations.

3 - Make sure you've budgeted enough time to build a GREAT hardware team

I suppose you know that finding the perfect people for embedded systems and firmware roles is far more difficult (as of 2018) than hiring for software roles. It's considerably harder if you don't understand much of hardware to begin with; if you do, then it's a bonus.

But here's one thing that's a STRICT NO: don't hire consultants or outsource your development. You'll probably kill your startup even before you begin. Firstly, anyone who is good will burn a hole through your pocket. Secondly, they'll probably never understand your user the way you do. And last, how many iterations have you negotiated for? What if you need to go through 5 prototypes before finalizing on the design...

4 - Design for Manufacture. And for scale.

You need to think through how you want to produce these (100 units, 1000 units, 10k units, 1 lakh units etc). Best to choose a method that is fully-scaleable to meet demands of the Market you defined in Step 1.

Pro-Tip (I missed out on this earlier): if you can use an existing solution that's in the market - probably not even well known (HINT: Visit Shenzhen), then use it. You may find manufacturers willing to tweak & white-label existing solutions. You focus your collective energies on selling these in India. This is considerably easier (and far more popular) option.

However, if you - like us - choose to build disruptive IP, and a unique solution (because you think it is necessary, not because of vanity), then think through your procurement, logistics, payments, compliance etc. Earlier you do this, the better.

5 - Prototype electronics & mechanical designs. 3D Printing is a powerful gift!

Not enough if you have a 3D model / CAD file / sketch etc. Build it. Build it early. And build every iteration. You'll find new challenges in each one, that you won't realize while designing (e.g. How will this button press work? Component's Specifications sheet and actual dimensions don't match perfectly. Placement, design & routing problems etc).

Remember that 3D printing has multiple types. Choose the cheapest, fastest versions first. Then go for more expensive, representative solutions. Remember to always build what you can manufacture (it is easy to 3D Print complex designs which will cost you a fortune to mold).

Part 2 of this post COMING SOON. In case you have any questions / suggestions / comments up to this point, I'd love to hear from you. Cheers.